“Natalie and I had a fight, and she told me this morning that she was going to stay at your house. I wasn’t sure about it, so I want to ask if she was really there.”
“Yes, she is with me. Don’t worry, I’ll send her back home in the morning.”
“Thank you. I’m going to pick her up and take her home right now.”
“You don’t have to do that. It’s midnight now.”
“It’s all right, I’m already downstairs.”
When she saw those words, Anna’s heart skipped a beat. She went straight to the window and pulled back the curtains. Dim streetlights shone on the road beneath the apartment building. A black car was parked on the road, and a man stood with his head down, looking at his phone.
Anna was still in her pajamas, so she wore a jacket and walked downstairs.
When Wayne saw her, he bent down and took a bag out of the car, explaining, “I bought it on my way here. You used to like that the best.”
Anna glanced at the bag and saw that it was a chocolate cake. And she wondered, The cake is from the dessert shop that Peace and I like. That store is trendy, and there are always people waiting in line for the cakes. Furthermore, the cake is usually all sold out by five o’clock in the afternoon. It’s twelve o’clock at night, so Wayne couldn’t have bought it on his way there.
“I just called you, but you didn’t answer. So, I came straight here.” Wayne said, looking slightly exhausted.
Anna clenched her grip on the bag and said, “Scott came over to shoot the show at my house today, so I didn’t check my phone. Thank you very much for the cake. Natalie is already sound asleep and it’s cold tonight. I’ll drop her home tomorrow.”
Hearing that, Wayne frowned and said, “Then I’d better pick her up the next morning.”
Anna could tell what he was thinking. She thought, Wayne, you didn’t have to come here to pick up Natalie because there are plenty of maids and drivers that you can order to do so. Besides, you’re not close to Natalie, and you two don’t even like each other. So, you must be using picking Natalie up as an excuse to see me, right?
Then Anna nodded and said, “Well, it’s late. If you don’t have anything else to say to me, you should go home now. Wayne, good night.”
Wayne looked disappointed by the fact that she was leaving. He nodded, then opened the car door. The cold wind was blowing, and he suddenly coughed violently. He appeared to be so uncomfortable that he blushed.
Immediately after hearing Wayne’s coughing, Anna stopped and looked at him worriedly. “Wayne, are you all right? It has been raining heavily for several days, and it’s freezing. Many people in the city have caught the flu and are in the hospital. You look like you also got a flu,” Anna asked, concerned.
Wayne put his hand over his mouth as if he didn’t want her to hear him cough. But he was clearly in pain. Then he answered, trying his best to refrain himself from coughing, “Really, I’m fine, Anna. Don’t worry about me.”
Anna frowned and said, “Wait! But you don’t look fine to me. Why don’t you come home with me? You appear to have a fever. Allow me to take your temperature and give you some medication. It’s fine if you only have a cold. But if you have a fever, you’d better go to the hospital for a checkup.”
“Okay, thank you.” Wayne nodded and said. At the same time, his eyes were dazzling with rays of hope. He thought, Anna, you still care about me! Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked me to stay at your house and offered to take care of me. Does it mean that I still have a chance to be with you? If so, I must seize the opportunity to get you back!
Wayne had been to her apartment before. He had mixed feelings when he saw Tammy’s shoes on the shoe rack by the door. He thought, Anna, everything would’ve been different if I hadn’t said those hurtful words to you and put you in danger so many times before. If it were the case, I would’ve been able to witness how Tammy grew into a teenager and I would always be there for her when she needed me. And you would’ve got to accompany Matthew. Sadly, there is no what if.
During the five years when you were gone, I’d always focused on taking care of Matthew and I’d never dated anyone else. And as far as I’m concerned, it has been the same case with you. I’m so glad that you managed to take good care of Tammy while chasing after your dream.
“Stay still,” Anna said as she attempted to take his temperature with a thermometer. It wasn’t until then that Wayne’s wandering mind was back to reality.
She kept Wayne’s head down and the thermometer close to his ear, as she did with all of her other patients. Being so close to her, Wayne inhaled her rose-scented body wash, which caused his heart to race and left him short of breath. She had always loved rose-scented body wash, which reminded him of the good old days when they were together.
Looking at the thermometer, Anna frowned and said, “You have a fever, but it’s not very serious. Well, you still have to take some medicine. Have a seat and I’ll go get you some pills.”
Anna clearly remembered having fever-reducing pills at home, but finding them took her a while because Isabella and Tammy always left things lying around. By the time she found the medicine and returned to the living room, Wayne had already fallen asleep and cuddled up on the cushions.
