Halkias felt as if his whole body had been petrified.
He wanted to get away, but he couldn't get his eyes off of the woman. The man clenched his jaw out of the unease flowing through his veins.
'What is with this feeling? Have I met her before?' Halkias' mind was racing with all sorts of queries as he was urging himself to move. 'No, that appearance, I will surely remember someone with that strange of an appearance. I'm certain I haven't met her before. But why do I feel like this? Why do I feel like I want to…'
Halkias wasn't able to continue questioning himself.
The coldness of a single teardrop, crawling quickly down his cheek, brought him back to the woman's boundless, raven black eyes. At that point, a whisper managed to escape his tightly shut lips.
"Ilya…"
For a brief moment, Halkias thought that a smile appeared on the woman's face. However, when he was finally able to bat an eyelid, he remarked that there had been no change on her countenance.
"Huh, what did I say?" Halkias asked upon realizing that he just opened his mouth.
As he tried to recall, Halkias had gotten the impression that his head would soon be in tremendous pain.
And that pain did come.
Halkias held his head as he attempted to suppress his urge to groan. His limbs trembled ever so slightly, sending waves and waves of spasms throughout his entire body. He didn't want to show such a state in front of the hospital staff, thus he endured with all his might.
He closed his eyes to get a bearing on his consciousness. Though the second that he did, tens and hundreds of scenes began to play in his mind.
"What… ugh… what are these?!" Halkias chuntered his disconcertment, "Cease this instant! I don't want these! These are not my memories!"
Even if he recognized that they were memories, Halkias couldn't process a single one. The flashes of myriads of colours served to force, not only his head, but his entire being to suffer from an unfamiliar sensation.
The hospital staff who were watching Halkias didn't know what to do. They were not allowed to touch a noble without permission, so they were a tad adamant to help.
"Oi, what should we do? His Grace looks like he's in pain!" One of the doctors whispered.
"But we might get imprisoned! Remember, we already violated one of his orders! This was an incident related to the Gertrude Family. The Monarchy and the Parliament won't sit idly if this gets out to the public!"
Fortunately, the number of staff standing by the doorway was already reduced to three. It would be easier for them to control what was happening inside.
"Don't worry. We're going to keep this matter among us three. His Grace will be understanding enough. I'm sure of that."
Although the other doctor still had reservations, he nodded at his colleague's suggestion. Withal, before they could even make a move, they heard a loud thump from within the room. When they redirected their gaze towards it, their eyes widened.
"My Lord!" The two doctors shouted as they approached Halkias.
On the other hand, the nurse ran for the office of the hospital director.
"Pulse?" One doctor asked all the while checking Halkias' condition.
Granted that there were two of them trying to turn the man's body upwards, they had to exert all of their strength on the task. Once they were done, the doctors were heaving heavily. Still, they immediately went to work.
"His breathing is shallow, even nonetheless. He just lost consciousness."
"Yes, it's best if we let him rest somewhere peaceful. The nurse will have called his subordinates. Before they arrive, let's transfer His Grace to a bed."
"The room next door is empty. Let's take him there."
Because they were preoccupied with Halkias, the doctors failed to notice the woman walking up to them. They only remarked on her presence when she was already crouching down with them.
It goes without saying that they were taken aback. They stopped what they were doing and fixated their eyes on her. Meanwhile, the woman merely marvelled at Halkias' countenance.
She opened her mouth, but she couldn't summon her voice. She had been longing to say something ever since they saw each other. She bit her lip and opened her mouth again. This time, she forced her dry throat so she could convey her message.
"Ah--" Soon, a cry came out of her lips. It was followed by the descent of a couple of tears from her bloodshot eyes.
"Ha-- Halkias…" The woman muttered despite the difficulty, "Halkias… it's-- it's been… a long time."
She then held the man's hand and gripped it tightly, letting her tears graze his long fingers. Her desperate weeping conquered the silence of the room, and also the hearts of the doctors.
They couldn't separate the woman from Halkias. The doctors could sense just how miserable she was, to the extent that they were compelled to draw tears for themselves. Thankfully, one of them was considerate enough to mind the woman's state.
She was fully naked while kneeling on the cold floor. The doctor hurriedly stood, took the blanket from her bed, and covered the woman with it. But the blanket slowly slipped her quivering shoulders, so the doctor had to put it again more securely.
The woman bent her body and cried on Halkias' chest. She had a lot to say, yet her grief took over her reason. She allowed it to.
The doctors could only watch over the two. It was not a business that they could insert themselves into. They looked at each other in the eyes and nodded, standing up thereafter. The two of them deemed that Halkias wasn't in a dangerous situation. Hence, they went out of the room and waited for the arrival of Halkias' subordinates.
Their sights lingered on the scenery inside the room.
Surrounded by the dead, the woman was grieving for the living.
They didn't know anything about her. However, somehow, they thought that she had been suffering. That was how powerful Ilya's tears were.