"You should eat too." Jane Sampson took the small bowl from James Blackās hand herself. "Youāve been with me all day without eating anything, you need to eat too."
James Black looked at her swollen, unsightly eyes with a pang of heartache, reaching out to gently touch them.
The movement was cautious, just a light touch.
In his heart, he thought: Iāve heard boiled eggs can reduce eye swelling, Iāll have to try that on her when we get home.
Jane Sampson hardly had an appetite, but she didnāt want James Black to worry. Even though the taste was bland and tedious, she forced herself to swallow each bite of the small bowl in front of him.
After finishing the meal, the two sat in the private room for a while, waiting for the packed food to arrive before leaving.
When they arrived at the hospitalās parking lot, James Black held Jane Sampsonās hand in one while carrying the packaged porridge with the other, walking on as his mind tangled with thoughts of how to coax Jane Sampson to rest later tonight. Suddenly, he heard two on-duty nurses passing by, speaking in hushed tones.
The two nurses hadnāt noticed Jane Sampson and James Black approaching, their heads lowered as they continued chatting.
As Jane Sampson and James Black passed by them, they distinctly heard what the nurses were saying.
"I heard Old Master Sampton had sudden multi-organ failure about ten plus minutes ago, and they couldnāt save him. That Julie Sampton is such a piece of work, drove the Old Sir to his death with her antics, yet she had the nerve to post some fake sympathy on Twitter, geotagging our hospital. Iāve been here working all day and havenāt seen even a shadow of her. What Harry Windcloud said was trueāhaving a granddaughter like her is worse than having a club."
After James Black heard this, his immediate reaction was to tighten his grip on the hand he was holding, but it was already too lateāJane Sampson had let go and was off running full-speed ahead.
Her fleeing figure staggered, stumbling as she ran.
"Jane!" James Black called out in a low voice towards the figure ahead, quickly chasing after her.
In the blink of an eye, Jane Sampson was already standing outside the ward, looking through the transparent window. Inside, she saw Granny Sampton bending down to quietly hold Grandpa Sampton.
The respirator that had been attached to him had been removed from his body.
At that moment, Jane Sampsonās body trembled violently. James Black, disregarding the porridge in his hands, tossed it to the side and hurriedly embraced Jane Sampson tightly with both arms as she nearly collapsed.
"Grandpa..." Jane Sampson shook uncontrollably in James Blackās arms, her entire body quivering. "No, it canāt be, Grandpa is so strong, Grandpa is a larger-than-life hero, he..."
Granny Sampton slowly straightened up and turned to look at Jane Sampson, beckoning her with a hand. "Jane and James Black are back. Come in and say goodbye to your grandpa."
Jane Sampson stood there, her feet seemingly nailed to the ground, immovable.
She didnāt want to step forward.
If... if she didnāt step forward, could she lie to herself? Could she pretend that everything ahead of her was just an illusion?
Everything inside the room, it was just a nightmare.
She wanted to wake up.
She didnāt want to lose her grandpa.
She really didnāt want to lose him.
Granny Sampton stepped out, reaching out to take Jane Sampsonās hand, then looked towards James Black. "Come inside."
After speaking, Granny Sampton patted Jane Sampson gently on the hand and sighed, "Good girl, donāt cry. Look, your crying has made grandma cry too. Just now, I came to understand... If your grandpa feels tired and wants to leave first, let him go. After all, I know that he will surely wait for me."
Jane Sampson wept as if her tears were torrential rain, biting her lips hard and shaking her head desperately. "I was only gone for a short while, Grandma, I was really only gone for a short while."
How could it be?
In just that short while, fate had pushed her and her loved one into the separation between life and death?