Chapter 366: Unstoppable Tears

"Malissa, stop crying…" Hayden commanded sternly.

I had already lost count of the times that Hayden had told me to stop crying ever since this whole unfortunate affair started. Now that I think about it, he did tell me once before that he wasn’t a big fan of my tears. He hated it when I cried and that made me hate myself so much more for crying.

"I’m sorry…" I whimpered as I tried to stop my tears.

It wasn’t an easy feat to achieve, and I found it almost impossible to stop crying. My body shook even more and soon, I wasn’t able to speak anymore.

"Stop crying, Malissa…" Hayden repeated again.

"I…I can’t…" I managed to croak in such a broken voice that made me feel completely embarrassed.

"Remove your hands from your face. If you’re going to cry, then let me see your ugly face," Hayden said without any mercy.

I felt his hand prying my hands away from my face. The more I resisted by trying to turn my face away, the more persistent Hayden’s hands became.

"I’m going to end up hurting my shoulder…" Hayden muttered.

Oh…his shoulder…

I sighed in complete defeat before I willingly lowered my hands from my face before wiping desperately at my eyes with the back of my hands. My sight was blurry, and I hated how I felt.

"I really hate your tears…" Hayden hiss, clearly displeased.

Despite his harsh words, the touch of the back of his fingers against my cheek was ever so gentle and caring. I blinked my eyes rapidly a couple of times before daring to gaze at his face. To my surprise, his blue eyes were gentler than before, and he had a concerned look on his face as he stared back at me.

"I’m sorry, Hayden…" I whispered again.

I didn’t know what else to say to him and I also knew that no matter how many times that I apologized, it would probably never be enough. I caused so much trouble and worst of all, I put him in danger.

"Stop crying, Malissa…there’s no need for you to cry anymore," Hayden coaxed softly as his gentle fingers wiped away my tears.

"You got hurt because of me. I should have followed your orders…but I just…couldn’t leave you there…" I tried desperately to explain even though I knew that my reasons were not good enough.

"I know. If you’ve learnt your lessons, then all is good…" Hayden replied calmly before he started patting my head softly.

The gentleness of his touch, the forgiveness in his words and his voice only made me feel more guilty and more tears started to fall despite my desperate efforts to hold them in.

"I’m sorry…" I apologized for crying again.

"Stop crying, Malissa. You can save all your tears for when I’m dead and gone. I’m alive and quite well so I have no idea what you’re crying for…" Hayden reprimanded me again, but his tone was loving and warm.

"I don’t want you to die…ever…" I mumbled before biting my lower lip.

"You’re a funny one. We’ll all die one day," Hayden said before he chuckled softly.

"Thank God, you’re safe…does your shoulder hurt a lot?" I dared to ask in a small voice.

"Luckily the bullet just grazed it. It will be like new in a few days. My father freaked out, probably because he thinks that I’m the only son that he has left. So, he’s keeping me hospitalized when I shouldn’t be…" Hayden said followed by a loud sigh.

"Can I see it?" I asked, a little shyly.

"See what?" Hayden asked in confusion.

"Your shoulder…" I mumbled in reply.

"Sure, it’s all wrapped up though. Honesty, there’s nothing interesting for you to see. I can still use my arm like normal..." Hayden said casually like it really was no big deal.

I wasn’t that convinced. The sight of his blood soaking my hand was still painfully fresh in my mind and I had to close my eyes for a moment to will the sight away. I helped Hayden shrug off his hospital shirt so that I could get a look at his bandaged shoulder. The way that his shoulder was bandaged made the sound seem significant.

"It’s not as bad as it looks. They just have a bad habit of over bandaging everything," Hayden quickly said to reassure me.

"If you say so…" I mumbled as I stroked my hand along the muscles of his arm.

I held his hand in mine and lifted it to my lips to kiss it tenderly before pressing my tear-stained cheek against the palm of his hand. Hayden acted like this was nothing and this may well be a common occurrence to him as part of the gang; however, to me, I was so thankful that he was still alive. When I saw his blood on my hands, it was like my entire world had started to crumble.

I didn’t even want to start imagining what my life would be like if I had to lose Hayden just like that.

Of course, there were no words that I could use to express how thankful I really am that he’s still alive and by my side. I pressed my face closer against the palm of his hands while Hayden watched me with an amused look on his face.

"It took you so long to wake up that I was quite worried. I thought we might end up having another sleeping beauty on our hands," Hayden teased, although I could sense his genuine worry.

"Sorry about that. I honestly thought that I was just taking a short nap. It never occurred to me that I was so tired and weak that I needed days of sleep to recover like that," I admitted a little shyly.

Did the doctors drug me or was I really that tired and needed time to recover?

"Well, it absolutely sucks that we have to do this here, but I think we better get this over with before we get disturbed again…" Hayden said before reaching over to the side of his bed.

--To be continued...