Chapter 23
After lunch, Sophia and I chatted for a while. Noticing the dark circles under her eyes, I couldn't bear to let her stay at the hospital with me any longer and told her to go home and rest.
Not long after she left, the doctor conducted a thorough examination. The results showed that my condition had stabilized enough to be transferred to a regular ward.
Jayden ran around handling all the paperwork for my transfer, his smile radiant. “Joshua, do you see now? I told you that as long as you cooperate with the treatment, you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “Without your help, I might not have survived this.”
While I was feeling grateful, he sat down beside my bed and began reminding me, “Joshua, even though you’ve woken up, you still need to watch your diet. Stick to light, bland food for now, preferably liquids.”
“Okay,” I replied softly and smiled. “Being alive is already a blessing. Eating lighter food is no big deal.”
Jayden hesitated, as though wanting to say something but unsure if he should. After scratching his head briefly, he finally blurted out, “What’s going on between you two now?”
I smiled faintly and said warmly, “She told me to leave the past in the past. I think we’ll just be an ordinary couple from now on.”
He frowned, clasping his hands together tightly. “Joshua, do you really believe she’s changed?” Jayden wouldn’t believe someone could change so drastically overnight. He was worried I would get hurt, so after much hesitation, he voiced his concern.
I lowered my gaze, staring at the crisp white blanket. The image of Sophia’s panicked face the day I coughed up blood flashed through my mind. That day, she was flustered and helpless. She must have been scared that I would suddenly die.
I didn’t answer Jayden’s question. Instead, I smiled and asked, “What happened while I was unconscious?”
He fell silent for a while, then began recounting the events from those days. He said, “After you fell unconscious, Sophia came to the hospital every chance she got. At first, I told her to get lost and stop bothering me, but she didn’t listen. She kept coming, even more often than Mrs. Palmer did.”
“Did Edison visit?”
“No.” He paused, poured me a glass of water, and set it on the bedside table. “That guy’s no good. Why would he come to the hospital?”
After a moment, as if something had crossed his mind, he added, “But I did hear him call Sophia several times, inviting her to dinner. She turned him down every time.”
“She actually turned him down?” I hadn’t expected that. In the past, whenever something involved Edison, she would drop everything and rush to him without hesitation. Now, she was refusing him because of me. Could it be that she really had changed?
Jayden nodded and subtly changed the subject. “While you were unconscious, we were all so worried about you. Mrs. Palmer came to the hospital and cried several times. If you hadn’t woken up, none of us could have held it together anymore.”
I silently lifted my gaze to him and asked, “Did my mom really come to see me?”