Chapter 809 stay With Me, Keep Me Company âYouâre wrong. You can help me.â Brendanâs lips began to loom close. His face seemed to be zooming in on her eyes. She still could not make out much of his features, but she could feel his breath washing over her.
She instinctively froze. âHow was I supposed to help?â
âKiss me to relieve me of my pain.â
Deirdreâs expression darkened. âThis cr*p again?â she snapped and ignored him altogether, rising to her feet as though she was going.
Brendan reached out and caught her in the wrist, and the pain of something being torn open flared on his arm.
He took a shaky breath, and his fingers quivered. Still, he refused to let go.
âBrendan? Are you okay?â
He fixed his eyes on her alarmed expression and reacted with a helpless grimace. âI know you hate my guts, Deirdre, but my injury came from rescuing your friend. Canât you at least be a little nicer to me while Iâm recovering?â
Deirdre found herself having no counterargument. She would freely admit to loathing Brendan with every fiber of her body, so much so that staying with him for more than ten minutes could suffocate her.
At the same time, though, she had to admit that it was Brendan who had saved Tobey.
She took a deep breath and lowered her eyes to the floor. âWhat do you want me to do?â
Brendan added a little force in his hand to pull her in. âSit with me and keep me company,â he said sincerely.
She frowned. âThatâs it?â
He paused and said, âYou mean I can ask for more?â
Deirdre almost choked on her own saliva. âNo. What I meant was I donât understand why you insist I sit with you! If all you need is a companion, why not just ask Charlene? Sheâs the woman you love the most! Have her keep you company. You wonât be as bored as being bound to me, at the very least!â
The name instantly summoned a surge of disgust in his eyes. âWho the h*ll told you sheâs the woman I love the most?â
Deirdre laughed self-deprecatingly. âWhat? Youâre going to tell me sheâs not now?â
âSheâs not.â
The certainty in his denial startled her a little.
She decided to drop the thread. This was a sore, cheerless topic, especially when they mentioned it.
Deirdre returned to her spot on the couch and decided to ignore Brendan as much as she could, so she turned on the TV. Unfortunately, she could feel the manâs unsteady breath and noticed how irregular its rhythms were, as though he was suffering great pain. It was a far cry from last night. Brendan at least managed to feign normalcy last night, no matter how much it hurt him.
âDid the doctor use the wrong medicine?â she asked. She could no longer contain her shock.
Brendanâs eyes widened in quiet joy. Deirdre showed concern!
âMaybe the wound was deeper than we thought. Maybe it was infected from last night.â
Deirdre thought about how the man had raced to their mansion as soon as his operation was complete and noted the conflicted sentiment that had arisen.
Brendan seized what he believed was an opening. âBut Iâm sure the pain would subside if you could make me a nice, warm chicken soup.â
It was something she used to make for him. Since he used to work late into the night, Deirdre would fret about him a lot and would make something warm and comfy to perk him up.
After tasting her pasta, Brendan also began to miss that soup.
Deirdreâs expression turned cold. âSorry to disappoint you, but I canât do that. Iâm blind.â
âYou canât, or you wonât?â
âI wonât,â she admitted curtly. She did not want a dish representing her guileless, pure love being abused by a man who did not love her anymore.
She used to make that soup because she loved him more than anything else in the world. She loved him unconditionally and wanted nothing back for her sacrifice.
Spending time to make the best chicken soup just seemed right to her back then.
But things were different now. There was no reason for her to do that. It was meaningless.
Brendan espied the cold glare she wore and felt his heart plummeting.