The moon was bright, and the stars were sparse.
In the quiet night, the sounds of the wind, running water, and two people’s breathing were in the air.
Eleanor Winslow gazed at Adrian Grant for a long time, her breath skipping a beat.
The man watched her with extreme patience, neither urging nor questioning.
Eleanor’s eyelashes trembled slightly due to her unsettled emotions, "Adrian, you..."
Her thoughts were a bit chaotic; she knew what she wanted to say, what she wanted to ask.
However, all the words piled up at her lips, congested, like a tangled mess that couldn’t be sorted out.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
At that moment, Adrian suddenly started coughing.
Eleanor was just about to support him when she felt warmth on her hand.
Eleanor leaned in to look carefully, and only then did she realize Adrian was coughing up blood!
When jumping down from the small cabin, Adrian had shielded Eleanor entirely in his arms, using his body to absorb the impact with the water. After Eleanor lost consciousness, Adrian brought her to the shore. How difficult it must have been, Eleanor dared not imagine.
"Don’t, don’t speak!" The thoughts in her mind vanished instantly, Eleanor’s face full of terror, "Adrian..."
"...Don’t cry." Adrian struggled to utter two words.
He shakily raised his hand, trying to wipe away Eleanor’s tears.
Eleanor realized this, wiped her eyes, clearing the tears, then groped around him, "I, I’ll contact Charles, I—"
She searched all over him but couldn’t find the phone.
The phone had already floated away with the river.
Her own phone had been thrown away by Vincent Preston from the start.
Adrian stopped coughing blood after a while and told Eleanor, "After dawn, follow the river forward."
Before entering the mountain, he had specifically checked the terrain map; they shouldn’t be far from the foot of the mountain, and by following the river, they would see the country road, and with some luck, they would soon encounter people.
"Zia, we don’t have a phone; waiting for rescue is the least efficient way." Adrian spoke slowly and steadily, as if he hadn’t been the one coughing blood earlier. But if there was light, his face would be seen as pale as paper.
"What about you?" Eleanor repeated, her face looking terrible, her voice stiffening.
"Charles is at the foot of the mountain; you bring him to find me."
"What if I encounter an accident on the way? I might die—"
"Eleanor!" Adrian interrupted her ominous words sharply.
A deathly silence engulfed them again.
Neither of them sounded pleasant.
After two seconds, Adrian pulled out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and stuffed it into Eleanor’s hand, commanding, "Stop it, and leave at dawn."
The damp clothes made one shiver non-stop in the late autumn season.
Yet Eleanor didn’t feel cold, only infuriated.
Was she making a fuss?
Eleanor bit her lip hard, glaring at him.
However, the man’s attitude was steadfast, determined to make her leave.
Adrian had consumed too much energy on this journey; he tried hard to keep his eyes open, wanting to take a longer look at Eleanor, but his eyelids grew heavier, and his consciousness blurred gradually.
Until it disappeared completely.
Would his Zia hate him?
But his Zia was kind-hearted and easy to forgive; after today, she probably wouldn’t hate him, right?
When Adrian reopened his eyes, the moon had moved west, and the red-yellow hues of the dawn were faintly visible.
He instinctively glanced around.
No sign of the woman.
Adrian let out a self-mocking laugh, feeling empty inside.
Clearly, Eleanor had obeyed him, leaving at dawn without any delay.
But this also proved she didn’t care about him.
He didn’t even know when she had left.
The pain in Adrian’s organs became increasingly clear; he didn’t know if his injuries had worsened or if it was psychological.
The dawn gradually became completely bright.
Who knows how much time had passed.
Footsteps crunching on fallen leaves sounded again in the distance.
Adrian jerked his head up as a petite figure emerged from the dense woods.
Eleanor, cradling a bundle of items in her clothes, walked over.
Her hair, which was of good quality, had dried naturally after being drenched in water, now obediently draping over her shoulders. Yet her small face was smeared with mud and dried blood, making her appear rather disheveled.
She... she hadn’t left?!
An uncontrollable joy burst forth in Adrian’s eyes.
His voice was already weak, "Why did you come back?"
Seeing Adrian awake, his face still ghostly pale, Eleanor remained expressionless, as if someone owed her millions.
She dumped out the contents of her clothes onto the ground: some grasses and wild fruits.
Eleanor ignored him, washed the wild fruits in the water, then turned and glared at Adrian.
After a few seconds of glaring, she tossed the wild fruits at him, which landed precisely by his side, "Am I supposed to find your corpse when I bring Charles back? Hurry up and eat!"
By the time she found Charles and brought him back, she had no idea how long it might take. With Adrian’s severe injuries and without food or drink, he would quickly be drained, not to mention the possibility of mountain beasts attacking him due to his immobility.
Adrian stared blankly at the wild fruit he held.
Something seemed to fill his heart entirely; he gazed intently at Eleanor.
Eleanor took the Swiss Army knife Adrian had given her and, without hesitation, made a swift cut through the air—"Rip!"—slicing open the right pant leg of the man!
The bullet wound, five centimeters above the knee, was exposed. Due to the emergency bandaging Eleanor had done hours ago, the bleeding had slowed considerably.
Eleanor removed the bandage from her other hand, crushed some grasses, applied them to the bullet wound on Adrian’s leg, then re-bandaged it, nearly stopping the bleeding entirely.
"You know herbal medicine?" Adrian was quite surprised. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Eleanor felt her entire body heating up, her legs weak, still angry, unwilling to speak to him.
She braced herself, moved to one side, and started collecting red and yellow fallen leaves.
Very soon, she had arranged an oversized "S" on the grass.
This time, she wore a cobalt blue coat, which she took off and placed beside the "S."
"SOS" is an internationally recognized rescue signal, and the blue stood out conspicuously against the red and yellow, making it easier for rescue teams to spot.
Adrian was slightly shocked by Eleanor’s series of actions.
He knew Eleanor was smart, but he didn’t know she understood so much. Under these circumstances, she had never thought of sitting around waiting for help.
He always said she was delicate.
Because he could indulge her delicateness, raising her to be so delicate that no other man could tolerate her pampered nature.
Yet, she could be independent and composed in his absence.
Something flew across the sky, then turned back.
The helicopter’s rotor winds whipped the surrounding trees fiercely.
Eleanor looked up and saw the helicopter slowly descending.