Mia Grant had wanted to find a time to send them out, but she was worried one of them might break the rules and open them prematurely.
In the end, she placed her hopes in Carla Sinclair.
"I’m sorry to trouble you."
"On the day of my surgery, if..."
"Give these to them then."
If what? The unspoken question hung between them.
’Mia Grant didn’t want to die. She felt no one was more of a coward than she was.’
’She didn’t want to jinx herself; she should be more optimistic.’
But after everything she had been through, she couldn’t help but silently prepare for the worst.
No one ever knew what the next second might bring.
Not even Mia Grant, with her memories of three different worlds.
That night, neither Mia Grant nor Carla Sinclair slept. It felt like a late-night chat session in a dorm room after lights-out.
The two of them talked for a long time.
Most of the time, it was Mia Grant doing all the talking.
’It was strange. She had already said so much in front of the others that evening, yet her urge to talk was still just as strong.’
Carla Sinclair was a very good listener.
Even when she didn’t quite understand what Mia Grant was saying, she never interrupted.
For instance, Mia said, "I’m so happy I met you. This is the first time I’ve ever known what it feels like to have a home."
"It’s the best gift I’ve received on this journey."
Having not slept all night, Mia Grant spent the next day catching up on sleep.
Kian Keller stayed by her bedside, watching her sleep for the entire day. At first, he worried that her constant sleeping was a sign that something was wrong, so he even called a doctor to check on her.
He ended up waking Mia Grant, who, in a fit of groggy irritation, shot him a fierce glare that ironically managed to soothe his frantic nerves.
It wasn’t his fault for being on edge; her current condition demanded constant vigilance.
He thought something was wrong if she ate even one bite less than usual.
Mia Grant slept until dusk.
When she woke up, the human statue keeping vigil by her bed had changed.
Seeing that she was awake, Ian Sinclair blinked but didn’t dare make a sound, afraid she wasn’t fully conscious yet and he might disturb her.
Mia Grant stared at him for a few seconds before rubbing her eyes.
"I want some water."
Her voice was a little hoarse. She had talked too much the day before.
Ian Sinclair immediately stood up. "What do you want for dinner?" he asked as he poured her a glass of water.
"What are my options?" Mia Grant asked, sitting up on her own.
Ian Sinclair handed her the water and thought for a moment. "Well, there’s the nutritional meal plan from the Sinclair Family, the one from the Hughes Corp’s private kitchen, the Keller Family’s..."
Mia Grant stared at him silently, and Ian Sinclair instinctively trailed off.
It seemed like she had many choices, but in reality, it was just picking between the various nutritional meal plans provided by their families.
And while they tried to make them interesting, the meals were all more or less the same.
The memory of the nutritional meals from her last hospital stay was still vivid.
The thought alone made Mia Grant lose her appetite.
Ian Sinclair hesitated before asking what she wanted to eat.
"I’ll go get it for you."
Mia Grant glanced at him, realizing he was offering to bend the rules for her.
’But when she actually tried to think of something she wanted, her mind went blank. There didn’t seem to be anything she was craving.’
Her appetite had been terrible for the past few days.
"Never mind, I’ll just have one of the meal plans."
Ian Sinclair breathed a sigh of relief. Though he had been terrified she would request something unhealthy, he was now worried about her mood.
"How about I go order you some noodle soup?"
Mia Grant shook her head.
In the end, Ian Sinclair had his family’s culinary team deliver one of their nutritional meals.
Mia Grant hadn’t eaten all day. Although she didn’t finish her dinner, she ate more than she had the day before.
That evening, Hayes Hughes found time to stop by. Dressed in his white coat, he was a pleasant sight to behold just by standing there.
’Mia Grant felt her own mood brighten considerably.’
After Hayes Hughes finished speaking with the medical staff, he turned and noticed her staring straight at him.
His eyes crinkled into a smile as he walked over and asked what she had for dinner.
Mia Grant recounted her meal in full.
Ian Sinclair watched them with a jealous glint in his eyes, his arms crossed as he stood off to the side.
Fortunately, Hayes Hughes didn’t stay long. Otherwise, Ian Sinclair would have surely burned a hole through him with his glare.
Mia Grant teased him with a smile, "You’re acting like a possessive little puppy guarding its food."
Ian Sinclair pouted.
The surgery was scheduled for the following week, and the multi-disciplinary medical teams had been holding frequent meetings to discuss Mia Grant’s procedure.
In the end, it was decided that a surgeon from Hughes Private Hospital would take the lead.
As the date of the surgery approached, Mia Grant’s mood began to waver.
Sensing her emotional state, Yates Donovan brought a familiar face to see her the next day.
Mia Grant was taken aback for a moment, then smiled in greeting. "Dr. Quinlan, it’s been a while."
Dr. Quinlan smiled as he walked up to her and handed her a bouquet of flowers.
Mia Grant thanked him. Yates Donovan smoothly took the bouquet and placed it on the nightstand for her, right next to the other floral arrangement in its vase.
In Mia Grant’s room, the fragrance of flowers always overpowered the heavy scent of medicine.
The floral arrangements were changed daily, carefully coordinated for her to see the moment she opened her eyes.
Everyone was trying to lift her spirits in their own way.
Dr. Quinlan sat down beside her and began to chat.
Yates Donovan was, of course, sent out of the room.
Although he was dying to know what they would talk about, Yates Donovan understood that Mia Grant needed some private space.
The room fell silent for a moment after he left.
Then Dr. Quinlan chuckled. "He’s really nervous."
Mia Grant thought for a moment, then nodded.
"How did that thing we talked about trying last time go?"
Mia Grant nodded again.
"Was it related to the car accident you two were in?"
Mia Grant kept nodding.
Dr. Quinlan said, "He’s a good ally to have, isn’t he."
This time, Mia Grant spoke. "As his uncle, have you ever been concerned about his psychological state?"
Dr. Quinlan wasn’t surprised and answered matter-of-factly, "I used to be, but he was never cooperative and was extremely resistant. That’s why we lost touch for a while."
As his uncle, one of the few relatives Yates Donovan had in this world, their relationship should have been very close.
Yet they hadn’t been in contact for a very long time.
The root cause was that Yates Donovan was seriously unwell.
Dr. Quinlan said, "Let me tell you a secret. I actually planned on becoming a lawyer initially."
"My decision to study psychology instead had everything to do with Yates."
"Even though I’m not much older than him, I’m still his elder, so I felt obligated to look after him."
"My sister was very good to me, so I wanted to be a good uncle to her son."
"At first, I just thought he was being overly rebellious. Only later did I come to realize that he’d been deeply unhappy all these years and had learned to numb his own feelings."
"His parents died young. Even though he was raised by his grandfather, he still grew up without parental love, which made him emotionally detached."
"He’s very lonely. As I’ve told you, my transferring to his school in Jynsia back then was partly my grandfather’s idea. He knew he could never take the place of Yates’s parents."
"Our grandfather wasn’t afraid of him becoming a total wreck; he was worried that if Yates kept living in such a muddle, he would lose his will to live."
"So he hoped I could guide him and look out for him. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very effective, and it caused him to push me away for a long time."
"Fortunately... someone came along and made him start to tentatively, clumsily, try to express his feelings."
"He loves you, in his own clumsy way."