Never Again
“You have my word.” Toby nodded.
Finally, Sonia smiled ever so slightly, her mood lifted. “Good. But how about you?”
“Hm?” Toby asked in a low voice. “What about me?”
“Your back…” Sonia put on an awkward smile. “I mean, the scratches on your back…”
Toby finally realized what she was asking. Before she could finish, he parted his thin lips and answered
in a clearly cheerful tone, “They’re recovering.”
“That’s good to hear.” Sonia sighed lightly in relief, then said, “Then don’t you want to know your current
condition? Ever since you woke up, you haven’t asked me anything about your condition.”
“I just realized I didn’t.” Toby nodded, admitting.
Sonia pouted and gave his chest a half-hearted slap. “What’s with you? I put it that way so that you can
ask me about your condition on your own. You got into an accident, so why aren’t you more concerned
about your own body?”
Well, look at you. He didn’t ask anything, as if he weren’t the one who got into an accident.
Toby pinched her hand, which was still on his chest, and let out a chuckle. “Don’t get mad. I didn’t ask
because I guessed that I was all right. If there really is something serious, you wouldn’t recover so
quickly from the surprise when you see me awake. This is why I’m very sure I guessed correctly that my
condition is not serious. Am I right?”
He pulled her hand out from under the blanket, then guided it to his lips and kissed it.
Sonia humphed. “All right, your guess is correct. It’s true that there’s nothing too serious about your
condition. Tom said that you fainted because you got hit on the back of your head. You will be discharged
tomorrow.”
“I see.” Toby jutted out his chin slightly to signify that he understood what she said, but his eyes told a
different story.
This excuse was probably something Tom made up to deceive her. After all, Toby knew very well how
painful his heart was before he fainted.
Of course, the back of his head was also hurting, but that sort of pain definitely wouldn’t be enough to
cause fainting. So, his fainting naturally had something to do with his heart.
Also, he had told Tom not to tell Sonia about his heart problem, so naturally, the latter had no choice but
to make up a plausible excuse to deceive Sonia.
Coincidentally, the back of his head was actually hit, so this became the best reason to explain his
fainting. Also, by the looks of it, Sonia had believed it right away, without any doubt.
Toby sighed in relief at the sight. As he was thinking, he suddenly felt something on his face.
He looked down to see that Sonia had suddenly sat up and was squeezing his face with her hands. She
looked at him sternly. “Toby, do you know how scared I was when I heard Tom say that you got into an
accident? I was so shocked I thought I was going to die, and I almost fainted. In order to prevent myself
from fainting so that I could find out how serious the accident was, I pinched my thighs hard so that the
pain could keep me focused. I—”
“What?” Before she could finish, Toby quickly sat up in alarm. “You pinched your own thighs?”
Sonia blinked. “I did, to maintain my consciousness and calm.”
“Who gave you permission to treat yourself like that?” Toby glared at her sternly and said in a harsh tone.
Sonia widened her eyes. “I did that all for you, and you’re here criticizing me for that?”
For a moment, she felt an indescribable injustice.
Toby also realized that he was a little too harsh on her, so he softened his attitude. “Sorry, I wasn’t telling
you off; I just ache for you. Isn’t it painful when you pinch yourself?”
Sonia humphed. “What do you think? But in order to keep myself conscious and stop myself from
fainting, it’s the only thing I could do. Who would’ve expected you to get into an accident so suddenly on
a casual trip outside? It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t gotten into the accident, I wouldn’t have to pinch
myself. But look at what you did! You turn back on me and reprimand me.”
Toby pursed his thin lips and fell silent because he really was the one with the most faults here.
Toby rubbed between his eyebrows, then looked at Sonia apologetically. “Sorry for frightening you like
that. Does your leg still hurt? Let me check.”
With that, he bent over so that he could take a look.
Sonia shifted her thigh away. “It’s fine. I’m all right now. It only hurt at the moment, so the pain stopped a
long time ago. Also, I’m wearing pants, so I can’t just show you my tights. If you really want to look, you
can look when you get home tomorrow.”
Toby was originally upset by her refusal. After all, he was concerned about her, but she didn’t accept it,
so he naturally didn’t feel too happy about it.
However, when he heard her say afterward that he could check after he got home, his originally bad
mood was instantly lifted.
Sonia looked at the upturned corners of his mouth and could immediately guess what he was thinking.
She couldn’t help but smile as she shook her head.
In the next second, however, her face fell. Toby noticed her change in expression. He raised an eyebrow
as he somehow guessed that she was finally turning to the main issue at hand.
Just as expected, Sonia crossed her arms and looked at him coolly. “Toby, I heard from Tom that you got
into an accident because a woman was running the red light when she crossed the road. Then Tom
couldn’t brake in time, so you told Tom to run into the flowerbed instead, right?”
Toby nodded. “Yes, or we might hit the woman.”
At the mention of the woman crossing the road, Toby put on an annoyed expression.
Those who jaywalk at their own convenience are the worst! They don’t care about their own or others’
lives.
Sonia could see the displeasure Toby had toward that woman, and she was glad to see it. She would be
happiest if he hated the woman.
Though she knew Toby didn’t know the woman or had any chances of dating her, she was still bothered
and upset when she saw the woman staying by his side and taking care of him.
So, now that she saw how much he hated that woman, she felt much better.
“Even though you did it because you didn’t want to hit anyone, have you ever thought that you yourself
would get hurt as a result?” Sonia leaned in toward Toby.
Toby was surprised by her sudden movement, so he reached out to hold her. Sonia looked up at him and
felt giddy. Well, he’s a quick learner.
“I did a quick calculation then. If we ran into the flowerbed at that distance and speed, it wouldn’t be too
serious of an accident. This was why I told Tom to swerve in that direction.” Toby placed his chin on the
top of Sonia’s head as he spoke.
Sonia pursed her red lips. “Yes, you calculated minimal damage at that time because there was a
flowerbed conveniently placed there at the moment. But if the accident took place somewhere else and
there were no flowerbeds in sight, what would you do? Would you also tell Tom to swerve to the side?
What if there’s opposite traffic on the other side? You’d run into a car then. If both cars were going at
high speeds when they ran into each other, the car and the people within wouldn’t survive. So, Toby, I
would rather you hit the woman than get hurt yourself, understand?”
She looked at him with her eyes reddened. It wasn’t that she was cold-blooded and wanted him to run
over people.
But compared to a stranger, she would rather he be the one who was safe.
Hearing Sonia’s words, Toby constricted his pupils, an obvious shock in his eyes. He knew how kind she
was, but now she was willing to throw that kindness away so that he would be safe and sound.
This was enough evidence to show how important he was to her.
At that thought, Toby hugged Sonia tightly, as if he was trying to meld her into his body. He said in a
hoarse yet touched voice, “Got it. I won’t do it again. I won’t cause you such anxiety ever again.”
“Really?” Sonia turned her head slightly to look at the man’s profile.
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