Chapter 33
The sun gradually sunk behind the horizon as night took over.
Naomi’s eyelashes quivered for a split second before she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the theorescent light directly above her head, accompanied by the unfamiliar scent of disinfectant, like she was in a hospital.
Naomi was asleep for so long that her mind went blank. She had no idea where she was at. She glanced around her unfamiliar surroundings and finally, her gaze landed on the man next to her. Charles’s eyes were shut as he slumped against the edge of her bed. His eyelashes shuddered with every breath he took, and Naomi’s gaze swept over his chiseled nose and full lips.
He was fast asleep.
All of a sudden, Naomi was overcome by a flurry of images as her memory caught up with her. She finally remembered what happened the day before, but the last thing she recalled was falling asleep on the couch of the hotel room, so what was she doing here at a hospital?
Naomi glanced around her room once more. She was in a single–bed hospital room with an en– suite bathroom.
Then she turned to stare at Charles. Even while asleep, his face was etched with exhaustion.
Although Naomi did not know what brought her to the hospital, she knew that Charles must have been utterly exhausted by this tiring journey.
Naomi noticed that Charles was only wearing a thin shirt, so she propped herself up to try to cover him with her blanket. However, she forgot all about her burn, and an excruciating pain shot through her arm at this motiork
She instinctively let out a whimper.
Charles stirred. He sat up in his chair with a rather dazed look but immediately perked up when he realized Naomi was awake. “Hey, you’re finally awake.”
He reached out to feel her forehead. She was back to normal now, and no longer had a fever.
“How are you feeling? You seem better.”
Naomi was rather apologetic at having awoken Charles by accident. “I’m sorry for being such a burden, Charles.”
“It’s fine, Naomi. How are you feeling now? Does it hurt anywhere? Is there anything I can help with?
“I’m feeling much better now.”
Charles suddenly recalled the sound he overheard in his sleep and realized that Naomi probably accidentally tugged on her wound when trying to get up. “Are you trying to sit up in bed?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“I’ll help you.”
Naomi knew that she was not supposed to move her arm any further, so she nodded and allowed Charles to prop her up in the bed.
He tucked a pillow behind her back and added, “I went down to the hotel reception to request a nurse that could help you, but when we returned, you fell asleep on the couch. You were running aCòntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
fever, so I brought you to the hospital immediately. The doctors said you need to be kept here for observation for a few days.”
Naomi nodded. She turned to glance out the window at the night sky. She promised her parents that they would be back that day, but it seemed that their return would unfortunately have to be delayed. ”
Charles.”
“You need to call your parents?” Charles interjected before she could even finish.
Naomi chuckled. “Yes.”
Charles smiled, then took her phone out of a drawer and handed it to her. “I was waiting for you to wake up before calling your parents.”
With that, he took his phone out of his pocket and said, “Tell me your dad’s number, I’ll call him from here.”
Since Naomi could not even move her arm, there was no way she could dial her parents‘ number herself, but Charles did not want to use her phone out of respect for her privacy, so he offered to help call Naomi’s father on his phone instead.
Naomi understood what Charles was trying to do and smiled. “It’s fine, Charles. You can use my phone. I’ll talk to them directly.”
“Okay then.”
Naomi gave
Charles her phone password and he unlocked it.
“Just go into the call history. My dad’s number’s on there.”
“Okay.”
Charles tapped on the call history, and a familiar name caught his eye.