Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion >>
From the unbridled display of emotions in his gaze, she could easily guess his intention. “But how is that possible? Did he really come for me?” she wondered. She had a lot of questions for him, but she didn’t know how to start.
The village chief walked up to them. When he saw that Danika was fine, he sighed in relief. “Dr. Zellweger, I’m glad you’re safe. Your boyfriend is really good to you. Not only did he come to Clearwater in a helicopter, but the first thing he did after we cracked the opening was to get down there to search for you. He didn’t hesitate at all. What a good man!”
Danika blushed at the village chief’s assumption. She was about to clarify her relationship with Eustace, but he spoke at the same time, “Let’s get your wound treated. I’ve asked Vincent to bring a rescue team here. They should arrive soon.”
“Okay.” She didn’t object to it because she needed to treat her right calf injury lest it became infected.
Eustace helped her to a temporary tent. He immediately got a pair of scissors and cut off her jeans at the calf area to reveal a bloody wound.
“I’ll do it myself.” She felt a little embarrassed, His presence was touching enough for her, and she would not expect more from him.
Ignoring her, he went to work. He rinsed, disinfected, and bandaged her wound seamlessly. This came as a surprise to her. When he was done, he reminded her, “Get a good rest, and don’t move around.”
“I’m fine, but there must be a lot of injured villagers. I need to quickly treat their wound.” She was the only doctor around.
Eustace frowned at her words. She was his priority. Taking care of the others was secondary for him, even if he promised to try his best.
She seemed to read his mind and told him sternly, “I know you’re worried about me, but I’m not a hothouse flower. This minor injury won’t affect me much. I can help the injured.”
He could sense her insistence. A while later, he sighed in resignation as though he was always the one who made the compromise. “I’ll let them in, but you have to stay put. Don’t move around,” he reminded her once more.
She battled with complicated feelings as he left the tent. She hadn’t expected him to be the first to rush to her help. Clearwater was hard to reach via any form of transport and didn’t have a connection to the outside world. She didn’t even expect Gilbert and the rest to come to her rescue because they probably didn’t know about the earthquake. To her surprise, Eustace showed up.
She sighed, clueless about how to deal with him. Thankfully, villagers who came in seeking medical help diverted her attention from her jumbled thoughts.
Danika managed to treat a lot of victims. However, she didn’t see Eustace around even when night fell.
“Danika.” Justin walked into the tent. He was an energetic kid who quickly recovered after being rescued from the rubble and had been helping others for the rest of the afternoon. Although he couldn’t be of much help, he still wanted to contribute in any possible way.
“Justin, come here. Sit down and rest. You’re still a kid. Don’t work too hard.” Danika waved at him, feeling bad for the boy. She got the news of his parents in the afternoon-they were found dead. The family of four was now broken, and Danika wondered how the two young kids, aged five and three, would live their lives after the tragedy.
He walked up and took a seat beside her. “Danika, are you waiting for Eustace? He’s with the chief. They’re saving the victims.”
She was astonished to learn that since she had assumed Eustace was uninterested in the fate of the other villagers. Before this, he was reluctant to even let her treat their wounds.
“Eustace is a strong man. I want to be as strong as he is when I grow up,” Justin declared. Danika caressed his head and cheered him on, “Yes, you’ll grow up to be better than him.”
Justin, about your parents…” Danika stared at the sensible child in front of him as she struggled to explain the death of his parents.
Compared to her, he was more forthright on the topic. “I know that Mommy and Daddy went to heaven. They became stars and will look after Lilian and me from the sky.”
She was taken aback. “Stars?”
“Yes, Eustace told me that.” The five-year-old nodded. He was too young to grasp the concept of death.
‘Does Eustace have a soft side to him?” Danika wondered. Right then, Eustace walked into the tent, and they looked at each other. She asked, “Has the rescue ended?”
“Yes, for now.” He nodded. “Without more advanced detectors, we can’t tell where the buried victims are. We can only wait for the rescue team to arrive.”
After a day’s hard work, everyone was tired to the bone. It was counterproductive to request that they blindly search for victims. The best thing everyone could do was to wait.
The fact weighed heavily on her heart. She understood that Eustace was stating the facts, but the thought of people buried alive under the rubble dampened her mood.
Eustace gave Justin a piece of candy and caressed his head. “Go find Lilian. Okay?”
“Okay.”
After Justin left, Eustace and Danika were alone in the tent. He comforted her, “I understand your feeling as a doctor who wants to save every single soul. But please know that you’re not invincible.”
She pursed her lips and forced a smile. “Don’t worry. I understand.”
“Your injuries…”
“It’s no big deal.”
Silence ensued. A long pause later, he said, “I went to dinner with Yvonne that night because it’d be hard to turn her down as a long-time acquaintance. I never thought she’d drug me.”
Danika was surprised that he’d bring up Yvonne’s issue at this moment. She didn’t know how to feel about
Noticing her silence, he went on, “Since you have no internet access, you probably didn’t know that Yvonne recently married Sam Bloom.”
“She married Sam Bloom?” Danika thought to herself as she appeared in shock and disbelief. “Why?” she asked. Although she was not personally acquainted with Sam Bloom, she had heard of him before. After all, the Blooms were well-known in Parrington and were on the same level as the Quinceys.
“George Dickman always wanted help from the Blooms. It so happens that Sam is interested in Yvonne. Since both families wanted something from each other, the arranged marriage didn’t come as a surprise,” Eustace explained.
Danika frowned, troubled by the realization that she couldn’t lay a finger on Yvonne, who had married into the Blooms. She had total confidence in Max and Gilbert to take over the Dickmans’ business, but it would be hard for them to acquire a larger combined entity now that the Blooms were involved. Even if they wanted to, they might make enemies by taking over businesses consecutively.
“I know you don’t like Yvonne, but it’s hard for you to make a move on her now that she’s married into the
Blooms,” Eustace reminded Danika, but he offered, “If you really want to make a move on her, I can help you.”