What Separates Me and You

Taking a brief respite, Lewis let out a deep breath, and his face returned to its normal color. "I'm fine. What else do you want to try out?" Josephine scanned her surroundings and saw nothing that piqued her interest. She pointed somewhere else. "Let's take a look over there."

"Sure."

Their roles had reversed; Josephine was now the one dragging Lewis along. Eventually, Josephine found the pirate ship.

Lewis was rendered speechless. "Well," he thought, "At least it's better than the drop tower." However, it wasn't much better. It was almost as terrifying as the roller coaster.

After that, Josephine was eager to try something known as the space shot, flying coaster, and the Screamin' Swing. She wasn't in the least bit interested in the milder rides-such as the Ferris wheel-because those were what her father used to bring her on when they went to amusement parks-only the Ferris wheel and bumper cars. He never allowed her to go on the more thrilling rides. Therefore, she dragged Lewis to all the adventurous rides her parents had forbidden her from riding.

She finally left the amusement park feeling content after she tried every ride while Lewis sat in the car, ashen-faced. His hand trembled even as he held the steering wheel-not from shock but pain. Josephine took a few sips of the coffee she held, seemingly oblivious to his pale face, and passed it to him. "Do you want some?"

Lewis waved the cup aside and rested for half an hour on his seat before finding the strength to send Josephine back to the hospital. He reached the hospital just in time to see the doctor asking Mrs. Larson where the patient who was supposed to be there went. Mrs. Larson had no idea. Her face lit up when she saw them at the door. "You're back!"

The doctor saw them and was about to comment when Lewis blacked out right at the door, giving even the doctor the fright of his life.

Josephine was shocked too. She thrust the snacks in her hands away, knelt on the floor, and tried to shake Lewis awake. The doctor pulled her aside and called for help to bring in the stretcher, which they used to carry Lewis to the emergency room.

Bewildered, Josephine froze where she was. She didn't know why Lewis had suddenly fainted.

Mrs. Larson went to her and consoled her, "It's alright, Madam. Mr. Alvarez is probably just exhausted."

Josephine blinked. She remembered how long they'd been at the amusement park; it was only natural for Lewis to be tired. But his health condition must be terrible. She was tired too, but she didn't faint. Conrad received the news and hurried to the hospital. Lewis was already transferred to the ward right next to Josephine's. He asked the doctor, "What happened? Why is he unconscious again?"

"I've no clue what he did, but the incision has reopened though the sutures are still there."

Conrad frowned. Why did he feel like Lewis was intentionally getting himself into trouble? "Is that all?"

"Not that simple, obviously. His wound has never fully recovered. It had already reopened once a few days ago. Plus, he had also taken in too much smoke; the examinations showed he presented symptoms of hypoxemia."

"Hm? What's that?"

"It's a secondary complication after one suffers from carbon monoxide poisoning, one of the most common life-threatening conditions in pulmonology."

Conrad heard nothing other than "life-threatening." He asked, "Will his life be in danger?"

"His condition seems mild so far. He won't be in danger, granted he stays out of harm's way and takes good care of himself. Otherwise, it may lead to respiratory failure in the later stage, which has a high mortality rate."

Conrad grew anxious. He thought, "Will Lewis eventually be the death of himself instead of Kiran?"

He proceeded to inquire about other precautions they should take and contemplated getting someone to keep Lewis in check, or else Lewis might get himself killed way before anything happened to Josephine at this rate.

However, after running through several candidates in his mind, Conrad realized no one could assume that role. Josephine was his only choice, but with her condition, she might have trouble keeping herself alive, let alone looking after Lewis.

Perturbed, Conrad came to Josephine's ward. Josephine was sitting appropriately on the sofa, waiting for Lewis to return, only to see Conrad entering instead.

She got up and trotted over to him, asking, "Where is Lewis?"

Conrad sighed. "He's next door. What have you both been up to today?"

Josephine tilted her head and recalled as she counted off her fingers. "We went on the roller coaster, the very tall tower, the spinning thing..."

They went on approximately eight rides, which, except for the roller coaster, she didn't know the names of. But as Conrad listened on, his forehead throbbed as he secretly exclaimed in shock. Josephine halted when she saw the look on Conrad's face. "What's wrong?"

Conrad rearranged his words before saying, "Sir is not feeling well now. He can't go on those rides, or he may die."

"What is 'die'?"

Conrad was truly at a loss for words. Holy moly, how on earth could he ever think Josephine was a suitable candidate to look after Lewis?

He exhaled deeply before forcing a smile, saying, ""To die' means you won't see him ever again. He won't exist anymore."

"Oh..."

"So please don't enjoin him to ride those things the next time, do you get me?"

Josephine lowered her head. She was silent for several moments, thinking, "Does that mean I can't go outside to play anymore?" Then only did she reply unwillingly, "Okay."

"He's next door. You can go and visit him."

Conrad was still in the middle of tracking Quintin down, so he didn't have the time to look after Lewis. Fortunately for them, Mrs. Larson was around, and Josephine's condition was stable now. Everything would be fine, provided she kept herself from pulling out Lewis' tubes again.

Little did Conrad know his decision to let Josephine look after Lewis would be the worst he had ever made.

Josephine went to the ward next door. Lewis was still out cold.

She went over and lowered her eyes, staring at him for quite some time. His clothes were similar to hers. Quietly lying on the bed, he looked as though he was asleep. His face was devoid of expression, his thin lips were pressed tightly together, and several wild strands of hair scattered over his forehead. He looked less daunting this way.

Josephine noticed he had good looks and extended a finger to poke at his face.

Mrs. Larson's voice came from beside her. "Madam, please don't touch him. Mr. Alvarez is still sleeping."

"Oh." Josephine sheepishly withdrew her hand and sat on a stool. She propped her head on her hands and stared at him. She was waiting for him to bring her home.

Mrs. Larson wrung a towel dry and handed it to Josephine. "Madam, why don't you help him wipe his face?"

Josephine looked at the towel and nodded. She took it from Mrs. Larson and spread the towel on Lewis' face. Pressing down with both hands, she started wiping Lewis' face clumsily.

Mrs. Larson thought nothing could go wrong, so she left with a basin to fetch water.

Josephine covered Lewis' face with both hands when she wiped and did so aggressively to ensure his face was clean. She didn't notice the fingers lying on both sides of the unconscious man move. Almost immediately, a hand abruptly grasped Josephine's wrist and elicited a shocked exclamation from her. The hand then cast hers aside and took down the towel, gasping and panting. Lewis saw Josephine sitting beside him and closed his eyes again, trying to regulate his breathing.

Josephine called softly, "Lewis."

It took Lewis approximately one minute to resume his regular breathing rate. He opened his eyes and looked at Josephine before feebly asking, "Were you trying to suffocate me just now?" Josephine frantically shook her hands. "No, I was helping you to wipe your face."

Lewis seemed to recall something as he raised his arm and saw the thing he held a thick and heavy towel.