Her Secrets, My Body

A nurse pushed a wheelchair over for me. I checked myself in, paid, picked up the meds, and rode the elevator up alone.

The cleaning of the wound was painful. I don't respond well to anesthesia. Every stitch felt like it was going straight into raw nerves. I clenched my fists tightly and didn’t make a sound.

The door slammed open.

"Where is the doctor? Get over here and take a look at him!"

Cara had both hands wrapped tightly around the man's arm, panic all over her face.

It was shift change. There was only one doctor on this floor–the one stitching me up.

Cara ignored everything and shouted outside.

"I don't care! Get someone here right now! See him first!"

She swept everything off the nurses’ station with one motion and helped the man sit down carefully.

She held his injured foot like something precious.

"Cara, don't do this. You'll scare people."

"Roman, if you don't want me to go crazy like this, then you should take better care of yourself. Don't get hurt."

The man smiled sweetly.

My heart felt like it was being torn open, bleeding nonstop.

No wonder she did not pick up my calls.

A nurse rushed in. "Doctor, you should check on the patient outside first."

She leaned in and whispered something to him.

The doctor's face darkened. "These rich kids… just because they have money, they think other people's lives don't matter."

The nurse quickly grabbed his arm.

My face must’ve looked terrible. I forced a faint smile. "I'm fine. Please go ahead."

I lifted my eyes slightly and looked at Cara’s worried expression.

So this was the difference between love… and not being loved.

I was nothing more than a game to her.

At that moment, I could completely understand her panic–the fear, the anxiety, the way she treated that man like something irreplaceable.

I understood it all. And yet, it was not for me.

Before the doctor came back, the pain made me lose consciousness.

When I woke up, Cara was standing beside my bed.

Her expression was complicated. When she saw I was awake, she quickly walked over.

I thought she came to see me. I lowered my gaze and didn’t look at her.

"I'm fine. You can go."

"You called the police?"

Our voices overlapped. I looked up at her in shock.

Cara frowned, clearly unhappy.

"It wasn’t even that serious. Why call the police? I already settled it privately for you."

Pain shot through my leg again. The doctor had said earlier, "Good thing you came in time. A lot of people ignore it, and it ends up infected. Or worse, they lose the leg."

My body trembled.

Memories of that moment flooded back, the humiliation.

"Who gave you the right to settle it for me?"

She was stunned by my reaction. But the next second, she looked at me with clear sarcasm.

"Didn't you already take their money? Now you want to go back on it?"

My lashes trembled. I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, there was a knock on the door.

Without waiting, Roman walked in.

The room fell silent.

He looked at me calmly. "Mr. Hale, may I come in?"

"Who told you to get out of bed!"

Cara snapped, walking over to him and grabbing his arm.

Roman smiled faintly.

"I'm fine. No need to make a fuss. Besides, Vincent was driving my car when he hit Mr. Hale. No matter what, I should apologize."

"You don't need to apologize to him. What you need to do now is rest."

Cara did not even spare me a glance. She supported Roman and walked out.

Before leaving, Roman looked back at me with a calm, almost indifferent expression.

He did not need to say anything.

He did not need to do anything.

Just standing there, he had already won.

No one would ask why a luxury car showed up outside a rundown neighborhood.

And no one would ask… how he even knew I existed.