Chapter 282

"Giselle, I'm sorry." Standing outside the door, Patrick looked down at her worriedly, "Don't overthink it. Live your life as you used to. Trust me, nothing will change." "Are you asking me to deceive myself?" Giselle curled her lips in a somewhat self-deprecating smile, "I'm not that strong. I can't do that. You should leave..." Doom— Just as she finished speaking, the clock in the room suddenly fell and shattered on the floor. Giselle turned her head, and in the next moment, Patrick rushed in. "Giselle." Rumble— When Giselle opened her eyes again, all she could see was endless darkness. All that she could reach by her hands were rocks. She moved her legs, and then her hands. She still had feeling. Was it an earthquake? The air was thick with dust, causing Giselle to cough heavily with every breath. Her eyes were somewhat reluctant to open, filled with dust. Giselle could only extend her hand and feel her way forward. Eventually, she touched a person's face. "Patrick." She called his name, her voice was extremely hoarse due to dryness. No response— Giselle's hand trembled. "Patrick, speak." Still, no one answered. At this point, Giselle's face and voice were trembling, she made a whimper from her mouth, constantly kneading and slapping Patrick's face. "Wake up, you wake up, speak... Patrick, speak...." Her voice choked with each word, becoming more despairing. Just when Giselle was about to collapse, a hand suddenly pressed on hers. "Giselle, stop hitting, it hurts..." Patrick's voice was faint and pale. Giselle smiled through her tears in an instant, "You're not dead. That's great." "Mmm, I'm not dead." Patrick seemed to smile a little. It was confirmed that Patrick was not dead, and Giselle withdrew her hands. Her eyes gradually adapted to the surroundings, but in the darkness, neither of them could see each other clearly. "Did we experience an earthquake?" "Probably." "Are we going to die?" "Of course not," Patrick said, "Someone will come to save us." In such a pitch-black place, even if rescue arrived, they had no clue when it would reach them. "I'm so thirsty." In such conditions, they could not discern the passing of time. After who knows how long, Giselle opened her mouth. Her throat was filled with dust, making even speech painful. "Just hang in there for a bit longer. You will be able to drink water soon," Patrick comforted her. Again, after an indeterminable amount amount of time, Giselle began to feel tired, her eyelids growing heavier. "I'm so tired, I really want to sleep." "Giselle, you can't sleep." "But... I am so tired... I am also hungry and thirsty... I think I see water... Ah~" The sharp pain that shot through her wrist snapped Giselle back from her drowsiness. It was Patrick who pinched her wrist. "Giselle, you can't sleep, if you fall asleep, perhaps you won't be able to wake up." Wake up or not. Not clear-headed enough, Giselle even thought that if she couldn't wake up, then so be it, she just wanted to have a good sleep. "Patrick.... before I die.... should I call you 'brother' once?" "Giselle!" "I didn't expect you'd be my brother.. cough cough... If I had known earlier... I definitely wouldn't have clung onto you then, you must be very sad, right... you knew about this much earlier than me... it must be very hard for you." "Giselle, don't say that." "I used to hate you, blame you, but now I know, you've done no wrong to me." "It's me who wronged you, if it wasn't for me, your legs wouldn't..." "It's not related to you." Giselle slowly closed her eyes, "My leg was hurt by Gloria." Patrick wanted to ask. Giselle opened her mouth again, her voice was very weak, "Patrick, I'm really tired, I want to drink water...if I can't wake up, can you give a message to Maverick for me?" "I want to say 'sorry' to him, and then...also if, in the future he is willing to see me, ask him to bring me a bunch of tulips, I want the yellow ones, they're beautiful, I like them... I really like them... I... like... Mave..." The sound of Giselle's voice gradually disappeared. Patrick called her, "Giselle." Even when he pinched her again, there was no response. In his anxiousness, Patrick bit his own finger. Giselle had a long dream, where she saw her mother again. Her mother waved at her and called her name, "Giselle ... " Her mother was still as young and beautiful as she remembered. She ran towards her, chasing after her mother's footsteps. As she was running, someone grabbed her hand. She turned around, and it was Maverick. He was glaring at her resentfully, "Giselle, dare you go further and see." Go further, where to? "Maverick!" Giselle woke up from her dream. The moment she opened her eyes, her sight was filled with white. She blinked, took a while to react, finally realizing that she was in a hospital. "Ms. Hawk, you're awake?" The nurse opened the door. Seeing the conscious Giselle, she happily announced outside, "Ms. Hawk is awake." Then, Giselle heard the sound of footsteps. Soon, the figure of Maverick appeared at the hospital room doorway. But he didn't come in, he just stood there, staring straight at Giselle, his eyes reflecting an inexplicably complex emotion. As if worried, as if relieved, yet also like being angry, suppressing strong emotions. "Maverick." Giselle sat up first, and upon seeing Maverick, she felt like there were many things she wanted to say to him. However, in stark contrast to her excitement, Maverick appeared extraordinarily indifferent. His eyes, devoid of warmth, briefly skimmed across her face, "There’s water on the table, pour it yourself if you’re thirsty." Giselle glanced at the transparent water jug and cup on the table, lowered her eyes and said an 'Oh' before she leaned over to pour a cup of water. Just awoken, she still felt weak, and her hand was a bit soft. When pouring water, she inadvertently knocked over the cup, and half of the poured water spilled all over the table. Giselle quickly grabbed some tissue to wipe it up. The water was hot, causing her to hiss several times. She subconsciously looked towards Maverick, but he turned around and walked out of the hospital room during their brief eye contact. Giselle pinched the soggy tissue, blinked her eyes, lowered her gaze, and said nothing. Only after she cleaned up the spilt water bit by bit did she throw the water-soaked tissues into the trash. After Maverick left, he never returned to the room. Giselle picked up the fallen cup, carefully poured the water this time, held the cup in her hand, took small sips. Her throat was a bit sore, it was uncomfortable when the water passed through. She took a look at the dripper stand by her bed. In fact, she was not sure how long she had been lying unconscious. Coincidentally, a nurse walked in carrying a new bottle of medicine, and said to her, "This is glucose, you just woke up, you need to continue the glucose infusion." "How long have I been asleep?" "Do you mean in the hospital or…" "How long for both?" "You were rescued and brought here to the hospital a day and a half after the hotel collapsed. You've been laying here for a whole night before waking up just now." "Was it an earthquake?"