Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Back at the hotel, she switched her phone to silent mode.

Tomorrow was her advisor's exhibition.

She wanted to be well-rested for it.

At noon, Timothy's eyes snapped open, and he immediately sat up in bed.

Sheila grabbed his arm, her voice urgent. "Timothy, what are you doing? You need to rest-lie down."

Timothy turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I went to the hospital this morning and saw Secretary Allen with Henry. When I asked, he told me you'd arrived in the city late last night. Then the hospital called -they said you'd been found unconscious out on the street by the rescue team. Timothy, do you realize how dangerous that was? With all that flooding last night, if they'd gotten to you any later..."

The thought alone made Sheila shudder. Someone unconscious, lying in water for too long-it could have been fatal.

"Timothy, the weather was awful last night. All flights were grounded. What could possibly be so urgent that you had to travel here overnight?"

"Where's my phone?"

Sheila dug a brand-new phone from her bag.

"Yours was water-damaged beyond repair. I got you a new one. The doctor had to take out your SIM card and put it in someone else's phone just to reach me. Timothy, do you have any idea how scared you made me?"

Timothy took the phone, ignoring her concerns, and immediately dialed Jessica's number.

The call rang out, unanswered, and disconnected automatically.

Spotting the hospital logo on the blanket-Capital City Hospital-Timothy swung his legs off the bed and strode for the door.

Sheila hurried after him. "Timothy, where are you going? The doctor said you need to take it easy!"

"Jessica's in danger," he said, taking long, determined strides down the hall. Sheila froze in place, stunned.

He came all the way to Capital City... for Jessica?

She'd only learned today that, after midnight, the city center was closed off because of severe flooding. Timothy had waded through the floodwaters on foot just to get into town.

When she arrived, he was unconscious in his hospital bed. The doctor explained that the rescue team found him after he'd fallen into an open manhole-one of the covers had been swept away by the flood-and that's how he'd passed out. If they hadn't found him when they did, he might have drowned.

Timothy, who was always so meticulous and clean, had marched through filthy water and collapsed in it.

Was Jessica really that important to him?

By the time Sheila snapped out of her thoughts, Timothy had already disappeared into the elevator, not even noticing that she hadn't followed him.

She reached the elevator just as it hit the first floor and rushed down after him.

At the reception desk, Timothy was asking for Jessica's room number. As soon as he had it, he sped off toward the elevators again, moving so fast Sheila had to jog in her heels just to keep up.

"Timothy, I get that you're worried about Jessica, but can you slow down? The doctor said your lungs are still recovering-you can't push yourself like this." Timothy didn't break stride.

Sheila had no choice but to hurry after him. Once they were off the elevator, he moved even faster.

When they reached Jessica's hospital room, Timothy threw the door open.noveldrama

Sheila finally caught up, peering inside. The room was empty. A cleaning lady was tidying up.

Timothy stepped forward. "Excuse me, where's the patient who was here?"

"She's been discharged," the cleaner replied.

Without a word, Timothy turned and walked out.

Sheila, breathless and on the verge of collapsing from running in heels, leaned against the wall and called out, her voice edged with frustration, "Timothy! Where are you going now?"