Chapter 273 - 273: Shouldn't Let Her Stay By Your Side

Bryan remained standing outside the door of Erick's ward for almost an hour. He looked like a personal bodyguard. He didn't even let the nurses enter his room when it was time to check Erick's vitals and his condition.

Sensing that something was off with Bryan's expression, the nurse didn't insist on coming in. Bryan thanked her and just asked her to come back again later. 

Bryan was in deep thoughts when he heard a familiar voice.

"Bryan… is Erick inside?"

He was surprised to see Charles in front of him. There were still bruises visible in his face.

'What is he doing here?' Bryan thought to himself.

"Yes. How did you know that Erick is here?" Bryan asked him back.

"Through his parents. I saw them a while ago at Erick's place." Charles replied to him.

"Can you move? I want to see him," Charles added.

But Bryan stopped him.

"Sorry, Buddy. I can't allow you to enter. Erick is not receiving a visitor today. Just come back tomorrow."

Bryan was oblivious of the reason why Charles suddenly appeared and wanted to meet Erick. However, Charles couldn't care less about Bryan who was trying to block his way.

Charles took a seven-hour journey just to reach City Z today. Antoine was with him when they headed straight at Erick's place. That's the time he met Erick's parents.

Sarah and Raymond were also puzzled when they didn't see Elle in the house. Then Charles arrived in front of the doorstep asking for Elle. When he failed to get an answer, he decided to ask them about Erick's whereabouts.

They hadn't informed him about the full details of what happened. Sarah just told him that Erick was currently admitted to South Carolina's Hospital. After hearing that, he immediately bade them goodbye as Antoine and Charles drove fast going to the hospital.

Now, he was standing outside Erick's ward but for an unknown reason, Bryan was stopping him from entering the room. Charles was becoming more impatient since he was now worried-sick about Elle.

In a hurry to find Elle, Charles forcefully shoved Bryan off and he quickly barged inside the room.

"Hey! Did you not hear me?! I said you are not allowed to enter." Bryan yelled at him with disbelief.

Charles just ignored Bryan's complaints as he continued to walk over. Erick was now standing near the hospital's window. He was staring blankly outside.

He remained unmoving in his spot as if he didn't hear the ruckus between Bryan and Charles. Charles just only took several large strides before he reached Erick. 

He didn't beat around the bush as he promptly asked Erick, not minding his disrespectful manner after entering the room forcibly.

"Chief Lee… where's Elle? She is somewhere safe, right? The news written in this are all fake, right? Tell me!" Charles said as he demanded an answer from him.

He even stretched his arm which was holding a newspaper. He was showing Erick the news report regarding Elle's death or rather Catseye's death.

On the other hand, Bryan who followed Charles inside halted on his step. He heard what Charles had said to Erick and the newspaper in his hand.

Bryan looked at the two men confusedly, particularly to Charles. 

'How come he knew about Elle's identity as Catseye?' Bryan was wondering to himself.

Meanwhile, Erick remained silent as his gaze fell on the newspaper in Charles's hand. His expression darkened immediately then he grabbed the newspaper out of Charles's grasp.

He scanned it. A few seconds later, Erick's grip on the newspaper tightened. Not yet satisfied, Erick crumpled it in front of Charles and Bryan.

Erick was emanating a cold and frightening aura. Bryan and Charles were both taken aback by his action. He appeared to be a different person compared to the Erick that they know. His eyes, there was no hint of warmth in them.

However, to Charles's mind, he didn't have time to feel intimidated at him. He wanted an answer. He needed to hear that Elle was just fine.

"Erick! Answer me! Where is Elle?" 

Upon hearing Elle's name, Erick's expression changed a little. His lifeless cold eyes showed a glint of despair and deep sorrow.

"Elle…" Erick mumbled absentmindedly.

He repeated Elle's name several times as if he didn't hear Charles's question at all. It looked like his mind just focused on Elle's name.

Charles looked at Erick strangely. Then he turned to Bryan as if asking him 'what the hell is happening to him?'. It seemed that Erick was not in his right mind as of this moment.

As Erick continued mumbling Elle's name, the tears involuntarily came out of his eyes, pouring continuously like raindrops.

Seeing Erick like that Charles could only draw his conclusion. Erick's action was enough to get the answer to his question. Charles felt very weak in an instant. He almost fell if he was not able to lean on the wall.

"No! No! It couldn't be! We were just talking two nights ago. She said to me that she would wait for my return. Elle even told me that from now on, we will try our best to live happily with no regrets!" Charles started to act hysterically.

Charles was losing his mind. He stared at Erick with bloodshot eyes. He felt the sudden surge of anger for the man in front of him. Charles couldn't control his fury and frustration as he charged towards Erick, throwing him a punch on his face.

Thud!

"NO! Stop it!" Bryan exclaimed as he hurriedly ran in between the two men. 

He wanted to stop Charles from further hurting Erick. He tried his best to hold Charles. 

Erick fell backward due to the impact of Charles's punch. But he didn't feel the pain at all. There was something more painful than receiving this punch from someone.

"You f*cksh!t! I thought you would be able to protect her that's why I left her in your care! [email protected]! I am so stupid to believe that! I should have convinced her to stay away from you! I shouldn't let her stay by your side! You caused this! You are the one who killed her!

Pak!

Bryan slapped Charles in the face after hearing the last sentence he said to Erick. Erick was already hurting this much. How dare he say those hurtful words to him!??

That slap was a wake-up call to Charles. Seeing Bryan looking very mad at him and Erick's sorry state, he knew he went overboard and had said something he shouldn't. But he couldn't take those words back anymore.

Then the ward was engulfed by deafening silence. Everyone was having gloomy expressions on their faces, intensifying the already sullen atmosphere inside.

They were in that very awkward silence when Erick's parents entered the room. Sarah and Raymond looked at the three men standing by the window with confusion.

The husband and wife exchanged glances with one another having the same question in mind.

'What are they doing there? What's wrong with their expressions?'

Then Sarah gasped in shock when she noticed something. There was blood in the left corner of Erick's lips while there was a red mark on Charles's left face which appeared to be a person's palm.

She didn't say a word but she already knew that there was a fight that happened here before they arrived.

Bryan didn't know how to explain things to Erick's parents. He somehow guessed that Raymond and Sarah already grasped the situation.

Charles also felt embarrassed when Erick's parents caught them in that state. After all, he was the culprit who just punched their injured son in his ward.

No one spoke among them until Erick walked back to his sickbed as if the fight a while ago never happened. He lay down again and closed his eyes, indicating that he didn't want to talk to anyone.

Bryan was the one who broke the silence first.

"Visiting hours is done. Uncle and Aunt, we will leave now. My friend and I will just come back tomorrow." Bryan politely said to the husband and wife before he grabbed Charles's hand, dragging him out of the room.

Raymond and Sarah just nodded at them. Charles slightly made a bow to bid them goodbye. They knew that something was wrong but the husband and wife didn't want to disturb Erick. He looked like he wanted to rest.

But Raymond and Sarah knew their son very well. They somehow sensed that he was intentionally ignoring them or rather he was deliberately hiding something from them.