Sweet Subterfuge

Chapter 41

“You motherfucking crazy bitch! I let you have your way but you just keep pushing my limits!” Mr. Hardy shouted.

Larissa was afraid things would get out of hand, so she quickly stepped in and attempted to break up the fight. Mr. Hardy pushed her away roughly.

“Get out!” He yelled, the motions of his arms never ceasing.

The other patient in the room seemed to be used to their fights by now. Wordlessly, they closed the curtains around their bed. Out of sight, out of mind. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“Dad! Mom! Are you done embarrassing yourselves?” Travis shouted angrily, successfully bringing Mr. Hardy back to his senses.

He released his grip on Mrs. Hardy, but her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted once again.

There was a large, red mark on her forehead, its color darker on her flushed face as a result of her fever. There was no doubt that Mr. Hardy had used a lot of force when he slammed her head against the wall earlier

“Could you please call the nurse in or press the call button on my bed for me?” Travis begged Larissa.

Larissa was just about to leave the room when Mr. Hardy rushed over to stop her.

“You! Stay here. Don’t go anywhere!”

Even though he had a fight with Mrs. Hardy, he’d witnessed how hard she’d been working the past few days, and he had not forgotten why she’d been so determined to get Larissa here.

Mr. Hardy opened the door and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Nurse!”

Very quickly, a nurse rushed over.

As soon as she saw Mrs. Hardy on the floor, she was taken aback.

“Ma’am, what happened?” She asked as she knelt down to pull Mrs. Hardy up to her feet.

Mr. Hardy stood on one side, eyeing them coldly. He didn’t even bother to give them a hand.

“Who knows what happened?” His voice was filled with disdain.

Larissa saw the nurse struggling to support Mrs. Hardy’s weight, so she walked over to support the woman on her other side and replied, “She had a fever of 103.1 degrees earlier and received IV fluids downstairs, but I suppose her fever hasn’t yet subsided.”

“103.1 degrees?” The nurse repeated in surprise. “That’s pretty serious.”

The two of them moved Mrs. Hardy to the bed Mr. Hardy was sleeping in before and took her temperature again.

“100.6 degrees. She still has a high fever. Since she’d already gotten fluids, I’ll bring along two ice packs then. You can help apply them on her forehead.”

The nurse brought back the ice packs, but Mr. Hardy refused to take them.

“I’m going out for a smoke.” He said and left the ward.

Larissa was tempted to do the same. But met with the nurse’s earnest gaze, she couldn’t help but reach over and accept the ice packs from her.

Reluctantly, she sat by Mrs. Hardy’s bed and placed the ice packs on her forehead.

Travis moved his neck to look at her.

“Thank you–I guess, for today,” he murmured, his eyes filled with apology.

Larissa pursed her lips. She did not deem it necessary to give him any kind of a

response.

Travis‘ eyes dimmed. Then, he opened his mouth to speak again. “You must be happy to see me like this now, right?”

He said that with a smile, his tone not particularly sharp, but rather, filled with self- deprecation.

Yet, Larissa felt a surge of annoyance.

“Travis Hardy, could you not think of me as equally lowly and disgusting as your family?” The way she looked at him conveyed nothing but pure hatred. “If I were given the choice, I really do not want to have anything to do with your family! Whether you’re living your best lives or not, I do not fucking care. As long as you don’t show up in front of me and ask me to do things like this, I would be eternally grateful.”

The smile on Travis‘ face disappeared gradually.

He lowered his gaze and replied in a faint voice. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, and I don’t blame you for hating me. I didn’t know my parents had gone to find you-

Larissa, I swear to you, it won’t happen again You can just–you can leave I won’t les

them bother you again.“