Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying in a private hospital room.

A boy with dyed chestnut hair was sitting by my bed, playing a mobile game. The sunlight shone on his face, illuminating the fine peach fuzz on his cheeks.

I moved my fingers slightly.

The boy sharply sensed my movement and looked up.

Seeing that I was awake, he looked pleasantly surprised. "You're awake! Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

I stared at him blankly.

The boy scratched his head and said, "I-I-I… my name is Jesse. When I walked past your hotel room, the door was open, and I smelled a heavy scent of blood, so I…"

Although my body was extremely weak, my heart was still beating strongly.

It reminded me that I hadn't returned to my original world.

I was still the same Valerie.

The Valerie who loved Landon so deeply that she was willing to throw her life away.

I sighed and closed my eyes.

Jesse nervously felt my forehead. "What's wrong? Are you in pain? I'll go get the doctor."

I helplessly opened my eyes and stopped him. "I'm just a little tired and want to rest."

Jesse let out a sigh of relief. "That's good! You've been in a coma for a week. My family made me manage that hotel, so if something happened to you, my parents would have chewed me out!"

I froze for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I should have found a place further away to die."

Jesse immediately cut me off, his handsome eyebrows twisting in strong disagreement. "The person you should be apologizing to isn't me! It's yourself! Were you bullied? Hey, it's okay, I'm not blaming you at all!"

Looking at Jesse's frustrated expression, I weakly forced a faint smile.

He grabbed my hand, saying he wanted to play games with me so I wouldn't think about all these annoying things.

I turned on my phone, only to find that it was practically blowing up.

They were all missed calls from Landon.

Staring at the long list of missed calls, I completely zoned out.

There were also several text messages from him.

――"Valerie, pick up the phone."

――"Valerie, what kind of playing-hard-to-get bullshit are you pulling? Let me tell you, Rosalie is already back, so you better know your place!"

――"Valerie, family is what Rosalie cares about the most. Get your ass over here right now, and don't you dare leak our secret."

Landon sent a lot of messages, but I didn't finish reading them.

I figured his messages were probably all about Rosalie anyway.

I didn't want to read anymore, and I didn't want to feel sad anymore.

I blocked Landon's number. I looked at my hand, which was hooked up to an IV drip, and reached out to pull the needle out.

Jesse gasped and quickly pressed my hand down.

His face was full of worry. "Don't be reckless!"

Don't be reckless.

Over the past seven years, I had heard those words from Landon countless times, and every single time it was laced with impatience.

This was the first time I heard genuine care in those words.

And surprisingly, it came from a total stranger.

How ridiculous.

Jesse held me down, called the nurse in, and had the IV needle put back in properly.

Jesse said, "I ordered a bowl of oatmeal for you. Can you eat a little bit to line your stomach, please?"

For some reason, my eyes grew hot, and my nose suddenly stung.

I wiped away the tears at the corners of my eyes and shook my head wearily. "I don't have an appetite."

Jesse frowned, his expression turning serious. "You have to eat even if you don't have an appetite. You're pregnant, did you know that?"