Ronan continued to comfort me. A strange sense of warmth exuded from his embrace.
Formerly, I thought of Ronan no more than a flirtatious playboy who was only trying to get me in bed. However, I had come to the realization that he truly did care for me.
Ronan did not stop me as I squeezed him tighter. Only when I was exhausted from all the crying did I let him go. As I pulled away, I noticed a huge stain of my sweat and tears on his shirt near his collar.
“Sorry for making your shirt dirty…”
Embarrassed to see the mess I have created, I mumbled sheepishly while avoiding eye contact. Overwhelmed by my emotions, I only cared about letting it out before I drowned in my own tears, forgetting that I had no relation with the man in front of me.
“It’s okay, as long as you have stopped crying. You almost scared me to death just now. I thought I had said something wrong that drove you to tears.”
Ronan shrugged and peered nonchalantly at his dampened shirt before turning to face me, concerned.
“It’s not your fault. I just thought of something upsetting.”
Utterly grateful that he had allowed me to cry on his shoulder, my perspective towards Ronan started to shift.
“Do you want to talk about it? After that crying session we just had, we should at least be friends now, right?”
A bright smile bloomed on his face as he looked at me carefully.
His big eyes made him look like an oversized toddler. However, I was surprisingly at ease by just staring into his sparkling eyes.
After a few minutes of hesitation, my lips parted as words started to spill out. I told Ronan everything that was happening between my family and me. It was not that I wanted his sympathy. I just needed to vent.
“Your parents had gone overboard this time. When we first met, you were kicked out of the hospital ward. Was it because of this?”
After my rant, Ronan’s eyes were filled with newfound pity. I pursed my lips subtly. Truth to be told, I did not like being pitied.
I nodded in silence.
“How can your parents treat you this way? Plus, what happened with Steven was not even your fault. Why did they push the responsibility onto you?”
Ronan stared at me sympathetically. Even so, his facial expression indicated his anger towards my parent’s behavior.
“It’s fine. I’m used to it anyways. It has always been like this since I was a little kid. They just made it even more obvious recently.”
I shrugged, feigning a look of nonchalance as I said that coolly.
“If you really are used to it, you wouldn’t have cried so hard just now. Also, given how sick you are, your parents still choose not to take care of you but be with your brother instead. That’s totally unacceptable.”
Ronan clasped my hands in his while looking at me. Heartache was written all over his face.
Overwhelmed with sorrow, I forgot to pull away from his touch. Instead, I let him continue holding my hands.
For the whole afternoon, Ronan stayed with me inside the ward. Time and time again, he would ask the nurses to take my temperature. His meticulous care for me touched me deeply.
However, there was something peculiar that I had noticed. For some unknown reason, all of the nurses seemed to treat Ronan with extra caution. All of them were very obedient to his orders. Is it because Ronan looks handsome?
No matter how hard I tried, that was the only reasoning that I could come up with.
Before long, the sun began to set. Ronan had taken care of me for hours. I was starting to feel sorry for taking up so much of his time. Just as I was about to ask him to go home, the door of the room swung open.
In walked Mom with a box of food in her hands.
“You must be hungry. I brought you some dinner. Eat up.”
Mom placed the food in front of me before pouring me a cup of water.
At the sight of my Mom, I could not help but feel my heart squeezed. After she left this noon, she had not visited me again, albeit Steven’s ward was on the same floor as mine.
I adverted my gaze, refusing to showcase my tense relationship with Mom in front of Ronan.
Upon opening the box, I noticed there were only two types of greens with plain rice inside.
I glanced up at looked at my mom. Even though I was not satisfied with the food, I swallowed my disappointment while reminding myself to be grateful that Mom was willing to bring me food. Without another word, I picked up the cutlery. Before I could eat, Ronan interrupted.
“What kind of dinner is this? There are barely any nutrients. Anna is a sick patient right now, so she needs nutrients for her to get better. This food is not going to do anything for her recovery.”
Ronan shot a glare towards Mom. His voice was laced with displeasure and contempt.
“Anna, who’s this? A friend of yours?”
With a frown, Mom peered at Ronan before directing her question to me.
“Mm hmm. He’s my friend.”
Before that day, I would have never called Ronan my friend. However, after the attentiveness he had shown me that afternoon, I realized that he had a kind heart despite his sharp tongue.
“Your friends are getting more and more impolite! Not only did he not greet me when I entered, but he even complained that the dinner I prepared for you is terrible!”
Knowing that Mom had always been petty, I had no doubt that she would hold a grudge against Ronan over what he had said.
“Mom, he has no ill intentions. Forget about it.”
I glanced at Ronan out of the corner of my eye before explaining softly.
“Thanks for taking care of me this afternoon. It’s getting late, and you must be tired. You should go home and get some rest.”
I then turned to look at Ronan, signaling with my eyes for him to leave. The memory of Mom getting furious at Natalie for defending me still burned in my mind.
“It’s getting dark soon. How am I supposed to not worry about you being alone?”
Ronan frowned at my suggestion, knowing full well that no one would be taking care of me.
“It’s alright. I have been on drip for the whole day, and I’m feeling much better. I can take care of myself just fine.”
Touched by his concern, I gave him a smile before reassuring him.
“Alright then. In that case, I’ll ask the nurses to come here more often so that you can ask for assistance if needed.”
At the sight of my persistence, Ronan stopped pressing onto the matter. Even though he was preparing to leave, he was thoughtful enough to ask for certain arrangements to be made for the sake of my comfort.
After a long time of not experiencing what it was like to be cared about by someone, Ronan’s actions brought warmth into my heart. Despite the two of us being just friends, he was willing to sacrifice his day to take care of me, unlike my own family.
I nodded at Ronan with a smile. He then picked up his jacket and started to make his way towards the door. As he passed by Mom, he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her with a serious look in his eyes.
“Ma’am, Anna is your daughter. Now that your own child has fallen ill, I hope that you can show her a little bit of love and concern, not endless demands.”
With those words, Ronan strode out the room.
