Falling for Him Head over Heels(7)

17

The apartment he rented was on the 13th floor of the building next to ours. From the balcony of the living room, he could see the lit-up window of our house.

When we got to his house, I urged him to take off his clothes that were soaked in snow. Then I opened the cake box, inserted the candles one by one, and lit them up.

By the time he came out, the candles had been burned by half.

I said, "Come and blow out the candles. I'm going back soon. My mother is waiting for me at home."

He looked at me attentively. After a while, he said, "Okay."

I accompanied him to make a wish with my eyes closed and blew out the candles. Seeing that he had begun to eat the cake, I finally breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and walked to the door.

"All right, go take a hot shower after eating the cake. It's so cold. Don't mess around in the future."

Before I could finish my words, a warm force came from behind. He wrapped around my waist.

I deliberately turned off the lights in the living room while we were blowing out the candles.

At this moment, the room was dark. Only the light of the street lamps outside the window shone in from the other side of the transparent glass, spreading a layer of pale moonlight in the room.

He buried his face in my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Don't go, sis."

He hadn't called me that for a long time.

I was lost for a moment.

His voice was as light as a gust of wind, but it carried with it a warm and humid breath as it gently brushed past my ear.

The tingling sensation spread. I shrank my neck, and the muscles on my back tensed up.

He had slipped his hand in from the lower hem of my sweater and touched the buttons on my back.

"Sis, I can accompany you to play all kinds of tricks, as long as you don't leave me."

I turned my head and wanted to reprimand him, only to feel his hot forehead.

I was stunned for a moment, saying, "You have a fever?"

His hand hung down. Resting his head on my shoulder, he mumbled weakly.

I tried my best to help him into the bedroom. After making him lie down on the bed, I rummaged through the closet and found a thermometer.

As expected, he had a fever.

I pulled the quilt over and covered him with it. Then, I went to the bathroom to wet a towel and folded it on his forehead.

Just as I was about to help him make a cup of water containing the medicine, he grabbed my wrist.

Lifting his body with some difficulty, he looked at me with his slightly hazy eyes and said, "Sis, don't go."

To be honest, it was the reason but not the force that convinced me.

If he insisted, I probably wouldn't listen.

But now, he admitted defeat first. In addition, he was sick. I couldn't leave him here and run away.

I sighed and turned around to comfort him, saying, "I'm not leaving. I'm going to find some antipyretics for you."

In the end, he took the antipyretics, drank a cup of cold water, and fell asleep in a daze.

In his sleep, he would mumble, "Sis."

I held my cell phone and struggled by the bed, wondering how to explain it to my mother.

On the contrary, my mother texted me, asking me if I would come back tonight.

I replied with a guilty conscience, "I'm not going back. Well, I have a friend. She is suddenly caught up."

"Watch out."

I stared at her reply for a long time. I didn't know if it was an illusion, but I always felt that my mother was meaningful.

I watched over Cruz until late in the middle of the night and helped him change the ice towel twice. I waited until his body temperature had dropped to below 98.6 °F before leaving his house quietly.

At this time, the sky was starting to brighten.

It snowed all night, covering the ground with a thick layer of white. I shivered and entered the house, only to find that my mother had woken up.

I stood at the entrance and smiled awkwardly.

My mother came over and stuffed a cloth bag into my hand, saying, "Since you're back, go out with me."

"What? Mom, I've been busy all night. I just want to sleep now."

Only after finishing my words did I realize that what I said was very misleading, but my mother didn't want to listen to my explanation.

She waved her hand and said, "There is a discount on the eggs at the gate of the residential quarter. Each person can only buy 15 eggs at most. Go buy eggs with me first. You can sleep then."

"Okay."

In the next few days, I never saw Cruz again in the neighborhood.

I thought he had moved out. When I got home from work one day, I found him sitting in the living room and peeling potatoes for my mother.

I stumbled and almost lost my balance. Then I quickly held onto the entrance cabinet.

He looked at me, smiled gently, and said, "Chloe, our final exam is over."

It turned out that it was because of the exam week that he didn't show up some time ago.

