Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“Oh my god, how is this possible? Even professional forest rangers like us need to work in pairs, and we’re always armed on every trip down the gorge too! How did you two do it?”
“Umm, well… It’s a little complicated.” Flossie felt quite awkward when faced with the barrage of questions. She had no idea how Halston did it either, and she was waiting for him to explain himself too.
“You lost.” However, Halston ignored everyone else and halted, turning around to face Flossie.
“Yeah, I did.” Flossie smiled sadly. “I admit defeat, and I’ll keep my end of the deal.” She knew that if he was determined to return to Seraphina’s side, this wouldn’t be the last time he tried to run away. He might have been lucky enough to have come out alive this time, but there was no guarantee that it’d be the same on his next attempt.
She didn’t wish to put his life at risk anymore. She only ever wanted to help him after all.
“Sir, please have someone take him back to Seraphina Murphy.” Flossie made a simple request to the head of security after thinking things through.
“Huh… Wasn’t Mr. Guajardo admitted here just yesterday? Why is he leaving now? Greenwood Sanatorium is one of the best sanatoriums in the world! There’s no better place for him to rejuvenate.” The guard expressed confusion.
“Maybe to him, being with his beloved is much more helpful than any sanatorium out there. So… I’ll fulfill his wish,” Flossie replied, her words stinging her heart with a deep pain only she knew.
“Alright, we’ll arrange the vehicle then.” The guard noticed her sadness, looking at her with a sympathetic gaze.
At that moment, Halston scowled after having been silent the whole time. “Who told you I was leaving?”
Flossie turned to the man, clearly confused. “Weren’t you risking your life just to leave? Why the sudden change of heart?”
“I just wanted to show you that none of you could stop me if I tried to leave. So, if I do stay, it would be of my own volition,” Halston replied arrogantly.
“But… why?” Flossie still couldn’t understand. However, she now believed that Halston was telling the truth, he did in fact have the ability to escape this place.
‘But wasn’t he missing Seraphina? Why is he so willing to stay now? This makes no sense!’
“You mentioned that I risked my life to leave, but you risked your life to save me as well. That shows that we aren’t just hospital buddies as you said…” Halston paused, then continued. “I want to know what kind of past relationship we had to have warranted your desperate efforts.”
He wasn’t sure if he had lost parts of memories, but he could tell that this ‘Flossie Ellsworth’ had played an important role in his life. Otherwise, her existence alone wouldn’t have been such an uncomfortable topic to Seraphina, and even his mother.
Since everyone else wasn’t willing to tell him the truth, he had no choice but to look for answers himself.
Flossie froze. After a moment of silence, she spoke up softly. “If you’d really like to know, then cooperate with us on your recovery. Once you regain your sight, you’ll be able to see my face. Maybe then you’d remember who I am.”
“That sounds good,” Halston said, displaying a genuine smile he hadn’t shown since losing his sight. “I look forward to that day.”
Flossie didn’t reply, mixed emotions stirred with her chest as she thought, ‘Maybe… when you do see me, you’ll realize how unworthy I am of being in your life!’
When Halston returned to the sanatorium, he no longer disobeyed orders. Hence, Margaret conducted a full body check up on him, only to leave her shaking her head and sighing repeatedly.
Flossie felt rather anxious as she stood nearby. She was worried that this might give Halston unnecessary pressure, and requested Margaret to step outside for a moment. “Margaret, how is he now? Is it possible for him to ever see again?”
Margaret seemed troubled. She wanted to say something, but stopped herself. After some struggling, she finally explained, “Miss Flossie, I’ll be honest with you. His sight isn’t the biggest issue here. His pulse indicates that his condition is worsening, especially his brain. He might have suffered severe trauma, which led to the blood clot in his brain. We should first think of ways to nurse him back to health, or else he…”
Margaret couldn’t bring herself to explain further. Her diagnosis was similar to Layla’s, in that Halston was in quite a bad condition. She even made sure to spare Flossie the horrific details.
“Severe trauma? Blood clot? Then… Can we still save him?” Flossie turned pale, panicking since she merely thought Halston sustained external wounds. She had always believed that his constitution was fine, and didn’t think it’d be so severe.
