Although she did not believe that Finnick had completely forgotten her, she was unsure what to say at first, especially since he had been cold towards her for quite a while.
There was an awkward silence in the lift as neither of them spoke.
After a long silence, Finnick couldn’t help but ask, “How have you been doing all these years while living abroad?”
It wasn’t because he had feelings for Evelyn, but rather because he felt it was appropriate to keep his distance from her since he already had Vivian. Honestly, Evelyn was just a victim back then, so he probably shouldn’t behave so indifferently towards her.
Evelyn finally smiled when she heard Finnick’s question. She knew that Finnick would never forget her. She believed that he just didn’t know how to tell her after she was gone for ten years, and that’s why he was acting a bit distant towards her. Finnick had always been cold to everyone except her in the past.
“Quite well. The family who took me in treated me well, as if I were their own daughter. Hence, I’ve had a relatively easy life over the years. It’s just that…” Evelyn paused for a moment and did not elaborate further.
“What’s wrong?” After noticing Evelyn holding back, Finnick asked curiously.
“It’s nothing serious. It’s just that there were some repercussions after I was heavily injured during the fire that year.” Evelyn smiled and continued, “Therefore, my health has been a problem all these years and I’ve often been hospitalized. It looks like I might become their regular customer soon.”
Finnick’s eyes flashed with a trace of heartache as he heard Evelyn making jokes about her own health.
He remembered that Evelyn hated being hospitalized the most. When she was sick, he had to go to great lengths to persuade her to drink her medicine, otherwise she wouldn’t do so. It seemed that she had become accustomed to the experience when she mentioned being hospitalized now.
Even though she claimed to be fine all those years, he felt that she must had suffered quite a bit because she was living under someone else’s roof after all.
Both of them started chatting in the lift. Most of the time, Evelyn was talking and Finnick was listening. In addition to talking about her life abroad over the years, Evelyn asked Finnick some questions from time to time.
Even though Finnick was still acting rather coldly, he wasn’t as indifferent as he had been at the beginning and answered Evelyn’s questions.
After being trapped in the lift for quite some time, Evelyn’s face turned pale all of a sudden. As she placed one hand over her chest, she bent over and panted heavily.
“Are you alright?” After noticing Evelyn’s condition, Finnick held her immediately.
As she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, Evelyn was unable to answer Finnick’s questions.
As Finnick assisted Evelyn to slowly sit against the wall of the lift, he stroked her back in order for her to breathe more easily. Evelyn finally calmed down after a while and began to look much better.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing that Evelyn was getting better, Finnick asked worriedly.
The moment she opened her eyes and saw Finnick’s worried expression, Evelyn struggled to put on a weak smile and said, “I’m fine, it’s because I inhaled a lot of smoke during the fire back then, so… so there are problems with my heart and respiratory tract… I’m used to it, it’s fine…”
“You should stop talking for now and rest well. We will get out of here soon.” After Finnick said that to Evelyn, he stood up and used the phone in the lift to contact the people outside.
“How long more do you need?” The maintenance technician immediately heard Finnick’s exasperated voice once the call was connected.
The maintenance technician didn’t know why Finnick, who had managed to stay calm earlier, was suddenly acting so impatient. Hence, he quickly reassured, “Right away, Mr. Norton. Please be patient for a moment. It will be done in thirty minutes at most.”
“Hurry up, there’s a patient in the lift and the situation is very critical.” As he turned around and glanced at Evelyn, Finnick noticed that she wasn’t looking any better still. “Hurry up!”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The maintenance technician responded swiftly and sped up with the repairs.
As Finnick hung up the phone and returned to Evelyn’s side, he continued to stroke her back in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable.
