Chapter 54 Brave in the Face of Danger
Jessica quickly let go of his hand, stepped forward, and steadied him. Looking into his eyes with concern, she asked, "Are you okay?"
Gabriel, pinned down by at least a couple of hundred pounds from the overweight boy and his backpack, let out a muffled cough and visibly paled.
If he had been uninjured, it might have been fine, but just twenty days before, he had barely survived a fall off a cliff, rescued with scarcely a breath left. His wounds were still healing.
Upset, Jessica turned to reprimand the group of kids who were causing chaos in the supermarket. "What are you doing messing around in here? Don't you know how to behave?"
The group of students scattered, none daring to stay behind. Jessica could hardly bother with them now, her attention solely on him, "How are you? Did they hit your wounds?"
"I'm okay," Gabriel said, gently pushing away her hands that were trying to support him. "Did you find the milk you wanted?"
"Forget the milk! We're not getting it now," Jessica said, frowning. Looking at Danielle, who stood by with a worried expression, afraid to get too close so as not to hurt Gabriel, she instructed the child, "Danielle, you wait here for a minute, watch the cart, and don't wander off."
With that, not caring whether Gabriel was willing, Jessica forcefully guided him to a nearby fire exit of the supermarket. Pushing the door open, they entered a dimly lit corridor away from prying eyes. She immediately began to fiddle with the buttons on the front of his shirt, "Don't move. Let me see your injury."
Gabriel's complexion had already improved significantly, and he raised his hand to stop Jessica's concern. "I said I'm fine. Why would you leave Danielle out there on her own?"
"She's sharp. Nobody dares to approach her. Before anyone can even touch her, she'd be screaming her head off."
Jessica ignored his objection, persisting in waving his hand away, and managed to unbutton several buttons on his shirt forcefully.
As she saw the surface of his chest, where an injury no longer needed to be covered with medical gauze, there was a red mark caused by the corner of a book from a child's backpack hitting him hard. It was very close to the most severe wound on his chest, just a couple of centimeters away, almost enough to reopen the healing wound.
That kid was so hefty, and the backpack so solid that if a little kid had been hit that hard, they would likely have been badly injured.
So Jessica just stared unhappily at his chest, holding onto his clothes without letting go.
Gabriel looked down at her.
Not only was Jessica unaware of how intimate the scene might appear, but because the lighting wasn't bright enough and she couldn't see clearly, she suddenly leaned in closer to his chest to get a better look and assess the severity of the injury.
Gabriel quickly raised his hand to close his shirt, "Enough, stop looking."
"What are you hiding for? I saved your life, and just when you're almost healed, if someone causes all that hard work to go to waste, I swear I'll hold that kid's parents accountable!" Jessica was clearly on the verge of losing her temper as she leaned in to look again.
Gabriel, nearly backed up against the wall by a woman inspecting his injury repeatedly, was speechless.
After a thorough check confirming the wound was fine, Jessica finally drew her gaze back and abruptly realized how close they stood to each other. She quickly let go of him and took a step back.
Without making further eye contact, she turned toward the door leading to the fire escape and said, "After we get back, if something doesn't feel right, you let me know. Let's go."
With that, she opened the door and walked out ahead of Gabriel, who watched her swiftly departing figure and sighed with a hint of amusement.
She'd been bravely rushing over, but she was even quicker to get away.
