Chapter 250
Late at night, most of the streetlights below the hospital had gone dark.
Willow came out of the hospital and circled around downstairs before finding the person waiting for her outside, car parked in a shadowy corner.
Sterling stood by the car holding a bag of medicine, walking toward her from a distance.
"Does it still hurt?" He approached and carefully cupped Willow's face with one hand, examining her injuries.
Willow didn't want to worry him, but being looked at so tenderly, she suddenly didn't feel like being tough anymore.
She nodded. "A little. No, actually—it really hurts."
Where Emily had clawed her, the skin had broken, and some spots were swollen. Even eating made her whole face ache.
Sterling's eyes darkened. His fingertips gently traced the wounds on her face, a flash of cold fury flickering in his gaze.
"I should have sent someone to watch." Sterling's voice was full of regret.
He hadn't expected Emily to lose it at the office. If he'd assigned someone to keep watch, she never would've had the chance to lay hands on Willow.
Hearing the guilt in his voice, Willow regretted acting vulnerable.
"Actually, it doesn't hurt that much." She smiled reassuringly, backtracking.
Sterling's brow furrowed.
Meeting his gaze, Willow found herself unable to speak.
Sterling glanced up at the building. He'd deliberately chosen this spot—Maria's hospital room couldn't see this angle from above.
"What did you tell your grandmother to get her to let you come out?" he asked.
Willow smiled guiltily. "I told her I was coming down for a checkup and to get some medicine from the doctor."
Sterling examined her wounds again. "Let's go."
Willow blinked. "Where?"
"To have a doctor look at you." Sterling's tone was serious. "When you got back, why didn't you go see one right away?"
Being led by the hand, Willow followed behind him. "I didn't think it was serious at the time—just some scraped skin."
She walked slowly. "Really, it's fine. I got in plenty of fights with neighborhood kids when I was little. Gloria and I fought too when she was at my house—I got hurt way worse than this, and I turned out fine."
Sterling glanced back at her, his expression displeased.
Willow said quietly, "It's really okay. Instead of spending time on this, we could just hang out a bit longer. Once I stop going to the office, who knows how long it'll be before we see each other again."
Actually, seeing each other wasn't that important—but thinking about going so long without seeing him left Willow feeling hollow inside. She was already surprised Sterling had come to find her today.
Sterling's gaze softened as he looked into her eyes. "There'll be plenty of chances to see each other. Right now, your injuries are more important. What if they scar?"
Willow tensed unconsciously, asking uncertainly, "They won't... will they?"
She figured it was just scraped skin—nothing serious enough to scar.
"If they do scar, will you think less of me?" She frowned, looking at Sterling.
Sterling raised an eyebrow. "Yes."
Willow's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Then hurry up and let the doctor examine you." Sterling pinched her cheek lightly.
Willow winced and swatted his hand away.
Sterling led her into the hospital. "Seeing the injuries on your face makes me think about today. This happened because I failed to protect you. Does Ms. Spencer want me living with that guilt every single day?"
Only then was Willow satisfied. She obediently followed him inside.
The doctor examined her and confirmed they were just superficial wounds—applying the medicine Sterling brought would be sufficient.
To fool Maria, Willow still had the doctor prescribe additional medicine to mix in with the bag.
Just after the examination, when Willow wanted to chat with Sterling for a bit, Maria called, urging her back.
Helplessly, Willow said goodbye to Sterling and returned to the hospital room with the medicine.
"Why did it take so long?" Maria eyed her suspiciously.
Willow put on a helpless expression. "The doctor wasn't there when I went down, so I had to wait. Then, when I went to pick up the prescription, there were people ahead of me, so I had to stand in line."
Seeing she was indeed holding a hospital bag, Maria's suspicion faded.
They each returned to their rooms.
After showering, Willow applied the ointment Sterling had brought and, as he'd requested, sent him a photo.
By the time Sterling replied, the ointment on her face had dried. Willow chatted briefly with Sterling and, without realizing it, drifted off to sleep.
Over the next few days, with no need to go to the Lancaster Group, Willow stayed at the hospital studying the materials Sienna had brought her.
Fortunately, she hadn't graduated that long ago. She still remembered most of the content, and her scores on two practice tests were satisfactory.
The ointment Sterling brought was also effective. Each morning when Willow looked in the mirror, the marks on her face had faded more.
After several days, the injuries on her face had faded until they were barely visible.
Sterling would chat with her every evening. Worried Maria might overhear, they mostly exchanged messages.
That evening, Willow was messaging Sterling when suddenly a call came in from an unfamiliar local number.
Puzzled, Willow answered.
A drunken voice came through. "Willow, you finally answered my call."
Willow frowned. "Charles?"
Charles laughed twice. "You still remember my voice. I'm so happy."
Just hearing his voice made Willow's mood sink inexplicably. As if the peaceful life she'd finally achieved was about to be shattered again.
"I told you not to contact me anymore." Willow's tone was cold. "I'm hanging up."
With that, she moved to end the call.
Charles's voice came through again. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to harass you. I just have some good news I wanted to share."
Despite mentioning good news, Charles's tone was full of dejection.
Willow's brow furrowed in confusion.
Charles said, "I'm getting married soon. I won't bother you anymore after this. How about that—good news for you, right?"
Surprise flickered in Willow's eyes.
She didn't know Charles's recent situation and assumed he was marrying Rachel. If she remembered correctly, the last time she'd gone to see Rachel, Rachel's attitude had clearly indicated Charles had cast her aside.
Who knew what had happened since then. Though none of it concerned her anymore.
She replied flatly, "Congratulations. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness."
Charles's heavy breathing echoed in her ear.
When he spoke again, his voice was full of pain. "That's all you have to say about me getting married? Willow, doesn't it hurt you even a little?"
Willow could more or less guess what he'd say next—nothing more than blaming her for never loving him.
She was sick of hearing it.
Charles's next words were indeed what she expected.
"Willow, I love you. I really, truly love you. I know what I did before was wrong—I shouldn't have kept things from you, shouldn't have done those things that hurt you just to keep you by my side. But I only wanted you to see no one but me. Why can't you understand that?"