John rushed right away to rescue Brian and Molly as soon as he received Brian's call. He was horrified at Brian's injury. Never had he seen Brian get hurt. Not once. Brian wasn't one to be defeated and he certainly wasn't one to be hurt by anyone.
John scowled at Molly because he deemed it to be her fault. He drove them both back to the villa and asked Brian,"Should I call a doctor for you, Mr. Brian?"
Molly nodded vigorously before Brian could respond. She looked at Brian as if to ask if it was too late for medical care for Brian's injury.
To her surprise, Brian snickered at her reaction. She looked at him with questioning eyes. Why would he be laughing now?
Was he making fun of her? The upset Molly. She glared at him and turned to John and pointed at Brian's wound.
John turned to Brian for confirmation. After he saw Brian nod, he left to call for a doctor.
For Brian, it was just a minor wound which he could have dealt with himself. If he had wished, he could have asked John to send him to the hospital on their way back home, instead of coming straight to the villa... Brian could have treated himself - it wasn't a serious injury. He didn't want to go to the hospital, he just wanted to stay at the villa.
Brian was relaxed at the sofa. He didn't even dress his wound. His face was so calm you wouldn't have expected to see a wound on him. He watched as Molly ran back and forth around the house searching for the first aid kit. He kept staring at her until she finally headed towards him with the kit in hand.
"You know how to treat a gun wound?"
He was born this way. His fate had been written in the stars long ago. Brian knew to himself how lucky he was - here was surrounded by the best and only the best. He had to fight his way through the Dragon Island and the XK Intelligence Agency. The only way for him to do this was to be the strongest and the best too. He needed to protect those he wanted to protect. He spent over a year training at the Hell Forest. All the time he spent there groomed himself to be the perfect storm of courage and skill. Everything he had done had led him to who he was today. He had been hurt, shot, stabbed, wounded, and even been at the brink of death. He had faced despair itself. He had to go through all of that. Shirley pitied him and Richie looked out for him but this didn't stop him from learning and improving. Brian was so independent for a long time, he only relied on himself and himself only. He fought through blood and tears to be the best. And his only goal was to make Richie proud.
As Brian fought through his way to Hell Forest, he had become more and more indifferent. He killed for sport and did not afford any sort of care towards others. Always shortening the gap between life and death too often had turned Brian into a different person, he had locked his heart and thrown the key away. And right now, as he sat in the sofa, with Molly in front of him, radiating with love for him... he was trying to find the key. Her feelings were real, so real but at the same time, you couldn't touch it even if you tried. She was reaching out to him and Brian was trying all his might to push her away but he couldn't. Something had wakened up inside him.
Brian frowned as all these things ran through his head. He wasn't ready for his life to change yet. So as she approached him, he warned her,"Stop. The doctor can do it."
Molly paused in disbelief. She stared at him, her eyes twitching. This was the last thing Molly expected to hear. She tried her best to read his face and figure out what had happened. Why is he suddenly changing his tone? She realized that she wasn't scared of what he had just said but rather, the rigid, cold tone of his voice.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Began with the First Meeting