To Love a Shadow, To Be the Sun novel Chapter 78

Yet all that tender, meticulous care she once showed him gradually faded after she was discharged from the hospital with those terrible injuries.

So much had happened lately that he hadn't even found time to retrace the events of that day. Nanette storming into the hospital room hadn't been what first made her suspicious—someone else must have tipped her off beforehand.

…

In the bedroom, Elara had already showered.

She still needed to put ointment on her waist.

Standing at the bathroom sink, she held the cream in one hand and tried to lift her shirt with the other, but as soon as she reached for the ointment, the shirt slipped down again.

She froze for a couple of seconds and was about to search for a hairclip when Brian walked in.

Their eyes met in the mirror.

Brian stepped forward.

"Let me help."

He took the ointment gently from her hand.

Elara clutched at her nightgown. "Let Mrs. Archer do it."

Brian arched an eyebrow, his voice soft. "I'm your husband."

Elara looked away. "My husband's dead."

She figured that with Brian's temper, he'd just leave.

Instead, after a moment's silence, he spun her around and lifted her onto the bathroom counter.

Elara's legs dangled, trapped between his arms. She couldn't get down or escape, and her waist throbbed with pain.

Annoyed, she snapped, "What's gotten into you now?"

Brian looked at her calmly, his eyes steady.

"We've been sleeping in separate rooms for too long. It's killing whatever feelings we had."

Elara shot him a puzzled look. "Feelings? Did we ever have any?"

She realized how that sounded and quickly corrected herself. "Do you actually have feelings for me? I thought you preferred your little circus acts."

Brian cupped the back of her head, forcing her to look at him and listen.

"Last night at the hospital was hard for you, and that's on me. Dad knows where I stand now—he'll back off from now on."

After he finished tending to her, he said casually, "Starting tonight, we're not sleeping in separate rooms anymore."

Elara stared at him in shock. "Did you two have a fight?"

Right then, the same ringtone sounded again. Brian switched the phone to vibrate, ignored her question, and headed to the shower.

The phone buzzed a few more times while he was gone.

Elara no longer cared about their business. She wasn't the least bit curious about his phone. All she wanted was for Brian to leave.

After a moment's thought, she picked up and answered the call.

"Big brother?" Lina's shaky voice came through, thick with tears. "What if Mom doesn't make it? What if I'm left all alone? I don't know what to do… I feel awful…"

"If you're not feeling well, take your meds. Or are you planning to devour your brother instead?"

Lina hadn't expected Elara to answer.

Weren't they supposed to be sleeping in separate rooms?

"Sis-in-law…"

"Don't call me that. I'm not your sister-in-law. Every time you pull your little suicide act, he comes running, but he's getting numb to it. Can't you try something else for once?"