Chapter 6

Raymond opened his eyes. In front of him, he saw Hazel's figure with her long dark brown hair draped over her left ear, watching him from a very close distance. As soon as she saw him woken up, Hazel's worried face vanished, changing with relief. He looked around him. He only saw Hazel. Has Martha left? Or did Martha just call the ambulance and leave when the ambulance arrived to pick her up?

‘How do you feel? Still hurts?’

His body still felt weak from the effects of the anaesthetics. He looked around before his attention fell on Hazel who was sitting next to him. Since when has he been in the clinic? And why was Hazel here?

‘Should I call a doctor?’

‘No need. I’m fine,’ He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Slowly he tried to get up and sat back down with the pillow Hazel quickly put behind him to support his back. Very nice. This was much better than before. Looks like he successfully passed the critical period. ‘Why are you here? I don't remember telling you my location.’

‘Old habit,’ Hazel answered quickly as if it was normal.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Old habit?’

‘I've never told you,’ Hazel drew closer to him so that their faces were a few centimetres away. ‘I used to help my father who worked as a private investigator. So finding your whereabouts is not a difficult thing.’

Wait a minute. So this woman used to help her father's job as a private investigator? A truly surprising new fact. Who would have thought that the woman beside him had the talent to track a person?

‘Thanks, Hazel.’

‘You are just like my father, always making people worry. Hmph!’ Hazel puffed her cheeks which made this woman look very cute. He laughed, not expecting to see Hazel's nagging side because she was worried about his condition. Maybe because she used to help her father, this woman did not even ask the reason why he got hurt.

‘I'm sorry for making you worried, Princess,’ Raymond took Hazel's right hand, kissed the back of her hand. Predictably, this woman's face blushed greatly because of it, making him want to prank this woman once again.

He pretended to grimace in pain while holding his stomach, wanting to see Hazel's reaction.

‘Are you okay?! Maybe I should call the doctor right now—’

‘Maybe if you kiss me, the pain will go away,’ he tried hard to stop himself from laughing when he saw Hazel's worried face. He did not really mean it when he said it. Soon this woman should definitely beat him up or maybe scold him for making a joke in that situation.

That must be so…

Eh?

To his surprise, he found Hazel moving closer to him with her eyes closed and her face flushed, pressing her tiny lips against him.

‘How was that? Do you feel better?’

Ah, shit! Really cute!

‘That can’t count as a kiss, Hazel,’ He laughed softly, pulling this woman closer to him. ‘But like this.’

He returned to Hazel's kiss. Smelling the perfume worn by this woman provoked him to touch these tiny lips once again but he refused. He looked at the woman beside him closely. ‘I love you at the first sight, in our first meeting. Want to consider an offer to be my girlfriend, Hazel Skylar?’

***

He kept humming, celebrating his success because Hazel accepted his feeling, ignoring the two nurses who had just finished tidying the room and helping him get off the IV and taking care of the clinic administration who looked at him like a freak. He did not care. After arguing with the doctor in charge of letting him go home—and ending with him winning the debate, the doctor finally gave the permission, allowing Raymond to be outpatient although, from his condition, he still had to be hospitalized for a week to monitor his condition. He could feel his body much better than before, and that was enough. Arnold's younger sister's life was in danger, and he did not have much time to rest comfortably. Better to be alert and move fast.

After changing his clothes, he came out of his room, approached Hazel who was busy with her smartphone.

‘Sorry for making you waiting,’ Raymond held out his hand, offering to carry Hazel's tote bag. Hazel quickly refused the offer. Looks like Hazel was worried about his condition. Trying to stop himself from jumping in joy because Hazel was worried, he insisted on carrying her bag again until she gave up.

‘Don't blame me if you collapse.’ Hazel was a little reluctant to hand over her bag after this woman put her smartphone in it.

'Yes, yes. I know my body more than anyone. Don’t worry.'

‘Can you believe it if someone told you ‘don’t worry’ while their condition is bad? I don’t think so.’ Hazel turned her body, facing him with a long sighed. ‘But, I’ll try to believe. Only this one. You hear me?’

‘Okay, okay. I got it.’

For some reason, Raymond found Hazel's current side very cute. He grabbed Hazel's hand with his free hand, holding the tiny hand so it would not disappear from his sight. He was afraid that the fact that Hazel was his girlfriend turned out to be just one of his dreams that had not yet come true. As soon as he felt those little hands that felt warm, he really became sure that this woman was really Hazel Skylar, the person that attracted him from the first sight. In Morozov, there were many women who were trying to make a move with him, but not as attractive as the woman who was walking beside him. As soon as they left the clinic, they realized that it was already night. It was cold, but his thick clothes were about seventy-five per cent warm. He noticed that Hazel kept walking with her head down, making him a little worried. Was this woman all right?

‘Hazel?’

‘Yes?’

‘What's wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ Hazel was still looking down.

This was bad. Arnold once told him that women who say they were okay was actually dangerous, because they might be hiding something. He was starting to worry. Was his move to confess his feelings to Hazel too quickly? Or maybe that this woman actually wanted to refuse his confession but she was reluctant because their age was quite far apart? Unfortunately, he did not consider their different age gap at all. What should he do to resolve this awkward situation? Should he retract his confession, wait until this woman was ready with her feelings?

‘Are you sure? Just spill it out, it's okay,’ he stopped in walking, released Hazel's hand from his grasp, then stood right in front of this woman, looking worried. ‘Maybe I should take back my confession earlier, waiting until you are really ready to answer my feelings?’

‘N-no! It’s not like that!’ Hazel lifted her head, looked at him with a great blush. This woman waved both hands, then looked away as soon as she realized they were too close. ‘That, in that room…’

‘Yeah?’ He waited for Hazel to finish what she said earlier, unable to guess what this woman wanted to say to him.

‘About the kiss earlier,’ Hazel's voice trembled as she said it while touching her lips unconsciously.

Ah, he finally understood the situation.

‘You mean, that was your first kiss?’ He could not stop himself from teasing Hazel. This woman nodded.

‘Oh, that means I'll be the first one to kiss you, is that so?’

This woman nodded again. Cute…

‘I’m glad. I thought you were annoyed because of my confession. Or maybe our different age,’ Raymond looked at the night sky in the Cirillo city which looks very beautiful. It had been two months since he had lived in this city, yet he was still not used to seeing the night sky filled with stars. Then his gaze returned to Hazel. Compared to the night sky, this woman beside him was much prettier.

‘N-no! Of course no! Why should I bother with that?’

He laughed at Hazel's cute reaction. ‘I got it. Anyway, I have to go somewhere to pick up my things. Wanna come along with me?’

***