"Your father got injured and was sent to the hospital last night. Your mother stayed at the hospital to take care of him."
"Father got hurt? How did this happen? Is it serious?"
Upon hearing Samantha's words, the two little ones became instantly worried.
Samantha quickly explained, "Don't worry, your father is fine."
Despite her reassurance, the two little ones were still concerned and urged Samantha to go to the hospital to visit their father.
Meanwhile, in the hospital, Lance had already regained consciousness from his coma.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable, he tried to shield his eyes from the intense sunlight streaming in through the window, but inadvertently agitated his wounds, causing him to groan in pain.
It was at this moment that he remembered what had happened last night, and his face instantly turned dangerous.
"Xavier," Lance called out. Despite the discomfort from his injuries, he attempted to sit up in bed. That's when he noticed Deanna, who was sleeping soundly by the bedside, as well as the dark circles under her eyes, which showed signs of exhaustion. His heart filled with tenderness.
Clearly, Deanna had been taking care of him all night at the hospital.
Lance gently got out of bed, intending to lift Deanna onto the bed to rest.
But as soon as he touched her, she woke up.
"Lance?"
Deanna looked at the man in front of her with sleepy eyes, unable to distinguish whether it was a dream or reality.
It wasn't until Lance spoke that she realized something was off. "Did I wake you up?"
"No," Deanna instinctively shook her head, then realized something was wrong.
She reached out and grabbed the man in front of her, feeling his physical presence, and quickly stood up from the chair.
However, in her haste, her head suddenly went black due to lack of blood flow, and she swayed unsteadily.
If Lance hadn't caught her in time, she might have collapsed to the ground.
Of course, when Lance caught her, it also triggered his wounds, causing him to gasp in pain.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Deanna listened to his gasping breaths and quickly withdrew from Lance's embrace. She then saw the red marks on Lance's chest that had seeped through his clothes, and her heart ached.
Although she knew Lance had only meant well by helping her, she couldn't help but lecture him, "Why didn't you stay in bed? Look at this wound, it's bleeding. The wound must have reopened. I'll go call the doctor."
After speaking, without waiting for any objections, she firmly pressed Lance back onto the bed and turned around to find the doctor and nurses.
Not long after, the doctor and nurses followed Deanna into the ward.
After a thorough examination, the doctor said, "The wound has reopened a bit, but it's not serious. Just be careful from now on."
Hearing this, Deanna finally felt relieved and asked, "Does it need to be redressed?"
"Yes, it does. I'll have a nurse clean the wound and apply medication to Mr. Mercer later."
The doctor nodded in response and then arranged for a nurse to change Lance's dressing.
By the time everything was done, half an hour had passed.
Deanna brought breakfast from the hospital cafeteria and came to Lance's side.
As she took care of Lance's meal, she apologized, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know I could be controlled by someone."
By the end of her words, she became somewhat incoherent and filled with regret on her face.
Seeing this, Lance held her wrist firmly and said assertively, "Look at me."
Deanna raised her eyes to meet his gaze.
Their eyes locked.
Lance's expression turned serious as he said, "You don't have to blame yourself. I don't blame you. I know you would never hurt me."
In a way, it was his own carelessness.
He thought Duncan had been caught and that Deanna was safe from mental manipulation.
But he hadn't expected that besides Duncan, there were others who could control Deanna.
It seemed that after being discharged from the hospital, he would have to interrogate Duncan thoroughly.
Lance hadn't told Deanna about these things.
He looked at Deanna's reddened eyes and didn't want her to be saddened by this matter. So he decided to change the subject.
"By the way, I won the competition last night. You haven't given me my prize yet."
"At a time like this, you're still thinking about your competition prize?"
Deanna didn't know whether to cry or laugh as she stared at Lance.
Lance didn't mind and even added a hint of playfulness to his tone as he said, "Now that I'm fine, of course I'm eagerly awaiting my reward. Besides, it's a reward you prepared for me."
Deanna looked at this usually tough man suddenly acting spoiled towards her and found herself momentarily stunned.
But she didn't dislike this feeling; in fact, she quite liked it.
As a result, she didn't make Lance wait too long and leaned over. "This is your reward."
After speaking, she kissed Lance's lips. It felt warmer and softer than she had imagined.
Lance was momentarily stunned; he hadn't expected Deanna to kiss him.
But once he regained his senses, he took control of the situation. With one hand around Deanna's waist and the other holding the back of her head, he deepened the kiss.
For a moment, the room was filled with a sweet and romantic atmosphere.
Just when everything seemed perfect, an unexpected interruption occurred.
"Lance!"
Eula pushed open the door and entered the room, only to be met with a scene that almost drove her mad with jealousy.