Although Christopher’s parents came to the hospital frequently these days, I hadn’t bumped into them until today. Now that we finally met, I felt that I wasn’t mentally ready for the encounter.
“How are you, Mrs. Lane?” Although I couldn’t see anything, I still pinched my fingers nervously and didn’t know where to lay my gaze.
“Don’t be nervous. The Lane family owes you a lot because you saved Chris. I’m more than grateful to you,” Julia said gently. “You were sleeping when I visited you yesterday. Now, you seem to have recovered a lot. Anyway, feel free to tell me whenever you need anything.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need anything. The nurses here take good care of me,” I immediately replied.
“That’s great!” Julia then came up to me to wheel my wheelchair out of the ward. I turned around and gazed at him as I left reluctantly. After all, I wished to stay with him all day if I had a choice.
“Chris woke up for a while this morning. Injecting too much anesthetic for him will harm his heath, yet he will feel the pain without it. Therefore, the doctor said it is best to let him sleep rather than inject any anesthetic. Anyway, let’s go out and talk.” Julia explained his situation to him considerately, probably because she knew that I was worried about him.
However, I couldn’t help but feel perturbed by the sense of distance. Besides, when the doctor checked up on me yesterday, she and Monica had happened to pass by my ward. I heard that she talked to Monica affectionately; she used the same tone she always did when she spoke with Christopher. In other words, she probably treated Monica as her daughter-in-law.
We went to the garden outside and stopped at the pavilion, where some patients loved catching some sun. Julia asked her subordinate to help me sit in the wheelchair and handed some food to me. I loved the fruits and ate quite a lot because they tasted sweet, soft, and delicious.
“Feel free to have more. These dates are air-freighted from Italy and help replenish blood. I think you can’t buy these from the markets.”
My heart sank upon hearing it. Deep down, I felt that the dates symbolized a huge gap between Christopher and I. He was rich enough to afford fruits that were air-freighted. On the contrary, I thought apples were expensive and always saved them for him whenever I could.
“Chris is a stubborn kid. He always strived to be the first in everything at school and refuses to admit defeat. There was a time when he learned Taekwondo, and someone defeated him. He cried and asked his dad to teach him fighting skills. We laughed and explained that a five-year-old kid could hardly fight a seven-year-old kid. However, he continued learning fighting skills for two months and eventually defeated the kid.”
Then, the woman stared at me meaningfully and continued, “He wants to be the best in whatever he does. So, I’m always worried that he is overly strong-willed and can’t stand it when people laugh at him. You won’t hope that people will laugh at him one day, will you?”
“Mrs. Lane.” I was startled and unsure of how to respond to her statement. Deep down, I wondered if she was hinting that people would laugh at Christopher because of our enormous gap in social status.
“Although the Lane family isn’t noble in Avenport, we are still widely respected. The reporters will spread any news about us. Besides, since my eldest son is a politician, we can’t afford to have any bad news.”
I stopped eating the dates she offered. After marrying Christopher, I used to imagine numerous times about my first encounter with his parents. Honestly, it was a lot better than what I had imagined before.
In the eyes of others, I was a notorious girl. After all, I had once been framed for taking things without permission, bullying my sister, and even attempting to steal money at a party. Even though I had never done such things, no outsiders would believe me.
“We appreciate your kindness for saving Chris and everything you’ve done for him,” Suddenly, Julia proposed, “May I suggest accepting you as my goddaughter? I promise to treat you like my daughter. If you wish to get married, I can recommend some good young men for you. I’m sure you’ll be satisfied.”
