“You’re thinking too seriously. I’m not a doll. I have my own thoughts and opinions. I’m not just someone who wants to take or give up.”
“Do you have to go?”
“I must go. In addition to the past love, this is what our Jones-Sharp family owes her.”
Bella still wanted to say something, but when she heard this last sentence from Kevin, she was depressed and couldn’t say anything again.
“Alright, I’m leaving and will return as soon as possible.”
Kevin leaned over and kissed her forehead, patted her cheek and said, “Don’t think too much. I won’t do anything wrong to you.”
He finally left to go to find the other woman, and Bella looked at the empty villa, feeling incomparably lost.
Getting up to the bathroom, she put a tank full of hot water and lay down, thinking about what her mother-in-law said that day. She stroked her flat abdomen and muttered to herself, “When can I get pregnant …”
Kevin arrived at Freya’s place on Purple Garden Road, and the door was half-closed. He walked in and shouted to the darkroom, “Freya, are you there?”
“Kevin, I’m here.”
The voice came from the edge of the couch, and Kevin groped his way over, “Where’s the lamp?”
“Ten more steps forward.”
Kevin took ten more steps forward, touched the switch on the wall, switched on the light and looked back. Freya was lying curled up on the sofa, her face very pale, her hair all soaked from sweat.
“How did you get so sick?”
He stretched out his hand to touch her forehead, which was hot as a furnace. He carried her in his arms, strode to the car parked outside, and drove o the hospital.
They went to an emergency room, and it was lucky that she just caught a cold, and nothing was serious. After having a drip, her fever began to go down.
“How much longer do I need to have a drip?”
Freya gritted her teeth and stared at the syringe on her arm. Kevin knew she was afraid of pain. He knew better than anyone that Freya was most afraid of having an injection and a drip.
“There are two more bottles.”
“Is that much? Let’s go home. I feel better now.”
Kevin stared at her, “How can we do that? If we don’t get rid of the virus, you will have a fever at night.”
“But I’m in pain.”
She finally revealed her cowardice. The more people were afraid of something, the more they were allergic to something. Freya was obviously not allergic to penicillin, but as soon as the syringe was inserted into her hand, the back of her hand would immediately swell up, and it would swell up no matter where she had an injection.
Kevin thought, “You wait for me for a moment.” He got up and left the ward.
Ten minutes later he came back with a bag of food in his hand and said to Freya, “Open your mouth.”
Freya cooperated and opened her mouth, and then a sweet lollipop was shoved into her mouth.
“How do you feel? Are you still hurt?”
Freya shook her head and choked, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
She felt hot tears well up. It had been so long, but he still remembered that a lollipop could alleviate all her discomfort as long as she was sick.
Kevin’s phone rang, and when he saw it was Bella’s number, he immediately pressed answer, “Hello?”
“When are you coming back?”
“It might be late. Freya is having a drip, so you go to bed. Don’t wait for me.”
“Isn’t there a nurse who will look after her?”
“It’s nighttime and the nurses are off, so be a good girl and go to sleep.”
“I don’t sleep until you get back.”
Bella hung up the phone without waiting for his reply. She didn’t give him the chance to reply, meaning not giving him the chance to refuse. She just let him know that she would go to sleep without him coming back, nor could she fall sleep.
Wearing a pajama to the balcony, outside the gust of cold wind, she did not feel cold, foolishly sitting on the stool and waiting for Kevin to come back.
It was getting much later, and she couldn’t help but sneeze a few times before returning to the bedroom, putting a jacket on herself, and then, continuing to sit by the balcony, listening to the sound of the waves hitting the rocks, waiting for her beloved to return.
At half past eleven, she called Kevin again. This time his voice was soft, as if he was afraid of waking up the person who had fallen asleep beside him.
“Is she done with her drip yet?”
“No. Only a little will be okay.”
“Then you can be back by twelve, right?”
“Why are you still up?” Kevin was a little angry, “Do you know what time it is?”
“I told you I won’t sleep until you come back.”
“Bella, why are you being so stubborn? How am I supposed to go back when Freya is sick right now?”
“Then don’t bother if I sleep or not! My husband is keeping my rival company. So you tell me how I can fall asleep.”
Kevin couldn’t say anything. He could understand the worry in Bella’s heart. Women were always anxious. After a silence, he nodded, “Good, I’ll go back as soon as she finishes having a drip.”
Freya’s three bottles of drips were finished. It was exactly twelve o’clock exactly. Kevin covered the blanket for her, and was trying to quietly step away, but his lapels were suddenly grabbed.
