Chapter 79 Facing Up
After Nathan took off his shirt, Katniss glanced at the clock by the door and realized it was almost time for me to get off work and go home. Katniss gritted her teeth and began taking out what seemed to be medication from her bag. She picked up a disinfectant swab dipped in disinfectant and started disinfecting the wound on Nathan's shoulder, which was a bite mark Katniss had left last night. Although it had scabbed over, it was still very obvious, with blood clots on top.
Katniss anxiously treated Nathan's wounds, including the scratches on his wrist from last night. After finishing, Katniss put band-aids on these wounds, with a total of 6 on the scratches on both arms and 2 on the bite mark on the shoulder. After applying the band-aids, Katniss took out a large adhesive bandage, but due to limited visibility, she couldn't read the instructions clearly and ended up putting it on Nathan's shoulder.
"Put on these two wrist guards. If Kevin asks, just say you accidentally strained your wrist these past few days, a muscle strain. The adhesive bandage on your shoulder is for treating shoulder periarthritis. Just say you have a shoulder periarthritis flare-up. In short, I don't want Kevin to find any clues." After applying the bandages, Katniss handed Nathan two wrist guards packaged in hard plastic, the kind made of elastic cotton to protect the wrists, something I used to wear often when playing basketball in high school.
I never expected Katniss to use this method to cover up the traces, and it can be said to be perfect. Firstly, Nathan's arm had not fully recovered, so using wrist guards to cover up the accidental strain was understandable. Additionally, Nathan has always had shoulder periarthritis issues, likely from overworking when he was younger. Since Nathan has aged, he tends to have flare-ups during rainy and cool weather. It must be said that Katniss's thinking is very meticulous.
Katniss and Nathan spoke concisely, without any extra words, maintaining a cold tone without a hint of emotion. After saying this, Nathan's face showed a hint of bitterness, although not too obvious, as he just nodded slightly in response.
"I just don't want Kevin to find out about everything. Don't overthink it." After finishing everything for Nathan, Katniss picked up her bag and prepared to return to the bedroom. As she reached for the door handle, she suddenly said coldly with her back to Nathan.
Upon hearing Katniss's words, Nathan couldn't help but bite his lip tightly, his face filled with extreme pain. Katniss's words indicated to Nathan that she was only covering up the wounds to avoid revealing any traces from the night before, not out of concern for Nathan. This made it clear that she didn't want Nathan to have any other thoughts and that she intended to keep her distance from him completely. Hearing Katniss's cold words, Nathan's inner pain was evident.
Seeing this, I couldn't help but feel sorry for and sympathize with Nathan. In the end, he was just a simple old man, a man with desires, like so many who fall at a woman's feet. Nathan was just a simple man. With all my arrangements and manipulations, can Nathan hold on? Isn't all of this caused by me, the puppeteer behind the scenes? Is Nathan at fault? Yes, Nathan is at fault, but he shouldn't bear the main responsibility. The mistakes he made are ones any physiologically normal man would make, and Nathan is no exception.
Although I sympathize and feel sorry for Nathan, I haven't lost my rational thinking due to pain like Nathan. Did Katniss really do all this just to cover up the traces? I don't think so, because if it was just to cover up the traces, Katniss could have simply put wrist guards on Nathan and applied shoulder periarthritis adhesive bandages that were completely useless. There was no need for disinfection and an additional layer of band-aids. These small details also show that Katniss still cares for Nathan, considering she caused these wounds. Moreover, Nathan is Kevin 's father and her elder, so wouldn't she feel a bit guilty for injuring her elder like this? Furthermore, after last night's deep conversation, has Nathan's position in Katniss's mind subtly changed?
I can only speculate about all this, but Nathan wouldn't be thinking about all this at the moment. He lowered his head in sadness for a while, then raised his head, closed his eyes tightly, and held back his tears, not letting them fall. There were only a few tears in the corners of his eyes, which he wiped away with his apron. He then occasionally sniffled and started putting on the wrist guards, wearing pajamas and the apron, before pretending to be strong and heading to the kitchen to cook. At that moment, I suddenly felt that Nathan was very pitiful.
