"Colonel, what happened here?" Kevin asked, looking at the injured soldiers. Seeing Daisy was bleeding again, he felt sorry for her.
"I'm fine. I just had a competition with Hank." Daisy answered him indifferently with a faint smile. The pain in her arm was reminding her how hard that punch was.
"What's wrong with him? Why is he so keen on competing with you?" Kevin didn't like Hank's narrow-mindedness. 'A man holding a grudge against a woman. Who does that?'
"Who knows? He's an odd duck, and always forces his will on others." Hank had competed with Daisy many times, but never won. Nonetheless, he kept trash talking her, saying she hadn't obtained her military rank through hard work. Of course, it wasn't true, but she didn't know why he thought like that.
"Ignore him. Let's go! I'll take you to the infirmary and have the wound bandaged again. If it keeps re-opening, the wound will never heal." Kevin knew that some people had problems with Daisy privately, but Hank was the first to make a public spectacle of his problems.
"I can go by myself. It's just a small injury. You go back to your work." Daisy didn't want to bother him with such a small wound. With the war game approaching, he had to be as busy as she was.
"Fine. Take care. Watch that. You don't want it to get infected." Kevin didn't insist, although he never stopped caring about her. He didn't want to pressure her.
"OK. Mark, let's go." Daisy nodded at Kevin and walked toward the infirmary.
Kevin stayed for a bit. Watching her back, he thought, 'Daisy, I'm getting married tomorrow. I'll have my own family. Everything between us will be bygones. I won't express my love for you anymore but will cherish it from the bottom of my heart.'
He didn't know whether he could fall in love with another woman, but when he proposed to Leena, he resolved to be faithful to their marriage and responsible for Leena. He would bury his love for Daisy inside him and keep his feelings in check. He didn't want to hurt another woman.
'Will Leena come tomorrow?' He wasn't sure. No reasonable girl would think that a total stranger could make her happy.
In the afternoon, the sun beat down strongly, but Kevin couldn't feel it. He didn't know what he was trying to hold on to. If he wanted to forget Daisy, he would have listened to his father and gone back to the capital city. But why did he want to stay? Just because of Daisy?
The wound on Daisy's arm had to be stitched up again, since it kept re-opening. It hurt like hell, maybe because Edward wasn't around to kiss it and make it better. Maybe she was being unreasonable. It was just a small injury. Why did she rely on him so much?
Back at the office, she tried to be strong, but finally gave in and called Edward. She missed him, his tenderness, his rage, the jasmine fragrance on his body, and the sense of security when she was in his arms. She missed everything about him.
Edward finished watching the live coverage of the press conference. When the phone rang, he had just turned the TV off. When he saw the caller ID, his bad mood disappeared instantly. He was also worried. 'She rarely calls me. Has she read the news?'
"Hi, honey, everything OK?" He asked gently and joyfully.
"Edward, I miss you." A simple sentence mixed with so many feelings. This was the first time she had expressed her feelings for him. She wanted him to know she cared about him, she missed him and she relied on him. Nothing else mattered, not even her pride.
Edward stood there, basking in his emotions, heart racing with joy. He was in his thirties, but was elated at a woman's words like a teenager. Was this what love was like?
Edward, are you there? Daisy asked since he hadn't said a word. I have dropped my pride and expressed my feelings for him. Is this all I get?
Honey, I miss you too very much. Are you okay? His voice quavered. This isn't her, something must have happened.
Yes, Im fine. I just wanted to hear your voice. They loved each other, true. But he cared too much about his pride to tell the truth, she hesitated while she was already deeply in love. So neither of them expressed just how much they meant to each other, their deepest love. That was a mistake that might cost them.
What happened? I know you. This isn't like you. Edward didn't believe her, although he was overjoyed to hear her sweet words.
Edward, do you have to kill the mood? I was trying to give you a feeling of being a man. You just don't understand it, never mind. I have to work yo masochist! Daisy hung up the phone angrily. She forgot that she was not allowed to hang up first.
However, Edward was all smiles after the call. She's herself again. That was what he wanted. It didn't matter anymore who hung up first.