Thomas held Vania by the arm and asked anxiously, "Are you alright? Did you sprain your ankle?"
His heart was racing due to his close contact with Vania.
"I'm fine. Thank you," Vania thanked him coolly before shrugging out of his grasp and continuing forward.
The sudden emptiness in his hand made Thomas feel a little down, but he clenched his fists and followed after her.
However, the warmth that he felt earlier seemed to linger in the palm of his hand and refused to dissipate.
Thomas realized that he was in too deep. Even an accidental touch was enough to leave such a monumental impact on him. He was becoming more and more useless.
Then again, ever since he met Vania, he seemed to have become a shadow of his old self.
He was caught up in his thoughts when all of a sudden, he heard Liam exclaim, "Watch out…"
Thomas whipped his head up and saw a large boulder rolling down. The ground was shaking as well.
Crap. It's a mine shock.
A series of boulders started hurtling down in their direction.
"Careful!" Thomas couldn't be bothered to worry about anything else anymore. He grabbed Vania and shielded her with his body.
At the same time, one of the boulders crashed right into Thomas' back before falling on Vania's foot and rolling downward.
Thomas groaned and blood began to seep through his white shirt.
"Ahh!" Vania exclaimed in fear and pain.
She was dazed by everything that was happening. It was her first time experiencing such a thing.
"Are you okay?" Thomas stared at Vania in concern as he endured the pain that was ripping through him. He even pulled Vania into his arms and forgot all about releasing her.
"I'm okay." Vania's head was spinning a little from her fright at the unexpected crisis.
Her foot had grown numb after being crushed for a moment by the boulder.
She had seen the boulder crashing into Thomas' back. It would've crashed into her if it weren't for him.
Vania instantly turned around. She gasped when she saw Thomas' back. "You're bleeding."
Liam snapped out of his panic mode and noticed it as well. "We need to go to the hospital now. It'll be a lot more serious if the wound gets infected."
Thomas was still swimming in glee over how he managed to hold Vania just now. He knew it was just by accident, but it was still a hug.
The shock and the excitement both numbed the pain. He couldn't feel anything now.
"I'm fine. We should check the site."
"You're hurt. We should go to the hospital first!" Liam was worried. "Vanie's foot was caught under the boulder as well. We need to get it checked at the hospital."
Thomas immediately crouched down when he heard that Vania was injured as well. He tried to take her shoe off. "Let me check."
Vania was startled by his sudden movement. She quickly withdrew her leg. "I'm fine. Your injuries are a lot worse than mine. Let's go now."
She inched away from him and maintained the same attitude she had toward him.
Thomas realized that he had been a little impolite, so he apologized at once. "I'm sorry. I was just a little anxious."
The three of them got back into the car and headed for the hospital.
There was a small hospital near the mine, and although it wasn't as grand as the hospitals in Hammond, it was still sufficient to deal with external scraps and injuries that were a common occurrence with miners.
The doctor checked Thomas' wound and said, "It's just a little bruising. It'll be fine after applying some ointment, but you'll need to avoid letting the wounded area come into contact with water for a few days."
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