Chapter 37: Stuart, I Hit Your Mother

Annette had confirmed there was only one hospital in the county, and since the town wasn't large, it was fairly easy to find.

She stood across the street holding her bag, staring at the hospital entrance, wondering how Stuart would react when he saw her. Unexpectedly, Stuart and Laura walked outside side by side.

She recalled how, when walking with her, Stuart deliberately kept some distance — but here he was walking quite close to Laura.

Annette's heart suddenly felt squeezed like a lemon, sour and bitter. She even thought Stuart's expression was gentle with Laura.

Frozen across the street, she silently watched them.

Just as Stuart was about to thank Laura for bringing supplies, he looked up and spotted Annette standing across the street, her face tense and unhappy, clutching her luggage.

He paused, then hurried over. "Is something wrong?"

Annette, feeling petty, noticed how stern Stuart looked with her, totally unlike the gentle manner he had just shown Laura.

Though she knew her jealousy was silly, she couldn't help it.

Lowering her eyes to the ground, she sighed inwardly. "I hit your mother and your brother."

Stuart thought about Grace's temper, Charles's character, and Annette's personality. It wasn't surprising she fought back. It was his fault for leaving her alone there.

He reached out and took the bag from her hand. "Let's go inside first."

Annette didn't want to worry about Stuart's injuries either, so she let go and crossed the street with him.

Laura remained standing by the curb, wearing her usual gentle, serene smile. When Annette approached, she greeted warmly, "You came. I was just saying Nancy's still in the hospital, and it's inconvenient for Stuart and Charles to stay here taking care of her."

Annette saw the smile on Laura's face and instantly felt childish jealousy, but returned a sweet smile. "You're very thoughtful, Laura. I only realized later and came here."

At that moment, the inexperienced Annette realized that in this strange era, the first person she met was Stuart — and she'd gone from admiring him to liking him a little.

It was instinctive.

Laura nodded, then turned to Stuart. "Nancy probably won't wake up for a while. I'm going to make some millet and red date porridge to bring over later."

Stuart thanked her. "That's very kind of you, thank you."

Laura smiled but couldn't hide a trace of sadness in her eyes. "You're too polite. We don't need to thank each other."

Watching Laura walk away, Annette felt a twinge of jealousy again, but comforted herself: that was Stuart's past, it had nothing to do with her.

Annette, inexperienced in love, felt overwhelmed by these tangled feelings.

Stuart quietly watched Annette, seeing her like a restless little lion, her expressions vivid and slightly angry. He didn't dare ask too much and instead said, "Have you eaten? Let me take you to get something to eat."

Annette suppressed the mess of emotions inside her. "No need. When I left, I warmed up the five buns in the lunchbox, so I'm not hungry. By the way, how's Nancy doing now?"

Stuart hesitated. "Not very well. But her life has been saved."

Because of the excessive medication, Nancy had severe bleeding. Though she survived, she lost the ability to be a mother forever.

Annette guessed the outcome. "At least she's alive. They went too far."

Stuart thought that Nancy's life was saved thanks to Annette's warning. Without her reminder, he wouldn't have called Charles back or rushed Nancy to the hospital.

As they walked toward the ward, Stuart carefully asked, "Did you get hurt?"

Annette knew he meant if Grace or Carl had hurt her. "No. They're the ones injured."

Stuart wasn't surprised. Annette had thrown a young man to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw; it was no wonder Grace and Carl got hurt.

The county hospital was still a cluster of single-story buildings. The inpatient ward was at the far end, also heated by a stove.

Nancy stayed in the maternity ward, a five-bed room with beds lined against the walls and a stove burning in the center.

Two women who had just given birth were also there.

The room smelled strongly of milk and stale urine. The windows and doors were tightly closed, making it stuffy.

Annette entered and nearly fainted from the smell.

An elderly woman who took care of postpartum mothers was shouting, "Close the door quickly! The wind's coming in!"

Annette hurried to shut the door.

Because the ward was for new mothers, Stuart and Charles couldn't go inside. They waited outside.

Unable to manage alone, Stuart had Charles find Laura to help.

Annette endured the smell and looked at Nancy lying unconscious in bed, her lips pale and her body lifeless.

She sat on a stool beside the bed, her fingers itching. Unable to resist, she took Nancy's wrist and felt her pulse.

After a while, she gently slid Nancy's arm back under the blanket, thinking how lucky Nancy was to have survived.

The woman who had been yelling earlier kept asking about Nancy's illness, but Annette didn't answer.

When Annette entered, the woman couldn't help but ask, "Who is this to you? What's wrong? I heard it was a miscarriage. How did it happen?"

Annette hated nosy people. Though she disliked Nancy, she wouldn't reveal her privacy and pretended not to hear.

The woman pouted, hugging a newborn baby who cried loudly with its mouth wide open.

The more the baby cried, the more violently the woman rocked it.

The bedridden daughter-in-law looked helpless. "Mom, is the baby hungry? Maybe feed some sugar water? The doctor said the milk will come tomorrow."

The woman snorted coldly. "I gave birth to five or six kids, none in the hospital. The milk came just fine at home. Why are you so delicate? Look at my sweet grandchild crying hungry."

The daughter-in-law pouted and said no more.

Annette glanced around. In the hot room, she was already sweating from sitting a while. The baby was swaddled in multiple layers, wrapped in thick blankets, and tied up with red string like a rice dumpling — no wonder it was uncomfortable.

She couldn't help but warn, "The baby's tied too tight and too hot."

The woman rolled her eyes at Annette. "What do you know? I've raised several kids. I have experience."

Annette immediately fell silent and looked back.

She noticed Nancy had woken up, her eyes dark and cold, staring at her…