Chapter 750: Letting you go
"I want to love you, Frank. Just as much as you love me, or maybe more than that. So, don’t ask me just to recover. It’s not enough. You should demand more. Will you?"
"Frank, please take care of yourself. I know you’re doing this for our future, but do not forget to take care of your well-being. I’m still not fully recovered to take care of you if you get sick."
"I don’t like taking too much medicine, but after thinking about it, if I truly want to get better, then I should stop complaining."
"I trust you, so okay."
"Goodnight, Frank."
Hera’s words tonight kept rewinding in Dragon’s head, even when he left her in her room. Sitting behind the desk under the dim lights, he had his elbow propped on the armrest, rubbing his fingers against each other. His eyes were fixed on a pill in front of him, underneath the warm glow of a desk lamp.
"What am I thinking?" he asked himself quietly. "Why didn’t I give this to her?"
Normally, this pill would have been in her system by now. After all, the doctors looking after her health would always send him one every day. They could have fed this to her, but for reassurance, he would do it himself. In this case, he was reassured she wouldn’t be able to run away from him. If she ever regained her memories unexpectedly, she wouldn’t have enough strength to fight her way out like the raging bull she used to be.
Yet, here he was, staring at the pill that had given him reassurance all this time. He couldn’t understand himself.
’All the stupid things she says...’he thought, remembering every word and letter that slipped out of her lips. ’Aren’t the first time I heard them.’
The Hera he used to know would spew a bunch of nonsense, just like tonight. However, compared to now, the previous version of Hera would speak of the word love as if it had no value at all. She would also claim to trust them with her life, but not enough to welcome them to the deepest part of her heart and soul. She also took care of them to the point she was akin to a mother and a father to everyone.
In other words, what she spewed tonight wasn’t new to his ears. Although her tone was different, they were the still same words. So, why did he wane? Why did her remarks tonight create ripples in his still and cold heart?