Chapter 39 You Like Him?
Vanessa's hand froze in mid-air, a flash of embarrassment crossing her face, but she quickly recovered.
"Maybe later," she said, turning to look at Daisy. "Daisy, you take care of Vince. I'll go get some breakfast."
With that, she grabbed her bag and walked out.
Once she left, only Daisy, Vincent, and Luna remained in the hospital room.
Luna lay by the bedside, her little hand clutching Vincent's finger, her eyes red from crying.
Daisy stood to the side, feeling a mix of emotions she couldn't quite describe.
Vincent spoke first. "Why did you just leave yesterday without saying anything?"
Daisy was startled by his accusatory tone. "But Vanessa was there..."
Before she could finish, he cut her off.
"She's sick too. What could she do?" Vincent's voice was quiet. "Leaving Luna and me at the hospital while you went home—I can't believe you did that."
The tone didn't sound like blame though. It sounded more like... resentment?
The moment that word popped into her head, she quickly shook it off, dismissing that unsettling thought.
Just then, a nurse came in to change the dressings.
Vincent's injuries covered practically his entire body. His head wasn't too bad, but treating his body required removing his clothes.
The nurse looked at Daisy, then at Vincent, seeming a bit awkward.
"Family member, please help support him."
Daisy hesitated, then stepped forward to hold Vincent's shoulder.
The moment her hand touched him, she couldn’t help but shiver faintly.
His body was very hot, muscles tense. When her hand made contact, she could clearly feel the skin and muscles underneath shudder.
As the nurse changed the dressings, Vincent frowned but made no sound. Daisy looked at the wounds covering his body, her heart tightening.
These injuries—he'd gotten them all for her.
After the nurse finished and left, Vincent leaned back against the headboard, eyes closed, looking rather pale.
Just as Daisy was about to help him lie down, Vincent suddenly said, "I want to take a bath. Help me."
The hospital room did have a bathroom, and Vincent did have a slight obsession with cleanliness.
But making this request right now seemed rather unreasonable.
"You just had your dressings changed and you have a fever. You can't take a bath. Just bear with it."
"It's exactly because I just had the dressings changed that I need a bath." Vincent sighed. "It's all sticky and uncomfortable."
Daisy was about to argue when Luna grabbed her hand and acted cute. "Mommy, please help Daddy."
Fine. Worst case, they'd just reapply the medicine after the bath.
Daisy helped him into the bathroom, filled the bathtub with water, helped him undress, then tested the water temperature. Once the tub was full and the temperature was right, she helped him in.
Throughout the whole process, she didn't speak or look at Vincent once.
Vincent leaned back in the tub, eyes closed, letting her wash him.
The bathroom was very quiet, only the soft sound of water.
Daisy's hands were gentle and soft, carefully avoiding all the injured areas. She washed him roughly like this, then dampened a towel, wrung it out, and gently touched the edges of the gauze on his forehead, cleaning away the dried blood.
"Does it still hurt?" she asked.
Vincent kept his eyes closed, his voice muffled. "What do you think?"
After a long silence, Vincent opened his eyes to find Daisy staring at him without blinking. In her eyes was something he'd never seen before, like a breeze passing over a pond, like light rain through a forest.
A completely unfamiliar emotion swirled in her eyes.
"It doesn't hurt," he added.
Daisy seemed startled by his sudden gaze, quickly lowering her head. "That's good."
After the bath, she helped him out, dried his entire body with a towel, and changed him into a fresh hospital gown.
Maybe it was her imagination, but his body temperature seemed to have dropped a bit, though his spirits were much better than before.
Back in the room, Luna immediately ran over and hugged Vincent's leg.
"Daddy, do you feel better?"
Vincent patted her head. "Much better."
Luna then ran over and hugged Daisy's waist.
"Mommy," she buried her face against Daisy, saying in a muffled voice, "thank you for taking care of Daddy."
Daisy also patted her head, feeling a bit dazed. In her memory, it had been so long since her daughter had hugged her like this, depending on her like this.
"Dais!" The door was suddenly knocked, and Shawn poked her head in. "You really are here!"
She cryptically gestured for her. "Come out for a sec, I need to talk to you."
Confused, Daisy went out to find a little girl, about five or six years old, standing behind Shawn.
The little girl had two pigtails, wore a princess dress, and had round eyes that looked at Daisy curiously. When she noticed Daisy looking back at her, she shyly hid behind Shawn.
Daisy was stunned. "Who's this?"
"My little niece!" Shawn said. "Her parents went on a business trip, and the nanny got sick, so her mom asked my mom to help watch her. But my mom doesn't have time, so she passed her to me."
"But you know I have to be at the hospital taking care of... taking care of Marcus. That guy still hasn't woken up, I need to watch him, so..."
She looked at Daisy, blinking and pressing her palms together. "So can you help me watch her for a few days? I went through all my friends, and you're still the most reliable, Dais."
Daisy didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "But I..."
"Hey, no refusing! Are we friends or not?"
"Fine." Just as they were talking, Luna ran out from inside. Seeing the little girl hiding behind Shawn, she looked her up and down.
"What's your name?" Luna asked.
"Sophie Collins," the little girl said softly.
"I'm Luna! Let's play together!" She held out her hand.
Sophie looked hesitantly at Shawn, and seeing her nod, she grasped Luna’s hand.Luna then pulled her into the room.
"I'll show you my tablet, it has lots of games!"
Once the two children went inside, Daisy grabbed Shawn's arm, her eyes full of knowing and a hint of teasing.
"Come clean. You've fallen for Marcus, haven't you? Why else would you care so much about him?"
Shawn chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't say fallen for... okay fine, I admit it. I do kind of like him."
Then she grabbed Daisy's arm. "You know I've been single for so many years. Now that I finally found a guy I like, of course I have to be proactive."
Daisy sighed. "I don't know what to say to you. That Marcus, you can tell he's trouble at first glance. Who knows what kind of mess is waiting down the road. Weren't you scared at all by what happened yesterday?"
"So what? Worst case, I'll just move back home! The Bennetts have their complications, but the Shen family isn't useless either."
"I've already thought it through. Once he's healed, I'll have my dad send over bodyguards. We'll hide out at the estate—would they really dare storm into my house to take him?"