Chapter 270 The Truth Behind
Gabriel shot a glance up, gave his beard a quick rub, then turned to Jessica and asked, "Does it sting?"
As he spoke, his hand was already on Jessica's soft cheek, gently caressing it.
His fingertips were so warm and strong that Jessica instantly felt like feathers were tickling her heart.
"A little," she answered truthfully.
"And now? Still hurt?"
"Much better."
But Gabriel didn't budge; he was still hovering over her.
Jessica's mind was a whirlwind, and she had no clue what to say.
Suddenly, Gabriel propped himself up, stretched his arm forward, and then pulled hard.
Abruptly, he grabbed his pajamas and immediately got up from Jessica.
He explained, "My pajamas were at the bottom, needed 'em for after my shower."
"Okay." Jessica nodded, feeling super embarrassed.
Turned out she had misunderstood.
Soon, the sound of water came from the bathroom.
After a while, Gabriel finished his shower and came out in his pajamas.
After grabbing two quilts from the closet, he started making a bed on the floor.
Seeing this, Jessica immediately got up from the bed, saying, "Let me help you."
"Okay," Gabriel said.
Together, they quickly made the bed on the floor.
At that moment, Gabriel wrapped an arm around her, almost holding her entirely in his embrace. His breath was all-encompassing, tightly entwining her.
Jessica was about to speak, but the next moment, he took a pillow, swiftly placed it on the bed, and immediately distanced himself from her.
"Anything else you need help with?" Jessica asked.
"One more thing," he said.
"What...?" Jessica hadn't finished her sentence when suddenly, she felt a force on her wrist, and the next moment, Gabriel pulled her to his side.
He reached out and held her in his arms.
His deep voice softly sounded in her ear, "Help me check, do I still smell like smoke?"
Jessica sniffed and shook her head. "Much better, there's hardly any smoke smell left."
"Then I'm relieved."
'Relieved about what?' Jessica was puzzled.
Gabriel answered on his own. "Relieved that you won't dislike the smell on me anymore."
Jessica felt a pang in her heart.
She indeed didn't like people smoking and didn't like the smell of smoke.
But what he didn't know was that she had never disliked the smell of smoke on him. She even kind of liked it.
The same thing, on him and on others, felt worlds apart to her. But there was no need to tell him this.
The bedside lamp was turned off, and they both lay in their respective places.
The night was very quiet. But in fact, neither of them fell asleep.
Ten minutes later, seeing that he wasn't asleep, Jessica gently spoke, "What you told me about Dr. Turner during the day, does it still count?"
"Yes!" In the dark, his voice came through steady and strong.
Jessica couldn't help but feel excited. "So, you do know Dr. Turner, right?"
"It's not me who knows him, it's Mom," Gabriel said, "That's why I brought you home for dinner tonight. Tomorrow, you can talk to Mom about it. If you ask, she'll definitely help."
"Okay, I'll talk to Mom tomorrow," Jessica said.
After a moment of silence, Jessica earnestly called his name. "Gabriel?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you, really, thank you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Gabriel suddenly got up from the floor, walked over to Jessica, and looked down at her. "Thank me for getting in touch with Dr. Turner, who can save Vincent's mom's life? So, are you thanking me for yourself or for Vincent?"
His gaze suddenly got real serious.
"Of course, it's for myself," Jessica said.
Hearing her answer, Gabriel finally felt a bit of comfort in his heart.
The next morning, Jessica went to find Danielle. She was kinda nervous 'cause she knew it would be tough. But to her surprise, Danielle agreed without hesitation.
"Okay, I'll personally ask Mr. Turner for you," Danielle said.
"Mom, I've heard about Mr. Turner and his daughter. I'm sorry, what I'm asking might be difficult," Jessica said.
"It is a bit challenging," Danielle admitted, "Nora was my college classmate. Her passing was a big blow to Mr. Turner, but I'll do my best. Wait for my news. I'll let you know as soon as I have any."
"Okay, thank you, Mom," Jessica said.
After breakfast, Gabriel personally took Jessica to the hospital. Before leaving, he looked at Jessica, like he wanted to say something.
"Is there something you wanna say to me?" Jessica noticed and asked proactively.
"In five days, it's Grandpa's death anniversary. Our divorce hasn't been made public, so you might need to come with me to pay respects to Grandpa," Gabriel said.
"Of course. No matter our relationship, Grandpa will always be important to me. Even if I'm no longer part of the Walton family, I still love Grandpa."
"Then I'll come to pick you up a day early."
"Okay."
Two days later, Jessica got a call from Danielle. Her response was simple and direct. "Jessica, Mr. Turner agreed."
Jessica couldn't believe it and asked again, "Really? Mr. Turner agreed? This is amazing!"
She thought it would take a long time and a lot of effort. She never dreamed that Danielle asking Harold to treat a patient would be so easy.
Danielle replied, "Yes, Mr. Turner personally agreed. You can now send me the patient's details, and I'll have someone deliver them to Mr. Turner."
Jessica was so happy that her voice was filled with excitement. "Mom, thank you. You're amazing!"
"No need to thank me," Danielle said, "If you really want to thank someone, thank my father."
'Xavier? What does this have to do with Xavier?'
"Mom, does this have something to do with Grandpa?" Jessica asked, puzzled.
"Yes, the reason Mr. Turner agreed was to do a favor for Xavier. Do you remember your mentor?"
"Yes!" Jessica replied.
Could this also be related to her mentor?
Danielle said, "Your mentor was Mr. Turner's prized student. When you were applying for grad school, Xavier was very worried about you, afraid you'd be mistreated, so he pulled some strings. But he didn't want you to know, so he didn't make it too obvious. Mr. Turner was his classmate and was working on a national medical research project at the time. Xavier invested a lot of money and, through Mr. Turner's connections, asked your mentor to look after you."
After hearing this, Jessica was in shock.
If it weren't for needing Harold this time, she wouldn't have known how much Xavier had done for her behind the scenes.
With trembling lips, she continued to ask, "So, Grandpa was behind my getting into this hospital and meeting Mrs. Hernandez, right?"
