Chapter 340 Never Need to Apologize
Jerry was super sick but still trying to make me feel better. What reason did I have not to pull myself together?
Elissa and Francis came back with some food.
After I ate, Elissa told me to get some rest and that she'd handle things.
I asked her to hang on a sec and went over to Declan and Grant. "You guys should get some sleep. If anything happens, I'll let you know."
Grant was cool with it, but Declan was barely keeping his eyes open.
Thinking we didn't need so many people around, they decided to get some rest.
I turned to Steven, "Can you grab another bed? I'll sleep here."
The VIP hospital bed was pretty big, but Jerry was really hurt, and I wanted to give him enough space.
Steven went to sort it out.
I told Elissa, "You should go rest in the next room too."
Elissa shook her head, "Don't wear yourself out. I'll watch over him. If there's an emergency, I can get help fast."
I insisted, "I can sleep here and keep an eye on him. You've been busy all day; you need rest. Go on."
Elissa wanted to argue, but I had to practically push her out.
She said, "If anything happens, call me right away. Don't try to handle it alone."
"Got it."
Francis left too.
Steven came back with someone to set up the bed and said, "Hope, I'm right next door. If anything happens, call me. Don't try to handle it yourself. Mr. Griffin said you need to rest well now."
I nodded. "I won't mess around with my kid's health. I know what I'm doing."
After Steven left, the room got quiet.
I saw Jerry's dry lips and used a cotton swab with water to moisten them.
I wasn't sleepy, so I sat by the bed, changed his fever patch, and kept an eye on his temperature.
Jerry woke up now and then, looked at me for a few seconds, and then went back to sleep.
I thought everything was fine and was about to lie down when the monitoring equipment started beeping loudly.
I rushed to the door and called for Steven.
Steven immediately went to find Declan and Grant.
Elissa heard the noise and came out. The first thing she said was, "Don't worry. Take a deep breath. He'll be fine; he's always been strong."
Some emotions were hard to control. I felt a rush of heat and quickly went to the bathroom.
"Elissa!" I called out.
"I'm here." Elissa followed me and stood at the door.
I said, "If Mr. Griffin is here, let him come in."
"Okay."
After Elissa responded, I heard her call Declan, "Hope's in trouble!"
Grant took Jerry to the emergency room while Declan came to check on me.
I bit my lip. "I'm bleeding."
Declan handed Elissa some medicine and said, "Give this to her and don't let her move."
Then he left in a hurry.
Elissa opened the bathroom door, came in, and gave me the medicine and some water.
I took it and felt a bit better.
I wanted to get up but Elissa stopped me. "Don't move."
She went out and brought in a wheelchair with a cushion. "I know you're worried about Jerry. I'll push you over. Just tell me if you need anything. Don't move around by yourself."
I knew I wasn't in great shape, so I agreed, "Sorry to trouble you."
"Don't say that; we're friends." Elissa said.
I sat in the wheelchair, and Elissa pushed me out, covering me with a blanket.
There were a bunch of people standing outside the emergency room. Nolan was there too.
"Hope!" Nolan ran over and jumped into my lap, sniffling. "I saw the bad guy take you away, and I was so scared. Jerry was so brave and saved you, but he got hurt. I didn't know it could end up like this."
I didn't expect it either. It was all my fault.
I asked, "Why are you up so late?"
Sophia chimed in, "He slept but woke up worried because he hadn't seen you yet. As soon as he woke up, he came to find you."
I patted his head. "Good boy."
Elissa patted my shoulder. "You guys chat. I need to make some work calls."
"It's so late. Is something wrong at the company?" I asked.
"No, I can handle it. You don't need to worry about it." Elissa said, "I'll be right next door. Call me if you need anything."
"Okay." I nodded. "I've got Nolan here with me."
Nolan puffed out his little chest. "Elissa, I'm here!"
"Alright." Elissa seemed a bit more relaxed and walked a little farther to make her calls.
