Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 178: Can I See Him?

Anne looked down at her fair hands which were stained with blood. Her heart suddenly started thumping rapidly that all the noise around her was blocked by the sheer rushing of her own blood.

It started becoming difficult to breathe, the more she saw the red stains on her fingers, the more the welling panic knocked the breath out of her lungs so much so she looked dazed as several of the Manors staff had taken Andrew away upon butler Jones’s instructions.

"...going to be fine..."

Someone said something to her but the words barely registered in her mind, she was drowning inside an endless well of anxiety pulling her under.

Blood!

There was so much blood, it stained the floors, stained her hands, and Andrew...

She quickly snapped back to her senses.

"The hospital...he needs to go to the hospital!" She suddenly blurted not knowing that her face was already drenched in tears and blood was currently all over her from kneeling on the floor next to Andrew.

"Don’t worry mistress, master is going to be fine." Butler Jones reassured her again feeling slightly relieved that she’d snapped back to her senses when he’d been talking to her for quite a while but she didn’t seem to hear him.

The butler seemed to be handling the situation with utmost composure, as if it was something that had happened before.

Anne couldn’t understand what was going on.

"But he’s hurt, injured! He needs medical attention more than anything, we need to take him to the hospital." Anne stressed already moving towards the stairs to Andrew’s room where he’d been taken.

Earlier when she’d seen him fall and noticed the blood slowly pooling up around him, her heart had almost burst out of her chest.

He’d grabbed her hand when she’d been about to call for help,

"Don’t..." There had been pain in the brittle voice she’d heard from him, she’d never heard him sound like that before.

The eyes that looked at her...

She couldn’t describe the look in those eyes but they made every nerve in her body go weak until a crippling anxiety had overwhelmed her she couldn’t move from that spot.

"Mistress, please listen to me. We can’t take him to the hospital!" Butler Jones stepped in front of her stopping her from rushing into the master bedroom.

"Why not?" Her voice came out more forceful than she would have wanted it to, in her normal state she wouldn’t have raised her voice at the butler like that.

"Master instructed it. I have called his personal doctor, he’s on his way right now, please mistress, let’s abide by what master wants."

Anne stopped after hearing that, but the nagging feeling of concern cast a long distorted shadow in her heart that made her unable to think straight, only feeding her mind with constant dangerous possibilities.

"But...how did he get so badly injured? Shouldn’t we call the police? We can’t just ignore what happened to him..."

"Mistress, please try to keep calm. Let me handle everything, no harm will come to master, all you need to do is wait and everything will be fine." Butler Jones spoke with so much composure that made Anne feel even more unsettled.

"Wait?" Anne asked incredulously. Opening her mouth to say something further but no words came out so she began to pace a few steps around as if movement would make her mind settle and return her rationality.

"You want me to wait and do nothing?" Anne suddenly stopped her restless pacing to ask the calm butler once more.

"Yes mistress."

"How do you even expect me to...?" She stopped talking halfway, her throat choked up as tears filled her eyes,

"I have his blood on my hands..." She opened her bloodied palms as a tear slid down her face, "...and I’m so frightened that I can’t even...I can’t even..."

She couldn’t go on talking. Weakly, she leaned against the wall near the master bedroom, an old memory flashing back in her mind.

Back then, the only person she cared about most in the world had been in a terrible accident.

At that time she’d also seen this much blood, so much more blood, at that time she had been optimistic, refusing to believe any harm would come to him, assuring herself that he would wake up soon and she would have her brother back as if nothing happened.

Back then her positive optimism had been shattered when her brother remained in a vegetative state with no signs of recovery anytime soon.

Perhaps it was the blood making her feel this way, but there was a nagging feeling inside her, one that pained her and frightened her at the same time.

Perhaps it was the trauma of something similar happening to her in the past, and the blood had reminded her of that trauma.

Butler Jones sighed heavily seeing the state she was currently in.

"Please mistress, I know this isn’t a very ideal or normal situation at all, but please have trust in me, if not me then trust master. He will be fine."

As the butler spoke, she forcefully calmed her own breathing.

"We won’t call the police, or go to the hospital, but master will be fine."

At this moment, some of the Manor’s staff rushed in along with Shawn who didn’t stop to talk to anyone and instantly entered the bedroom.

What surprised Anne was how no one was acting like the situation was strange.

Andrew had returned looking heavily injured but none of them had reacted surprised or frightened in a way a normal person would.

Anne knew this was something she would find out later, hence after forcefully composing herself she faced the butler to ask.

"Can I see him?"

The doctor had just walked in, but she wouldn’t be able to allow herself rest at ease until she saw that he indeed would be fine.

Butler Jones thought for a moment before he nodded, moving aside for her to walk into the room.

Anne rushed in, finding no one else in the room but Shawn who was rapidly taking things out of his medical kit.

The figure on the bed was seated straight, his back propped by pillows. His physique tautly built and the veins around his neck stood out rigidly. Only now could she fully see where he’d been injured.

It was a hole in his left shoulder, it looked like a bullet wound but now that she saw it, she realized that the butler had been right, it wasn’t fatal.

If it was really a bullet wound, how had he gotten shot? And who would have done something like that to him?

Sitting on the bed, Andrew’s upper body was bare. His powerful body not showing a hint of weakness unlike how she’d found him earlier.

Though blood had trailed down his chiseled chest, his eyes were indifferent. His sharp face looked extremely pale and unwell.

His eyes were slightly drooping, and he looked like he was forcing himself to stay conscious, those same eyes lazily drifted over to her, despite his breathing coming in heavy and slow, his lips opened and two harsh words came out,

"Get out!"

Anne who’d been about to approach him suddenly stopped in her tracks.

The tears that had fallen down her face hadn’t dried yet, his eyes lingered on her face for a single moment longer before he slowly looked away turning his head to the side.

At this moment Shawn came over to treat his wound but he raised his hand to stop him.

"First get her out of here." If one listened intently past the harshness of his tone, they would hear a rare vulnerability. If one listened deep enough, perhaps they would hear the small flicker of emotion.

Anne was frozen as if she’d been electrocuted.

He didn’t want her here.

Right, she’d almost forgotten. Why would he want her here?

These feelings in her heart, they were one sided. Even if her heart were to explode out her chest from concern from him, he still wouldn’t feel a thing.

Shawn stopped awkwardly, slowly turning a pleading gaze to Anne.

"I have to take care of his wound urgently, if you’ll please leave for now."

Andrew’s eyes closed and he swallowed something stuck in his throat, his jaw clenching and his hand laid at his side slowly fisted even though it brought a burning pain to his injured shoulder.

Anne’s eyes lowered to the floor and even if he wasn’t looking at her, he could feel her disappointment radiating in the air before he began to hear receding footsteps and eventually the door sounded, only then did he open his eyes.

When he looked, she was gone from where she previously stood.