Chapter 44

She was in a space dark on all sides. Cradled in her arms was the yellow bouquet she had received on her graduation day.

Her mind was full of thoughts of Rayburn. Rayburn. Rayburn…. The first person with whom she had truly shared her heart. A precious friend. A cherished family member connected by the heart.

She missed him so much that she would have gladly sold her soul if they could reunite.

She intended to endlessly reminisce about Rayburn while breathing in the fragrance of the yellow roses. However, the black wall of the dark space split apart and opened like a door, disturbing her focus.

She suddenly stared at that place. The door was emitting a bright light through the crack, as if it were an opportunity to escape this place.

The thought struck her that if she didn’t leave right now, she would be trapped in this darkness forever.

Would that really be so bad, though? After all, she had no proper destination and no goals.

Creeak, the door began to close. She didn’t wonder what was outside the door, so she just stared at it, holding the bouquet in her arms.

Part of her even wished the door would close quickly. Once the door closed, nothing else could enter. Only she and Rayburn’s roses would remain in this darkness.

She leisurely savored the scent of the roses. The fresh sweetness soothingly relaxed the tension in her body.

Before she knew it, more than half of the door had closed. As the light that had hurt her eyes was cut in half, her heart grew miraculously at ease.

What plunged her heart back into turmoil was a man’s voice drifting in from outside the door.

“Eila. Eila…. When are you going to wake up?”

That voice carried an aristocratic intonation. It was much huskier than Rayburn’s sweet tenor, which was as clear as the sky after rain, but hearing him pronounce the name Eila, she knew by instinct.

It was definitely Rayburn.

“Rayburn, Rayburn…?”

Lest she miss him, she anxiously looked around, but the space was as empty as a solitary cell. She focused once more on the desperate, low-pitched voice.

“Eila, I’m so scared right now. Please wake up.”

“……”

“Please…”

Rayburn was surely trembling with anxiety. Eila rushed toward the door, wanting to run over and hug him.

Yet no matter how hard she ran, Rayburn’s figure was nowhere to be seen, and only the dazzling light grew brighter and brighter. For an instant, losing her destination, she stared blankly at the bouquet of roses gripped in her hand.

Strangely enough, the more she ran, the more dull her memories became, and Rayburn’s voice grew faint.

At that moment, a mechanical beep rang inside her ears.

“Are you coming to your senses? Ms. Eila? Ms. Eila!”

Cells that had seemed dead came back to life all at once and began to churn inside her body. The sound of wind outside the window, people talking, and the sound of machines mingled together and rushed in like waves.

Feeling a sharp migraine, she opened her eyes. She saw a brown-haired woman in a pink nurse’s uniform speaking into an intercom.

“The patient in VIP Room 1 has regained consciousness.”

Isu forced her heavy eyelids open and looked around. It was a single-person hospital room. She was lying down with an IV needle stuck in her wrist.

Having finished her report, the nurse walked right up to her nose and said.

“Ms. Eila? Are you awake now? Honestly… you’ve just been sleeping for half a month. Your physical strength must have dropped significantly, so don’t try to force yourself to get up.”

“……”

“This is St. Elizabeth’s General Hospital in Dublin. Fortunately, your lung function, which had declined due to the fire, has recovered a lot.”

Only upon hearing those words could she recall the situation before she lost consciousness. The burning pine forest. She had wandered through it, suppressing her terror to find a single man, and then lost consciousness.

She urgently let his name slip past her lips.

“Hayden, what about Hayden…?”

Her voice searching for him cracked dryly. Even so, the nurse understood immediately and answered kindly.

“I heard Mr. Hayden Wyatt left for London a few hours ago because of urgent business. His secretary had been waiting, but it looks like they stepped away for a moment. They’ll be back soon.”

Her steady heartbeat collapsed drastically. Hearing that Hayden was alive filled her chest with an overwhelming emotion that brought tears to her eyes.

The nurse, momentarily flustered, thoroughly checked her condition, removed the oxygen mask, and said.

“Would you like to try taking a breath? Slowly, deeply. Keep taking it slow and deep.”

Isu calmly breathed along with her. At first, it felt as suffocating as trying to breathe through a narrow hole, but as she repeated the breaths, she was able to regain her composure.

The nurse recorded her condition on her chart and said.

“Fortunately, you’re recovering without any problems. As long as you don’t overdo it, your lung function will be fine, too.”

Isu looked around the hospital room with disbelieving eyes.

The ceiling light and the humidifier felt unfamiliar. She couldn’t even believe the fact that she was wearing clean, fresh clothes—even if they were hospital garb—so she brought her sleeve up to her nose and breathed in through it several times before talking to herself.

“To think I was sleeping for half a month…”

The nurse hung the chart at the foot of the bed and replied.

