Holly was carrying an insulated food container, and although she looked a little tired, it did nothing to take away from her cool, striking poise.
When she heard what Graham said, she frowned immediately. "What do you mean you don't have any family? Aren't I right here? Graham, you're the one who went too far with Colin first. Your parents and I were just upset. You've already been punished, so let's move past this, okay? Stop being stubborn."
She paused, then softened her voice. "I've pushed all my important work at the company aside for now so I can stay here and take care of you."
Graham took in her carefully softened expression and listened to words that sounded so thoughtful, yet he felt nothing but a hollow calm. None of it moved him in the slightest.
He was about to tell her not to bother when the phone on the nightstand rang.
It was a video call from Joyce.
Graham swiped to answer.
His parents and Colin appeared on the screen with a sunny beach behind them.
Joyce's voice carried a faint trace of guilt, though mostly she sounded as if this were perfectly reasonable.
"Graham, you're awake? Well, Colin had quite a scare this time, and he's been in low spirits ever since. We brought him to the Velaro Islands to take his mind off things, so we might not be able to come take care of you at the hospital.
"And you know you really went too far last time. Think of this as making things up to Colin a little. Don't take it to heart, okay?"
Graham looked at Colin nestled between his parents on the screen, his face lit with a satisfied smile. The space where Graham's heart should have been felt hollow, so empty that he could not even feel the pain anymore.
He gave her a one-word answer. "Okay."
Joyce had not expected him to be so calm. She paused as though she wanted to say more, but in the end, she only spoke awkwardly. "Um, is Holly there with you? Could you put her on?"
Graham handed the phone straight to Holly.
Holly took it and walked over to the window.
Graham could not make out exactly what they were saying. He only caught fragments here and there, things like "Colin wishes you'd come too," "Colin's still pretty shaken up," and "Colin wants to see you."
He saw hesitation cross Holly's profile, but deep in her eyes, there was an unmistakable flash of worry and longing.
The corner of Graham's mouth twitched.
When Holly hung up and came back to the bed, her face wore a complicated look, as if she wanted to say something but could not bring herself to. Graham spoke first, his voice calm and flat. "Go be with Colin. I can hire a caregiver."
Holly froze as if she had not heard him right. "What?"
"I said go to the Velaro Islands and keep Colin company," Graham repeated, his tone giving nothing away. "I don't need you here."
Holly's expression darkened. A strange, intense irritation took hold of her, along with a discomfort she could not name.
She looked at Graham's pale, calm face. This was the same face that used to fall whenever she glanced at Colin a moment too long, the same face that used to look hurt over any concern she showed Colin.
Now he was actually pushing her toward Colin himself?
Her voice turned colder. "Graham, what's gotten into you lately? Why do you keep pushing me toward Colin?"
He did not answer. He only asked again. "So, are you going?"
Holly was stunned.
She pressed her lips together and said nothing for a few seconds. In the end, she still answered stiffly. "Colin's emotionally fragile right now, and he had a real scare this time. I should probably keep an eye on him. Consider it making amends on your behalf."
"Right." Graham nodded. "Then make it up to him properly."
"You…" She bristled at his offhand tone. She could not shake the feeling that there was a jab buried in his words. Anger she could not explain kept building inside her, and that uncomfortable sense of losing control reached its peak.
In the end, though, she said nothing. She simply turned and strode out of the hospital room.
…
Graham spent the following week recovering quietly in the hospital.
However, texts and photos from Colin came pouring in like a blizzard.
Sometimes it was a beach photo of his parents with their arms around him on either side, all of them beaming. Sometimes it was Colin holding an umbrella over Holly on the sand while she gazed at him tenderly.
Other times it was Holly from behind in a new swimsuit, showing off her slender figure.
The captions were all the same kind of bragging and provocation.
[Look, Graham. Mom and Dad still love me the most.]
[Holly says the sunsets here are beautiful. Too bad you can't see them.]
[I gave you five years, and you still couldn't hold on to anyone's heart. Since you're this useless, I'm taking back everything that's yours.]
Graham looked at the carefully angled photos and the spiteful messages, his face as calm as if he were scrolling past a stranger's posts on social media.
Finally, he opened his chat with Colin and replied with a single word: [Okay.]
Then he locked his phone and muted the notifications. No matter how many more messages or photos Colin sent after that, he never opened a single one.
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