“If you’re staying at a hotel, you can just call room service and have them cook it for you,” Evelyn replied calmly.
“I only want to eat the noodles you make,” Alexander said, his eyes fixed on her.
“Then eat more. I made a whole pot,” she answered lightly, as if she didn’t catch his meaning.
“Evelyn, I’ve lost five pounds this month,” he pressed on.
“Are you on a diet?” she asked, half joking.
“Do I look like I need to diet?”
“Not really. You’re in great shape,” she said flatly, like she was talking to a friend.
She looked up at him and froze for a moment. The next second, she instinctively looked away and kept eating.
Alexander chuckled and stopped pushing her to eat more noodles.
After dinner, Evelyn cleaned up and left the ward. A few minutes later, she came back and told him she had hired a nurse for the night. She was heading home.
“No nurse,” Alexander said, his face turning cold.
“You don’t need an IV at night, but someone still needs to watch you,” she explained patiently.
“Then you stay with me,” he shot back.
“I have to go home and see the baby,” she said.
“The nanny is taking care of the baby.”
“The baby sleeps with me at night now.”
“We used to sleep together,” he said, staring at her.
Evelyn was speechless. After a long pause, she said, “Alexander, don’t be unreasonable.”
“What if I get a high fever in the middle of the night and the nurse sleeps through it?” His tone softened, and he gave her a pitiful look.
“No way. The nurse is watching you all night,” she insisted.
They’re professionals. He thinks they’re here to play house.
“How is he going to watch me? If he stays in the room, I won’t sleep a wink. If he’s not in the room, how will he know if something’s wrong?” Alexander argued.
“Have the nurse come in every hour to check on you,” she suggested.
“I’ll just be falling asleep, and he’ll walk in and wake me up. I won’t get any rest until dawn,” he pushed back.
“What do you want?” she asked, losing patience.
“Nothing much. I just want you to stay with me.”
“…” Evelyn glared at him.
Alexander smiled at her, a flattering grin.
She finally gave in, thinking she could leave once he fell asleep.
But instead of sleeping, he spent a long time flipping through TV channels.
“What do you want to watch?” he asked, changing the channel.
“I don’t want to watch TV,” she said, still annoyed.
“Then let’s go to sleep.”
“Fine, let’s just watch TV for a bit,” she said, embarrassed.
Later, Evelyn got really sleepy. She figured he was weak and would fall asleep soon.
So she said it was late and they should rest.
She took the remote, turned off the TV, helped him lie down, and pulled the blanket over him.
She lay down on the guest bed and turned off the light.
Half an hour later, she called out softly, “Alexander?”
“Hmm?” he answered.
She felt a wave of annoyance. “Nothing.”
Another half hour passed. She tried again, “Alexander?”
He answered again and asked, “Are you scared to sleep alone? I’ll give you half the bed.”
“No,” she refused flatly.
She decided to wait a little longer. But then she accidentally fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, she felt like she had forgotten something, but she was too tired to care.
Early in the morning, Evelyn felt something strange, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She opened her eyes, stared blankly for a moment, then closed them again, wanting to sleep more.
The next second, her eyes flew open. She was on the guest bed, but she wasn’t lying on it. She turned her head and saw Alexander.
He was sleeping soundly, his arms wrapped around her.
And she was squeezed onto the hospital bed with him.
How did she get from the guest bed to the hospital bed?
There was a whole aisle between the two beds. She couldn’t have rolled over in her sleep.
And she didn’t sleepwalk.
The only explanation was that he had carried her over while she was asleep.
He wasn’t even crowded.
Evelyn was furious. She tried to push his arms away and get up.
Alexander grumbled in protest and pulled her closer.
She wanted to slap him.
This was a hospital room, not his bedroom.
Well, it was his room. But they had agreed to get divorced. He couldn’t just do whatever he wanted.
“Alexander. Alexander.”
“Wife, my head hurts,” he groaned.
“You deserve it,” she snapped.
He didn’t say anything, just pressed closer to her.
She reached out and felt his forehead. No fever. She breathed a sigh of relief.
He finally fell back asleep. Evelyn gently pried his arms off and got up.
She walked out of the ward, gave the nurse a few instructions, and went home.
The first thing she did was take a shower and change clothes.
As soon as she walked out of the bathroom, she saw her mother. Evelyn jumped.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
“You didn’t come home last night. I couldn’t sleep a wink. How is Alexander?”
“He has pneumonia. He needs to stay in the hospital for a few days.”
“Oh, you’re all so bad at taking care of yourselves,” Amelia sighed. “He’s in the hospital. What are you doing back here?”
Evelyn felt a headache coming on. “There are nurses. They don’t need me.”
“What do you mean they don’t need you? A nurse isn’t family. You’re his wife. He’s in the hospital, and you’re not taking care of him? What are you thinking?”
“Mom, I’m going to divorce him.”
“Not yet. As long as you’re still married, you’re his wife. You have a duty to take care of him,” Amelia lectured.
“Fine. I’ll go see him later,” Evelyn said, rubbing her temples.
“Good. I’ll cook some porridge. You can take it to him.”
“He wants noodles,” Evelyn blurted out.
“I’ll cook noodles. But won’t they get soggy?” Amelia muttered as she walked out of the room.
Evelyn had no choice but to get ready and go downstairs.