Xo Novel
Chapter 28
If anything, she would rather have burnt herself than died in the flames.
Charles’s smile spread to his eyes. “No, that’s not how this works. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. Just wait here. I’ll be right back.
“Okay.”
Charles turned and scampered away, leaving Naomi behind, watching him as he disappeared around
a corner.
If Charles did not show up in time, she and the unconscious woman would be dead by now.
Charles soon returned with Naomi’s prescription, and together they stopped by the emergency department.
A lot happened within a span of a few hours; the bed and breakfast caught on fire, rendering two people injured, and both the cops and the fire brigade showed up.
There were a few policemen standing guard outside the emergency department.
Charles and Naomi wanted to check on the unconscious woman as well as provide their witness statements for what happened. They told everything they knew to the policeman standing guard.
“Thank you. I’ve already taken everything down. You can go home now. It’s almost dawn. Go home and get some rest. I’ll get in touch if we need anything.”
Naomi and Charles nodded, then left.
They already did what they could, and now it was time to let the cops take over.
+
It was already 5 a.m. by now, and Naomi could not help yawning when she felt the cool morning breeze on her skin.
She never went so many hours without sleeping before, and now that the adrenaline rush was over, she was beginning to feel the exhaustion. Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
Thankfully, her hands no longer hurt. The doctor gave her some painkillers.
Charle
turned when he heard her yawning. Her eyes were bloodshot and etched with tiredness. Her unfocused gaze underneath the streetlights made her look like a doe–eyed deer.
His expression softened at this sight. “Let’s go back to the hotel. Get some rest, and we’ll decide what to do later.”
Naomi nodded. She could not possibly continue in this state. She needed to sleep.
Charles and Naomi returned to the hotel they booked in Ditch County.
Unfortunately, with both her hands bandaged, Naomi could not undress or even clean herself.
She smelt like smoke, and her skin was sticky from a combination of sweat and dust. She stared dazedly at her bandaged hands, wondering what to do.
She finally realized that she could not do the simplest tasks as cleaning herself.
This did not occur to Charles before this, either. He stared at her hands for a moment, then said,
Wait here.”
With that, he turned and left.
“Charles!” she instinctively called out, but he already disappeared.
She turned away from the door and sighed as she stared at her hands. It would take weeks before her wound healed and she could use her hands again–what would she do?
Naomi was not sure where Charles went, but there was nothing else she could do now. She left the door slightly ajar and went into the living room to sit. She could not even get out her phone.
However, she was so tired that it was only a matter of minutes before she dozed off on the couch.
Charles went down to the reception to ask for a nurse who could care for Naomi. Since the hotel did not have one, the receptionist called for one. By the time Charles finally found a nurse and led her to their room, half an hour passed.
He saw the ajar door and frowned, then gently knocked on the door.
No response.
“Naomi?” he called out.
Still no response.
After some contemplation, he said once more, “Naomi? Can I come in?”
Still nothing.
Charles eased the door open and stepped inside.