“When you first arrived at this hospital, Ms. Eila, your condition was the worst. You suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning on top of malnutrition. You probably just slept for half a month because you didn’t have the energy to stay awake. Furthermore, since you were in a situation where you were stranded on an island, the stress must have been immense. I’m just glad you’re alive and well.”

“What about the others…?”

“Out of the six survivors, four have been discharged, leaving only Mr. Manuel Perez and you.”

Mulling over the statement that there were six survivors, she recalled the names of the people she had spent time with on the island.

“Hayden, Manuel, Nate, Dehart, Jan, and myself, right?”

The nurse nodded.

“I’d have to check the roster to be sure, but that sounds right.”

“Why hasn’t Manuel been discharged? Is his condition not good?”

“No, his health has been relatively good, but he’s hospitalized due to acute vocal corditis.”

“Vocal corditis?”

“Yes, it seems he was straining his voice too much.”

She figured she would have to ask Manuel or Hayden again for the exact story of the day they escaped the island. But did Declan and Jenna ultimately fail to make it off the island? Deep in thought, she carefully asked the nurse.

“Would it be possible to look at a laptop or a newspaper? I want to check what happened over the past fortnight.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. When the nurse replied that they could enter, a blonde woman walked in and said.

“I’ll have a laptop and newspapers ready for you shortly. Ah, I heard voices from outside.”

The woman was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a white shirt. Seeing her black high heels, Isu guessed she wasn’t a doctor or a nurse.

“Who… are you?”

The woman smiled gently and replied.

“Hello. I’m Lily Grace, Mr. Hayden Wyatt’s secretary. I was away for a moment taking a phone call regarding work. I’m so glad to see that Ms. Eila has regained consciousness.”

Hayden supposedly did business in London, so Lily was likely from London, too. And if she was a secretary, she’d be someone working in an office…. she self-consciously lowered her head.

“I am– Are you staying here in Ireland because of me, by any chance?”

Quickly reading her awkward and apologetic feelings, Lily replied.

“I’m originally from Dublin, so I came for that reason as well. The president is currently at the London headquarters, but the moment he wraps up his work, he’ll take a helicopter and head over this way.”

Isu wanted to see him as soon as possible, but on the other hand, she felt anxious. It was because of the fear surrounding Graham.

“Lily, has anyone unfamiliar ever visited my hospital room?”

Having checked the IV drip, the nurse left the hospital room. Lily, who had stepped inside, sat down on the sofa next to the patient’s bed and rolled up her shirt sleeves.

“You don’t need to worry about your personal safety. Professional bodyguards are thoroughly guarding this hospital.”

Lily’s reply eased her mind a little, but she couldn’t completely shake off the anxiety.

It felt as though the moment she let her guard down, Graham would kick open the hospital room door.

She was torn fifty-fifty between wanting to wait quietly in the hospital room for Hayden and wanting to hide in a safe place.

Pondering this, Isu carefully asked Lily.

“Won’t I have a bad impact on Mr. Hayden Wyatt’s company? In terms of costs, or manpower?”

As she was gulping down water, Lily shook her head.

“I guarantee you that won’t happen. I can assure you on my professional title.”

It was a somewhat comforting answer, but she couldn’t rest easy. To avoid being a nuisance to many people, she needed to recover her physical strength and be discharged as soon as possible.

Gathering her strength, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and asked.

“Could I borrow some shampoo?”

“Are you looking to wash up?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll call an assistant to help you with your shower.”

Her physical condition was decent considering she had been teetering on the brink of death for a fortnight. Rather, lying down for so long had made her shoulders and lower back painfully stiff, which was the uncomfortable part.

“I think I can do it by myself. I just need some toiletries.”

To prove those words, Isu carefully lowered both of her feet under the bed. Then, pressing her hands against the mattress, she began to walk.

Lily hurriedly got up to support her, but Isu could walk well enough on her own. There was a slight pain in her thigh muscles, but that seemed like an issue to be worked out with moderate exercise.

Standing in front of the bathroom attached to the hospital room, Isu said.

“I’ll try doing it alone, and if anything becomes uncomfortable, I’ll let you know then.”

As if understanding, Lily opened the bathroom door and replied.

“Shower supplies have been prepared in the bathroom. Aside from that, we’ll provide whatever Ms. Eila wants, so just say the word.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and before the president headed to London, he took a shower so there was some moisture left in the bathroom. I should have dried it so it would be pleasant for you… I’m so sorry.”

“Pardon? No, it’s fine. I don’t pay attention to things like that.”

“I’ll be more careful from now on. The president is exceptionally thorough, so I’m not sure what he would think about this. I’m truly sorry.”

It seemed Hayden had even requested that she mind the moisture in the bathroom. Not being a germaphobe like him, she replied as if it were no big deal.

“I don’t think it’s something the president necessarily needs to know about. Thank you, Ms. Grace. Then I’ll go take my shower.”

Afterwards, she went into the bathroom and finished her shower under her own power. It took longer than expected, but there was no need to rush, so she took her time.