Chapter 14

The crowd was cleared from the room as the doctor arrived. Melody bit her lip, the excruciating pain causing tears to stream down her face. The ward fell silent except for her whimpers. The other patients looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

“Domestic violence is a crime. I’m calling the police,” the nurse said, unable to hold back any longer as she pulled out her phone. Christophe snatched the phone from her.

“It wasn’t me! What domestic violence! I’ll make sure you lose your job for saying that nonsense!” he threatened viciously.

“Her tailbone is fractured. Wasn’t that caused by you?” the nurse asked, staring at him.

Christopher froze. His gaze shifted to Melody’s injury. He remembered throwing her to the ground, then shoving her hard. Could it really be…

Seeing his silence, the nurse retrieved her phone. “You look decent on the outside, but you’re nothing but a perpetrator of domestic violence.”

But before she could call, Sheldon arrived and pulled the nurse aside, murmuring an apology. Christopher stood rooted to the spot, hearing only Melody’s soft whimpers. He remained stiff throughout the doctor’s examination. When the doctor emerged, Christopher grabbed his arm. “Doctor,” he said hesitantly.

“The patient will be fine,” the doctor replied with a displeased expression.

“Does she need surgery?” Christopher asked.

“It’s not recommended to operate on a fractured tailbone. She needs to stay here for treatment,” the doctor answered.

Christopher sighed in relief and lowered his hand.

“Unrelated individuals need to stay away from the ward, or we’ll call the police next time,” the doctor warned before leaving.

Christopher swallowed his retort, clenching his fists and lowering his head. After a moment, he quietly entered the ward. Melody was still lying on her stomach. Her hospital gown was slightly pulled up at her lower back, revealing medication on the area. He also noticed her red, blistered feet.

His gaze turned to her face. Her eyes were closed, her hands gripping the pillow tightly. She clearly didn't want to see him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were admitted to the hospital?” Christopher asked.

Melody didn’t respond.

“Did you come the night before yesterday? Did you go home last night? Why didn’t you answer my calls this morning?” he asked again, his tone calmer. Melody continued to ignore him.

After ten seconds, Christopher’s anger surged. Gritting his teeth, he snapped, “Aren’t you just injured? You don’t even need surgery. Why are you acting like this?”

Seeing he wouldn’t leave her alone, Melody finally opened her eyes and glared at him.

“Do you even care whether I go home or not? If you don’t, why are you pretending like you do?” she said slowly. “Oh, I almost forgot. You’re angry because there’s no one at home to take care of you. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’ll have to stay here for a week. In the meantime, please hire a nanny for yourself!”

Christopher’s face darkened. “I was talking to you nicely. Do you really have to speak to me like this?”

“Did I speak calmly? Which part of what I said isn’t true?” Melody asked, smirking mockingly.

Christopher wanted to refute her, but Melody cut him off. “You want to argue? Then it means you care about me, and you’re not just looking for me because you need someone to take care of you.”

His expression darkened at the first part of her statement, but he felt no guilt about the latter.

“Did I ever say I wanted you to take care of me? You’re just making things up,” he retorted.

“Oh, really? Then who was it that made me—while I was already sick—cook for you and your ex-girlfriend the night before yesterday? And who was it that shoved me so hard to the ground that it worsened my injury and fractured my tailbone?” Melody questioned coldly.

Then, she added, “Cynthia dropped the plate on purpose to scald my feet, bursting my blisters. And yet, you turned around to accuse me of trying to murder her.”