Chapter 9 The Bath Towel is Falling
Jessica heard footsteps but couldn't make out who it was through the door, thinking it might be Danielle coming with the clothes. She reached out and swung the door open, only to be shocked by the sight of the man standing there.
With a startled expression, Jessica didn't have time to scream. Instinctively, she stepped backward, but the hurried retreat caused her to slip, and she fell backward.
Gabriel's reflex was to catch her, but he overestimated the strength of his injured arm. As he wrapped his arm around her waist, his instinctive push suddenly pushed him out of the bathroom door. As he stepped back, Jessica collapsed forward—right into him—due to the momentum of her movements and the instability of her footing.
Jessica knew he was injured and wanted to avoid him, but she crashed hard into his embrace and ended up pinning the man, who had only just woken from a five-day slumber to the ground.
The event was so sudden that Gabriel truly couldn't hold onto her.
In the instant they fell backward, the woman wrapped only in a bath towel, pressed down on him fiercely. Her head hit his chest, and her wet hair flung around his neck.
The excruciating pain of falling as if to die a second time, combined with Jessica's force upon him His hands, which had instinctually embraced Jessica during the fall, could distinctly feel her bath towel coming loose—implying that as she fell, she was almost bare.
He felt comfortable as he touched her silky skin after she had bathed.
And the fleeting glimpse of her soft, creamy skin, as the bath towel came undone, flashed before his eyes.
Gabriel, facing the bright light above in acute pain, rationally decided to close his eyes for his own peace of mind.
Jessica quickly got up from his embrace, hurriedly retied her bath towel, and grabbed the pajamas from his hand to slip on herself. Only then did she regain her composure. Seeing the man lying on the ground, pale and with his eyes closed, the scolding that almost escaped her lips was swallowed back down.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Jessica quickly tried to help him up.
Gabriel managed to stand up with her support, but the fall had obviously taken its toll. After steadying his breath, he croaked out, "Your daughter is sleeping on the couch. I tried to be nice by bringing up your pajamas, and you nearly took my life for it."
Jessica steadied him back onto the bed with a less-than-pleased demeanor. "How was I supposed to know it was you? I open the door and find a man lurking at the doorstep. The fact that I didn't scream is the epitome of composure, okay?"
Gabriel glanced at her. "If I really had bad intentions, what good would screaming do?"
Jessica didn't care to argue with a man in his injured state, especially seeing him look so fragile now. She knew he wasn't capable of any mischief at the moment.
After making him lie back down, she noticed his complexion was ghastly pale and leaned in to ask, "Are you sure you're alright? Should I call the old doctor from the clinic downstairs to come check on you again?"
"No need," he responded curtly.
Jessica was still worried he might have started bleeding again. She reached out to check on him, but as soon as her hand touched his clothes, his hand instantly pressed onto hers. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Don't worry about it. They're all external wounds. Either way, It's not all good until it's fully healed.."
She looked at his hand for a moment, then quickly withdrew hers. His grip didn't change, and with closed eyes, he seemed to drift off to sleep.
It wasn't surprising that someone who had lost a lot of blood would be overtaken by exhaustion, especially after she had unceremoniously crashed into him.
Without saying much else, Jessica whispered, "Then rest well," and left the bedroom, whether he could hear her or not.
Outside, she saw Danielle indeed sprawled out asleep on the couch, covered with a thin blanket.
The remaining half-guard she had against the man dissipated in that instant.
Whatever he was like before the accident, the gentleness and patience he demonstrated with a child couldn't be the mark of a bad person.
She decided he could stay. After all, with severe injuries and no I.D., he really didn't have anywhere else to go.
As she prepared to carry Danielle back to her room, Jessica bent over and suddenly took notice of the pajamas she wore. Then the memory of falling onto the man near the bathroom door came rushing back.
Her bath towel had come undone during the fall. But as she got up, she noticed he kept his eyes closed. He probably hadn't seen anything.
