Chapter 12
Hayden was speechless for a moment, but there was a subtle hint of amusement in his Then he heard Zara say, “I’m on the way to the hospital. I’m bringing you food.” Hayden did not say anything, but he had an inkling of what was happening.
When Zara broke ties with Jonathan, she decided to let go of her past and start over.
In a way, she had also started accepting herself.
“Alright. Have a safe journey.”
Harper was sitting beside Hayden, peeling him an apple.
She handed the apple to Hayden, but he ignored her.
“Hayden, have some fruits,” she said.
eyes,
“You…”
Hayden did not even spare her a glance. When Harper tried to hand him the apple, he pushed her away with his hand, saying, “No, thanks.”
Just then, the door opened.
When Zara came in with all her things, Harper saw Hayden’s expression soften. She hadn’t even known Hayden could look at someone with such warmth. Then again, it seemed like he would only have that expression around her–Zara Cardellini.
Harper glared at Zara coldly, but she couldn’t do anything else but leave.
Zara glanced at Harper before walking up to Hayden. “What did you do to your sister?”
She placed the food on the bedside table and sat down, straightening Hayden’s blanket as she did so.
Harden raised his eyebrows. “She’s probably upset because I didn’t eat the apple she peeled.”
Zara opened the to–go container for Hayden. “That’s it? She probably thinks you’re playing favorites.”
Hayden’s eyes were dark, but the warmth in them was obvious. “You know her better than I do.”
A woman would understand another woman better. Harper had looked like she was angry and jealous.
Hayden didn’t want to talk about Harper anymore, so he changed the subject. “What did you get me?”
Zara opened the container. Hayden could smell the scent of chicken noodle soup from the box.
When Zara did not answer, he guessed, “Chicken noodle soup?”
Hayden was right. Hearing this, Zara asked if he often had chicken noodle soup.
“Not often. But I loved chicken noodle soup when I was a kid.”
Zara nodded. She was about to hand the soup to Hayden, but he just stared up at her blankly without lifting his hand.
“What’s the matter?”
Hayden still did not lift his hand. He looked down at his injuries, then back up at Zara.
When Zara seemed to not understand what he meant, Hayden said, “I think it’s going to be hard for me to eat, what with my arm being injured.”
Zara wanted to argue against that, but Hayden looked completely serious, so she didn’t know how to start. Then again, Hayden had hurt himself because of her, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to take care of him.
It would also be rather unkind to expect him to feed himself when he was injured.
In the end, Zara did not say anything. She just grabbed a spoon and ladled up some soup. Then, she blew on it to cool it down before feeding the soup to Hayden.
Hayden looked smug and triumphant, which made Zara think that he was faking his injury.
It had been a clear day earlier, but right now, it was raining cats and dogs outside the hospital.
A sudden clap of thunder startled Zara. The container in her hand jolted slightly as well, but she continued feeding Hayden as if nothing had happened.
However, Hayden was perceptive. He’d seen Zara during a rainy day before; she’d looked uneasy then as well. She was dazed and looked a little terrified. Cautiously, he asked, “Are you afraid of rainy days?”
Zara wasn’t surprised that Hayden had guessed that. Even though she acted like she didn’t care much, she still looked a little preoccupied. “Yeah,” she said.
It wasn’t nice to keep bringing up someone else’s pain, but sometimes one needed to face their fears, or the past would poison the future.
Zara sensed immediately that Hayden was about to say something, so she said, “I’ve thought about it too, but it’s not that easy to recover from trauma. I’ve tried for several years, but I still can’t forget what happened on that rainy day years ago.”
If they hadn’t come over to play with her, they might have their own families and living happy lives now.
Zara would be able to visit her parents. She could’ve had a little sister or a little brother.
However, just because they wanted to accompany her, tragedy struck.
Hearing this, Hayden did not continue to press on.
He stayed at the hospital for almost two weeks before he was in a good enough condition to be discharged. However, he still couldn’t do any intense or prolonged activities.
Zara often accompanied him on a walk in the park. Sometimes, they would also stay home and watch TV. One time, when they were both bored, Zara saw that Hayden had a piano in his home.
Chapter 12
She had seemed interested in the piano, so Hayden taught her how to play a song.
Zara was staying in his villa with him, and there was no longer the threat of Jonathan hanging over him. Therefore, Hayden made a request to Zara.
Zara stared at him dazedly, wondering what he would ask of her.
She had expected something outrageous, but Hayden just said softly, “Zar, could you dance for me?”
Zara paused. She didn’t know how to answer that.
Hayden added, “I’ll play the piano while you dance. Just treat this as a celebration of my discharge from the hospital.”
It wasn’t an outrageous request at all, so Zara agreed.
She went back to her room and put on a mid–length dress in white.
Then, she returned to the piano room and struck a starting pose, waiting for Hayden to start playing the piano.
Hayden was still trying to decide which song to play. When he saw Zara’s dress, he finally thought of the perfect song.
When the music started, Zara began dancing to the tune.
Her dress swayed along with her movements, making it look like butterflies fluttering around her.
She looked like a goddess.
Hayden was completely enamored by the scene.
