“Mr. Wilson!”
Rita was still feeling embarrassed when Mrs. Davis opened the door anxiously.
Mrs. Davis was too anxious to find something went wrong between Rita and Liam. She said in a hoarse voice, “Jim is badly ill now.”
Rita and Liam were stunned. Then the atmosphere crackled with tension.
Rita said with a heavy heart, “He looked well yesterday when he came to the hospital. Why would he fall ill suddenly?”
“Jim kept coughing blood a week ago. But he didn’t allow me to tell you. He worried about Rita, so he managed to come to visit Rita. But he collapsed after he came home. Now he can’t even get up.”
Tear misted Rita’s eyes when she heard Mrs. Davis explaining in a choked voice.
She held back her tears and looked at the calendar next to her. Then she found it was September now.
If she was right, in her previous life, it was in September that Jim…
Suddenly, tears welled up in Rita’s eyes. “Liam, take me to the wheelchair. I want to come home and see Jim right now.”
Liam kept silent.
“Liam?” After a while, Liam still did not reply, so Rita turned and looked at him.
Liam paused for a few seconds and then lifted his eyes, “You are injured. You can’t move around too much.”
“It doesn’t matter, I…”
“If things are going badly, I will send someone to pick you up.” Liam interrupted her and then walked out.
Staring at him, Rita was unnerved with her eyes filling with tears, “Liam, Liam!”
But he did not pause even though she shouted in a cracked voice.
She could do nothing but watch him closing the door. Rita was angered. She tried to struggle out of the bed and catch him. But the pain locked her into immobility. Then she fell to the bed exhaustedly.
“You jerk! Liam, I want to see Jim! Jim…”
She shouted with anger at first. But then she began to sob.
Mrs. Davis had seen Rita getting along with Jim, so she knew why Rita was so sad.
Mrs. Davis tapped Rita on her trembling shoulders and tried to comfort her, “Rita, Jim will feel sadder if he sees you crying like that. Liam will take you come home when you get better.”
Rita took a long time to calm herself down.
She could try to avoid some disasters because she was reborn and she knew what would happen. But she could not prevent death.
Therefore, she also had to accept it if he died.
She glanced at the date on the calendar with mixed feelings.
She had expected to have a clean break with Liam, but now she hoped time could stop flashing.
Then Jim would not leave her, so she needed not to worry about getting into trouble. He would protect her if she was bullied. Moreover, he cared about her so much.
Tears misted her eyes again, but she held back very soon.
She took the ointment and gave it to Mrs. Davis, “It’s time to put on the ointment. Help me, please. The doctor says I should put it on the sore skin more often so as to reduce the swelling.” Then she could get out of the bed and come to visit Jim.
Last time she was banished from Wilson’s house by Liam, so she did not see Jim for the last time before he died.
This time, it must never happen again.
Liam hadn’t come to the hospital for two days, so Rita had to know about Jim’s situation by phone calls.
Liam called her as usual. She answered the phone immediately and asked, “How is Jim? Did he have the lunch today?”
“Yeah, he did. He’s fine.”
Liam replied briefly. Then a smile hovered on Rita’s lips, “Well, that’s nice.”
“Rita.”
“What?”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Sweet Divorce