Chapter 066
“This is quite strange.”
At that moment, the doctor, who was examining the woman, tilted his head and spoke.
“I heard she collapsed while coughing up blood, but aside from being significantly weakened from not having enough food, she seems fine.”
The doctor added that he would prescribe some herbs needed for her nutritional deficiency, and if she boiled and consumed them with her meals, her serious malnutrition would improve considerably.
“So when can she wake up?”
“I can’t give you a definite answer, but the current state of this woman is akin to being in a deep sleep. Once her body recovers to some extent, she will regain consciousness on her own.”
Letting out a sigh of relief at the doctor’s words, I gently patted the child’s shoulder beside me.
“Your mom will get better soon, so let’s stop crying now.”
The child, who had only been shedding tears like drops of chicken droppings, nodded with a slightly calmer expression.
After the doctor left, the child seemed ready to climb onto the bed where the woman was lying.
However, the bed was too high for the child’s height, and even standing on tiptoe was not enough.
“Do you want me to help you up?”
Watching the scene, I cautiously asked the child, and upon acceptance, I immediately lifted the child and placed them on the bed.
Once on the bed, the child wiggled around like a baby bird seeking its mother, burying their face in the woman’s embrace.
The child’s complexion, which had been as pale as a blank sheet of paper, seemed to gradually return to its original color.
After glancing at both the woman and the child, I quietly slipped out of the room.
“How is it?”
Evan, leaning against the doorframe, approached me and asked softly.
“Aside from severe malnutrition, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong. With a few days of rest, she should naturally regain her strength. It’s a relief.”
“Not that.”
While I spoke with a relieved smile, thinking the woman’s condition was not as bad as expected, Evan responded with a disinterested expression.
Thinking that Evan was naturally asking about the woman’s condition, I looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Then Evan frowned as if he had some dissatisfaction and glanced at my wrist while speaking.
“Didn’t she grab you pretty hard earlier?”
“Oh, this?”
Following Evan’s gaze, I lowered my head and saw that the wrist where the woman had grabbed me was reddened.
“This much will be fine in no time.”
I turned my wrist in a reassuring manner and gave a faint smile.
Only then did it seem that Evan’s previously stiff expression began to soften a bit.
Eventually, Evan, who had been looking at the bed where the woman and child were lying, slowly opened his mouth.
“Isn’t it better for the child to sleep separately? It must be uncomfortable like that.”
Turning my head to look at the bed where the two were lying, I noticed the child’s feet sticking out from the edge of the bed.
Since it was a single hospital bed, it did seem somewhat uncomfortable for the child to lie there together, just as he said.
“Right now, being next to his mother is probably the most comfortable for him.”
Although the position might be a bit uncomfortable, the child had already fallen asleep, snoring softly.
I gently pushed Evan’s back and quietly slipped out of the room.
As we walked side by side down the hallway, Evan suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
“Please go ahead to the room. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Huh? Evan! Where are you going?”
Before I could ask anything further, Evan quickly disappeared from my sight using his long legs.
For a moment, I stood there blankly, staring at the hallway where he had vanished, then turned my body and headed toward the room.
How long had I been waiting for him once I arrived in the bedroom?
Click.
At the sound of the door opening, I also heard the gentle sound of water splashing.
Suddenly lifting my head to look at the door, I saw Evan entering with a basin of ice water and a towel in his arms.
“What is it?”
“Please stay seated and don’t get up.”
Evan quickly approached me, stopping me as I tried to rise from the edge of the bed.
He then crouched down near my feet and, with a splashing sound, began to soak the towel in the basin and wring it out.
“Please give me your hand.”
Caught off guard by his unexpected action, I awkwardly extended my hand toward him.
Soon, I felt a cool sensation on my wrist as Evan slowly began to massage it with the towel.
Minutes passed like this.
Then, I heard a low murmur from below.
“Growing up pampered, yet…”
“Huh?”
I looked at him with a puzzled expression at his unclear words.
However, since his gaze remained fixed on my wrist, I couldn’t meet his eyes.
“There are plenty of nobles who make a fuss over even the slightest cut on their fingers. Why are you so indifferent about your own body?”
“Uh, I’m sorry…?”
For some reason, I felt like I was being scolded, so I unconsciously offered him an apology.
In response, Evan added, as if he had been waiting for me to say that.
“If you’re sorry, then next time, don’t pretend to be fine and make a bit of a fuss.”
“To you?”
I laughed lightly and added in response.
“I think it would be a hundred times better to do that than to pretend to be okay by yourself.”
I could sense a hint of amusement in his blunt tone.
Seeing a man who cared more about my well-being than I did, a strange impulse suddenly welled up within me.
Splash, splash.
In the quiet room, the sound of him wetting the towel seemed particularly loud.
I silently looked down at Evan, who was carefully wiping my wrist with an unexpectedly gentle touch, despite his fierce gaze.
“Are you always this kind?”
At my question, his hands paused for a moment.
“You make jokes too. What’s the big deal about this?”
Evan, speaking casually, became a bit busier with his hands as he brought the towel closer.
“It should have calmed down a bit now. I’ll ask Nora for some good ointment tomorrow, so don’t forget…”
Suddenly, as I was watching Evan, who had become more talkative, I lowered my head and briefly pressed my lips against his forehead before pulling away.
Naturally, Evan froze like a statue.
“Thank you.”
I spoke to the now-stiff Evan.
Though my body had moved impulsively, I thought that we were close enough for this to be a gesture of gratitude.
Curious about how he would react, I waited for a while with a face full of curiosity.
As Evan slowly lifted his head, making a creaking sound, our eyes met.
“You…! Do you have no sense of shame at all? Who kisses someone’s forehead after saying thank you?!”
Evan’s reaction was as intense as I had expected.
He jumped up from his seat, covering the spot on his forehead where I had kissed him with his hand, raising his voice.
The wet towel he held in his other hand was gripped so tightly that water dripped down to the floor.
As I faced the confusion that filled his stern expression up close, a mischievous smile had unknowingly formed on my lips.
“Should I have kissed somewhere else instead of your forehead?”
As I posed the question reminiscent of a certain day, Evan’s body was trembling to the point of being pitiful to watch.
At first glance, he looked like someone who was incredibly angry, but seeing his face, which was redder than the roses blooming in the garden, made me want to burst out laughing.
“Well then, I’ll do it again.”
Swallowing my laughter, I jumped up from my seat and said while staring directly at Evan.
The moment I took a step closer to him.
Crash!
“Enough! Who asked for that? Ugh.”
Evan stumbled backward and nearly lost his balance after stepping on the basin that was at his feet.
With a face full of caution, as if a beast were in front of him, Evan walked backward toward the door.
“Stop saying strange things and just lie down and rest.”
Bang!
Even while huffing, Evan took care of me until the very end before disappearing.
The room fell silent again after Evan left.
“Phew. Oh, really…”
Lying half on the bed, I couldn’t stop the laughter that kept bubbling up.
midori
thanks! LOL dahlia has fully opened up her mischievous streak when it comes to dealing with evan