Chapter 22
Emma watched Issac’s vulnerability with uncertainty. Something made her want to shield him from this pain. “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping. Mr. Hernandez, but have you considered really talking to Evelyn? And Eva… could she possibly be your daughter?”
“No,” Issac gave a bitter smile, shaking his head. “If only she were.”
Emma was too young to understand how much pain and regret that sigh carried – the weight of actions Issac would never forgive himself for.
“Fractured,” the doctor diagnosed, glancing at Issac’s flushed face. “You’re running a fever too?”
He reached to check Issac’s temperature, but Issac politely blocked his hand. He knew the fever came from his morning medication abuse and standing in the cold. He nodded dismissively.
“I’ll get it cast, but there are more important matters now.”
While Emma watched over Eva, Issac insisted on returning to the operating room, though they’d urged him to see orthopedics first.
As he’d suspected, the pain had numbed somewhat. He left the clinic without treatment.
The surgery light was still red. “Isn’t it finished?” he asked a nurse.
“She’s been moved to intensive care. This is another surgery.”
He exhaled sharply in relief, suddenly dizzy. As he stumbled, his injured ankle gave way – he’d never felt more pathetic.
Yet for the first time in days, he smiled genuinely.
Emma’s words echoed in his mind. Issac knew her suggestion was just a kind outsider’s comfort, but he couldn’t help wondering: now that Evelyn had survived, was there a chance she might forgive him?
Perhaps deep down, Issac harbored hopes he dared not acknowledge – of reconciling with Evelyn.
They had once been so in love. Everyone at university knew them as the perfect couple, even their professors openly blessed their relationship. Evelyn had been the happiest girl in the world then.
He still wanted to make her happy.
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Chapter 22
Issac rubbed his face, knowing these were futile fantasies, yet even such dreams brought him joy. Human nature was strange – before, he’d only hoped to see her once more; now he dreamed of holding her hand forever.
He was too greedy.
With these secret thoughts, Issac approached the ICU. Through the glass walls, he saw Lucas bend down and gently kiss Evelyn’s cheek.
“Thank you,” Lucas said, his eyes red with tears. “Thank you for waking up, Evelyn.”
Still groggy, Evelyn touched Lucas’s face, her hand lined with IV tubes. Her lips moved behind the oxygen
mask.
“Thank you,” she whispered, eyes closed. “Lucas. Without you, I might have died three years ago. I wouldn’t have had Eva, wouldn’t have this chance at happiness…‘
Lucas’s tears fell on her cheeks. Evelyn gave a soft laugh. “Thank you for loving me.”
“Silly,” Lucas smiled through his tears. “That’s my line.”
Through the oxygen mask, he gave his love a tender kiss.
Issac stood outside the glass, frozen like ice. He was too intelligent not to understand why Evelyn and Lucas were only now expressing their feelings.
Evelyn, ever thoughtful and kind, knew her surgery’s success wasn’t guaranteed. That’s why she’d waited until after, to open her heart to Lucas.
No pain had ever cut so deep. Compared to the agony in his heart and stomach, his fractured ankle
seemed trivial.
Issac stumbled away, unable to watch the couple’s quiet embrace. Leaning against the wall, he broke
down in tears.
Everyone agreed to hide Eva’s allergic shock from Evelyn. After her surgery, the last thing she needed
was more worry.
While Lucas wondered how to explain allergies to Eva, she’d already figured out what to tell her mother.
“Mommy loves me so much. I’ll just say I don’t like peanuts, then she won’t give me any.”
Emma nodded. “Our Eva is so clever.”
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She hadn’t known if her earlier words to Issac had any effect, until she saw Lucas kiss Evelyn’s cheek after feeding her liquid food. She was too shocked to speak
“Brother, you love Evelyn?”
“You just noticed?” Lucas said wryly. “We’re together now…”
He spoke with some hesitation. Though Evelyn hadn’t rejected his kisses, she hadn’t directly said she
loved him. He waited anxiously for her verdict.
Emma was stunned. Only now did she realize why her usually difficult cousin would care so devotedly for someone – love was the only explanation.
“But what about Eva? Why does she call you uncle?”
Lucas’s expression darkened as he finally understood Emma’s confusion. He thought of Eva’s background.
“Do you remember my sister?”
Emma certainly did.
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