Ted lowered his eyes and didn't say anything. His face was full of guilt. Emma smiled. "Because you said that I was very warm."
The other woman stepped forward and blocked Emma's view of Ted. "Emma, It's my fault. I seduced Ted. It's me... It's me who is shameless. He is a good man. Don't blame him, okay?"
Emma tried her best to remain calm. She glanced at her friend and said to Ted, "They all said that everyone has to pay a price for their youth. You are probably the most painful price I have to pay for my youth. Ted, I have to thank you. It was you who taught me. Men are not as reliable as they seem. Thank you for teaching me how to grow." "I'm sorry, Emma. Ted couldn't do anything beyond apologizing.
Emma sighed and shook her head. "Ted, you don't have to feel sorry for me. We are even now. Because of you, I got the job I wanted. You don't owe me anything. And you, Kristen, remember, from the moment you jumped Into Ted's bed, we were no longer friends." She made a small gesture towards Ted. "You can have him, but I have one request for you. That is, don't pretend to be friendly with me in the future, because I will not waste my friendship and good will on you. Now I have to run to make it on time to my tutoring session, so I won't play romantic with you two in the pouring rain. Goodbye." After she finished speaking, she took a step back, bypassing the two of them, and quickly ran to the other side of the road.
Because she was too distracted, she never saw the black Bentley turning into the school's parking lot. By the time she reacted, It was already too late. The car struck her. She staggered two steps back and fell to the ground.
Ted, who was behind her, exclaimed, "Emma." Just as he was about to run forward, he saw Emma, who had her back to him, barely stand up.
Without a word, she limped to the car, opened the door, and sat in the car. There were still people in the car. She did not look carefully at who was sitting next to her, but she watched Ted as he walked towards her. She shouted to the driver, "Take me to Elm Road.
Otherwise, I will have to sue you for bumping into me."
The driver was a little worried. He looked into the rearview mirror at the man in the car.
The man's voice was graceful. "Do as this lady says."
The driver put the car in reverse and left the school. After several silent moments of driving, Emma stared out the car window. Her thoughts blurry with confusion and sadness, especially when she thought of Ted. He would never know what she did last night because of him. She really regretted it now. She regretted being impulsive. And now, she had lost Ted, her best friend, and her virginity. Thinking about it sadly, she would always think of yesterday as... the worst day of her life.
From beside her, the man handed her a small, white towel. "You're all wet. Try to dry off a bit.
Emma came back to her senses and took the towel. "I'm sorry. I dirtied your... Mr. Erickson?"
Finally, she saw the man sitting beside her. It was none other than Robert Erickson, whom she had clearly told just this morning that she would never see again. Emma was so surprised that she couldn't say a single word.
"What? Are you surprised to see me?"
"This..." Emma started, then hesitated for a moment. "Why are you here?"
"Miss Green, do I have to remind you that this is my car?"
So distracted, Emma forced herself to remember what happened and how. That his driver had struck her, and then she opened the door, without paying attention, and forced herself into the car. But, all she could do was focus on the rain. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She continued to pat herself and the seat with the small towel. "I dirtied your car. After the rain stops, I'll wash it for you."
When the car arrived at Elm Road, It stopped. Emma opened the door and started to get out of the car.
Robert said to the driver, "Get an umbrella for Miss Green."
The driver picked up an umbrella and handed it to Emma. She opened the umbrella, got out of the car, then turned back to face Robert and said, "Mr. Erickson, thank you for today."
"Words of thanks are not sincere at all. I want to see your actual actions." Robert's expression turned flat, nearly cold.
Although his words made sense, Emma felt like there was something more to how he meant them, something felt wrong with what he said. "Take care." She took a step back from the car, turned around, and limped towards the nearby neighborhood.
As the driver started to pull away, Robert said to the driver, "Stop the car."
After the car stopped, he opened another umbrella and got out of the back seat. He caught up to Emma and reached out to stop her.
She turned back, surprised to see that it was him. "Mr. Erickson?"
"Get in the car.
"Why?"
"You're injured. You have to go to the hospital." He looked at her with surprise, wondering
how this woman could care so little about her own body. "Do you not see that you are injured?" Emma looked down at her torso and legs. "I'm fine. I'll be fine after two days of rest."
"Are you a doctor? Can you treat your own injuries? Get in the car." After he finished speaking, without any explanation, he stuffed his umbrella into her hands and moved to pick her up by supporting her shoulders and knees, cradling her in his arms. Without another word, he walked back towards the car.
Emma exclaimed at the show of brute force, and the umbrella in her left hand fell to the ground.
Robert ignored the umbrella and put her back into the car.
She started to sit up, to deny his help. Anxious, she insisted, "No, I can't go to the hospital. I have a scheduled tutoring session I can't miss."
"Still tutoring? But you said you were quitting. That you could no longer tutor my brother Samuel?"
"..." Emma panicked, struggled for the right words, any words. Then, she finally said, "Because that was the truth."
Robert snorted and got into the car. He said coldly to the driver, "Go to the hospital." Emma looked at the neighborhood through the window. Anxiety gripped her, but she could not say anything. After all, she was also feeling guilty.
When they arrived at the hospital, he took her to the Orthopedics Department. The doctor asked her which part of her body hurt. She blushed. "I don't feel any pain." The doctor looked at Robert awkwardly, then said, "Miss, why have you come to the hospital for an examination? If something is wrong, we need your full cooperation."
Robert crossed his arms over his chest and said coldly, "Just give her a full check-up." Emma immediately rejected that. "No need, there's no need. How much does that cost? I don't want to do it."
"You must do it. I will pay the fee. I need to prevent you from coming at me with any kind of blackmail in the future. It is clear that you are not feeling well. It is clearly the result of today's car accident."
Emma looked at him with an angry expression on her face. "I wouldn't do that."
"People are unpredictable. In order to stop tutoring my brother, someone said that they were busy with their graduation thesis, but when they needed my assistance, I found out they lied. People who are willing to tell such small lies can't be trusted with big promises. Everyone can pretend to be innocent."
Emma knew he was telling the truth. "I..." Didn't she change her mind about tutoring Samuel because she didn't want to be embarrassed in the future?
The doctor made a list and asked the nurse to take Emma for a full check-up. When Emma and the nurse left the room, she secretly asked, "How much does this examination cost?"
The nurse took a look and said, "More than six hundred dollars."
Emma immediately snatched the sheet from the nurse and limped back toward Robert. "I want to talk to you in private."
"What is it?" Robert asked.
Emma bit her lip. "I really don't need the full check-up. My leg is fine. The part that hurts is not my leg. It is..." She lowered her eyes and blushed.
Robert frowned in confusion. "Where is it?"
She looked up angrily and glared at him. "You hurt me more than your stupid driver did!" She rested her open hand against the lowest part of her abdomen.