Aaron looked at the doctor with a pained expression. The words that he heard seemingly dropped a very heavy stone on his heart, and it was making his body feel heavier than it actually was. His bones felt weak, his knees started to buckle, and tears were forming in his eyes. He tried steadying himself. After that, he asked the doctor, though his voice was shaky. "Is there any way to cure her?"
"Yes," the doctor answered, letting out a deep sigh. "But then again, there is only a very slim chance that it would work."
Aaron thanked the doctor and returned to Ximena's room. Ximena was sleeping, and Aaron couldn't help but watch her. The doctor's words were still echoing in his ears. Melancholic darkness was gradually filling his chest, and an aura of despair started to manifest in his handsome face.
'Will the gap between us exist forever if we don't have a baby? Our baby is now gone! With it is the bridge that would help us cross that gap! Just when we saw an opportunity to finally have a fresh start, this happens. Why?' he thought, almost tearing up. All he was feeling was coldness, as if he had fallen into a freezing river. He felt that he would dwell in the bottom of the abyss built by their misunderstanding forever and that he would never be able to swim back to land.
The whole thing was becoming too much to handle for Aaron, and so he decided to go out and get some fresh air. As the dim light of the corridor hit him, he looked like a ghost with nowhere to go. Everywhere he looked reminded him of the abyss he was dreading, and it didn't make him feel good.
His footsteps were the only sound he heard as he went towards the lift. It made him feel deeply lonely and alone.
When he got to the front of the lift, he pressed the button, waited, and watched the changing number on the lift display.
A pattering of footstep wafted into Aaron's ears as a nurse on her night patrol approached from the other end of the corridor. She was holding a pile of medical records in her arms. Aaron's lonely shadow startled her. She thought he was a ghost, but she quickly realized that it was a living, breathing human being. Although it was not strange to see a couple of lonely people in the hospital at such an hour, Aaron had a peculiar quality to him. For some reason, the intensity of his despair impressed her. When she got in front of the lift, she looked at him with a pair of suspicious eyes, wondering who he was. The sadness and helplessness surrounding him was so strong that she could clearly, and eerily, feel it.
Ding!
The lift came and its door opened. Aaron stepped inside and pushed the button for the underground parking lot. He stood still, like a statue, as the lift went down.
Aaron's car zoomed at full speed along the streets decorated by colorful neon lights. It ran so fast that its lights drew a luminous line in the darkness of the night.
The car then halted suddenly, which was interjected by a sharp loud noise.
Rubbing his eyes, Aaron turned to look at the manor his car stopped in front of. His eyes blinked fast, as if he had not realized where he was. After regaining his senses, he turned off the engine and stepped out of the car.
Instead of going directly into the manor, he stood by his car for a little while. He looked around to have a clear view of the surroundings under the dim light from the manor. Time passed and he just stood there, looking at one direction as if in deep thought. But his mind was as empty as a sheet of white paper. After taking in a deep breath, he finally walked towards the manor.
"Your Highness!" the door keeper addressed him, in surprise. Quickly, he opened the gate for him. It was so late and he didn't expect that His Highness would come home at such an hour.
Saying nothing to him, Aaron went straight through the gate. Unlike his usual self, he walked in an unsteady manner because his legs felt wobbly, as if he was stepping on a soft mat. When he reached the garden house, he stopped.
He pressed a button and the gates automatically opened. With his legs still feeling wobbly, he walked into the garden house and the lights automatically turned on. He walked towards the sofa and threw himself onto it. The roses looked extremely beautiful under the bright light. For some reason, he felt that the flowers in full bloom were mocking him.
Without looking, he was able to find the remote control and get it. After that, he pushed a button and the glass wall slowly slid open to let cold air in.
"Aaron, we will have babies, right?" Ximena was laying on the sofa by Aaron's side, her head on his legs. There was a glass bowl which was full of fresh strawberries. She reached her hand out, picked one, bit off half of it, and fed Aaron the other half. Chewing, Aaron struggled to answer but he was only able to let out a sound that vaguely resembled a yes.
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