At 7 PM, as the weather grew colder, Rose wore a sweater and a short winter coat. She carried a large thermos and made her way to the hospital, following the assistant's directions to find Elliot's room.
As she searched for his room, her phone suddenly rang. She glanced at the message display and clicked it open.
--Working overtime tonight. Don't wait up for me.
Rose's eyes landed on the top of the message where it said "Elliot."
Working overtime? Rose was puzzled for a moment before realizing that he might be lying to her on purpose. But why?
She arrived at Elliot's room but hesitated when she saw Madeleine leaning over Elliot lying in the sickbed.
Rose knocked heavily on the door, causing Madeleine to jump in surprise and waking Elliot up.
"I brought you some congee," Rose said expressionlessly as she looked at Madeleine who stood silently beside them. "The doctor said it would be okay for you to drink."
Elliot looked confused by her cold demeanor towards him as if he had done something wrong again.
"Why are you here?" He regretted his words immediately after they left his mouth.
Had he been too harsh?
Rose's face instantly changed from indifferent to coldly fierce with clear eyes staring daggers into him before answering with anger in her voice, "Your assistant called me saying that you had surgery today and asked me specifically to bring dinner over."
Madeleine watched nervously from beside them, afraid that Rose might tell Elliot what just happened.
Rose felt herself foolish for coming all this way and intending to take care of him for a night. After all, he already had another woman by his side.
She put down the thermos and didn't look at Elliot or Madeleine, just said, "Since you have someone with you, I'll leave. I shouldn't have come to the hospital to meddle in other people's business. It's a waste of my time."
Elliot glanced at Madeleine and only then noticed her presence. His face didn't look too good as he asked, "How did you know?"
Madeleine saw his coldness towards her and gritted her teeth. "I came to the hospital to get Shawn's medicine and saw your assistant..."
Rose wasn't interested in their conversation and was about to leave when Elliot stopped her.
His voice was cold but carried a hint of unknown tenderness as he said, "Rose, wait for a moment."
Rose stopped walking towards the door and turned around. "What else do you want?"
If she hadn't arrived on time earlier, would Madeleine have kissed him? Does he even know? Rose was feeling very upset.
But she had no choice but to pretend that she didn't care about anything anymore; that nothing mattered except herself if she wanted to deceive herself into thinking that she no longer had feelings for Elliot.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Goodbye You Never Loved Me novel (Martha and Stefan)