Sophia came up to me and said, "I guess they've said all the comforting words they could, so I won't say much. I went to the church to pray, hoping that after this, you won't face any more hardships."
I tried to smile, but my eyes were empty. "Thank you, Sophia."
Sophia squeezed my shoulder and said, "No matter what you decide, we'll support you. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Sometimes, things can't be forced."
I nodded. "Thank you for staying with me through this."
Sophia waved her hand. "We're family; don't mention it."
As dawn broke, Jerry was finally wheeled out of the emergency room by Grant.
Declan came over to check on me first and then said, "Jerry's fine. He's tough."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm really sorry for all the trouble."
Declan said, "At my age, many of my friends have passed away. I can't say I fully understand, but I've faced death. No one else can really comfort you in this; you have to find a way to cope yourself. If you really can't, don't harm your own health. It will be hard to recover later."
I got the deeper meaning in Declan's words.
He was telling me that if I couldn't resolve my inner turmoil, I wouldn't be able to keep this child, and if I kept pushing myself, I would harm my own body.
If the child had to be lost, it would be hard for me to get pregnant again in the future.
After a moment of silence, I said, "Thank you, Mr. Griffin. I'll remember your words."
Declan needed to rest, and Grant came back to the ward with us and gave me some simple instructions. "I have some things to take care of. If anything happens, have someone find me."
"Go ahead." I replied and then told Elissa and the others, "Go rest. I'll stay here."
Elissa wanted to say something, but I cut her off, "If you're not tired, then I'm hungry."
Elissa couldn't argue with that. "Wait here. I'll get you something to eat."
I saw Francis follow her, but I didn't have the energy to ask them what was going on between them right now.
Steven said, "Hope, you should sleep. I'll keep watch."
I looked at Steven's arm and said, "I never got to ask about your injury. Thank you. If it weren't for you, my child and I would have been hurt."
Steven said, "Hope, let's not talk about that. As long as you're well, Jerry will be fine."
I glanced at Jerry and turned to Steven, "Can you do something for me?"
Steven stepped forward, listened to my instructions, and nodded.
I was at my limit.
I still had to think about the baby, so after breakfast, I went to sleep.
With Jerry down and Steven still injured, Francis stayed to keep an eye on things for a couple of days. There were a lot of issues piling up at Hammer Group and Apex Technologies, and he needed to help handle some of them.
Before leaving, Francis wanted to talk to Elissa, but she just sat on the couch, glued to her phone, ignoring him.
Given the current situation, there was no way to have a proper conversation. He'd have to wait.
I dreamed of Claire again.
She might be worried about me, as she frequently appeared in my dreams.
Claire said, "Hope, in this life, we all have to go through birth, aging, illness, and death. I'm very happy that while I was still alive, I got to share some time with you as my granddaughter. I originally thought I would never see you again in this life."
I hugged Claire tightly. "Claire."
I cried freely in Claire's arms, not wanting to hear her say those things.
I didn't want to lose her, but I had to accept that she was already gone.
"Claire." I kept calling her name, over and over. "Claire, can you come back, please?"
I knew it was wishful thinking, but I still wanted Claire to come back.
Claire patted my back and said softly, "Hope, you need to live well. I'm waiting for your child to call me great-grandmother. Since you promised me, you can't break your word. I can't always come to see you, and you shouldn't dwell on me too much. You are my granddaughter, but you will also be Jerry's wife and the mother of your child. Let me stay in the deepest part of your heart, and leave the rest of the space for them. Be good. Don't be sad because of me."
I sensed that Claire was about to leave and held on tightly. But Claire still disappeared from my arms.
"Mr. Griffin, is Hope okay?" Elissa was full of worry.
I had been sleeping well but suddenly started crying and was now trembling all over.
Jerry woke up from the anesthesia, and despite his condition, he insisted on staying by my side.
Elissa was really worried.
Declan couldn't treat me too aggressively now and said, "She's dreaming. It's expected, given that her grandmother just passed away."
