Chapter 3

By evening, the Lane family had a car ready to take them to the restaurant. Nelson, Irene, and Sinead sat together in the back seat.

Nelson, who was in the middle seat, paid constant attention to Irene throughout the entire trip.

He adjusted the air conditioning for her, found a blanket for her, handed her water, and even twisted the cap off the bottle.

Sinead watched them chat as she sat on the left, quietly staring out the window. They were only halfway there when it started to rain cats and dogs.

The road outside was dim, and the car in front had its high beams on. As they went downhill, the driver was dazed by the light and drove straight into the guardrail, unable to make the turn in time.

In that instant, Nelson moved on instinct and wrapped Irene in his arms.

Bang!

The glass shattered inward. Sinead, sitting on the side, was slammed into the broken window and left covered in blood.

A wave of searing pain tore through her body, and she felt as if she were coming apart. As her mind grew hazy, she saw the door on the right side of the car swing open.

Nelson stumbled out with Irene in his arms, phone pressed to his ear as he called for an ambulance, his voice gentle as he comforted her.

It was as if he had forgotten there was someone else in the car. He did not look back even once.

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics said they should treat whoever was hurt the worst first.

Faced with Sinead lying in a pool of blood and Irene in a daze in his arms, Nelson hesitated only a few seconds before choosing to send Irene to the hospital first.

Watching the ambulance carry them farther and farther away, Sinead's vision slowly lost focus, and her tears finally spilled over.

Oh, Nelson...

In the end, their years of relationship could not compare to one panicked look from Irene.

As her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, the pain that had been gnawing at her began to fade. She did not last long enough for the next ambulance as her vision went black, and she slipped into darkness.

-

Sinead did not know how much time had passed before she heard murmurs of voices.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Liana holding a hand to her chest with a worried look on her face. She sounded relieved when she said, "Thank goodness, Sinead. You finally woke up. You lost so much blood that if the ambulance hadn't gotten you here in time, even the hospital's blood bank might not have been enough to save you. There were three of you in that car. How did that young lady from the Johnson family end up with just a scrape on her hand while your condition deteriorated this badly?"

Jackson finally let out a long sigh and raised a glass of water to his lips. "That's because Nelson was protecting her, of course. Irene was so moved because she saw who truly cared about her in an emergency. I just visited Irene's ward next door and happened to see Nelson feeding her using a spoon. If you ask me, they're as good as together already just from the way those two were looking at each other."

Sinead listened quietly.

Only after they finished their gossip did she ask in a hoarse voice, "How long was I asleep? Are the immigration papers ready?"

"You were unconscious for two days and scared us half to death. You don't need to worry about the paperwork. It'll be ready in about twenty days. You just focus on getting better," Richard said.

Hearing that there was less than a month left, a sense of relief washed over her.

Over the next two or three days, Sinead kept hearing from the nurses about all the things Nelson was doing for Irene.

Nelson would stay in Irene's ward without leaving her side every day. If he heard her cough in the middle of the night, he would be worried enough to go to the nurses to ask for hot water. He tested the temperature of every drink himself and kept sweets ready, worried that the medicine would be too bitter for her. When he was worried she would be bored in the ward, he went out of his way to find toys and games to cheer her up.

Sinead listened in silence and said nothing.

When a nurse wheeled Sinead out of her ward for a follow-up exam some time later, there was a commotion in the corridor. As they passed the next ward, she turned her head and saw Nelson standing there with a huge bouquet of roses in his arms, confessing his love for Irene.

"Irene, I fell for you at first sight eight years ago. All those chance meetings were really me trying to get close to you. I remember everything you like, and I know what you dream about. I never got the chance to confess back then. Will you give me a chance now?" Nelson confessed.

Hearing the nervous expectation in his voice, Sinead could not help remembering how Nelson had already started preparing this confession a month before Irene had gone abroad.

Back then, a twist of fate had made them miss that moment, but it had finally arrived a few years later.

When Sinead heard Irene say yes, she quietly scoffed and continued toward the examination room.

The moment she turned away, the crowd gathered around them broke into warm applause. Nelson looked over and saw Sinead's lone figure.

The smile on his face froze, and something in his heart shifted. That discomfort lasted only for a heartbeat before it was drowned beneath all the joy he was feeling.

He opened his arms without hesitation and pulled Irene into his embrace.