Chapter 497 Let Me Sleep on the Floor
Elise treated his injury in a rough manner. When she was dressing his wound, she looked up and saw him smiling, which in turn made her grit her teeth menacingly.
Maybe I shouldn’t have saved this irritating man. He nearly died, yet he’s able to laugh. I wonder what could make him put away his frivolous attitude.
After putting on the last piece of plaster, Elise tossed the remaining ones into the medical kit, then rose up and clapped her hands. “I’m done bandaging your wound. You may now get lost and return to your own room.”
Kenneth sat up on the couch, slowly buttoning his shirt as he replied roguishly, “I can leave, but if I do and my wound becomes inflamed and I die out there, I’ll still come back to knock on your door. If you wish to experience again how it feels like to be woken up from your sleep, I don’t mind leaving.”
She turned to face him, her gaze freezing. “Kenneth Bailey, have you ever heard of the phrase called ‘biting the hand that feeds you’?”
“What if I have? Or what if I haven’t?” He looked up at her with a weak smile. Under the lights, he seemed feeble but he was still good-looking.
“What you are doing now is exactly like that phrase. I’ve saved you, but you are not going to let me have a good night’s sleep,” Elise growled in a cold tone with her arms folded across her chest.
“I swear that I want to stay simply because I want you to be able to sleep peacefully. If I were to leave now and those who were chasing after me find me, I doubt that the problem you would be facing would be as simple as not having a good night’s sleep.” In all honesty, his explanation sounded logical.
Elise’s gaze flicked from his face then to the door, and she decided that he had a point. “You can stay, but you’d better be good and stay in the living room. Otherwise, I’ll throw you out of the room regardless of whether there are killers out there.”
Kenneth shrugged, not taking her words seriously.
Elise then darted a look in his direction and saw a blanket on the couch, so she returned to her room at ease.
After she had switched off the light and was about to get on her bed, she saw Kenneth’s figure standing by the door of her room.
“What are you trying to pull off now?” she growled impatiently through gritted teeth.
As he lifted his foot and marched toward the bed located near the floor-to-ceiling window, he responded, “The couch is too small and I’ll hurt my wound further if I sleep with my legs curled up. Since you have offered to help, don’t leave things unfinished. Let me sleep on the floor in the room.”
With that, he supported himself by holding onto the edge of the bed and sat on the carpet without waiting for Elise to reply.
“Do you have a death wish?!” Elise warned him fiercely.
As soon as she said, he raised a hand and showed her the blood on it while uttering with an innocent expression, “Look at this—blood is seeping through the wound. Could you bear to see me suffering on the couch?”
Elise wanted to say that she wouldn’t mind, but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat.
In the end, she caved in and awkwardly muttered, “This is the last time I’m going to make a concession. You’d better not have any funny plans. I’m a light sleeper, so I’ll immediately wake up no matter what you do and I’ll kill you.”
Kenneth simply nodded. “Miss Sinclair, I’ll remember everything that you said. I dare not forget them.”
Elise rolled her eyes at him and was not bothered to fight him on this. Her back facing him, she pulled the duvet over herself and shut her eyes.
As she had her guard up against him, she was paying attention to the sounds behind her.
Kenneth kept inhaling sharply in pain at first, but he slowly became quiet and she soon heard his regular breathing.
Only then did she let her guard down and fall asleep.
As the night grew, Elise felt as if she was wrapped in her soft duvet and after some time, she felt as if she had fallen into a hot spring, whereby her whole body was enveloped in warmth. It still remained even after daybreak when the morning sun had lit up the entire room.
Elise slowly opened her eyes. After a few seconds of grogginess, she saw a large hand that was placed on her. She instantly turned to her side and before the owner of the hand could react, she kicked the figure off the bed.
Even Kenneth was unable to identify if he had been woken up due to her kick or the fall. Holding his injury, he clambered up, his face pale from the pain.
Last night before they went to bed, he had deliberately rubbed his hand on his shirt to stain it with blood. However, at this moment, his wound had indeed torn open. He could even feel warm blood gushing out of the injury.
When she saw that he was enduring the pain, Elise softened for a moment but she quickly put that feeling aside.
I shouldn’t sympathize with a touchy jerk who takes a mile when given an inch.
In the end, she kept quiet and left the room to do her morning routine.
When she exited the bathroom, Kenneth was seen sitting on the couch in the living room.
“There’s nobody outside now. Please leave immediately.” Elise asked him to leave, her voice cold.
At that, Kenneth raised his head and looked at her. “I’ve ordered breakfast. Let’s eat before I leave.”
“I lose my appetite when I see you.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You now have two choices. First, leave on your own. Second, I’ll kick you out. You have sixty seconds to make a decision.”
Kenneth pouted reluctantly. Just as he was about to continue pestering her, his phone rang in his pocket.
He took it out and brought it to his ear. A few seconds later, he calmly said, “I understand. I’ll be back right away.”
He then killed the call, exhaling a deep breath in disappointment before raising his head to look at Elise.
For some reason, he wished to stick to her when he was hurt. Having her in his sight alone was able to ease the pain. She was his medicine, his cure even, so he was reluctant to leave.
“It’s time for you to make a decision,” she urged.
A dispirited Kenneth pulled a long face and rose to his full height, sluggishly dragging his feet to the door.
As soon as he stepped out of the room, he turned around and wanted to say something, but the door slammed shut in his face.
It was fortunate that there was a gap between his face and the door that saved him from being hit in the face.
“She must have eaten a bomb.” Kenneth let out a doting yet self-mocking smile and shook his head before he left.
In the room, Elise tried to recall what had happened last night, thinking if she had done anything that she wasn’t supposed to do, like hugging him or something along the lines.
She cracked her head trying to recall anything, but nothing came back to her.
This proved that she still had her honor and hadn’t cheated on Alexander.
Alexander, Alexander… Elise missed him, so she gave him a call. Right now, she was like a person who had fallen into the churning water, desperately struggling to grab onto a log.
The moment Kenneth stepped out of the lift, he felt a vibration from the other pocket, the one he used to keep his personal phone in.
Even before he took his phone out, he grinned brightly, because only Elise was able to reach him on that phone.
“Ellie.” Kenneth altered his voice and returned to using Alexander’s, his tone warm and doting.
With the skill of faking his voice, he was able to perfectly conceal his identity, although he had nearly exposed himself in front of Elise last night when his head had been groggy due to the injury.
Upon hearing his voice, Elise felt much relieved. That’s right, the man I love is Alexander Griffith. Only he is able to give me this special sense of security.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” he asked when he didn’t get any response from her for a long time.
“Nothing. I just missed you a little.” Elise pursed her lips as she raised her hand to hold her burning cheeks. She couldn’t believe that she could be so forward to the point of confessing her love to him through the phone.
Upon hearing that, he chuckled softly, the disappointment from being kicked out of her room now completely disappearing. “I love you, Ellie.”
