Austin felt a surge of shame when he saw the blood and remembered how Dominic had cared for himself when he was sick. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Dom!”
“Sorry, my *ss!” Dominic suddenly spoke, to his astonishment.
Austin was overjoyed. “Uncle Dom, you’re awake!”
Dominic had been in a stupor since Alexander left. The older man sometimes moaned and coughed but had never woken up or even opened his eyes. However, to Austin’s surprise, Dominic opened his eyes and spoke.
“I’m not dead yet, all right?” Although the older man was weak, he was still as feisty as before, and Austin was grateful for that.
“Thank goodness you finally woke up! Not only are you not dead, you’ll also live a long life, I’m sure,” he said as he hugged Dominic tightly.
“Hey… Hey…” Dominic could hardly breathe.
Austin quickly let go and looked at him. “Are you thirsty? Would you like some water, or are you hungry? How about some food?”
Dominic hardly ate anything for the past two days and was thin now. Previously, Austin’s muscles grew unusually quickly, but Dominic lost weight instead. He was no longer as robust as before. Austin felt like he was hugging a skeleton just now.
“Thirsty…” Dominic said, nodding.
Austin helped him lean against a propped-up pillow, then fetched a glass of water. He fed his granduncle the water slowly since he feared choking the older man. After Dominic drank half a glass of water and looked much better, Austin put the cup aside.
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