THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 266: Have You Forgiven Me?
"Jason! How could you say that about me? So you’ve been working with my enemies all these while."
Jason smiled mischievously. "An enemy who happens to be my brother-in-law, you mean."
"Whatever," Kathleen wasn’t in the mood to argue with Jason and returned her attention back to Lauren but Jason was not done yet.
"So how is my brother-in-law? Mr Johnson told me downstairs that he had regained consciousness. Aren’t you supposed to be by his side?" Jason teased.
"Why are you so fixated on calling him your brother-in-law? His name is Shawn Hudson and for your information, he didn’t stay up for long but drifted back to sleep almost immediately."
"Did you witness it or someone told you about it?" Jason teased further, taking note of the little twitches around Kathleen’s mouth.
"What’s the difference?"
"Well, if it were me, the first person I’d love to see after such a near death experience would be the person dearest to my heart," Jason answered with a serious expression.
"I see. Someone is busy thinking of a certain someone even in a place like this. If you miss her so much you can go see her in her office and stop rubbing your love in our face. My poor friend here is still single and searching," Kathleen said while throwing a furtive glance in Lauren’s direction.
"Hey, leave me out of your banters. I’m here for something important." Lauren said, but her mind couldn’t help but wonder to the handsome and dashing doctor whom she had met earlier when Kathleen said she was single and searching.
Just then the door to the emergency room opened and Dr Martin’s head popped out.
"Ma’am, I think the patient is about to wake up again. He just stirred in his sleep and moved a finger," he announced and Kathleen sprang to her feet.
"Please excuse me," she said over her shoulder to the two people who were obviously amused by her action just before she closed the door behind her.
Shawn’s eyes fluttered open for the second time, and his gaze landed on the familiar pair of worried, yet beautiful, purple eyes of Kathleen who had managed to arrive by his side just when he was about to open his eyes.
Kathleen’s eyes lit up when she saw Shawn fully awake.
"Shawn," she called gently. "Can you hear me?"
He nodded weakly and managed to squeeze out a smile.
He tried to speak but his throat felt dry and scratchy just like before.
"Wa..ter...," he managed to squeeze out in a hoarse voice.
Kathleen nodded and poured out some water that had already been positioned by his bedside. She gave it to him and as Shawn took a sip of the water through a straw, his parched throat was greatly relieved.
"I’m alive?" he said after taking a few more sips of water.
"Of course, you are alive. Where else were you planning to be? The afterlife?" She rebuked gently.
"Thank God you are alright," he drawled slowly but with relief.
"I should be the one saying that," Kathleen corrected as she took Shawn’s hand.
After some time, the fog of the anesthesia gradually dissipated and Shawn became more responsive. With it also came the searing pain from the surgical site and his face scrunched up in a frown.
Kathleen called out softly, "I’m sure you must be feeling some pain by now. I want to know the intensity of the pain. How would you rate your pain from one to ten?"
Shawn’s eyes followed the signal of Kathleen’s finger and he nodded on the sixth count.
As Shawn moved his hand to his chest, Kathleen explained. "The bullet was removed successfully and you are recovering well from our assessment. So take it easy. You will be fine."
She signaled to Dr Martin and he nodded in understanding.
A few seconds later, he administered some medication through the IV.
"This will reduce the pain to a reasonable extent," Kathleen explained to Shawn who nodded obediently, his eyes never leaving her face.
The joy of having Kathleen by his side, tending to him was enough to make him endure whatever pain he was feeling.
"How do you feel now?" Kathleen asked after a couple of minutes.
"Tired, but okay..." Shawn replied weakly.
Shawn attempted to sit up, and Kathleen cautioned him against it.
"You have to be patient for a while Shawn. You will sit up later but not now, so that you don’t exert much strain on the wound."
Shawn nodded in agreement. "I’ll listen you."
His dull eyes lit up as he said, "I’m thrilled to see you here, Kathleen."
The first time he woke up, he wasn’t too sure it was Kathleen he had seen by his side and wanted to confirm but was cruelly whisked away into oblivion.
Seeing her by his side now was like a continuation of the scattered dreams he had when he was unconscious.
"Where else would I be? You’re stuck with me," Kathleen replied in a teasing tone.
Shawn’s eyes widened in disbelief. Did what he just heard come from Kathleen’s mouth or it was a figment of his imagination?
He closed his eyes and opened it, still it wasn’t enough for him to believe his ears. He applied a little pressure on his chest and winced from the pain he felt.
"What are you doing Shawn?" Kathleen screamed in alarm, gripping Shawn’s hand in the process.
"I just wanted to be show I wasn’t in my unconscious state," he said.
Kathleen shook her head helplessly. "Can you please excuse us," she said to Dr Martin who was trying his best to remain invisible so he could enjoy more of their time together.
"Kathleen, there’s something I need to know," Shawn said the moment he confirmed it was just the two of them in the room.
"And what might that be?" Kathleen asked feigning ignorance, but from the way she refused to meet Shawn’s gaze and the little tilt around the corner of her mouth, Shawn knew she wasn’t at a loss to what he wanted to ask, but he stil said it anyway.
"Have you forgiven me?"
A long silence ensued between them and much later, Kathleen met his gaze, her eyes reflecting a blend of different emotions.
She released a deep breath but eventually looked away.
"Just focus on getting better for now, Shawn. We will talk about other things later."
As Shawn was about to insist on a definite answer, the peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by a commotion at the door.
They exchanged curious glances, temporarily dropping the present topic.
"I think I have to go and check what the commotion is all about." Kathleen said and rose up to check who could be so ignorant to the fact that this was an emergency unit.
From the glass door, she could vaguely make out the form of a woman, and immediately she had a sickening feeling at the pit of her stomach.
’This is not good at all. How did she get to know about this so soon?’
She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the door handle, but barely had the door been closed behind her, when she felt a stinging sensation across her face.
