“President Fuller!” Tom shouted in panic and lunged forward to pull Tina away before pushing down the emergency button above the headboard of the bed.
At first, Tina was angry at Tom, but she realized what he did when she heard the alarm blaring through the room. “What’s wrong with Toby?” she asked anxiously.
Before Toby passed out from the pain, Tom laid him down on the bed and turned to face her angrily. “Miss Gray, aren’t you aware that President Fuller is injured? You just opened up his wounds again by throwing yourself so hard at him!” he yelled, pointing at Toby’s chest where there was a bloody patch on his hospital robes.
Skeptically, he wondered, Does she really love President Fuller? If she really does, she should be more careful knowing that he’s injured lest his injuries get worse. But the way she’s acting so recklessly looks like she doesn’t care one bit about his injuries.
Flustered, Tina uttered, “I-I didn’t do it on purpose…” On her part, she hugged Toby so tightly because she was excited to see that he had awakened, and she hadn’t thought of the consequences of her actions at all.
Just then, Rose came into the room with Jean and Mary by her sides. “What happened?! Why did the emergency alarm go off?” Rose asked anxiously.
Tom was wiping off the sweat on Toby’s forehead when they entered, and he quickly replied, “President Fuller’s wounds opened up.”
“Goodness, he’s bleeding!” Jean gasped in shock.
Worried, Rose said, “Toby was still fine a minute ago, Tom. How did his wounds open up?”
A guilty look flashed in Tina’s eyes, and she quickly cast Tom a look, hoping that he wouldn’t rat out on her. However, he simply pretended he hadn’t seen it and placed down the towel in his hands. “It was Miss Gray who bumped into him so hard that the wounds opened up.”
“What?!” Rose exclaimed, her face trembling with anger. Throwing an icy glare at Tina, she added, “Great! I knew it had to be you!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Tina whispered. Biting her lower lip, she silently cursed Tom hatefully in her heart. He’s just a flunkey Toby is keeping by his side. How dare he disobey me! Just you wait and see! You’ll be the first person I dismiss once I’m married to Toby!
Rose snorted. “You didn’t do it on purpose? I think that’s exactly your plan! Ever since Toby started dating you, his reputation has been going downhill and our family paid a hefty price for you. Just because Toby covered up for you doesn’t mean I don’t know anything. The way I see it, you’re just a jinx sent here to bring calamity to our family!” she hollered as she pointed a finger at Tina, blood rushing to her eyes and face.
Right now, she was merely a regular grandmother who was concerned about her grandson, and not some elder from a reputable family—she couldn’t give two hoots about the etiquette expected of her and was just lashing out at Tina as she saw fit.
Red with embarrassment and anger, Tina was boiling on the inside, but she knew that she couldn’t snap back at Rose. Hence, she gave Jean a puppy-look, hoping that she would put in some good words for her.
Jean always had a liking for Tina, whom she regarded as her future daughter-in-law. It wasn’t solely because of her family background, but also because Tina really knew how to please her—frequently fawning upon her and giving her expensive gifts. So, she wouldn’t think twice to speak up for her.
“Mom, I think you’ve exaggerated things. What if she really wasn’t intentional?” Jean said, smiling at Rose.
Rose gave her an indifferent stare. “So, you would rather speak up for the person who caused your son’s wounds to open up instead of blaming her? Is Toby incomparable to an outsider in your heart? Indeed, you don’t love him that much because he’s not your biological son!”
What?! Toby is not Jean’s biological son? Shocked, Tina jerked her head up and looked at Jean with eyes the size of golf balls. Then, she shifted her gaze to the man on the bed who had his eyes tightly shut; only God knew if he had passed out or not.
It’s true, she thought, convinced. Toby doesn’t look the least bit like Jean, and she always carries herself like a hillbilly. Nothing like a lady born of a reputable family at all. It makes more sense to say that they aren’t related by blood.
In a corner, Tom was equally shocked to find out this secret.
“What are you speaking about, Mom? Even though I didn’t give birth to Toby, I’ve always regarded him as my own,” Jean grumbled.
However, Rose merely glared at her from the corner of her eyes without a word.
Soon, the doctor arrived and injected some analgesic into Toby. After the pain faded away, he gradually regained his consciousness, but his face was even more pale than before when he opened his eyes again.
Feeling a sharp pain in her heart, Rose held his hand and asked gently, “Are you alright, Toby?”
Nodding his head weakly, he uttered, “I’m fine. Don’t worry, Grandma.”
“I’m sorry, Toby. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry…” Standing by his bed, Tina sobbed as she wiped her tears away.
However, her cries merely made Toby’s head throb, and he wasn’t in the mood to console her at this point. Rubbing his temples, he groaned, “Stop crying already!”
Hearing the annoyance in his voice, Tina immediately stopped crying and looked at him with a hurt expression. Looks like he already has a certain level of resistance toward my cries. When he hears me crying now, he’s not going to prioritize and comfort me, even when he’s busy, like he used to anymore. At the thought of this, panic washed over her and she couldn’t help but start biting her nails.
“Okay, we’ve reapplied the antiseptic and dressed the wounds again. The next step is to take good care, but he shouldn’t be hit so strongly again. Otherwise, not only will his wound open up again, but his ribs which were fixed in place will also break,” the doctor warned sternly as he removed his blood-stained gloves.
Rose bobbed her head. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep a close eye on him and I won’t let some idiot hurt my grandson again!” she said and glanced at Tina intentionally.
Ashamed, Tina hung her head and didn’t dare to even make a squeak.
After the doctor left, Rose tapped her walking stick on the floor a couple of times and said, “Alright, all of you should go back now. I have some things to say to Toby.”
“I’m not leaving,” Tina said immediately, tugging Toby’s sleeves. “I wanna stay by Toby’s side.”
With a grim look, Rose looked at her with grave eyes. “Miss Gray, can’t you tell that you’re the last person I want to have here?”
Embarrassed to be told so bluntly that she was unwelcomed, Tina gazed at Toby and moved her lips to say something, but he jerked his sleeve away and muttered, “Go home for now, Tina.”
“But Toby…” she whined, sounding unwilling.
Pursing his lips, Toby returned her gaze with a solemn look. “Go home.”
Feeling as though he had seen through her with those eyes, Tina shuddered from his gaze and broke the eye contact subconsciously. “Okay, I’ll visit you again next time,” she replied with a nod and left after grabbing her handbag. A few seconds later, Jean and Tom left the room as well, leaving Rose and Mary together with Toby.
With Mary’s help, Rose sat down and glanced at her own grandchild studiously. “Somehow, I realized that your attitude toward Tina has mellowed down a lot after waking up this time. Now, you’re not as accommodating as you were to her before.”
With one arm over his eyes, Toby muttered, “I figured out some things all of a sudden. Maybe it’s because I was too accommodating toward her before this that made her more and more spoiled.”
More importantly, he could clearly feel that the shackles that were bounding his heart were all released after he woke up this time.
Previously, whenever he saw Tina crying or looking aggrieved, a voice in his head would command him to comfort and spoil her. But now, he suddenly realized that that voice had turned much softer now, and in turn, he became more relieved.
“I’m glad you realized that.” Rose gave him a thankful smile. “Toby, you’re finally back to the way you were before.”
“The way I was before?” he repeated, looking at her in a daze because he didn’t understand what she meant.