Jerry suddenly spoke, as if making a big decision, "Mr. Griffin, we can't keep this child..."
"Jerry," I woke up and stopped Jerry in time. "The child is ours. You can't make this decision alone."
Jerry said, "I can't watch you suffer like this. If we keep her, Mr. Griffin can't treat you and you'll only suffer more."
"I'm fine." I grabbed Jerry's arm and sat up. He propped me up with a pillow. I reached out and touched his forehead. "But you need to rest properly."
Jerry couldn't rest easy. "Hope, this child..."
"We're keeping her." I placed Jerry's hand on my belly. "I will keep her. Don't talk about this in front of her anymore. She can sense the outside world now."
Jerry's lips tightened, and after a long silence, he still intended to persuade me.
I looked at Steven. "Did you take care of that thing?"
"It's done." Steven immediately came over and handed me a small square box.
I opened it and took out the ring inside, putting it on Jerry's finger.
Jerry furrowed his brow, staring at the ring as if trying to bore a hole through it.
I handed him the women's ring. "Put it on me?"
He looked puzzled but did as I asked.
Jerry and I interlocked our fingers with the rings on, and I said, "Jerry, Claire just passed away, so we can't get married right away. But with this, I give you a promise that when the time is right, we'll get married immediately. Deal?"
Jerry stared at me for a long time without saying a word.
I could see the emotional turmoil in his eyes, very complex. There was disbelief, joy, excitement, and a sense that I had stolen his chance to propose.
But Jerry ultimately said nothing, just hugged me.
I wanted to pat his back to comfort him but remembered his injury, so I gently patted the back of his head twice. "You go be happy over there. I need to talk to Mr. Griffin."
Jerry let go of me, gave me a deep look, and moved aside to make room for Declan.
I looked at Declan. "I can't resolve this on my own. Please come up with a plan, and I'll follow it strictly, as long as I can keep this child."
Jerry immediately added, "We can keep the child, but not at the cost of Hope suffering greatly."
Declan stroked his beard and asked me, "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." I recalled the dream I just had and smiled slightly. "I promised Claire I would take the child to see her. I can't break my promise."
"Alright." Declan nodded. "As long as you cooperate with my method, I guarantee both you and the child will be fine."
I couldn't get out of bed, so I bent over and thanked Declan.
Declan said, "No rush to thank me. Once you're well, you two should thank me properly."
"Absolutely."
In the days that followed, Jerry and I both stayed in the hospital.
Once Jerry's fever subsided, he started working, filling the room with documents.
As for me, sometimes I accompanied him while he worked, and sometimes I went downstairs with Declan for walks, which was part of the treatment.
Sometimes, I washed fruit for Jerry to eat. But it always ended up in my stomach.
As time went on, my belly started to show.
During a prenatal checkup, the doctor had Jerry come in to listen to the heartbeat with me.
It was a magical feeling, one that even made Jerry marvel.
Jerry raised an eyebrow. "I heard the baby say she's my daughter."
I didn't believe it, but seeing Jerry finally relax a bit, I went along with it. "Looks like she didn't mind what you said before. She still likes you as her dad."
Jerry had been very cautious around me lately.
His usual laid-back attitude was completely gone.
He used to joke with me, but now he didn't. He was so serious it didn't seem like him.
Back in the hospital room, I looked at Jerry and said, "I'm sorry."
Jerry was once again taken aback by my sudden apology, but he understood why I was apologizing. "Looks like you didn't take my words to heart. You did nothing wrong, Hope. None of this is your fault. Now that those people are gone, we don't need to make ourselves suffer because of their evil."
I reached out and touched Jerry's face, looking at him seriously. "But Jerry, I do owe you an apology."
Jerry said, "You've already apologized to me several times."
I asked, "Do you accept my apology?"
Jerry's large hand covered mine, completely enveloping it. He looked at me seriously and said, "Hope, you never need to apologize to me."
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