After returning to the bedroom, Katniss didn't pay attention to Nathan's actions and started rummaging through the closet. Finally, she took out a set of pajamas she hadn't worn in a long time. It was a very conservative set with sleeves and a collar, almost like a full outfit, suitable for winter. Katniss put on this set of pajamas to cover up the hickies on her upper body, which had faded quite a bit but were left by Nathan last night.
After changing clothes, Katniss sat blankly on the bed in the bedroom, checking the time on her phone almost every minute, perhaps knowing that the time to face me was getting closer. Nathan had placed the food on the table and returned to his bedroom, lying face down on his bed, his expression unclear. The atmosphere at home was extremely tense.
I checked the time and realized it was time to get off work. I needed to face everything happening now, so I rubbed my tense facial muscles and started packing up to leave work. Walking home, even on the bus, my mind was filled with thoughts about what I might face when I got home, constantly considering strategies. Unconsciously, I arrived at my doorstep, standing outside the building with my keys, hesitating.
After hesitating for a while, I kept trying to muster up the courage. Just as I was indecisive, my phone suddenly rang, showing Katniss was calling. She must have called to check since I hadn't arrived home after work. With the phone ringing, I knew I couldn't hesitate anymore. I rejected the call, then used the keys to open the door. Everything at home came into view, and I saw Katniss running towards me in that conservative winter pajamas, unlike before, she directly threw herself into my arms, hugging me tightly.
"What's wrong, dear?" Although I felt strange, I remained calm and gently asked Katniss, while my gaze swept around the living room, wondering if Nathan was still in the bedroom.
"It's nothing, I just miss you too much, honey," Katniss said with a trembling voice, even a hint of tears.
"Just one day and night without seeing me, and you miss me?" I gently pushed Katniss, then tenderly stroked her hair, still carrying the fragrance from last night's bath. Katniss wiped the corner of her eye gently, then began helping me change shoes and take off my suit.
"Yeah, you didn't come back last night, I don't know why, but I really missed you," Katniss said playfully, but I always felt it was a forced smile. Despite Katniss's efforts to conceal it, no matter how she disguised it, her smile didn't seem as genuine as before.
"What about Dad?" I asked casually, while my eyes scanned the living room.
"Dad has a flare-up of shoulder periarthritis and isn't feeling well. He's in the bedroom," Katniss, who was preparing to hang up my suit, suddenly trembled slightly when she spoke, her voice slightly shaky.
"I'll go check on Dad." I replied casually, then walked towards Nathan's bedroom. During this process, I observed Katniss with my peripheral vision and noticed her body trembling more noticeably and intensely, perhaps afraid of me discovering any clues.
I opened the door to Nathan's bedroom, and he was still lying on the bed, his face turned to the side. Hearing the sound of me entering his room, Nathan's body also trembled slightly, but he seemed to be trying hard to control it.
"Dad, Katniss said you're not feeling well. Are you okay?"
"It's nothing, just a flare-up of shoulder periarthritis, a strained wrist muscle. It's nothing, just need some rest," perhaps due to excessive nervousness, Nathan didn't fully remember all the excuses Katniss had taught him, so his response was stuttered and shaky.
"Dad, why are you trembling when you speak? Are you really okay?"
"I'm really fine, you go eat, I'm not feeling well, so I won't have dinner." Nathan still maintained that posture, not even turning his head to face me when speaking.
I tried to persuade Nathan to eat, but he stubbornly refused. I had no choice but to return to the living room and have dinner with Katniss. Both Katniss and Nathan were afraid of me finding any clues, and I was also afraid of them discovering my traces. So, with the thought that less talk means fewer mistakes, I tried to speak as little as possible.
During dinner, Katniss chewed delicately, always so elegant when eating. However, throughout the meal, Katniss's gaze was fixed on me, with deep and guilt-ridden eyes, as if tears were about to fall at any moment. Katniss kept offering me food, constantly asking about any interesting things happening at work, as if she could never finish talking to me.
"Honey, how about taking me on a trip? Just the two of us." Katniss suddenly said to me softly. I was chewing my food, and my mouth almost dropped open.
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