The couch wasn’t very big and appeared to be a little small compared to Wayne’s tall figure. It was not a good place for him to sleep. He did, however, sleep deeply and made a slight snoring sound. The fever made this tough man appear vulnerable, which was unusual.
Anna stared at him in a daze for a few moments, her heart breaking. She thought, Wayne, get well soon. Tammy will be sad if she sees you like this. Much as she wanted to accompany him for a while longer, in the end, she didn’t do so. She then returned to her bedroom, took a blanket, and carefully wrapped it around him. She returned to bed after quietly turning off the lights in the living room.
In the early hours of the morning, a thunderstorm struck. Everyone fell asleep peacefully and was not awakened by it.
Some of them wouldn’t wake up even if it was raining outside, some stayed up until midnight playing games and feeling sleepy, and some finally found a cure after a long period of insomnia.
Wayne opened his eyes and found Tammy sitting on the coffee table across from him. Her blonde hair hung over her shoulders, and she was dressed in a pink nightgown. She was staring at him with one hand under her chin. She appeared to want to wake him up but was hesitant to do so.
Although he got a cold, Wayne was in a good mood. The sound of frying eggs came from the kitchen. This was his ideal life, he realized. At the moment, he was with his lovely daughter and his beloved woman.
Wayne sat up immediately and gently said to Tammy, “Morning, Tammy.”
Tammy happily jumped a few times when she noticed he was awake. Then she approached the couch, kissed Wayne on the cheek, and asked, “What are you doing here, Daddy? You were going to surprise me, right?”
“Yes. I arrived too late yesterday, and you were already asleep. Then I fell asleep on the couch by accident.”
Resigned, Tammy looked at Wayne and said, “This is such an old-fashioned move, Daddy. If you keep doing this, you will never be able to win mom’s heart. I’m so worried about you!”
Thinking that Tammy looked like a cute angel, Wayne pinched her cheek, rubbed her hair again, and tenderly asked, “Please accept my apologies, honey. So, what do you think I can do to win her heart?”
“I believe you must first make her happy!”
“You’ve got a point. But, the question is, what can I do to make her feel happy?”
Tammy thought for a while but didn’t know what to say. She assumed Anna had become a workaholic, so she had no idea what would make her happy. Then she said, “Geez! You need to think about it by yourself!”
“Thank you, my dear. I’ll think about it.” Wayne reached out again and touched her soft hair.
“I desperately want to travel back in time, because we used to live as a family back then. I want us to be together forever. Can you do it, Daddy?” Tammy asked.
“Don’t worry, baby. I promise you I’ll make your dreams come true.” Wayne smiled and said.
Nobody approved of the idea of him getting back with Anna, but he knew he had his daughter and son to back him up. He immediately felt renewed hope for the future.
When Anna emerged from the kitchen after preparing breakfast, she found that Wayne had already left. She suspected he was returning to work or would have spent another day at her house.
Outside, it was raining heavily again, and the sky was dark gray. Wayne drove himself to work. On the radio, he heard the morning news anchor predict a heavy rainstorm.
The rain was pouring harder and it lashed down heavily on the windshield, blurring everything ahead.
Wayne was a little distracted because he was thinking about how he could catch up with Anna. Just as he was about to come up with a good idea to win back Anna, he heard a loud braking sound. Then, his car collided with the car in front of him with a loud ‘bang.’
At that precise moment, Wayne felt as if the entire world was trembling. He lost consciousness after the airbag exploded in front of him.
“Because of the heavy rainstorm, a series of car accidents occurred on an overpass at 8:05 a.m. downtown. A drunk truck driver was responsible for this serious accident. Twelve people got injured or killed, and ambulances from the nearest hospital had just arrived on the scene. Many car accidents have occurred in numerous locations as a result of heavy rainfall. Please drive carefully!”
When she heard the news on the living room television, Anna had just finished washing the dishes. Her eyes widened, and she quickly took off her apron. Her phone rang at that precise moment, and it was her supervisor who was calling.
“Hello? Yeah, I saw the news and I’m heading to the hospital. I got it, I’ll be at the ER soon.”
Anna went to the hospital after hanging up the phone and telling Isabella to take care of Tammy.
Actually, she was on leave that day. But the hospital would get her back to work every time an accident happened. Whether they were on vacation or not, the doctors and nurses had to return to work as long as the hospital was understaffed.
The ambulances had already been back to the hospital entrance when Anna arrived. She didn’t even have time to change her clothes before rushing the patient into the emergency room with the rest of the patients.
As soon as she walked into the emergency room, she heard a nurse saying, “We should get him a chest X-ray to see if he has nerve damage on the left side of his chest. Get the chief of thoracic surgery to come over.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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