It was as if the world had narrowed down to just the both of them.
Zara was looking at Hayden as well while he played the piano. In her eyes, he seemed to be glowing too.
Even though Zara was feeling more and more at ease the more she spent time with Hayden, she still couldn’t tell him how she felt about him.
Zara could wait, but Hayden didn’t want to wait anymore.
It had been eight years. Anyone would’ve been ecstatic when they finally got together with the person they’d been having a crush on for so long.
Hayden was in his bedroom when he decided to act on his feelings. Just then, he heard a knock on his door.
It was most likely Zara knocking. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Just come in.”
Zara poked her head in. She was frowning, which worried Hayden.
She entered the room, closing the door behind her.
Gravely, she said to Hayden, “I’ve decided. I want to get over my fear of rain and driving.”
Zara didn’t know if Hayden would ever change his mind about loving her, but she needed someone else to help her with this.
After all, cabs weren’t always available, and she couldn’t exactly stop the rain.
The only way she would be able to find herself again.
For some reason, Hayden felt pleased by Zara’s decision. “Alright, I’ll help you. We’ll start tomorrow.”
Hayden even checked the weather report for the next day. It said that there was an 80% chance that it would rain.
Reassured by Hayden’s support and promise of companionship, Zara went back to her room to sleep.
The next day, she was woken up by the sound of thunder.
She got out of bed and opened the curtains. When she saw the storm pattering down outside, she suddenly regretted last night’s decision.
A thought crossed her mind. If she chickened out last minute, she would be disappointing Hayden, who had trusted her.
In the end, she gritted her teeth, changed into casual clothes, and left her room.
To her surprise, Hayden was already sitting on the sofa. It looked like he’d been waiting for her for some time. “Are you ready?”
Zara took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Hayden let her sit in the driver’s seat. Thoughtfully, he put on her seatbelt for her as well.
Tremblingly, Zara gripped the steering wheel, taking deep breaths periodically.
After an hour, she still hadn’t made any progress.
Hayden felt his heart ache when he saw her pale and covered in cold sweat out of fear.
In the end, he took out his own seat belt and leaned over to her. “Zar, regulate your emotions. You just need to gain control of your body. Don’t think about anything else apart from driving. If you can’t do it today, it’s alright. The most important thing is you had the courage to at least try,” he comforted.
Zara listened as Hayden spoke slowly by her ear.
She turned to say something, but her lips bumped against Hayden’s.
Hayden’s face was perpetually cold, but when in love, he was devastatingly seductive.
When Zara did not move away, Hayden leaned down further, pressing close to Zara.
He did not do anything else. He just waited for her consent, waiting for her to give him a sweet kiss. It was almost like a romantic declaration of his love.
The atmosphere in the car seemed to heat up. Zara felt short of breath as her mind blurred. She raised her head higher, trying to get more air from Hayden. She also wanted to break away from this situation where her logic and desire warred against each other. Thankfully, it didn’t last long.
During the kiss, Zara could clearly feel her heart pounding.
She didn’t love him that deeply, but somehow, her heart was beating out of control.
Every part of her body that he was touching felt hot. His touch was ruining all rational thought she had.
Chapter 12
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Both Zara and Hayden knew that this wasn’t the time and place to be brazen.
Besides that, Zara hadn’t actually agreed to be with Hayden.
Now that Hayden had gotten his wish, he should stop.
He pulled himself away and back into his seat. Taking a deep breath to dispel all his bad thoughts, he pointed at the steering wheel, telling Zara to continue driving.
Zara knew what she looked like. She was flustered and disheveled. Patting down her wrinkled clothes, she cleared her throat. “Should I start now?”
She already knew, from her own tone of voice, that she was being rational about all this. She wasn’t going to talk about it or question Hayden.
If she did, she wouldn’t win anyway.
Therefore, she just gathered her courage and continued trying to drive.
However, she only got about ten meters before she slammed onto the brakes.
4
She took another half–hour break. Beside her, Hayden could see that she was really having a hard time with driving. He was just about to tell her to give up when the rain turned into a storm.
Zara couldn’t breathe. She felt helpless.
She forgot what she was doing. She couldn’t think; involuntarily, she curled in onto herself, trying to find safety where she could.
She couldn’t even see clearly. She reached out, trying to grab something to steady her. She needed something to support her.
Brows deeply furrowed, she closed her eyes tightly. Sweat beaded on her forehead and her temples.
Her hand kept searching for something that could give her a sense of safety.
The sound of rain was painfully shrill to her ears. She wanted to get out of here.
After a while, she felt something wrap around her. She couldn’t move, but she didn’t mind. She hugged back, holding on tightly as if she were a runaway kite hanging on to a branch.
The thunderstorm receded as suddenly as it began.
Through her eyelids, the world brightened.
When her senses returned, she felt something brush against her forehead.
The warmth in her arms felt more substantial. As her sense of touch returned fully, she realized that she was hugging Hayden.
She had thought that the only thing that could alleviate her fear was unconsciousness or death, but she knew better now.
She could still feel the warmth on her forehead where he had touched her.
She wasn’t incurable; he was her cure.
