Hunter hugged Claire firmly, sniffing her neck, like an abandoned child, panicked and at a loss.
He kept murmuring constantly. “Claire… wait for me…”
Claire’s pupils constricted. There seemed to be a string in her mind that suddenly broke.
“What… did you just say?”
She was in a trance, and the darkness in her mind suddenly overwhelmed her.
That affectionate and resolute voice lingered in her ears.
There were countless pieces of fragments flashing in her mind, but she couldn’t make them into a complete picture.
“Miss Claire?”
“Claire! Sister-in-law, what’s wrong with you?!”
Various kinds of sounds rang in her ears.
Claire woke up, only to find that Hunter was leaning on her, unconscious.
The bodyguards stepped forward, trying to help him onto the bed, but found that he was still holding Claire’s hand tightly and wouldn’t let it go.
Mr. Hopkins was a little embarrassed. “Miss Claire, I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you.”
Claire stood up and went to the bedside with Hunter.
Hunter was put on the bed. She sat on the floor beside the bed, their hands clasped firmly.
The crowd retreated, and the door was closed.
Claire propped her chin with a hand and stared at the man on the bed. The lines of his side face were perfect and chiseled, and his breathing moved smoothly. He seemed to be a different person from the crazy guy just now.
Those words he said when he was hugging her.
Was it her auditory hallucination?
Claire narrowed her eyes slightly and gradually, her eyelids became heavier and heavier. In the end, she fell asleep on the side of the bed.
She didn’t know how long she slept for but she suddenly felt itchy on her cheeks. Something seemed to brush across her face.
Claire suddenly opened her eyes, only to see a head buried in her neck. The guy was sniffing around her neck like a dog. His warm breath touched her skin.
Claire hurriedly pushed him away and lunged to her feet abruptly, but her legs were numb.
Hunter was kneeling on the bed with his hands propped on the edge of the bed. He was leaning over in front of her, and staring at her with his watery eyes.
Claire frowned slightly.
He seemed… to have become different.
“Claire!”
Hunter suddenly opened his arms, his tall body pounced on Claire, and he hugged her firmly.
“What are you doing?” Claire was startled and struggled, but couldn’t break free.
Hunter rubbed his head against Claire’s shoulder like a dog cuddling its owner. “Claire, don’t remember me? I’m your dog.”
Dog?
Was he crazy?
Seeing that she didn’t respond, Hunter suddenly stuck out his tongue and licked it on the tip of her ear.
“Now do you remember me?”
The wet and sticky touch made Claire tremble all over.
She pushed the man away and walked out of the room quickly.
“Mr. Hopkins!!”
——
In the room, the private doctor gave Hunter an examination and then shook his head, meaning that there was nothing wrong with Hunter.
Hunter lay on the bed and looked at Claire with horrified eyes. “Are they going to give me an injection? Claire, I’m afraid of an injection…”
Claire rubbed her temple irritably. “What’s wrong with him?”
Mr. Hopkins sighed. “Mr. Johnson has an onset of his illness again. Since his brain was injured, he has been showing this sort of behaviour from time to time.”
“Did this happen before?”
“Yes!” Derek said, “One time he believed he was a flower and insisted on burying himself in the soil. Another time he believed that he was a wolf. Every day, when the moon rose in the sky, he would lie prostrate at the window and howl. I remember the last time he thought he was a clock, kept ticking every day, and even told the hours. We were woken up by him at 6 o’clock in the morning and couldn’t fall asleep at night because he kept making noises all night long.”