A terrible thought crossed Molly's mind.
She stared at Becky with her fatigued eyes dulled to a red color.
"What are you trying to say?" Molly questioned Becky, her voice shaking.
"What am I trying to say?" Becky snorted and stepped forward aggressively. Molly backed up a few
steps in a futile attempt to avoid her, and reached out a hand to steady herself against the wall. "You
still don't know what I'm trying to say?" She curled her lips and looked down at Molly as if she were
better than her, above her, superior to her.
"No!" Molly shook her head in disbelief. 'She's lying! Don't believe her and just trust Brian. He wouldn't
do that to me.' Molly talked herself into believing that Brian wouldn't hurt her, but she had a hard time
believing herself. Why did Brian take her to the hospital to have her eyes checked?
A myriad of thoughts flooded her mind. She shook them off and said through gritted teeth, "Becky, I
don't believe a word you've said."
After Molly said her piece, she turned around and made her way to the stairs. She was in such a rush
that she hit Yoyo so hard she almost fell to the ground. Yoyo grabbed her by the arm to steady her.
"Miss Xia, are you all right?" Yoyo asked worriedly. Yoyo didn't know what Becky had said to Molly, but
based on Molly's face, Becky must have said something really harsh and mean.
"I-I'm all right!" Molly stuttered back. She pulled her arm free and hurried downstairs. She was going to
confront Brian about what Becky had just said. 'Brian wouldn't do this to me! Becky's just lying because
she's jealous of me and Brain, ' Molly told herself.
Molly was frantically running around trying to look for Brian, but to no avail. She felt dejected because
Brian had said he would wait for her outside the examination room and take her to Daniel, but now he
was nowhere to be found.
Molly was suddenly struck with a sense of grief and loss that filled her eyes with tears. She stumbled to
a bench and sat down, staring blankly at the floor. Not knowing what to do or where to go, she felt so
lonely.
***
It was already afternoon by the time Brian arrived at the hospital. He had just barely gotten out of his
car when his phone rang — Becky. He frowned upon seeing the name and picked it up.
"Brian," she said with an oddly enough calm voice, "where are you?"
"I just arrived at the hospital," he replied as he walked towards the entrance. He had never really gotten
around to shaking off his feelings of guilt for Becky and he would do everything he could to make it up
to her. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
"I'm on the rooftop and I want to see you now." She sounded so meek on the phone.
"You know, it's pretty cold outside. What are you doing there?" Brian asked, frowning.
"I wanted to feel the wind," Becky murmured, laughing softly. "Yoyo said it was snowing outside..."
Brian glimpsed at the snowflakes falling and said, "Wait for me. I'll be there in a while."
Brian hung up the phone and walked towards the stairs. Brian dashed through the stairs, quickly
moving as if there were an emergency and it couldn't wait another second.
When Brian arrived on the same floor where the Ophthalmology Department was, he hesitated for a
while before going up the next set of stairs. At that moment, Molly was coming in from another
passageway. She sat on the stairs and leaned against the wall, but Brian had already swiftly climbed
the stairs — they didn't see each other. Molly looked so helpless as she sat there alone, confused and
lost.
At the rooftop, Becky held the railing with one hand and stretched out the other trying to catch
snowflakes.
Becky heard footsteps and Yoyo's gentle voice from behind. A nasty smile broke into Becky's face, but
she caught herself and hid it, clenching her fist before welcoming Brian in a light voice, "Brian, here you
are!"
Her cheeks were flushed because of the cold weather. Brian strode toward her and reached out a hand
to smooth her tangled, damp hair. "If you wanted to see the snow, why don't you wait until your eyes..."
He stopped abruptly as Elias' words suddenly flashed in his mind. He furrowed his eyebrows as he
stared into her eyes.
A bitter smile formed in Becky's lips. She shook her head slightly and murmured, "I don't want to have
my corneas replaced."
"What? But why?" he asked shocked.
"As long as I can't see," Becky said cheerfully, "you will be with me all your life." Her face broke into a
wide, knowing smile.
Becky knew very well that Brian wouldn't just make any promise and once he did, he would keep it.
Brian narrowed his eyes and glowered at Becky, trying to figure out what she was doing. He used to
like her smile, but now he wasn't so sure. He definitely wanted to see Molly's bright smile. He was a
man of his word, but he also knew he couldn't be with Becky, and he couldn't spend his life with her.
"As long as you're with me, I don't care about my eyes." Becky turned and reached out to touch Brian.
Then, she put her arms around his waist and rested her face against his chest to listen to his heart
pounding. She didn't lean against his chest any harder knowing his injuries. "Brian, I won't be able to
see, anymore. Right?"
Brian kept quiet, just letting Becky hold him and refusing to answer her question. He felt bad that he
didn't reciprocate her love but that was it. His feelings for her were long gone.
"You said you would be with me forever. You're going to keep your promise, aren't you?" Becky
caressed his chest with her cheeks gently.
Brian still didn't know how to respond. He knew Becky was luring him into giving an answer, but he just
couldn't. He could also tell that Becky had already realized that he had feelings for Molly, but of course,
Becky refused to acknowledge that.
"You're going to see again, I promise," Brian said in a definitive tone. 'I'm sorry, but that's all I can do, '
he thought to himself.
Biting her lower lip, Becky loosened her grip on him and said sadly, "Elias said if my corneas aren't
replaced in a month, I won't be able to see again. You know that, right?"
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