“Calm down, it’s a good thing you brought him here in time. We’re not too late yet. My father, who I severed ties with, was an expert in curing blood stasis. I learned some skills from him back then, so we should let him try some medicinal tea for now.”
“Once his brain has healed, his eyes might even recover along with it.” Margaret patted her on the shoulder, consoling the woman gently.
“That’d be great!” Flossie sighed in relief. She was secretly happy that she was shameless enough to have kidnapped him in time. Otherwise, healing him would have become mere wishful thinking.
“But… There is still a small issue…” Margaret seemed reluctant to speak again.
“Oh come on, Margaret, spill everything out at once! You’re giving me a heart attack here!” Flossie felt her chest tightening as she nervously turned to the old woman once more.
“My father may have been a great doctor, but he has rather odd ways. The recipes he concurred up on his own aren’t accepted within us traditional doctors. That’s why I was hesitant in using his methods…” Margaret furrowed her eyebrows, visibly perturbed.
“What is it? What do you mean odd? Tell me.”
“All my father’s recipes require a special ingredient…” Margaret then whispered into Flossie’s ear, revealing the ingredient to her.
Flossie remained silent for a short while, then responded, “It’s okay. If you need any, then go ahead. I can provide you with it.”
“But it’d be harmful to you. Is that heartless man really worth it?”
“He became this way because of me. I’m even willing to sacrifice my life for him, let alone this special ingredient.”
“Alright, I understand, you don’t want to owe him anything.”
As the two came to an agreement, they turned all their focus onto nursing Halston’s body.
Halston was oddly ‘obedient’ as well, as he consumed every single dish Flossie gave.
After about a week, the injuries on his body had healed rather quickly. Moreover, when Margaret checked his pulse the second time, she no longer looked as solemn as she did before, and grinned happily.
“Mr. Guajardo’s pulse has finally stabilized, and his blood circulation has improved drastically. Just two more treatments and we’ll be able to focus on curing his eyes.”
Flossie’s eyes lit up, rejoicing. “That’s amazing! Our efforts didn’t go to waste!”
Her voice was soft, as she was obviously quite frail. Her face was as white as a sheet, and there were dark circles around her eyes. Despite all that, her genuine smile was still quite a beautiful sight to behold.
Seeing her state, Margaret felt heartbroken. “Miss Flossie, let’s stop using the special ingredient for the next few doses of medicine. Your life might be in danger.”
She was starting to regret using her father’s methods. It did help cure the patient at a rapid pace, but… the person providing the special ingredient had to suffer instead.
“If the medicine is working great, then keep using it, or else we’re just going to lose all the progress we made!” Flossie smiled as she turned to the man’s room. “Like you said, I didn’t want to owe him anything. This is my karma, so the more I have to give, the better I can forgive myself.”
“Oh and… you must keep this secret ingredient thing just between us. Don’t let him find out, okay?”
“Miss Flossie, you may excel in everything, but you’re too much of a hopeless romantic. He doesn’t even remember you now. Even if you do cure him, you’ll just have to watch him marry Miss Murphy later on. It’s simply foolish…”
“Well, you know what they say, ignorance is bliss!” Flossie smiled optimistically.
Halston’s health started improving day by day, and he was slowly growing more comfortable with Flossie as well.
At the time, the two were enjoying the fresh air in the garden behind the sanatorium. The pavilions and terraces surrounding them made the atmosphere seem quite picturesque.
However, it was a shame that Halston couldn’t see anything, no matter how beautiful the scenery was.
On the other hand, Flossie was lost in her thoughts as she silently gazed at the blooming azaleas. She even found breathing rather exhausting at this point.
“You’ve been acting a little strange lately.” Halston, who wasn’t usually all that talkative, suddenly spoke up.
Flossie snapped back to reality and took a deep breath, trying her best to sound energetic. “How so?”
“You’ve been rather quiet lately, like you’ve become a proper lady,” Halston teased lightly. Although he had not spent much time with the woman, her incessant chattering had long made an impression on him. However, for the past few days, she had been unusually quiet. Most times, they merely sat together in silence, not saying a word to each other. Her voice was starting to sound quite weak as well, as if she were a willow in the breeze.
‘This is odd. Almost too odd!’
“That’s because I am a proper lady,” Flossie replied, her voice exceedingly soft.