Hanging her head, Savannah kept silent.
In fact, old Sterling said the same thing to her when he came to the hospital yesterday.
He didn't want to burden her with Dylan. He told her soberly that she could leave at any time, and no one would blame her. Anyway, she had nothing to do with the Sterling family now. If his illness didn't answer the treatment at present, they were going to send Dylan to the nursing home in Switzerland. The environment there was quiet and better for recuperation. What's more, they could keep Dylan's condition from the domestic media and avoid gossips.
Old Sterling knew Dylan's disposition well. Being talked about as a madman would be worth more than death for him.
After a long silence, she said quietly, "Mom, I want to ask you a question."
"Go ahead."
"Would you have left dad if he were still alive and seriously ill?" Savannah looked at her, her eyes wet with a few tears.
The answer was easy and clear.
Joanne didn't even leave Ethan alone when he was dying. Though she had divorced him, she still took care of him in the last run of his life, not to mention her beloved ex-husband, Padgett.
Padgett was the love of Joanne's life.
She could even give her life to him. How could she leave him when he was seriously sick?
Joanne understood her daughter's decision when she asked this. She shook her head helplessly but didn't blame her.
"You might have a hard time," she said, her gaze full of pity.
"I'm sorry, mom. I can't give up on him. He was the man I loved. I can't bear the pain seeing him in this kind of state, and he's the father of my son," Savannah looked at her mother firmly.
They talked for a while. When Savannah sent Joanne out of the hospital and came back, she saw a nurse standing at the door of Dylan's ward, calling out to another colleague in panic,
"Hurry up! Go get Dr. Shamon! Get the syringe and the strait-jacket, and the spare key to the room!"
Startled, Savannah ran over in a hurry and learned from the panic nurse that Dylan had another attack. There was only a care worker in the ward just now. He drove the care worker out and shut himself in the ward. The care worker panicked and rushed to inform the nurse.
There were a lot of dangerous things, such as fruit knives and glass in the ward! He might accidentally cut himself when he was no longer conscious!
Savannah knocked at the door soundly without thinking much, but there was no response.
In a moment of desperation, she came up with an idea—she could climb into his ward from the ward next to his. Without saying anything, she hurried to the next ward. The nurse seemed to realize what she was going to do.
"Miss Schultz, you can't go in alone! Mr. Sterling would go out of his mind when his illness occurs, he might hurt you!"
Savannah found no time for hesitation. She climbed up the balcony to Dylan's ward. Luckily, the wards were on the second floor.
She jumped on the balcony of Dylan's ward and pulled the door open, gasping.
The ward was already a mess!
He was standing by the bed, holding in his hand the fruit knife that the care worker had used to cut fruit for him in the morning.
The sharp blade flashed with cold gloss.
A cold sweat broke out on Savannah's back. Holding her breath, she walked towards him.
"Dylan, give me the knife," she whispered.
Dylan slowly raised his hand, and he didn't seem to hear anything from the outside world.
It was too dangerous for him! At this thought, Savannah rushed over, raising to grab the knife, but she forgot the great difference in physical strength between men and women. He responded quickly, and before she could touch his hand, he caught her by her neck, choking her.
He stared at her, blankly with blood-shot eyes. His handsome face became terribly fierce as if he was a man-eating beast. He tightened his fingers little by little around her neck, mercilessly.
He had had occasional onset of the illness, but each time he wore a strait-jacket and was soon sedated, so Savannah didn't know how serious the situation could be.
The fact was, he didn't know anyone when he suffered the attack.
"Dylan, let me down…" She said, brokenly, breathing hard through her nose.
But he tightened his grip on her neck as if she were just a small prey to offend his own territory.
She could hear the crunching of his knuckles, and she felt the last breath of air ran away from her, and blackness came to her eyes.
Was he killing her?
The moment she was almost choked to death, he let go, and she slipped out of his hand, collapsing onto the carpet. She coughed terribly as she looked up.
He stepped back, staring at her blankly and painfully. All of a sudden, he raised the knife and cut himself on the arm, making it bleed.
She exclaimed, covering her mouth, and understood why he had suddenly cut himself!
He vaguely knew that he shouldn't hurt her, but he couldn't control it, so he hurt himself!
He would rather kill himself to stop himself from hurting her!
In response, she lunged at him, grabbed the knife from his hand, and flung it aside!
At the same time, the door of the ward was opened. Jacob rushed in with the nurse. They quickly dressed Dylan with a strait-jacket and sedated him, helping him to the bed.
When Dylan was settled, Jacob took Savannah out of the ward.
The onset of the illness passed without danger. No one was hurt except Dylan, who cut his arm himself.
Savannah gave a sigh of relief. Luckily, it happened after Joanne left, or she would be horrified when she saw what Dylan looked like just now.
It was already night.
Dylan was sleeping peacefully on the bed.
Savannah sat by his bedside, watching him, her eyes slowly sliding down onto his white bandaged arm.
"Even if you are unconscious and don't know anyone, you would rather hurt yourself than allow yourself to hurt me. Why don't you let me stay and take care of you?" She murmured. Her tears could not stop falling.
She held his hand, as if talking, smiling.
"I know. You are afraid that your illness might affect me and hurt Kaiden and me, but I'm not afraid. I'm not as weak and timid as you think. Please let me accompany you through this difficult time. Okay?"