Chapter 339: Incredibly Wonderful
Ever since Raymond walked in, his eyes had been glued to Margaret.
She was still in that same loose hospital gown.
Maybe it was because she had gotten so much thinner, the gown just hung off her.
He had been away for a few days.
Her complexion had worsened, completely drained of color.
She looked like a withering flower, barely hanging on, ready to be blown away by the wind.
Raymond felt a pang from her cold tone.
His fingers, clutching the bag of snacks, suddenly stiffened.
She had clearly seen the wound on his forehead, but she chose to ignore it, to overlook it.
If it had been the old Margaret, she would have been all over him, asking if it hurt, where he had been, how he had gotten hurt.
But now, she just glanced at him briefly and then looked away, her gaze no longer on him.
Raymond's heart was a mess of emotions. They had once been such a perfect couple, envied by everyone. How had it come to this?
How had it come to this point?
A deep sadness welled up inside him, overwhelming him.
But now, in front of Margaret, Raymond had no temper left.
Not a bit of it.
Even though he knew she saw him as a stand-in, a replacement for a dead man, he still couldn't get angry with her.
He used to have a terrible temper, used to be so irritable.
Now, he had humbled himself to this extent.
Raymond chose to swallow his grievances, his displeasure, his unwillingness. He turned and closed the hospital room door, then walked over to Margaret with the snacks.
Margaret was leaning against the edge of the bed.
Raymond pulled up a chair and placed the fried mushrooms on it.
Then he tried to lean against the bed too.
Margaret subtly moved away, deliberately keeping her distance from him.
Raymond pressed his lips together, the bitterness rising in his heart again.
The old Margaret would have only gotten closer to him.
Even if he kept his distance, she would have come over, smiling and playful, sticking to him, kissing him.
All of that was gone.
All the good times had drifted far away from him.
"Mr. Howard likes these snacks now?" Margaret glanced at the snacks on the chair and sneered.
She used to love them and wanted Raymond to eat them with her.
He would always lecture her about how fried foods could cause cancer, shorten her life.
He wouldn't touch them.
Maybe she didn't believe it, but she did get cancer.
Margaret's thoughts wandered as she stared at her gray slippers.
"These are for you, from your favorite place," his voice was hoarse, probably from a cold.
It was unpleasant to listen to.
Margaret's eyelids twitched. She had already guessed it was from her favorite snack shop from college.
She had smelled it the moment he brought it in.
How ironic. If the busy Raymond from before had brought her favorite snacks like this...
She would have jumped into his arms, thanking him.
Then they would have shared the snacks together.
She had waited so long for Raymond, who was always busy with work, revenge, starting a business, tormenting her, but never had time to go shopping with her, to eat her favorite foods with her.
To travel the world with her.
Everything had changed.
It had changed so much, and now she finally got the fried mushrooms he bought himself.
But people change, and the current Margaret didn't need it anymore.
Margaret smiled, "No need."
"It's still the same taste, and it's still popular. Want to try?" Raymond patiently bent down, picked up a toothpick, and stuck it into a fried mushroom.
The fried mushroom looked delicious, golden and covered in barbecue seasoning and cumin, smelling wonderful.
Raymond brought the toothpick with the fried mushroom to her, "Want to try it?"
It was as if he was saying, Margaret, Raymond is still the same Raymond, the old Raymond is back, don't be disappointed.
Come back.
Come back to the way things were, and everything will be better.
Raymond gazed at Margaret in front of him.
Margaret looked back at him.
The air was thick with tension for several seconds.
She didn't move.
She didn't say she wanted to eat, nor did she say she didn't.
She just stared at him, blankly.
"Raymond, if it were before, and you were this patient with me, willing to buy these for me, Margaret would have been very happy," Margaret murmured.
She was telling the truth.
"It's not too late now. You like them, I can still buy them for you. I'll stay with you through your treatment, and when you get better, I'll cut back on work to spend time with you, go shopping, travel, eat your favorite snacks," Raymond painted a beautiful picture for her.
Margaret listened, and it sounded so wonderful.
It was the happiness she had once wanted.
But now, her body was like this.
Even if her body wasn't like this, her parents were gone. How could they go back to the way things were?
Wasn't this just a pipe dream?
Margaret smiled bitterly, "We can't go back."
"As long as you want to, we can. Margaret, don't give up, okay? We've come so far. We went through so many hardships to get married. Your mom didn't like me, didn't approve of me. If you hadn't believed in our future back then, how would we have what we have now?"
Raymond still held the toothpick tightly, the fried mushroom on it, "The fried mushrooms still taste the same. If you want, you'll still like them."
The underlying message was, Margaret, Raymond is still the Raymond you used to love. If you want, he will always love you.
Margaret felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her, like a tide.
It was suffocating.
She knocked the toothpick out of his hand.
The fried mushroom fell to the floor.
Margaret picked up the rest of the packaged snacks from the chair and threw them into the trash in front of Raymond, "Sorry, I don't like these anymore. Mr. Howard, don't waste your time."
Raymond suddenly remembered how she used to buy him his favorite sandwiches to please him, and he had thrown them into the trash in front of her.
So this was how it felt to have a gift you were excited to give thrown away.
It was unbearable, suffocating.
"What do you like to eat now?"
"Why does Mr. Howard want to know?"
"To care about you, to understand you," Raymond said plainly. He didn't know why, but he used to disdain saying things so directly. Now he could, because he knew if he didn't express his feelings, Margaret would only drift further away.
Margaret sneered. Care about her, understand her. Raymond, if your care, your understanding had come a little earlier, just a little bit.
If you had let go of your hatred and understood me, cared about me, even a little, before my dad fell from the balcony, we could have gone back.
Fate really plays tricks on people. What you desperately wanted before, you could never get.
But when you no longer want it, fate brings it to you.
"Margaret, give me a chance to understand you, to care about you. I know there are many things you're not satisfied with about me. I can change for you," his voice was so soothing, his promises so wonderfully unbelievable.
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