Chapter 69
Rosalie watched the nurse’s work in silence throughout. Even when she saw the unsightly wounds on her palm, her expression remained unchanged.
It wasn’t until the nurse rebandaged Rosalie’s right hand, causing a slight twinge of pain, that her eyebrows furrowed involuntarily, but she didn’t make a sound or cry out in pain.
“Let me do it. You can go now,” Jonathan said to the nurse.
The nurse then respectfully left the room. Jonathan took the gauze and skillfully wrapped it around Rosalie’s right hand. His movements were gentle and cautious, which almost made her right hand feel no pain at all.
Once the bandaging was done, he put down the gauze and said, “Try not to use your right hand for the next few days and don’t clench your fist tightly like you did just now. How much more blood do you want to lose?”
She looked at the neatly wrapped bandage he had applied. “You seem quite skilled at this.”
A fleeting darkness passed through his eyes. “I learned some basic bandaging when I was a kid.” Back then, his father had searched everywhere for his mother, and sometimes, he would grab anyone who looked remotely like her on the street, leading to his fair share of beatings.
Thus, he had often ended up tending to his father’s wounds, and over time, he became skilled at it.
But after his father’s death, he hadn’t bandaged anyone until now. Rosalie was an exception.
“Don’t grab broken mirror shards like that again from now on. You got lucky this time for not damaging any Otherwise, your hand might have been permanently disabled,” Jonathan warned.
tendons.
Rosalie bit her lip. “But if I hadn’t done that last night, I wouldn’t have been able to stay conscious. I might have passed out, and then…. Who knows what they would have done to me.”
“Does it hurt?” he asked. The scene from last night, with her clutching the shards and blood steadily dripping from her hands when he barged in was still etched in his mind.
He had never seen a woman exhibit such incredible willpower. Even in a state of semi-consciousness, her determination held firm
“It’s bearable,” she replied and lowered her gaze. “Actually, this pain is nothing to me. Jon, do you know? Even if you had lied to me. I’m still grateful to you for saving me yesterday. In the past, when I was in prison, no matter how much I begged or – pleaded, no one ever let the go. That was because I oflended the one person that I should never cross paths with. So, that
suffering became what I deserved.”
After a pause, she took a deep breath and continued, “But last night was different. When I was in pain, you came, and it made me feel like I wasn’t so alone.”
She spoke softly, unaware that his expression had subtly soured as she spoke..
If there was anything that Jonathan regretted, it was that he had allowed those people to harm her in the prison back then.
Originally, he hadn’t cared about the suffering of a woman in jail, and even if someone died there, it was just a passing matter to him.
But now, he didn’t want her to suffer even the slightest harm.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
Rosalie looked up at him in puzzlement. “What are you apologizing for? If you hadn’t come yesterday, I wouldn’t be safe
now.”
She thought he was apologizing for what happened last night. When she considered what her fate might have been if he hadn’t shown up, she could almost envision it
There’s a possibility that she could be imprisoned in the Foster family and forced to bear a child for them. The thought of it made Rosalie’s face turn pale even more.
Then, summoning every ounce of courage within her, she continued, “It’s just that I have offended Jonathan. Back then, the Xanthos family was afraid that I would bring trouble to them, so Zachary broke up with me. Now that you’re helping me like this, if Jonathan gets angry…”
She speculated that he might be the kind of wealthy individual who possibly had business dealings with the Youngblood family. After all, the Youngblood family had its fingers in many pies in Strico. Some industries were even monopolized by them, leading to the city occasionally being jestingly referred to as the Youngblood family’s city.
Jonathan’s throat tightened slightly. At this moment, he couldn’t bring himself to reveal that he was Jonathan himself.
He clearly had planned to reveal his identity to her.
Under the room light, her long hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her face was adorned with a hint of pallor. Her almond-shaped eyes, with a stark contrast of black and white, were fixed on him. They were filled with anxiety as if she was
worried about something, yet also resigned to it at the same time.
It was as if life had already burdened her with too much weight and hardship, and she had long resigned herself to accepting all the injustices.
“Rosie, you should focus on recovering in the hospital. Don’t dwell on anything else. Once you’re discharged, I’ll tell you. who I am. Jonathan said.
She looked at him and nodded hesitantly.
Asi
if she had spoken her worries out, Rosalie yawned, and her eyelids began to droop.
“Go to sleep if you’re tired. The doctor mentioned you might be a bit drowsy these days,” Jonathan said as he helped Rosalie lie down
Rosalie drifted off to sleep in no time.
Jonathan gazed at Rosalie’s sleeping face, liis lips pressed together tightly. His fingers lightly traced her cheek before lingering on her lips.
“Rosie, how should I tell you?”
The only response he received was a profound silence.
When Rosalie woke up, she saw that Jonathan was still sitting by her bedside, wearing the same clothes as before.
“Are you hungry? Should I have some food brought up for you?” he asked.
As he mentioned it, she realized that she was indeed quite hungry..
Rosalic nodded.
“All right. Let me take you to the bathroom first so you can freshen up before we cat,” Jonathan said and lifted Rosalie effortlessly from the bed.
“I can manage… Before Rosalie could finish her words, she found herself lifted into the air, and she instinctively clung to Jonathan’s neck.
He carried her into the bathroom and carefully set her on the edge of the sink. Then, he helped her to put on a pair of soft slippers before gently placing her on the floor.
“Can you stand still?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied softly. At this moment, he stood behind her, his arms resting on both sides of her body on the sink, effectively holding her in his embrace.
Although her feet were planted firmly on the ground, she felt as if she were floating.
When she looked up, she found herself facing the mirror mounted above the sink, providing a clear view of both her and him at that moment.
