He grabbed her wrist. âIâm alright. My head doesnât hurt anymore.â
âThatâs good.â She smiled and tried to withdraw her hand, but his hand was still firmly on her wrist.
âJay?â She looked at him quizzically.
He pressed his lips together and said almost as if with great courage, âAre you sure⦠you didnât leave because you didnât love me anymore?â
âWhy do you ask me that all of a sudden? I told you, I must have left⦠for other reasons. It canât be that it was because I stopped loving you. I know youâre the one I love! Thatâs not going to change,â said Grace.
She wanted to tell him everything if not for the fact that telling him the truth about falling into the sea would be too much for him to bear.
âNothing, I just want to⦠make it clear. After all, I donât have many memories of the past,â he said.
Grace smiled. âThen Iâll slowly tell you all about our past.
Maybe youâll recover your memories by listening to me recount them.â
He stared at her. âDo you want me to recover my memories?â
Grace said, âOf course, I hope you can recover your memories, but itâs best to let nature take its course. Thereâs no hurry. Maybe youâll recover your memories little by little when I tell you about the past bit by bit.â
Jasonâs eyes glimmered, but⦠his memories hadâ¦
He let go of her wrist. Grace got out of bed, but her legs were weak and she fell forward.
Jason quickly caught Grace but frowned and grunted.
Grace steadied herself. âThank you,â she said, but she was momentarily startled when her eyes fell on his hand. It was because the back of his hand was so full of bruises that it was shocking to see.
âWhat happened to your handâ¦â she asked blankly, trying to take his hand and get a closer look.
He abruptly withdrew his hand.
9 38 She looked up and said, âShow me your hand. What on earth happened? Why are there so many bruises on itâ¦â She trailed off in the middle of her words.
It was only now she saw that his lips were covered with wounds too. His lower lip was injured, and the cut seemed a little deep.
âHow did you hurt your lower lip so badly?â Even if he had injured his lip by accident, it would not be this bad.
It was as though he had bit his lip with all his strength. Even Grace could not imagine how painful it must have been.
âI bit my lip by accident when I got up to get something to eat after you fell asleep last night. I also got these bruises when I bumped into something,â he said.
Grace showed a look of suspicion in her eyes. If he had really just bumped into things or bitten his lip, the wounds would not be this serious.
âShow me your hands.â She insisted.
He hesitated for a moment before eventually stretching out his hands.
Grace examined them. Other than the bruises on the back of his hands, there were several cuts in his palms that looked like they were caused by fingernails.