Chapter 622 Concern
Oliver was furious, his voice teetering on the edge of fierceness.
Upon seeing his injury, Natalie, overwhelmed with urgency, shouted, "You were bitten! Had it not been for the fact that you were carrying me and were slowed down, that snake wouldn’t have bitten you at all! No, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have ended up here hurt in the first place!"
As she recalled the recent events, her words grew more urgent, as she said, "Oliver, have you lost your mind? Do you realize how dangerous it was for you to venture here alone in search of me? If something happened to you, what about your grandmother?"
"Then what would I do if I hadn’t come and something happened to you?" Oliver responded vehemently.
Natalie fell silent.
"Nat, if something happened to you, what should I do, huh?” Oliver's gaze conveyed a mix of helplessness and heartache as he said, "You’re my wife. You don’t need to be strong or face danger. What you did earlier, trying to protect me… How do you think it made me feel as your husband?"
"That doesn’t make sense," Natalie said, puzzled by the notion that a woman needs a man's protection.
Oliver could not help but chuckle. "Mrs. Windsor, it seems fleeing from home has sharpened your wits. You’ve learned how to feign ignorance."
Natalie, visibly annoyed, turned away, but after a few seconds, she faced him again, holding Oliver's hand bitten by the snake. She asked, "Oliver, does that technique in TV shows where they extract the poison with their mouth actually work?"
"It's useless. It’s just a foolish myth," Oliver said with a gentle laugh, wiping away a drop of water from Natalie’s face with his other hand, "But it’s wise of you to question its validity."
Afterward, he fetched a rope from the first aid kit and directed Natalie to tie it around his wrist.
"Do you recognize the snake? Was it venomous?" she asked.
Oliver shook his head. "I’ve never seen it before. It might be a species unique to this area."
With no recognition, it was uncertain whether the snake was venomous.
"It has been a while, and I’m still fine. It’s likely not venomous, so don’t worry," Oliver reassured her, "I’m not prepared to die just yet."
Natalie tried to disregard his comment, irritated yet unable to remain angry with him.
Oliver's phone lit up. His device was waterproof, enabling him to use it without concern in the rain.
A message from his bodyguard indicated that the thunderstorm had grounded the helicopter, and a minor landslide triggered by the earthquake was delaying the arrival of Richard's team and the paramedics.
In essence, the situation was grim.
The earthquake and storm together had thwarted any possibility of movement.
The rain continued to fall, gradually reaching above Oliver's ankles.
"Drink this," Oliver said, unscrewing the cap of the glucose solution.
"What’s this?"
"Glucose."
Natalie hesitated for a moment before sensing something amiss, "Does this mean the rescue team isn’t on the way yet?"
"They’ll make it here; it’ll just take some time."
How much time it would take remained uncertain.
If the thunderstorm ceased in ten minutes, the rescue team might reach them in fifteen. If the storm lingered for another half hour, they would likely have to wait at least until the next hour.
"Here, you drink it," Natalie said, taking the pouch of glucose solution. Her thumb covered the opening to prevent the rain from diluting it.
Before Oliver could protest, Natalie declared, "If you don’t drink this, I won’t allow you to carry me later. Trust me, you don’t want to upset me. You know I can hold a grudge for a long time."
"Are you threatening me?" Oliver smirked.
"Did it work?"
"It did. How can I bear the thought of upsetting you? Why would I want you to be upset with me?"
Natalie's laughter, light and cheerful, pierced through the rain.
However, Oliver felt nothing but pain, aware that a good husband should not let his wife endure such hardships.
The relentless rain caused the scratches on his body to turn pale from being soaked.
Oliver took a deep gulp of the glucose solution, then suddenly grasped Natalie's face, gently pinching her chin to transfer the glucose solution from his mouth to hers.
Natalie struggled, the sweetness trickling down her throat. Coughing violently, she struggled to catch her breath, while Oliver tenderly patted her back with unwavering patience.
"It worked, but you still need to drink," he advised.
Feeling overwhelmed, Natalie was flooded with a mix of emotions as she looked up to see raindrops cascading over his hands, his shirt, his neck, and his forehead.
His hair, clumped together in strands, dripped with water, making the cut on his forehead appear paler.
"Oliver..."
Overcome with a sense of despair, Natalie found herself unable to harbor anger toward him. She felt desperate.
Oliver sighed, finishing the glucose solution, and asked with a hint of resignation, "Are you satisfied now?"
As the rain intensified, showing no signs of abating, they felt the ground shake slightly from another aftershock.
The water had now reached their shins.
With Natalie on his back, Oliver pushed forward toward higher ground, away from the threatening cliff faces, aiming to evade potential rockslides. The wilderness around them was merciless, its paths becoming even more perilous with the continuous rain.
Oliver's skin turned a shade paler; a dark discoloration surrounded the wound on his palm, indicating his energy was depleting unusually fast. If not for his strong constitution, he might have already fainted.
"Natalie," he said softly, "Once we get out of here, you're coming home with me, understood?"
There was no reply, only the sound of rain hitting the foliage and the patter of water droplets merging with the accumulated rainwater.
"Natalie!" Panic tinged his voice as he called out, "Are you okay?"
"Just tired," she whispered back, her voice so faint it was almost lost to the rain.
Despite her fatigue, she continued to hold a large banana leaf over Oliver's head, shielding him from the rain—a fortunate find she had grabbed earlier. They avoided touching any other oversized foliage around them, wary of potential toxins.
"Don't fall asleep," Oliver implored, aware of the dangers that lethargy posed in their predicament, "Keep talking to me."
"About what?" Her speech was slurred, her consciousness waning.
"Anything... Is there anything you want to say to me?"
His request was born out of necessity; her voice, her words, were what kept him alert and motivated.
"I..."
She paused, her eyes shutting briefly in thought, then slowly reopening.
"Oliver, I feel like a burden to you. Without me, you'd stand a much better chance of getting through this."
The implication was that there was no need for him to bear her weight, no need for him to be concerned over her. For example, without her, there would be no need for him to share the glucose solution with her.
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