Chapter 53
Chapter 53
The car sped along the highway. Greg felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat any second. Isn't this woman supposed to be all bossy and stuck up? Didn't she say that she doesn't want to have anything to do with me? So why did she block the attack for me? She had gone to Rorea for surgery, so there's no reason for her to rush back. Unless… Did she rush back to tell me that someone was trying to harm me? Greg's mind was spinning—he couldn't understand why Abigail did what she did. All he knew was that his mind was a mess because of her.
Once they got to the hospital, Greg carried her directly to the operation theater. There was already a doctor there waiting for her. Once the operation theater's doors shut, Greg stared at the red lights above the door as his heart continued racing. He had never felt so anxious before, not even when he had gotten injured. When he thought about his interaction with Abigail in the office, he felt more guilty than ever.
"We managed to find something, Mr. Buckley. Jason's from their gang," Troy hurried over and whispered in Greg's ear. Greg's gaze darkened as a hateful look flashed in his eyes. "What else did he say?" Greg asked.
"After Dr. Kain saved Old Madam Buckley when Old Madam Buckley experienced hemorrhaging again, it was also their men who had pretended to be a doctor and sneaked into the ward to drug Old Madam Buckley. If Dr. Kain hadn't managed to save her in time, perhaps Old Madam Buckley might have…" Troy didn't finish his sentence, but Greg understood what he meant. An icy look formed on Greg's face.
"Get rid of him. You know what to do with the body," Greg ordered.
"Got it." Troy left after that. Greg took a seat on the bench outside and stared at the bright light indicating that surgery was in progress. He didn't know Abigail's condition, and this made him more
anxious than ever. Yet, there was nothing he could do. It seems like I misunderstood her all along.
He felt the urge to smoke a cigarette, but he couldn't do it since he was in the hospital. The surgery went on for two hours. The moment the lights went off, Greg shot up to his feet before rushing over. "How is she, doctor?"
"Dr. Kain's injury isn't that deep, and it didn't pierce through her heart. However, her gastric issue is rather serious, probably because she doesn't eat regularly. I've already treated her wounds, but it seems like she hasn't been resting well. She was really tired, so I think she might sleep for a while longer. You don't have to worry about her, Mr. Buckley." The doctor was worried that Greg might get anxious if Abigail didn't wake up soon, so the doctor hastily explained the situation.
Greg knitted his brows together. Did she not get enough rest? Yeah! She rushed to Rorea for surgery, and she probably didn't rest before coming back here. How could she have gotten enough rest? "I got it." Greg pushed Abigail over to the ICU himself.
The ward was extremely quiet, and Greg sat in front of her bed while staring at her face. Her usual arrogant look had been replaced with a weak and pale one that made Greg's heart ache. Only then did he realize that she was just a soft and gentle woman, after all!
Yet, this soft woman was also the one who stood in front of a knife for him. Greg didn't know what he was feeling, but he knew that everything was messed up.
Soon enough, a fever plagued Abigail. Her cheeks turned rosy red, and she knitted her brows together as she seemed to have dreamt of something bad. The nightmare clung to her, and she couldn't wake up at all.
Greg hastily held her hand, which was moist with sweat. Greg intended to get a pail of water to clean her body with a towel, but he couldn't get her to let go of his hand. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone!" Abigail mumbled as a tear trickled down the corner of her eye.
The sight of the weak woman made Greg's heart flutter a little, and he instinctively squeezed her hand. "I'm not leaving; I'll always be here with you." Perhaps it was because she heard Greg's voice, or perhaps she had fallen back to sleep, but Abigail went quiet after that. Greg hastily took this chance to pull his hand away before he got warm water to clean her face. When her temperature grew higher, he used a cold, wet towel to cool her down.
Greg had never treated a person, let alone a woman, so thoughtfully. Even though they had slept together, Greg still felt rather shy as he cleaned and wiped her body. He could even feel his mouth turning numb.
She's too arrogant when she's awake, she's too crazy when in bed, but she's so alluring now that she's ill. Just the sight of her makes my heart ache for her. Is she a witch? After Greg was done wiping her body, he realized that his entire back was soaked in sweat.
He was the almighty Mr. Buckley, but here he was in this state. How could a woman do this to him? Others would laugh if they heard about this! Fortunately, Abigail was fast asleep. Greg comforted himself with that thought as he went to get another pail of water. After working to cool her down for two hours, Abigail's fever finally went down.
Greg was exhausted. He sat in front of Abigail's bed and pulled his phone out to tell Troy to prepare some food for Arianna before bringing her home and playing with her for a while. After that, Greg personally gave Swanson Hut's manager a call to tell them to prepare some porridge and other easily- digestible foods.
