Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 76: I want to walk beside you

In a typical diner, a sharp-looking policewoman in uniform was sitting across from a mature beauty dressed in business attire. Their unusual pairing caught the eyes of passersby, who couldn’t help but give them a second glance.

“I can’t bring myself to go to the hospital anymore,” Scarlett sighed softly, her hand on her forehead, her expression troubled.

“Oh? Is it because of your ‘well-endowed’ nephew?” Jessica chuckled, her tone teasing.

“Stop giving my nephew weird nicknames!” Scarlett looked helpless. “I feel like he’s always staring at my backside. It’s a strange look.”

“Isn’t that pretty normal?” Jessica glanced at Scarlett’s form-fitting skirt. “He’s probably just thinking about… you know, from behind. After all, he’s at that age where he’s curious about everything.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Scarlett, now immune to her friend’s crude jokes, shook her head. “It’s hard to explain the feeling.”

“Thinking about it won’t help,” Jessica shifted her gaze away. “The real question is how you feel about him. Besides, you agreed to date him but still treat him like a child. Isn’t that weird?”

“But… he is a child,” Scarlett covered her forehead again.

“Try seeing him as your boyfriend. Even if you really can’t accept it, you should at least make it clear to him,” Jessica suggested, resting her chin on her hand and licking her lips playfully.

“If you turn him down, you won’t mind if I go after him, right? He’s totally my type.”

“You!” Scarlett, visibly upset, looked up to see her friend wasn’t joking, reacting like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Is that really liking him, or are you just lusting after him?”

In the hospital room.

Ethan was planning to complete a mission, similar to the ones Ryan had, which were never easy.

He thought about wandering outside the rooms of those close to death to complete tasks.

But such opportunities were rare and hard to come by. Without knowing each other, it was difficult to gain trust, let alone fulfill someone’s last wishes.

He decided to focus on his aunt first.

But getting close to her, in that way, was easier said than done.

He hadn’t come up with a plan yet when Ryan came to visit that afternoon.

“Ethan, thanks for looking after me these past few days,” Ryan said, his eyes smiling, looking much healthier than before.

“What do you mean by that?” Ethan asked, puzzled.

“I’m planning to go to the US for surgery,” Ryan explained with a sincere smile. “It’s a relatively new medical technique with only a 30% success rate. I’ve always opted for conservative treatment because I couldn’t leave my mom.”

“And?” Ethan opened his mouth to speak but the words stuck in his throat.

“I’ll take the comics you gave me with me,” Ryan said, his eyes showing a hint of shame. “I’m sorry.”

He felt he owed Ethan an apology.

Whether it was for rejecting his feelings.

Or because his mom had been secretly dating his sister, and they had clearly been quite adventurous, judging by his mom’s walking posture these days.

Ethan nodded, looking into his eyes. “Good luck.”

Sofia stood at the door, waiting for them to finish talking before she came in.

She smiled at Ethan and handed him a beautifully packaged box of pastries. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Ethan watched as Sofia pushed Ryan out of the room, a sense of melancholy rising within him. Life was like that, you never knew when you were seeing someone for the last time.

He unwrapped the pastries, finding ordinary bean cakes inside.

Turning it over, he saw a phone number written on the wrapping paper.

“Hmm,” Ethan chuckled, it seemed he would be seeing this married woman again for some more chats.

That evening, Scarlett returned to the hospital room.

“Auntie, aren’t you studying anymore?” Ethan asked, puzzled since Blair had been the one keeping him company these days.

“If you bury yourself in your studies all the time, you’ll start to dull your senses. It’s good to do something different once in a while,” Scarlett replied with a smile, relieved to see her nephew looking well, which helped calm her chaotic thoughts as she slipped back into her usual role.

She noticed the pastries on the bedside table. “Looks like you’ve made a new friend.”

“Yeah, but they were discharged today,” Ethan said, picking up a pastry. “Want to try one?”

“They look good.” Scarlett casually took a piece, her gaze suddenly becoming distant. “How about we go out for a bit? Maybe see a fireworks show?”

“Huh?” Ethan’s eyes flickered with confusion. Auntie was acting strangely today, but he dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it came.

It was a good opportunity to spend more time with her and close the distance between them.

“Sure, I’ve been doing well with my rehab exercises, and I’d like to get out a bit.”

He couldn’t keep his condition a secret from her forever. If he had a choice, he wanted to interact with her as a healthy person, not out of sympathy or any other reason.

“Then… let me change my jacket and get the wheelchair. Just wait a moment, Ethan,” Scarlett said as she opened the wardrobe.

“Oh, I might not need the wheelchair.” Ethan said, then threw back the covers, placed his feet on the floor, slipped into his slippers, and stood up in one smooth, fluid motion.

His attributes were now average, with strength at four points.

The average attributes for a healthy adult male were six points, and for a female, five points.

His current attributes were comparable to a fourteen-year-old girl in the midst of growth, average in stamina, but capable of taking care of himself given his disproportionate physique.

Scarlett stared in disbelief as he stood up like any healthy person.

She closed her eyes, rubbed her nose, then pinched her thigh hard enough to feel a sharp pain.

“What?! How are you standing up?”

“Oh, I’ve been doing a lot of rehab exercises,” Ethan smiled at her. “I promised you, Auntie, that I’d stand up again.”

“Wait.” Scarlett covered her forehead with one hand, trying to organize her jumbled thoughts.

“I can stand, but walking is still a bit of a struggle,” Ethan admitted, taking a few shaky steps.

Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief. “You really don’t have to push yourself.”

“It’s okay.” Ethan shook his head. “I want to walk beside you.”

“…” Scarlett was silent for a long moment before nodding.

Although it was strange, people tend to believe what they want to believe.

She chose to believe it was some kind of medical miracle.

They took turns changing clothes.

Scarlett slipped out of her uniform and into a light, short-sleeved knit top that covered her ample chest, a pleated skirt, and tied a wide black belt around her waist, accentuating her hourglass figure.

Ethan opted for a simple T-shirt and sweatpants.

Instead of making him squeeze into a bus, Scarlett hailed a taxi and took him to the fireworks festival.

“Wow, so many people!” Scarlett shaded her eyes with her hand as she looked at the dense crowd ahead, quickly reaching out to grab Ethan’s hand tightly.

“Be careful, don’t get lost.”

“Hmm.” Ethan chuckled, admiring Scarlett’s graceful figure and her natural reactions.

Subconsciously, she still treated him like a little brother.

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