“Kevin, don’t go …”
Freya looked at him pitifully and choked, “I’m scared to be here. So you can either take me home or stay with me, okay?”
Kevin lamely frowned, “The doctor told you to observe for one night. I’ll come back to pick you up tomorrow.”
“Then you stay here with me. Today is the anniversary of my parents’ death. I don’t want to be alone.”
Kevin’s expression suddenly stiffened. He didn’t know the exact date of the death of Freya’s parents. But seeing Freya’s sorrowful eyes at the moment, he believed that today was indeed an extraordinary day.
“I’ll make a phone call.”
He walked out of the hospital room with embarrassment, stood in the aisle of the hospital, and dialed Bella’s phone number-
“Bella, are you asleep?”
“Nope.”
“I can’t go home tonight, so why don’t you go to bed?”
“Why?”
“Today is the anniversary of Freya’s parents’ death and she is very upset ….”
“She has to be accompanied by you if she’s feeling bad, so are you going to accompany her at the anniversary of her parents’ death every year from now on?”
“Today is a special situation. She doesn’t have anyone who can accompany her. If Conrad is here, I won’t stay here.”
“That’s not a reason. You come back immediately!”
Bella’s tone was undeniably firm. She had been waiting for four hours, and whatever the reason was, she couldn’t accept it.
“Bella, why can’t you be more generous? I’m accompanying Freya now solely because of duty, not because of a romance. So please don’t confuse it, okay?”
“It would not be generous, but foolish for me to be reasonable in the face of a woman who threatens to steal a man from me!”
“Why don’t I make sense to you?”
“If it doesn’t make sense then you don’t say it. You can stay with your first love and don’t come back!”
Bella angrily hung up the phone, and shed tears. She was really sad. After all, because of Freya, she had a fight with Kevin.
Kevin looked very bad and went into the ward. Freya weakly asked, “What’s wrong? Did you quarrel with her?”
“No, you rest. I’ll just sit here.”
He pulled a stool up to sit by the window and looked out through the bars at the dim starlight, feeling unusually irritated.
“Have a cigarette if you want. It’s a VIP ward anyway, and there are no other patients.”
Freya could see he was in a bad mood.
“It’s fine. You sleep.”
“Go to smoke. You’ll feel better if you smoke.”
Kevin hesitated and pulled out a box of cigarettes from his bosom. Indeed he was annoyed. He was annoyed when he thought of Bella’s stubborn nature and that she might still be waiting stupidly by now.
In the rising smoke, Kevin’s profile was like a perfect statue. Freya looked at him fondly. He was still so handsome and charming. Even his smoking posture could make her moved.
Originally just wanting to smoke a cigarette, he unknowingly smoked another one, and in less than an hour, he smoked half of a pack of cigarettes.
“Are you feeling better now?”
When Freya suddenly spoke up, he turned back surprised, “Why are you still up?”
“I’m afraid to sleep. I’m afraid you’ll be gone as soon as I open my eyes.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay here until dawn. Go to sleep.”
Kevin pulled the chair back to the side of her bed and sat down steadily.
“You’re sleepy too. This bed is quite big. You can lie down and sleep for a while.”
Kevin didn’t agree to Freya’s suggestion. He decisively refused, “No, I’ll just catch a wink for a while.”
Seeing his refusal, her eyes flashed with a hint of loss and she turned over. Both of them stopped talking.
Kevin put his hand on the edge of the bedside table, and soon, he went into a muddled dream. After a long time, he felt a warm breath on his cheek. He suddenly opened his eyes, and saw that Freya had sat up in front of him.
“What are you doing?”
He asked woodenly. Freya reached out and hugged his neck, gazing deeply at him, “Kevin, let’s be together again.”
Saying that, she closed her eyes and tried to kiss Kevin’s lips. But unexpectedly he was startled for a few seconds and pushed her away, getting up, “Don’t do that.”
“Why? Don’t you love me anymore?”
“I made it clear last time. I love my wife very much now.”
“You lie. Your eyes can’t fool me. Don’t you dare say you don’t like me at all anymore?”
Kevin was silent for a moment and sighed, “Love will not wait in the same place. A long time ago, I thought I couldn’t forget, but now, I know very well that I can’t forget only the memory of this first love. But for you Freya, I no longer have the idea of wanting to start over, so let’s be ordinary friends from now on.”
He looked at the watch on his wrist. It was already three o’clock in the morning, “Actually after twelve o’clock, it’s no longer the anniversary of your parents’ death. I’m leaving. Take care.”