Chapter 101 Not So Fast
"Get lost, you little punk! Say something like that again and I'll kick you all out!" Carol snapped at the tourist.
Ethan felt uncomfortable too, but he wasn't one to pick fights with strangers. He grabbed his beer and moved to a corner table.
Maybe it was last night's hard liquor—that burning sensation in his chest and lungs still haunted him. The beer tasted flat and lifeless now. Like drinking stale sugar water.
He walked back to the counter. "Do you sell whiskey by the glass?"
"Of course not," Carol said.
Ethan's face fell.
"I've got half a bottle of red wine left over though. Want it? I'll give you a deal—fifty bucks."
Ethan knew wine wasn't expensive around here. Fifty was definitely overpriced, but the beer wasn't cutting it anymore.
"Take it or leave it," Carol said when he hesitated.
He pulled out his wallet. "I'll take it."
"Done." Carol produced a partially consumed bottle from under the counter. She'd said half, but it was really more like a third. Looking slightly embarrassed, she yelled toward the kitchen, "Did you sneak some of my wine again?"
The cook hurried out, grinning sheepishly.
Carol turned back to Ethan. "Forget it. I won't charge you for the beef or the beer. Just take it out of the fifty."
Back at his table, Ethan made do with a disposable plastic cup—no wine glasses in sight. He alternated between bites of beef and swigs of wine, finding a certain satisfaction in the rhythm.
Gradually, the tourists filtered out until only Ethan remained. The wine had a high alcohol content, and he wasn't much of a drinker to begin with. As he kept going, his thoughts started drifting beyond his control.
Who was he? Where was he? What was he doing?
The beef on his plate didn't look like beef anymore. It looked like those big crabs from Jiangsu Province back home.
He called out to Carol. "Got any scissors?"
"What do you need scissors for?"
"Don't—don't worry about it!"
Seeing his flushed face, Carol realized he was drunk. She didn't dare give him large scissors, so she handed him a small folding pair.
Ethan couldn't even grip the tiny scissors properly. He just started jabbing at the beef with them.
"What are you doing?" Carol couldn't help asking.
"I'm cutting—cutting this crab leg to pull out the meat inside," Ethan slurred.
Carol mentally cursed him for being an idiot. If you can't handle your liquor, don't pretend you can.
After poking at it for a while, Ethan set the scissors aside and stuffed the mangled beef into his mouth. "So—so good. Such fragrant crab. I wish I could eat crab every day."
Carol let out a snort of laughter.
Ethan looked up at her with glazed eyes. "You—you want some crab? I'll—I'll cut you a crab leg."
"No thanks. You keep it for yourself."
"No way. How can I not share something this good with you?" He started looking for the scissors again, but even though they were right in front of him, he couldn't see them. He ended up on his knees searching the floor.
After fumbling around for a while, he suddenly forgot what he was looking for. Seeing a pair of feet in front of him, he looked up.
"Is that you, Matty?" His face crumpled. "Matty, I finally—finally found you!"
He wrapped his arms around Carol's leg and burst into tears, snot running down his face. "Matty, it's my fault. I shouldn't have left when you needed me. I shouldn't have..."
He sobbed miserably, his whole body shaking. Carol tried pushing him off several times, but he clung tight. Seeing how heartbroken he was, she decided to just let him be.
The cook came out and saw his boss lady being hugged around the leg. "Need help?"
Carol waved him off. The cook retreated with a complicated expression and went to find Lily, the waitress. "The boss lady's letting that new doctor cry while hugging her leg."
Lily went to peek, then came back wide-eyed. "Sure enough. But I heard that guy came here chasing after Dr. Spencer. Our boss is probably just taking pity on him."
"What else? That guy's kind of a mess—not good enough for our boss anyway."
Lily lowered her voice. "You think our boss lady is really gonna... never find a man?"
The cook sighed. "Hard to say. Maybe she just hasn't found anyone better than the last one."
"She can't go on like this forever," Lily said softly. "All alone out here without any family around. It's kind of sad."
...
Ethan cried for what felt like forever, refusing to let go. Carol finally dragged over a chair and sat down, letting him cry it out while clinging to her leg like a heartbroken child.
Eventually, Ethan cried himself to sleep, slumped on the floor with his head resting on her knee. Carol tried shaking him awake, but he was out cold.
She called the cook and Lily back over. "Help me get him..." She hesitated. Back to the clinic? One street away was too far to carry him. Dump him on the street? Too cruel. The guy had apologized this morning and paid for everything.
"Take him to the back room," she finally said.
The cook and Lily exchanged knowing glances but quickly hoisted Ethan up and hauled him to the spare room.
After they left, Carol stood in the doorway looking at Ethan sprawled across the bed. He was clean-cut with a tall, slender build—decent bone structure. Not as striking as Wentworth, but he had a certain refined quality.
She sighed. Why did all the good-looking men fall for Dr. Spencer?
...
Matilda didn't know how long she'd been asleep. When she woke, daylight was streaming through the window and Wentworth was lying beside her.
The bed in the quarters was small, forcing him to press close against her. He was sleeping soundly—long lashes, straight nose, sharp jawline. Maybe because he'd been tired from night duty, his breathing carried the faintest hint of a snore.
She propped herself up on one elbow and watched him for a while. He didn't stir. She reached for her phone to check the time—7 AM. She needed to get ready for work.
She carefully started to slide out of bed.
Before she could even get her shoes on, a powerful arm yanked her back onto the mattress.
"Trying to sneak off?" Wentworth's voice was husky with sleep. "Not so fast."