Meanwhile, Thalia saw Spencer standing a near distance away upon alighting from the helicopter.
With a smile tugging at her lips, she ran right toward him. Once she reached him, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.
“I missed you so much, Spencer.” Thalia held him tightly, closing her eyes as she savored the warmth of his body.
Spencer held her in his arms, stroking her hair gently. He did not say a word, the look in his eyes indescribably complex and indecipherable.
The feeling of missing someone was something he had always kept to himself. Even when he yearned to see Thalia to the point of madness, he could never utter a single word to her.
After a long while, Thalia finally let go of him. She held his gaze. “Why aren't you saying anything?”
Spencer scrutinized her. “Are you okay? Were you injured?”
“Injured?” Speaking of that, Thalia suddenly remembered something and immediately lifted her hand. “Does this count?”
Spencer noticed a shallow wound on her hand. It was not deep, but one could tell that it was a fresh injury.
Spencer immediately grabbed her hand. “How did you get hurt?”
“I saved someone before I came back. It was the person I mentioned to you on the phone previously. I accidentally grazed myself up in the process, but I'm not even sure exactly when,” Thalia said, downplaying the situation.
Spencer stared at her, his dark eyes emanating an indescribable sense of solemnity. Yet, he was utterly helpless against her.
“Let me get you bandaged up.” While saying that, he took her hand and headed toward the laboratory.
Thalia allowed Spencer to lead her in by the hand, a soft smile playing on her lips as she studied his profile.
To her, having him hold her hand in such a manner was already an extremely blissful experience.
In the laboratory, Spencer carefully tended to Thalia's wound while Thalia watched him intently with her chin propped against her hand.
She eyeballed his tapered eyes and brows that appeared to have been etched by a pen, giving off a sense of delicate beauty.
“How gorgeous,” Thalia murmured.
Upon hearing that, Spencer looked up at her. Thalia did not hide her admiration of him, looking satisfied with a smile on her lips.
Sighing, Spencer pinned his eyes on her and asked, “Does it hurt?”
Only then did Thalia finally snap back to reality. She blinked distractedly. “Huh? What?”
“I asked if it hurts,” Spencer repeated patiently.
It was only then that Thalia gathered her wits about her. Glancing at the treated wound on her hand, she laughed nonchalantly. “No. Compared to the injuries I suffered in the past, this can hardly be considered an injury.”
At her words, Spencer's eyes narrowed slightly. “Were you often injured in the past?”
Thalia nodded. “Yeah. Injuries were inevitable, be it during training or when executing missions. The worst was when my wound got infected. I was bedridden for half a month, unable to move or eat anything. At that time, I thought I would starve to death.”
Although Spencer had always known that her line of work was bound to come with its share of bumps and bruises, hearing about it firsthand was a different matter altogether. As he listened, he felt his heart clench tightly. “And then?”
Thalia looked at him, her gaze suddenly turning tender. “And then, when I thought I couldn't hold on any longer, I had a dream.”
“A dream?” Spencer eyed her with his brows slightly furrowed.
Gazing at him, Thalia gave a dip of her head. “Yeah. The person in my dream told me to hang on. After that, I woke up from my high fever and survived.”
Spencer looked at her, seemingly a touch jealous. “Who was the person in your dream?”
Hearing his question, Thalia burst into laughter. “Why, you're very much bothered?”
Spencer casually averted his gaze, feigning indifference as he fibbed, “No, I was just asking.”
But in the next moment, Thalia suddenly reached out. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. “Really?”
Spencer fixed his eyes on her, his face devoid of emotion. Yet, the more he remained silent, the more it showed how much he cared about that matter.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: You're Out, Daddy novel (Natasha and Kenneth)