Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 322: My Caretaker
**Dahlia’s Point of View**
I felt like I have been drifting randomly from one place to another, guided by the wind. My body felt weightless, as if it lacked substance and all that was active was my mind. It felt like I had just lived through a very long and complicated dream. I saw many people in my dreams, starting off with my sister, and then Anthony from way back in the past, and then my thoughts settled on Bradon. I saw his face so clearly, but when he came closer, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He looked very apologetic, as if he was guilty about committing some kind of serious crime, and I thought to myself that there was no way that the Bradon that I knew could have that kind of expression on his face. When his mouth moved as if he was saying something to me, I could not hear his voice. Everything was muted, and I was left wondering what it was that he wanted to say to me.
Gradually, my body started to feel heavier and heavier until it felt lethargic. My mind became much fuzzier than before, and it seemed like my long and complicated dream had come to an end. Although my eyelids felt heavy, I forced myself to concentrate my efforts in opening them. All I could see was darkness when I opened my eyes. My body felt strange, as if it didn’t quite belong to me. There was just enough light shining in from the window of the room on my left-hand side. The room felt so unfamiliar to me, and I could tell right away that I wasn’t in my bedroom back at the mansion, and neither was I in Brandon’s bedroom.
"Where am I?" That question immediately entered my mind before I began wondering how I ended up where I was. I found myself trying desperately to recall what had happened.
"Dahlia...?"
I heard a soft voice calling my name hesitantly, as if its owner was uncertain whether it was the right call to call my name. I slowly turned my head to the side, and that was when I sensed a presence very close to me. Although the lighting was dimmed and I couldn’t quite see much apart from an outline, I recognized that voice and also that presence very well.
"Bradon," I whispered his name cluelessly.
Slowly, I managed to sit up on the bed so I could take a better look at his face; however, it came at the price of a slightly throbbing pain in my temples. I figured that I probably sat up too fast, although I did try to take things slow. Suddenly, I felt pressure around my body before I was enveloped in a familiar warmth. I blinked my eyes rapidly when I realized that Bradon had suddenly thrown his arms around me and pulled me into his tight embrace. It might have been my own imagination, but I felt like his body was trembling slightly in my arms. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his back and began stroking it as if I was comforting a child.
"It’s okay. I’m okay," I told him as I also tried to reassure myself that everything was fine.
The slight headache that I had also completely disappeared by then. We held each other in silence for a while as I felt myself calming down. Just as suddenly as he pulled me into his arms, Bradon suddenly let go of me.
"I shouldn’t be doing this. I should be calling for the doctor. Wait here, I’m going to call for the doctor," Bradon said as he moved slightly away from the bed.
"Wait, don’t go," I said as I suddenly felt overwhelmed by the fear of being alone. My mind felt disoriented, and oddly enough, his presence felt comforting.
"Where am I?" I asked, although I somehow figured that I was in the hospital from the smell of disinfectant in the room.
"Calm down, Dahlia. You’re in the hospital," Bradon replied calmly, although I could hear a slight tremor in his voice.
"How did I end up here?" I asked the next question that popped into my mind. My mind still felt fuzzy, and I wasn’t sure where my memories ended, where dreams began, and where reality took over.
"You were overworked and exhausted, and then you ended up fainting," Bradon replied softly.
"I fainted?" I asked in disbelief because I didn’t think that I would actually end up fainting.
"Yes, right," Brandon replied shortly.
"I see," I murmured.
"I should call for the doctor now. You just woke up, and they need to check up on you to make sure that you’re fine," Bradon said.
Although I agreed with him, I had another question that I really needed to ask him.
"How long was I out for?" I asked curiously. I honestly thought that I had been asleep for a night at most, so his answer was quite shocking to me.
"Around 3 days," Bradon replied in a mumble.
days...?!
"Before that, can you help turn on the lights? It’s so dark, and I can’t really see well," I requested.
Bradon did exactly what I told him to, and soon light flooded the room. I winced at the sudden influx of light into my eyes. As my eyes slowly adjusted, I could see Bradon’s face clearly, including the dark circles under his eyes. I had to say that I had never seen Bradon look so tired before, even on the day when Jenna told me that he was sick. He did say that I was out for 3 days, and I began to wonder if he had stayed by my side for the entirety of that time.
At Brandon’s insistence, I ended up going through many medical tests over the next few days to ensure that I was perfectly fine. The doctors didn’t look so concerned, and neither did the nurses who offered me words of encouragement. After listening to all of them lecturing me on how to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle, I realized that my body wasn’t going to last unless I took better care of it.
—To be continued...
