When fate plays its hand

“How’s your ankle now?” Paul had just returned from the lab. When he saw an opened delivery box at the entrance of her door, he knew Miranda had been discharged from the hospital.

“The doctor said it’s nothing serious as long as I apply the ointment regularly. I’ll go back for a follow–up in

a week.”

A thought crossed Miranda’s mind, and she lowered her gaze. “That day… If it hadn’t been for you and Sam, I don’t think I could’ve held on for so long”

Furthermore, she even developed a fever afterward. She heard that Paul had brought the fever medicine

she had taken.

Miranda hadn’t completely lost consciousness in the later part of that night despite feeling groggy from

the high fever.

She was aware that Paul had moved her behind a pillar to shelter her from the wind. She knew that he and Sam positioned themselves around her to keep her warm. She also remembered them trying to cool down her temperature with gauze and alcohol tirelessly

Miranda was aware of all they had done.

In addition, she could recall what happened after she got sent to the hospital and the words they had exchanged

Paul said, “Madison called me that day when you were in trouble, but I didn’t answer right away. That’s why I was late. I’m sorry”

“But you still came in the end, didn’t you?” Miranda looked up at him and met his gaze with a smile. “Dr. Jefferson, you don’t need to apologize. You had no obligation to save me. In fact, I should be thanking you. Since I’ve known you, I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve helped me.”

Paul replied, “Alright then, let’s call it even

“Deal!”

“Oh, right. I have something for you. Wait for a moment”

Under Miranda’s puzzled gaze, Paul went back to his place and returned with a large shopping bag. The bag was huge, but the item inside was larger than that, with a part of it sticking out because the bag couldn’t fully contain it. It was wrapped in another black plastic bag.

“What’s this?” Miranda blinked in surprise.

Paul said, “You’ll know when you open it.”

“Alright.”

Miranda invited him inside. Paul changed into slippers and entered her house naturally.

Miranda had guessed what it might be from the shape even before unwrapping the black plastic bag. However, she was still stunned when she finally saw a complete Canavalia pod.

“This is…”

She realized that this pod was much larger than the one she had taken the seeds from and also darker in color. Most importantly, this pod was completely intact!

“Dr. Jefferson, where did you get this?”

“I discovered a Canavalia grove nearby after we found you that day. I guess you got lost because of that”

Miranda scratched her head sheepishly. “We’ll get an extra 20 points if we collect any rare plant specimens…”

“You’re smart enough to know you couldn’t carry the whole pod, so you only took the seeds”

Miranda didn’t dare admit that she hadn’t taken the pod because it was damaged. If it had been as pristine as the one before her now, she probably wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation

Paul explained, “I found a patch of withered vines between two rocks near where we found you. This pod was well–protected as it was hidden right in the middle…”

“And then?” Miranda urged him to continue when she noticed he paused for a moment

“I just picked it up later, of course.”

“Is that so?” Miranda eyed him suspiciously. “I remember you weren’t carrying anything at the time…”

It wouldn’t have fit in a bag either….

Paul chuckled. “You silly goose. Your condition was so critical at the time. Do you think I’d have time to be picking up pods?”

Of course, he memorized the location and went back to collect it later. Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

Miranda blinked. Silly goose? Was he talking about her?

Sebastian and Madison rushed over to visit Miranda as soon as they heard she had been discharged

Madison was already panting by the time she climbed up to the seventh floor, especially since she was lugging a heavy bag of fruit that weighed almost 20 pounds!