Ashton nodded. “Are you hungry?”
I suddenly felt as though he was the one taking care of me instead of the other way round.
I parroted his question back to him. “Are you hungry?”
Cameron stirred in her sleep and woke up. She stared at Ashton and I for a few seconds before looking at the time on her phone.
Seeing that it was already past noon, she got up and poured me a glass of water. “Here, drink something. Your father went home to make lunch. He should be back any minute.”
I froze for a moment before taking the glass of water from her. I turned to Ashton and asked, “How are you feeling? Do you feel any better?”
He nodded. “It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
Cameron got up and headed to the toilet. When she came back out, she wiped her hands on a paper towel and asked, “What do the both of you fancy for lunch?”
Ashton shook his head, expressing his indifference. He turned to me and asked, “Do you have anything you want to eat?”
I thought for a while before shrugging. “Anything’s fine!”
Off the top of my head, I couldn’t think of anything I really wanted to eat.
Cameron picked up her bag and left the room. My phone, which I had neglected since coming into the hospital, rang loudly all of a sudden. Emery was calling me.
She sounded rather sharp over the phone. “How are you doing? Are you feeling alright? Which hospital did they send you to?”
Faced with her barrage of questions, I felt rather confused. After a short pause, I replied, “I’m fine. I’m at a hospital in W City right now. I’ll only make my way back to K City in a few days.”
Emery snorted loudly before saying, “I know you’re in W City. I was asking which hospital you’re in.”
“I’m in Medwin Hospital. Is there something wrong?”
“I’ll be coming to look for you in a short while. Have you eaten yet?”
I felt rather stunned. Shooting a glance out of the window, I stammered, “When did you arrive in W City?”
“I just got off the plane, as a matter of fact. Let’s talk more later. Send me the hospital address via text, won’t you? I’ll be there very soon.” She hung up the phone immediately.
Ashton looked at me and smiled. “Was that Emery?”
I nodded and put my phone away. “She’s heavily pregnant now. I don’t think we should let her run around the city in her condition—it won’t be safe for her.”
Agreeing with me, he nodded. “Go and pick her up, then. Be careful.”
I nodded and called the nurse over to change his bandages. With that, I turned and left the hospital.
Emery insisted that she would be taking a cab to the hospital and told me not to go and pick her up. However, I still felt a little worried for her. I called a cab for her and personally told the driver where to drop her off, before making arrangements for a room at our hotel.
Thankfully, the hospital wasn’t far from the airport. Emery arrived half an hour later and stowed her luggage away at the hotel first.
Although she was wearing maternity clothes that were loose and drab, it was quite obvious that her stomach had swollen alarmingly.
As she put her clothes away in the drawers, she turned to me and asked, “It’s going to be new year’s eve soon, and it has started to snow heavily in K City. Are the both of you going to celebrate the new year in W City?”
I sighed gently. “We haven’t actually decided yet. Ashton is heavily injured, so he might have to stay here and recuperate for some time.”
Emery finished putting her clothes away and shot me a side glance, looking rather solemn. “The Crest family has been throwing their weight around for years. It’s time somebody put them in their place.”
“The Crest family didn’t hire a man to do it—it was Jared Crest himself. He never really got over the incident with the Fullers’ youngest daughter, and Macy leaving him proved to be the last straw for him. He was very mentally unstable.”
Emery sat down on the sofa and sighed heavily. “Gosh, that guy is a mess. What else does he have to live for? Most grudges are best left in the past or resolved—otherwise, you start going crazy and harming everyone around you.”
I bowed my head and mulled over her words. Life was full of twists and turns. How could Emery be so sure in her judgment that Jared’s actions were wrong?
Seeing me remain silent, she asked, “What did the Crest family say about this matter?”
I shook my head despondently. “I’m not sure, actually. Ashton seems to have no intention of investigating the situation further. Instead, he passed on the case to the police—Jared will probably be rotting in prison for the next few years.”
Emery frowned and said rather sadly, “If I remember correctly, he should be about thirty-five or six now. He’ll be in his forties by the time he’s released from prison. Since he’s a member of the Crest family, there will be a great deal of talk about him.”
I pressed my lips together tightly, unsure of how to reply.
We chatted for a while longer. Since it was rather late at night, I thought Emery might want to rest in her hotel room first. However, she insisted on following me back to the hospital to take a look at Ashton.
Truthfully, I wasn’t so sure about leaving her alone in the hotel. I agreed to her request immediately.
We arrived in the hospital, where Zachary and Cameron had already laid out dinner for us. It was still the same old soup, but they had made other dishes as well.
Seeing Emery and me, Zachary turned to Emery and scolded, “Why are you running around the city when you’re so heavily pregnant? Are you trying to make all of us worried about you?”
In a rather mischievous tone, Emery replied, “I’m only a few months into my pregnancy! I can still walk around outside if I feel like it, you know. When my stomach gets too big, I’ll make sure to sit quietly at home and mind my own business.”
Zachary shot her a look and didn’t say anything else.
Cameron laid out the plates and looked at me. “Come and sit down. Let’s have dinner first—we can talk about other matters later.”
Zachary pursed his lips. He turned to Emery again—instead of yelling at her, he told her to finish her food and return to the hotel immediately.
A few moments later, Hunter arrived, claiming that he was too worried to let her run wild around the city by herself.
The two of them seemed to be fighting. Like a couple who was having a lover’s quarrel, they made snide remarks to each other throughout dinner and left quickly.
Cameron and Zachary refused to let me watch over Ashton by myself anymore and insisted on staying behind with me.
Left with no other choice, I agreed reluctantly. They could do whatever they pleased.
Thankfully, the hospital room was large enough, and there were even a few sofas in addition to the bed. However, with so many people around, I didn’t feel as comfortable as I would be at home.
