Chapter 235 Love Me, Love My Dog

Chapter 235 Love Me, Love My Dog

"You really don't have to thank me," Perry said again. "What we have between us is something most people can't understand. I love you, so of course I care about Liam. There's no way I'd let anything happen to him."

Susan's eyes turned red.

She tried to pull her hand back. The moment she moved, Perry's brow furrowed and his face twisted in pain.

Susan froze immediately. "What's wrong? Is it hurting?"

"I'm fine." Perry forced a smile, though his brow stayed creased. "Might've pulled something."

Susan looked down. A small patch of red was seeping through the bandage on his abdomen.

"Your wound opened up!" She stood and pressed the call button on the bedside panel.

A nurse came rushing in, lifted the blanket, and saw the bloodstain slowly spreading across the gauze.

"What happened? I told you not to move around." The nurse muttered as she started changing the dressing, peeling away the old bandage to reveal the wound underneath.

Susan stood to the side. When she saw the angry gash, her heart clenched.

The nurse cleaned it, applied medication, and re-bandaged it with practiced hands. She was careful not to cause unnecessary pain, but some was unavoidable.

Perry bit down and didn't make a sound. Beads of sweat broke out across his forehead.

Once she finished, the nurse tidied up her supplies and glanced between Susan and Perry with an unreadable expression.

"No physical activity for the time being," she said in a flat tone, though the words made Susan want to sink into the floor. "The wound hasn't healed yet. Any sudden movement and it'll split open again. Then you'll have scarring, you'll be upset, and you'll be spending more money. Not worth it."

Susan's face went red instantly. "No, we're not — it's not like that —"

"I'm his friend," she said quickly. "We're just friends."

The nurse smiled, the kind of smile that said "sure, I get it", and walked out carrying her tray without another word.

Susan stood there, too embarrassed to know where to look.

"I'm sorry," Perry said from the bed. "I got you misunderstood."

"It's fine." Susan took a deep breath and sat back down. "It's not like you did it on purpose."

She glanced at the insulated lunch box on the bedside table — the one she'd brought over that morning.

"I made soup. Chicken and vegetable noodle." Susan opened the lid and steam rose out. "Can you have some now?"

"Yeah." Perry tried to push himself up. The movement pulled at his wound and he hissed sharply.

"Don't move." Susan reached out to steady him. "Just lie there. I'll feed you."

She scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and held it to his lips.

Perry drank it.

"It's good."

"Then have more." Susan scooped up another spoonful, cooled it, and brought it over.

The door to the room swung open.

Susan turned. Sean was standing in the doorway.

He had on a dark grey shirt, sleeves rolled to his forearms, the top two buttons undone. His face was unreadable, but his eyes moved from the spoon in Susan's hand to Perry's face, and his gaze was ice cold.

"You came over here without telling me?" He walked in as he spoke. "Mr. Watson saved Liam's life. As his father, I should be here with you to thank him."

"Sean, you —" Susan was afraid he'd make a scene. She set down the spoon and was about to say something, but Sean had already crossed to the bedside and was looking down at Perry.

She braced herself for a confrontation. Then Sean spoke.

"Mr. Watson. Thank you. For what you did."

Perry gave a small smile. "Don't thank me. I didn't do it for you."

Sean's jaw tightened slightly.

"Still. I owe you one."

"You don't need to say that." Perry's voice was calm. "I saved Liam for Nina. It has nothing to do with you. And honestly, as a man, if you can't even protect your own wife and child, that says a lot about the kind of husband and father you are."

He said it plainly. No softening it.

The room went still.

"Perry." Susan spoke up. "It's not entirely his fault. The situation was —"

"You don't need to defend him." Perry's gaze swept across Sean's face. "If you can't keep your woman and your child safe, there's no excuse for it."

Sean's hand curled into a fist. "You think I don't know you're coming after me?"

Perry looked almost innocent. "Am I?"

"You want to tell me why? Go ahead. Say it."

Susan stood up and grabbed Sean's arm. "Come outside. I need to talk to you."

She pulled him out of the room and down the corridor to the stairwell.

"What are you doing?" Susan let go and lowered her voice. "He just had surgery. His wound split open. What's the point of saying all that to him?"

"I didn't say anything." Sean kept his voice down too. "He started it."

"He's in pain and in a bad mood," Susan said. "Can't you just let it go?"

"Why should I?" The jealousy in his voice was impossible to miss. "He was holding your hand. I saw it. And you were feeding him soup. He's got my wife taking care of him, and I'm just supposed to stand there? I'm not allowed to be upset?"

Susan blinked. "How long were you standing out there?"

"Don't know." Sean looked away.

Susan took a slow breath. "Sean, be reasonable. He saved Liam. He almost died doing it. What's wrong with me feeding him a bowl of soup? He was holding my hand, and if I'd pulled away his wound would've torn open even worse. What was I supposed to do?"

"I'm not saying you couldn't." Sean's voice was low and sullen. "I just don't like it."

Susan was about to respond when Sean stepped forward. One hand pressed against the wall behind her. The other cupped the back of her head, and he kissed her.

It was hard and fierce, with no gentleness in it at all, like he wanted to swallow her whole.

Susan couldn't breathe. She pushed at him but couldn't break free.

His teeth caught her lower lip and pressed down — not quite hard enough to hurt, but enough to send a sharp tingle through her.

When he finally let go, her lips were flushed and slightly swollen.

"Are you out of your mind?" Susan covered her mouth. "We're in a hospital."

"I know." Sean wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb. "I'm jealous. That's all."

"I'm a man. Watching the woman I love feed another man soup, sitting that close to him, while he holds her hand — I hate it. You can call me petty. You can call me childish. But I'm saying it, and I'm saying it loud: I don't like it."

"It doesn't matter if he's the man who saved my son's life. It doesn't matter if he's the President of the United States. I still don't like it."

Susan looked at him. She could still feel the warmth of his lips on hers. Something she couldn't quite name rose up in her chest.