Noah gulped down the second glass of water. His eyes looked full of tenderness as if the wall of ice around his heart had melted.
He understood that feelings could not be forced. He never really intended to deceive Nina, but there was a void in his heart, and he wanted to feel whole even just for a while. Even if it was not for real.
During the time that Nina mistook him for John, he knew that her heart only longed for him.
Noah thought of trying to make her his, but at the end of the day, all he would be was a substitute. If he were to spend the rest of his life with someone, he wanted their relationship to be genuine.
Besides, if Nina found out one day that he had tried to trick her into being with him, he would lose her for good. Their friendship would crumble beyond repair.
Noah had suffered enough loss in his life. He lost his mother who loved him, his aunt who did everything she could to protect him, and Albert who did nothing wrong to him.
He had no one left. He could not afford to lose Nina who treated him like a brother.
He could not lose the girl who came to him the rainy night.
At this point, Noah would do anything to keep Nina even if it meant letting her be happy with someone else. She had only regarded him as a brother anyway. She had treated him like a good friend, like family even.
So Noah decided that he would just be Nina's brother and be there for her no matter what.
When Noah had straightened out his thinking, the documents sent by Ford had reached him. He had decided to fly to C Island despite Ford stopping him.
"It happened earlier than I'd imagined. I thought that Nini wouldn't regain her memories until the experts would study those documents and find out a way." Noah raised his head to look at John. After a few moments, he lowered his head back down.
It was not that he lost to John, but he chose to quit.
Noah continued, "Congratulations."
Hearing this, John snorted. "You didn't mean it."
"Then what do you think I should do?" As Noah tried to move his body a little, his hand accidently grazed his wound. The anesthesia had already worn out. The abrupt shot of pain made him gasp.
"Stop trying to move. If you want to die, at least don't die in front of me," John said coldly.
"The way you care about people is quite special. I don't understand how Nini is able to get along with you." Noah wanted to laugh, but he did not want to rip his stitches. He just kept his mouth shut and looked at John.
"And it has nothing to do with you," John told him.
"Fine. Let's just talk about something else. But first, could you bring me some painkillers and a glass of water?" Noah asked.
John owed him his life, so he did what he asked.
"I meant what I said. I was being sincere. But it's true that I feel extremely uncomfortable right now." Noah watched as John poured water into a glass and took two pills from the medicine bottle.
"You need to take good care of her and the children. Don't ever let me get between the two of you again." Noah looked into John's dark eyes and did not move.
But it seemed that his words had no impact whatsoever on John.
However, under John's blank expression and calm appearance, his blood boiled.
John put the glass of water on the bedside table. With one quick motion, he grabbed Noah's chin with his empty hand and forced him to open his mouth. He then put the painkillers inside his mouth.
Noah's eyes widened. When he raised his hand to grab John's hand, John was already half a meter away from him. He closed his mouth and swallowed the pills.
"You won't have a chance," John said to him flatly.
Noah got a little irked. "Can't you be nicer to a patient?"
"I didn't ask you to catch a knife in the stomach for me."
"Was it my fault then?" Noah asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go be with my wife now." John walked out of the ward as soon as he finished speaking. Looking at his receding figure, Noah shook his head.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: You Are The Apple of My Eyes