Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Samantha clutched the white cloth tightly and lifted it slowly while calling out Timothy’s name, “Timo—”

She was utterly stupefied when she laid eyes on the person under the cloth, so much so that her words got stuck in her throat.

Ronald was the one lying on the bed at that moment. He had a similarly awkward look on his face and was so mortified that his usually eloquent self could not even say a single word.

The two of them simply stared at each other in silence and there was an atmosphere of speechlessness in the air.

“Ahem.” Ronald could not take it any longer and cleared his throat to dispel the awkward silence.

Samantha blinked twice and returned to her senses slowly. “You… R-R-Ronald, why… Why are you here?”

She had clearly been calling out Timothy’s name.

“Well…because I’m here,” Ronald replied weakly. “I… When I… It was already very late when I finished handling everything last night, and someone has to stay in the hospital to keep watch. I decided to rest for a bit in this ward. Is that… Is there anything wrong with that?”

There was nothing wrong with that.

The nurse had probably misunderstood Ronald to be the man that she spoke about, hence the reason she was directed to the next ward.

Although…

“Why did you have to cover yourself with a white cloth when you were sleeping? And… Why…did you keep quiet when I recognized the wrong person?”

She bawled her eyes out—snot and all—through the white cloth earlier, and even said all those words to Roland! It was simply too humiliating for her!

Ronald felt wronged. “I was too tired and I slept too deeply. I probably covered my entire body without knowing it when I was sleeping. It’s not a white cloth though. It’s just a white bedsheet…

“Besides, I was still asleep when you came in and only woke up when you started crying. When you said that stuff, I didn’t think it was appropriate to interrupt you, because then it’d be really embarrassing…”

Samantha scoffed. “And is this any less embarrassing?”

“I didn’t know that you were going to lift the white cloth. I was going to continue pretending to be dead.”

Samantha closed her eyes.

What else could she do after making such a fool of herself?

It was not like she could undo what she did and regain her dignity again.

All of that was beside the point—her main concern was Timothy!

Samantha took a deep breath and stared at Ronald with reddened eyes. She asked in a muted voice, “Where’s Timothy? How is he? Is he… Is he okay?”

When she asked Ronald that question, his expression sank all of a sudden and his eyes turned ashen.

Samantha had a bad feeling and gulped a couple of times. Her hands clenched unconsciously and her voice became a little faint. “Ronald… Timothy’s fine…. Right?”

Ronald let out a deep sigh. He got out of bed, stood in front of Samantha, and tried to explain in a very calm tone. “Mr. Barker was stabbed in the heart by Penelope when he tried to save you. After you fainted, Penelope went nuts and wanted to continue attacking you, but Mr. Barker shielded you both times. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Yates then rushed over just in time to stop Penelope. Mr. and Mrs. Yates sent both of you to the hospital. You were ushered into the ward after getting your wounded treated because all you had was a skin injury, in addition to being drunk. Mr. Barker, on the other hand, was in a critical condition. He was sent directly to the operating room.

“He lost too much blood, and…” He paused abruptly, as if there were some things he could not say, and skipped directly to another topic, “…the point is, the operation went on for some time and it wasn’t until dawn that it ended. Fortunately, his life is not in danger for now, but he hasn’t woken up yet and is still under observation in the ICU.”

“I’m still keeping this from the old lady. I’m afraid to tell her because I’m worried that she might not be able to take it due to her old age. I’ve stopped any news outlets from picking up on this too, otherwise it would only cause panic within the company.”

Succinct though Ronald’s statement was, it was still capable of shaking Samantha to the core.

After Samantha listened to it, she clenched her hands into such tight fists that her nails sank deep into the palm of her hand. Her voice trembled severely as she said, “I… I want to see…Timothy. Bring me to him.”

“Okay.”

Ronald started walking and led the way. As soon as Samantha lifted her foot, her body swayed slightly and Ronald had to hurriedly reach out and support her. He asked concernedly, “Are you alright, Mrs. Barker? Perhaps you should go back to the ward and have more rest if you still can’t hold yourself up?”

What was he going to do if she collapsed?

“I’m fine. Let’s go!” Samantha shook her head and said firmly.

“Let me help you there then.”

Ronald supported her carefully and brought her to the intensive care unit.

After putting on their personal protective equipment, Samantha walked into the intensive care unit and saw an extremely familiar scene in front of her.

She had set foot into that kind of ward to visit Corey some time ago, but Corey had not been able to wake up yet ever since that day.

Samantha was immensely worried that Timothy…would end up like Corey and slip into a coma.

She walked slowly to the bedside and saw Timothy lying quietly on the hospital bed. There were numerous different tubes and medical equipment stuck in his body and his face was completely pale.

Never in her life had she seen Timothy as weak and pale as he was then. She always knew him to be someone who could keep a straight face even when a gangster pointed a gun to his heart.

He had always been a powerful man, regardless of the time and place.

He was only lying there because of her.

Samantha sat on the chair next to the bed and reached out to hold his hand. It was very cold to the touch and she shuddered a little as a result, but she continued holding it tighter and tighter in an attempt to warm his hand.

“Timothy.” Samantha’s tears had run dry by then but every word she said was like a tear being shed. “When I saved your life last time and became unconscious, did you sit beside my bed like this? Did you hold me and talk to me just like how I’m doing right now?

“I don’t know how you felt back then, but right now I’m feeling very scared and very sad. I just dreamt that you came and said goodbye to me. Before my grandfather passed away, I had the same kind of dream at noon. After that, I received a call informing me that he was gone. I’m scared, Timothy… I’m scared the same thing will happen too…

“I… There’s still a lot of things I have to tell you. I have a few questions too, and I still haven’t gotten the chance to ask you. Plus, don’t I still owe you two conditions? You always told me that capitalists never enter into business deals if it means having to suffer losses. In that case, you should wake up and ask me to fulfill those two conditions, right? Shouldn’t you make sure that I don’t get the better end of the deal?”

The man on the hospital bed still remained motionless, but his pulse rate displayed on the monitoring device was starting to become weaker and weaker.

Samantha became increasingly flustered. Her eyes became foggy and her voice was extremely hoarse. “As it turns out, all those so-called conflicts we had are just so insignificant and ridiculous when you take life in perspective, Timothy. Please. Don’t die. If you can hang in there and survive, I’ll promise you the world.

“I… I’ll never mention divorce to you again, and I’m…I’m willing to give you a baby, okay?”