The Bond

Ch 62

"Bold."/"Bold italic" : animatronic is talking/animatronic is talking in mind

"Normal."/"Normal italic." : human is talking/human is talking in mind

=o^o=

Michael looked around the hospital hallway with a meaningless look. The smell of medicine wafted strong from all directions. They stepped through the bustling corridor, everything was almost white.

This all reminded him of what happened years ago.

"Mike, come here."

Lucy's words interrupted his thoughts, he turned his head to the side and found Lucy waiting for him some distance away. Michael nodded, immediately following Lucy to one of the hospital rooms at the end of the corridor. Michael chose to be close to Lucy so as not to lose track of the girl.

The eldest Afton paid attention to his surroundings again, this time more briefly because Lucy told him to focus again so as not to bump into people.

Before long, they arrived at Mary's room. Lucy didn't want to bother knocking and asking for permission to enter, she just turned the doorknob and walked into the room. But Michael was silent in front of the door, he looked around for a few times.

"Mike!"

Michael flinched at Lucy calling his name again, he found Lucy shaking her head in understanding and telling him to come in.

"You've been daydreaming since earlier, don't get possessed by the ghost in the hospital."

Lucy's joke, which Michael didn't think was too funny, made him roll his eyes. "You believe in the myth that every hospital is haunted?" Michael asked boredly, Lucy shrugging her shoulders in response as they walked over to Mary's. "I believe more in restaurants that have a lot of ghosts."

"You're weird. How can a restaurant be haunted?"

"Just ask my father ..." Michael didn't continue as soon as Lucy pulled aside the curtain that had surrounded Mary's bed and made his gaze meet Mary's.

The colour on Mary's face immediately faded realizing that Michael was visiting, while Michael on the other hand just flashed a sweet smile greeting. Mary turned brokenly at Lucy who was humming a little as she opened the hospital window to let sunlight into the room, Mary's mouth had opened and was about to say something, but for some reason the long black-haired girl closed it again because Michael never stopped staring at her.

The tinkling of Lucy's bracelet was the only source of sound between them before Lucy was done with her own activities. "So, when does the Doctor let you go home?" Lucy asked curiously, sitting on the edge of the bed while Mary took her eyes off Michael who took a chair to sit next to Lucy.

"Two more days," Mary replied in a quivering voice, occasionally stealing glances at Michael.

"But you have to stay at home resting, right?"

"Yes ...."

"Until when?"

Michael's question made Mary gasp in surprise, Michael just raised an eyebrow in confusion and waited for an answer. "Until—up to two weeks." Mary's words stuttered, Mary squeezed the blanket that covered half of her body nervously.

Michael said nothing but flashed a smile. He really enjoyed the horrified expression Mary gave him every time she looked at him.

Lucy nodded in understanding. "By the way it looks like we visited too late," Lucy said as she checked her watch.

"Because you were busy dressing up," Michael pouted.

"There's nothing wrong with dressing up," Lucy replied with a frown, before brushing the ends of her hair right into Michael's face.

"Hey!" Michael protested indignantly. "Just say you want to find a crush."

"Shut up."

"The red-haired girl at the reception looked cute."

"You are very right."

Michael gave a small snort at Lucy's quick response to his words, before glancing at Mary—the girl just watched silently, remembering Mary always showing disgust every time they discussed things like this. "Should I call the nurse for a check-up or should you do it?" Michael asked Lucy who raised both eyebrows.

"You do it," Lucy said.

"But there's a chance you might run into that red-haired girl again and if you're lucky you might get her email."

"I'll do it."

Lucy quickly stood up and ran out of Mary's room excitedly.

Leaving him alone with Mary.

Michael's smile thinned, he leaned closer to Mary, while Mary looked at him fearfully and moved further and further away. "I don't even care if you tell anyone else or not," Michael said in a low voice, his eyes slowly narrowing.

Mary pursed her lips, although her face seemed to be losing blood at this moment but Michael appreciated Mary's efforts even to reply to his words. "I—I can report you to the police."

"Like what I said earlier." Michael shrugged his shoulders indifferently and laughed. "I don't care." The brown-haired man suppressed all the syllables as he got to his feet and got closer to Mary who was trying to keep her distance.

The closer he got to Mary, the more she moved sideways, until the edge of the bed was crossed and Mary fell to the floor with her freshly broken arm hitting the tiles first. Michael's smile was wide, Mary's eyes rounded at him with a glint of horror.

"From the start I wanted to get rid of you for breathing the same air as him."

Mary's eyes filled with tears, Michael's gaze was cold and warning. A few moments passed with such a state, Michael tilted his head to hear footsteps.

"Mike!"

Lucy came in with a sullen expression, then turned to bewilderment as Michael pulled Mary up from the floor. "What happened?" asked Lucy.

"Mary fell because of a bug," Michael replied casually, ignoring the frightened look on Mary's face.

"Is that true? How reckless."

"Right?" Michael chimed in. "Then? How was it?"

Lucy seemed to remember what she was about to say. "Right!" she said. "I didn't find the lady," she continued desperately.

"You didn't call a nurse for Mary?"

The girl surnamed Dawson blinked her eyes. "Right ...."

Michael looked at Lucy with a sweatdrop. "Let me accompany you this time, poor Mary has been waiting for a long time."

"Sorry," Lucy said while smiling guiltily at Mary who said nothing but nod, before long Lucy immediately told Michael to come out first.

The two of them left Mary alone, and right after that Mary grabbed the hospital phone and dialed the number with trembling hands.

Trek.

["Hello?"]

"A-Alice ...."