After ending the call, Greg sensed a cold glare fixed on him. He spun his head sideways to find Abigail glaring at him without blinking at all. "You're up? Do you feel better?" Greg's voice was much gentler.
Abigail had to check that she wasn't dreaming when she realized that Greg was the one who had taken care of her. She widened her eyes when she was finally sure of it. "Did they catch the man?"
"Yeah. It's all thanks to you. You saved my life. You can have anything you want in return—I'll give you anything as long as it's within my ability," Greg offered. He was doing it out of kindness—after all, he was used to thanking people by giving them money or materials. However, he didn't realize how unpleasant it sounded to Abigail.
"I don't need money, nor do I need you to repay me. I just wanted to return the favor after what you did for me at the ancestral hall. We don't owe each other anything from now on. I want to sleep. Get out!" Abigail's tone wasn't too nice.
Greg was grumpy since she kept chasing him away, but he suppressed his emotions when he saw her pale face. "You go ahead and sleep, then. I'll be smoking outside. You can call me if you need anything. I've ordered food, and it will be here soon. Your stomach is weak, so you should eat some food even if you don't have the appetite."
However, Abigail only ignored his statement and shut her eyes. Soon enough, her breathing turned soft and even. Once again, Greg had been ignored by her. He bit his lower lip and glared at the woman on the bed. He wanted to do something, but he only ended up storming out of the room without doing anything else.
After smoking a cigarette outside, the nicotine calmed his temper down a little. Swanson Hut's manager had arrived with the food by then. "Your dishes, Mr. Buckley."
"Pass it to me." Greg took the food from the man before taking long strides back to the ward. Abigail had yet to wake up. Since Greg recalled what the doctor said about Abigail being exhausted, Greg didn't bother waking her up. Instead, he left the food on the table before heading to Valerie's room.
After all the rest Valerie had gotten in recent days, she felt much better. When she saw Greg, she let out a scoff. "Oh, you're finally visiting me? Aren't you busy?"
"Stop being all sarcastic, Mom. Abigail got injured because she was trying to make sure I didn't get stabbed." Greg sat down in front of Valerie.
"What did you just say? What happened?" Valerie frowned. Greg explained the situation to Valerie, and he even told her about the source of her hemorrhaging incident. Valerie's face darkened immediately. "Those people are getting too much! They were really trying to kill us both, huh?" she hissed. "I'm thinking of counter-attacking them. We can't continue avoiding this, especially since they had hurt Abigail," she uttered.
Greg's gaze dimmed as he thought about it for a moment. Hatred flashed in his eyes. "No."
Valerie grabbed Greg's hand as she shook her head. "Dr. Kain is a good person, and we owe her too much. Listen to me and chase after her, Greg. Turn her into my daughter-in-law. That way, her kid will be in the family too."
Greg was speechless when he heard Valerie. "There are a lot of ways to thank someone, Mom. I don't necessarily have to do it by marrying her. Stop rushing me, okay? Anyway, I was here to see you, but I should leave now that you're fine. Abigail has some stomach issues, so I'd like to see if she's awake. I need to get her to eat something. I promised Arianna that I would do that." Then, Greg stood up and left.
The corner of Valerie's eyes crinkled as she watched him leave. He may claim that he's rejecting my idea, but I've never seen him care for a woman so much. Valerie was pleased, and she knew that she no longer had to nag him about it.
Once Greg returned to Abigail's ward, he found that the food in the container was gone. However, Abigail was still fast asleep. What's going on? Did someone come in to steal her food? Greg checked Abigail's breathing and found that she was indeed fast asleep.
But where did the food go? Greg knitted his brows together before he decided to check the CCTVs. He headed to the control room, where the staff members quickly pulled the tapes out. They didn't want to take their time with it as they heard that Greg had lost something.
Greg checked to find that Abigail had woken up a while after he left. When she saw the food on the table, she opened the container and gobbled up the food. She ate so quickly that it almost looked like someone was trying to snatch her food from her. She wasn't elegant at all. Greg frowned as he stared at her. Did she not eat for three days?
After Abigail finished the meal, she took a napkin and cleaned her mouth before lying down and sleeping again. Greg was utterly speechless at this point. Did she just go back to sleep after eating? No wonder her stomach is upset all the time. Has she always eaten and slept so quickly? Greg was rather troubled.
"Do you doctors always eat and sleep like that?" Greg asked. The staff in the control room quickly explained, "Most of the doctors in the emergency room do this. There are too many cases in the emergency room each day, so they don't have time to eat and sleep. They would just make it quick before going back to work."
When Greg heard what the staff member said, concern appeared in his eyes for a second, but he didn't say much else. He simply returned to Abigail's room and stared at her face while she slept. All of a sudden, he raised his hand to touch her cheek. You're a woman, but why are you living life like you're a man?Content © NôvelDrama.Org.