After realizing what I was thinking, I felt that my heart skipped a beat. I quickly walked into the kitchen, locked the door, and asked my mother why he was here.

My mother looked very helpless.

"I went out to buy groceries this afternoon. When I got downstairs, the bag was broken, and a pile of things were rolling all over the ground. I happened to meet him, so he helped me pick up the things one by one. I had no choice but to invite him in to have dinner."

18

Cruz seemed to have realized that we didn't welcome him here. After dinner, he stood up and took his leave. He even volunteered to help us throw the garbage away.

I sent him to the door symbolically. Just as I was about to close the door, he suddenly turned around and stared at me.

"Chloe, can you let me off the blacklist?"

After closing the door, I took my cell phone out of my pocket. After hesitating for a while, I unblocked Cruz's phone number and his WhatsApp account.

The next morning, a loud noise outside the door woke me up suddenly. I pushed the bedroom door open and ran out, only to find that my mother had fallen at the door. There were a few oranges scattered on the ground beside her.

I was so scared that my whole body tensed up. After making the emergency call and getting a reply from them that they would be here in 20 minutes, I subconsciously called Cruz.

He arrived quickly and knocked on my door in a few minutes.

Stuffing a can of hot milk into my hand, he comforted me softly.

"Chloe, don't be afraid. Auntie is still young, and she has been in good health. She will be fine."

His comforting words calmed me down a lot.

The ambulance arrived soon. The staff carried my mother on a stretcher, pushed her into the car, and sent her all the way to the hospital.

After a simple first aid diagnosis, the doctor told me that her life was not in danger and she would wake up soon.

My mother was showing signs of high blood pressure. In addition, she had been in a bad mood before, and the weather was cold. Finally, she collapsed one day.

The doctor said that her condition was not serious and that she would be fine after being hospitalized for a few days for observation.

I let out a long sigh of relief before realizing that the clothes on my back had been soaked in cold sweat.

As the doctor said, my mother woke up soon. Hearing that it was Cruz who accompanied me to bring her here, she was much gentler to him, saying, "Thanks, Cruz."

In the next few days, I had to go to work. Cruz, who was on winter vacation, came to accompany my mother while she was hospitalized. This made her treat him much better.

When I got off work and rushed over to the hospital once, Cruz had gone downstairs to buy her food.

My mother suddenly sighed with emotion, saying, "Cruz is a good child. He's not like the scumbags. I am talking about Rory."

...

For a long time, I stayed silent.

Even though Rory had hurt her so much, she was as innocent, sincere, and naive as ever.

"Now that I think about it, it makes sense. After all, no matter how evil Rory Chow is, he is still Cruz's father. There is no need for Cruz to turn against his father for the sake of us, two strangers."

As she spoke, she observed me.

Seeing that I was not interested, she changed the subject, saying, "But Chloe, I won't force you when it comes to the relationship. It's up to you to decide."

"Okay," I replied, as my mind was in a mess.

A few days ago, I invited Stella out for a meal again.

Before we parted ways, she suddenly came over and asked me, "Chloe, are you in a relationship? A serious one?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"You are absent-minded and worried. I have never seen you like this."

She stood still and pretended to be mature. Sighing, she said, "Let me guess who it is. It can't be Lebron Floyd. He isn't that capable. Could it be the little boy who took you away last time?"

"No."

I quickly denied it, but I couldn't help but think of Cruz.

On that snowy night, in the dark living room of his house, he pressed his lips against my ear and called out, "Sis!" Resting his hand on my waist, he was touching me here and there.

It was undeniable that my physiological reaction spoke louder than my verbal explanation.

At that moment, I missed him very much, both physically and mentally.

The door of the ward was pushed open.

Cruz came in with a lunch box and whispered to my mother, "Auntie, I've asked the doctor. According to him, there's nothing wrong with your body, and you can be discharged tomorrow."

"Thank you for what you did, Cruz."

My mother took the lunch box over. Cruz paused and turned to look at me.

He no longer looked at me as frivolously and casually as he had done on our first encounter. When he looked at me now, he was affectionate and mature. It seemed that he had so much to confess to me.

I was slightly heartbroken.