Chapter 373

Chapter 373
Serena’s POV
After returning to Manhattan a month ago, I'd been working intensely every day until I finally collapsed from exhaustion.
After seeing the doctor, I was assigned to a high-end VIP hospital room. I'd been running a fever of over 102 degrees when I arrived at the hospital, which explained why my head felt so heavy and my legs so weak.
Lying in the comfortable hospital bed, I felt myself breaking down a little. Ever since meeting Mateo, not a single day had gone smoothly. I, who hadn't caught a cold in years, had now gotten sick twice in quick succession. I, who never stumbled, had fallen in front of him again and again... He was truly my nemesis.
As my thoughts wandered, a familiar voice suddenly came from the doorway of my hospital room.
"Serena."
I turned to look—it was Hattie Langston. Though I didn't particularly want to see her, I still greeted her politely: "Hattie."
"I knew you'd be here. Mateo is in the room next door," Hattie walked to my bedside, asking with apparent concern: "Are you okay by yourself? Do you need me to stay with you?"
I didn't want her company, so I declined gently: "No need. You should go keep Mateo company. I'm fine."
"But your face is so flushed," Hattie said, sounding worried.
I explained: "That's normal with a fever. It'll go away once the fever breaks."
"Oh," Hattie nodded, then eagerly offered: "Serena, let me peel an apple for you."
My instinct was to refuse: "You don't have to—"
"Don't be so formal with me. We're family after all. My grandmother always thinks of you and says that now that we've finally found you, we need to take good care of you since you've suffered so much out there alone." Hattie's face was full of sincerity as she spoke.
I really wanted to decline, but I couldn't bring myself to reject her enthusiasm, so I changed the subject instead: "How's Mateo? Aren't you going to keep him company?"
Hattie's kindness made it impossible for me to coldly send her away, even though I inwardly recoiled from her nearness.
"He's a grown man. He'll be fine," Hattie said while peeling the apple, her voice tinged with slight surprise. "It's strange, though. Someone who never gets sick suddenly falling ill like this. I don't know what he was doing last night either, leaving the resort in the middle of the night. He doesn't have many friends in Manhattan, does he?"
I sensed she was probing for information, which made me more cautious. I didn't want to discuss Mateo with her, so I answered briefly: "Mateo and I aren't close."
"Of course, how could I ask you about that?" Hattie suddenly laughed as if finding herself amusing.
I said nothing. I found it difficult not to view Hattie's forwardness with suspicion. Though she presented everything naturally, as if her simplicity was innate, her behavior still reminded me of Nina, which made me... instinctively recoil.
Hattie's current behavior made me feel she was testing me somehow. If that was true... then Hattie's thoughts were far from innocent, perhaps even excessively complex, sensitive, and suspicious. From such people, I believed it best to keep absolute distance.
"Serena, here's your apple," Hattie had finished peeling and had cut it into small pieces, offering them to me. "Eat a little. People with colds need extra vitamin C."
I took the apple and politely said, "Thank you."
"Don't be so formal with me, Serena," Hattie said amicably.
I just smiled without saying more, hoping in my heart that she would leave soon.
"Where's your boyfriend?" Hattie suddenly asked.
I noticed she was simply finding random topics to keep our conversation going, which made me even more uncomfortable.
"He went back to Portland," I answered briefly.
Thinking of Atticus, my feelings were complicated. Atticus was actually very busy. If he weren't, I'd probably be overwhelmed by his attention. When he came to see me, sometimes he would arrive in the afternoon only to leave again the same day, his schedule so tight that he might only have time to glance at me before departing.
I wasn't blind to Atticus's kindness toward me these past few years. It's just that... it came a little too late.
As I was lost in my thoughts, Hattie suddenly asked a question that caught me completely off guard.
"You and your boyfriend..." Hattie suddenly blushed, and after a long hesitation, stammered: "Have you slept together?"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!" I choked on the piece of apple I'd just eaten, my face reddening. The question was too personal; I never expected her to be so direct.
Hattie quickly patted my back.