What Separates Me and You



Josephine lunged toward the garbage can, spat out the concoction, then whipped her head around to glare at Lewis. He flashed a smug grin at her, which she found annoying.noveldrama

"Finish it yourself." She set the concoction on the nightstand before leaving. She couldn't care less if he survived the night.

Dr. Halliday was temporarily staying with them. Once he saw Josephine come downstairs, he asked, "Mrs. Alvarez, did Mr. Alvarez take the medication?"

"He did."

"That's good." Dr. Halliday sighed in relief, yet his brows remained furrowed with constant concern.

Josephine studied his expression before asking, "Is his condition severe?"

That snapped Dr. Halliday out of his daze, and the words rushed out his mouth. "It will be manageable if he takes his medication. If he doesn't, there's no guarantee his condition will remain stable.

Josephine recalled how she had asked Dr. Halliday to help keep her illness a secret from Lewis before. Dr. Halliday had behaved like this at the time.

She stared at him for the longest while and pondered what to say. Yet, Josephine couldn't bring herself to voice her doubt. After all, what could she do if Lewis' illness turned out much worse than she imagined?

She had done everything she could to not think of Lewis' affairs, including having assumptions about him. So, her best option now was to ignore him. That way, she wouldn't feel worried or responsible for him.

A brief silence passed between the two. Then, Josephine nodded without pursuing the matter anymore.

Mrs. Larson soon brought Josephine's medication over.

Josephine glanced at the medication, then at the doctor. "Is this even effective? Despite my taking this medication for a long time, nothing's changed." "Let me do a quick checkup." Dr. Halliday motioned her to sit on the couch before he checked her pulse. A second passed when he voiced, "Mrs. Alvarez, I've told you that you must continue this medication for at least half a year. Indeed, I can't tell if it's working thus far, but ..."

"But what?"

Dr. Halliday knitted his brows. "Why is your pulse so abnormal?"

"How so?"

The doctor replied, "Have you felt any changes in your body lately?"

Josephine shook her head. "No, I've been the same as always, except I'm sleepier. I keep wanting to nap."

Dr. Halliday retracted his hand after scratching his head and examining Josephine's pulse again. "It shouldn't be a major issue if you feel like nothing's wrong. I can't make an official judgment yet, so I'll look up your situation once I get back."

He felt like the information he had gathered this half a year was much more than he had learned in all his years of medical studies.

Josephine didn't question anything and merely downed her medicine in one gulp.

Dr. Halliday then headed upstairs to check on Lewis, who lay in bed while silently receiving his IV fluid. A frown marred Dr. Halliday's face just then. He couldn't believe Josephine claimed Lewis had drunk the medication when it was still by the bedside.

"Mr. Alvarez, why haven't you finished your medication?"

Lewis kept his attention on the tablet as he answered, "I'll finish it later."

Dr. Halliday sighed curtly. He knew there was no convincing the former. Plus, he couldn't be bothered to do so. So, he left after switching out a fresh IV fluid bag for Lewis.

Josephine had her meal, then returned to her bedroom. Alas, she tossed and turned so much in bed and couldn't sleep. She couldn't fall asleep, although she was exhausted and kept yawning.

Around midnight, she couldn't stand wallowing in insomnia and got up to check on Lewis. She tip-toed and lightly opened the door. The lights were on inside, but there wasn't anyone on the bed. Josephine pushed the door open a little more. That was when she saw Lewis sitting by the window and smoking.

The scene angered her so much that she wanted to shut the door and storm off. However, her body did the opposite. It instinctively entered the room. Lewis froze at that. He looked at Josephine, then checked the time on his phone. It was 3:00 am. "Why aren't you asleep?" Josephine approached him and stared at the cigarette in his hands. All the while, she refrained from speaking.

Lewis was briefly silent but soon tossed his cigarette into the ashtray and splashed water to extinguish it.

After that, Josephine sat opposite and stared at him for what felt like forever.

"I've already put it out," said Lewis.

"Let's talk."

With arched brows, Lewis leaned against the couch. "I don't want to talk."

"You-"

"I don't like hearing anything you say " Lewis was halfway through interrupting her when he changed his mind. "Fine. We can chat, but you'll have to use sign language."

Josephine balled her fists to calm herself. She tried hard not to yell. "You weren't as immature back then."

"You wouldn't have spoken to me like this either."

Josephine nearly choked when she heard that. Still, she responded, "One can't always live in the past. The old Josephine obeyed your every word and allowed you to do whatever you pleased with her. Of course, you'd prefer her over me. However, I don't share your sentiment."

Lewis shot her a half-smile. "It doesn't matter. Both versions are still you."

It felt like Josephine had gotten punched in the gut, so she fell into a momentary daze. "So, you're really keeping me here, no matter what?" Annoyance flickered in his eyes, and he chose to end the conversation. "You should sleep as early as you can."

Josephine glowered at him as if still wanting to say more.

However, Lewis grabbed a blanket from nearby and placed it over his body. He shut his eyes while he said, "I'm going to bed."

The corners of Josephine's lips twitched as she watched him for a long time.

As for Lewis, he remained unmoving and appeared to be in a deep, calm sleep.

Josephine knew he wasn't actually asleep. He just didn't want to talk anymore. She shot to her feet and deliberately made the couch drag loudly against the ground. Yet, that didn't bother Lewis one bit. His eyelids didn't even twitch once.

She left the room. Then, she suddenly remembered something and ran downstairs and out of the house.

As expected, she had just arrived at the main door when two bodyguards came from behind her. "Where are you going this late, Mrs. Alvarez? Do you need us to drive you?"

Josephine paused before turning to meet their eyes. "What if I said I want to leave Elysium?"

The two looked at each other with uneasy frowns. "I'm afraid we can't do that, Mrs. Alvarez."

"I can't do it even if you guys followed me?"

"Yes, Mr. Alvarez said so. We can take you to anywhere in Elysium if you want-just not away from Elysium."

It was evident that the plan would never work. Despite being sickly in bed and appearing tolerant of Josephine, Lewis would still blow up if she dared cross his line.

"I'm going to the hospital. Could you guys take me there?" Josephine didn't want to stay a second more in this place.

Naturally, the bodyguards were okay with taking her to the hospital and drove her there at once.

Avery had already fallen asleep at that point in the night.

When Josephine arrived, she opened the ward's door to see Tyler keeping a slumbering Avery company. Tyler's head hung over with shut eyes. He seemed to be asleep too.

Josephine quietly shut the door and exited. By then, she had no idea where to go, so she sat in the corridor for some time.

That was when she saw an elderly woman leave Sierra's ward. After giving it some thought, she headed toward Sierra's room. The bodyguards there hadn't stopped her and allowed her to enter the room.

To Josephine's surprise, Sierra wasn't asleep. She sat on the bed while watching the television. Sierra sensed something was off, so she turned to look at the door just then.