Chapter 33
“Did you see a ghost?”
The usual gruff tone was thrown her way.
Debert’s coat, carelessly discarded, lay crumpled on the floor. Beth double-checked the now closed door, her mind racing.
“It’s not like a thief’s broken in.”
His grumbling left Beth speechless, staring at his smug face. As if this were his rightful place, he was sprawled comfortably on her bed.
[If you come in through the window, what else would you be but a thief?]
She held up a piece of paper and hastily scrawled with the message. Debert, eyeing it indifferently, suddenly snatched it and, without warning, raised it as if to toss it out the still-open window.
Beth panicked, rushing to close the window. Just as he had thrown the pen in the isolation room before, he clearly intended to hurl the board this time.
She glared at him, her dark eyes brimming with anger, while a smirk tugged at the corner of Debert’s lips. He carelessly tossed the wooden board aside, where it landed with a thud.
With a slight tilt of his head, Debert spoke, “My mistake.”
As Beth moved to retrieve the board, he grabbed her wrist. Her once unblemished hand was now covered in scratches. Gently, he turned it over.
“It’s almost healed.”
The spot where the cut had been was now just a faint scar.
“Well, that’s something.”
Debert’s thumb brushed over the scar, as if willing it to disappear completely.
Beth, feeling the odd sensation, fidgeted her fingers. His earlier mention of ‘bad deeds’ replayed vividly in her mind.
His gaze, half-buried in the bed, slowly travelled from her hand, up her arm, to her shoulder. His blatant stare made Beth’s toes curl in discomfort.
“Is that how you sleep?”
Like that?
Only then did Beth realise what she was wearing. Who would expect a man to sneak into the nurses’ quarters, and through the window, no less?
Naturally, she was dressed in a simple slip, meant for comfort.
In a fluster, she grabbed the coat at the foot of the bed and threw it over his face. Expecting him to curse, Beth was surprised when he remained quiet until she had donned her gown.
“I’m not some kind of beast.”
Of course, she couldn’t escape the icy glare he shot her once he pulled the coat away.
His tousled hair, now covering his sharp eyes, made him look even more dishevelled.
“It’s hurting my eyes.”
He muttered another complaint, seemingly displeased that she just stared at him.
“My shoulder’s shot. Can’t do it myself.”
As he mentioned, his right shoulder blade and back were stained a reddish hue from the ointment she had applied.
“Stop looking so guilty. Hurry up.”
His impatient prompting left Beth with no choice but to reach for his hair. The soft strands slipped through her fingers, reminding her of the feel she had imagined as the military truck jolted along at dawn.
The man she thought she might never see again was once more in front of her.
Every time she thought he was dead, he brought her back to life. They had both thought they’d die together, but instead, they had survived together.
“I went back to the village.”
Beth glanced at the time and nodded quietly. Stitching up his wound couldn’t have taken until nightfall.
“I went to find the necklace.”
A necklace, in this situation?
Beth looked at him incredulously. It seemed absurd, but then, with this man, nothing was impossible. He was known to do the most nonsensical things at times.
“There’s hardly a trace of the market left.”
Beth slowly withdrew her hand, which had been resting on his shoulder.
Not long ago, the place had been full of life, despite its poverty. Could such a place really vanish without a trace in just a day?
Her heart pounded with anxiety. The face of the old woman who had scrutinised her came vividly to mind.
Debert, now playing with a stray lock of her hair, spoke again.
“That old woman’s probably alive.”
His words, like a prayer answered, made Beth’s eyes light up.
How could he not lie, seeing her look at him like that?
Debert deliberately kept his expression indifferent, wanting her to believe him.
“If she’s survived this long, she’s smart enough to have fled. Rumours spread fast in that area.”
The way her dark eyes searched for truth was endearing.
“I guarantee it.”
Finally, a trace of relief crossed Beth’s face. Though Debert continued to toy with her hair, perhaps because of yesterday’s events, she didn’t seem as conscious of his touch as before.
Their embrace had been a matter of survival, but it was clear that the distance between them had lessened.
“The war will be over soon.”
His tone was filled with certainty.
“Because I’ve decided to end it.”
It was an arrogant statement, but coming from Debert Cliff, it seemed entirely plausible.
“When the war’s over, where will you go back to?”
Go back to?
Her eyes dropped to the floor, unable to find an answer. She couldn’t speak hastily about something she couldn’t even answer for herself.
“Is Kopel your hometown?”
Slowly, she shook her head.
“Then, Wayne?”
Debert stopped asking further questions when he saw her troubled expression.
In truth, it didn’t matter where her hometown was. If there were things she didn’t want to say, then she didn’t have to. He was the same way.
He only needed to get one answer from her.
“When the war is over—”
“Beth! Are you awake?!”
A loud voice echoed from downstairs. The creaking sound of wooden stairs filled the silent dormitory.
“Are you listening?”
Beth’s hand covered Debert’s mouth.
She could feel his furrowed eyes glaring intensely at her, but she had no time to worry about that.
Hastily pulling at his arm, she struggled to lift his long, cumbersome frame. Beth quickly opened both sides of the window, looking up at him.
“Get out of here?”
Beth nodded vigorously.
Despite his reluctance, Debert stepped onto the windowsill. He asked again, “Out of here?” but the answer remained the same.
“This is maddening.”
With no other choice, Debert let out a groan as he jumped down. Beth had no time to check on him because Dixie burst in immediately after she closed the window.
“You’re still awake? The hospital’s more or less tidy up. Let’s go together tomorrow morning. You need to get some rest today. Everyone was saying you were in serious trouble, but I didn’t believe it. Beth Janes, you’re not just an ordinary nurse, are you?”
Dixie gave a lengthy explanation of the previous night’s events, but Beth barely registered it, nodding absentmindedly. Her attention was focused entirely on the door.
“Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever? Should I open the window?”
Beth, startled, blocked the window with her body.
Dixie tilted her head, puzzled.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Beth quickly approached Dixie, took off her coat, and pushed her towards the door. She swiftly picked up the discarded board from the corner and scribbled on it with a pen.
[You must be tired. Go wash up quickly.]
“Mm, yes.”
After shoving the bewildered Dixie into the bathroom, Beth clutched her racing heart. She checked the closed door several times before she could return to the window.
The man was still standing below the window. The dark grey of his attire gleamed silver in the moonlight.
As Beth watched his lightly fluttering hair, she quickly came to her senses and extended the coat that had fallen on the bed. It was a stroke of luck that the perceptive Dixie hadn’t noticed it.
“Stretch out a bit more.”
Debert furrowed his brow as he reluctantly raised his injured right arm. Beth extended her arm further as well, feeling a pang of guilt for having pushed him out through the window.
“A little more.”
As his torso came out further, his midnight-black hair was blown about by the wind, fluttering this way and that. Beth’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of his tousled hair.
At that moment, Debert lightly stepped onto a brick and climbed up.
Beth quickly pulled her head back as his eyes, now very close, seemed to reach her. However, his hand was slightly faster.
“Why, you were doing this yesterday too.”
His quiet words scattered between hurried kisses.(T/L: WHAT THEY KISSED!)
In contrast to Beth’s flushed lips, Debert’s were imbued with the coldness of a winter night.
The coat fell into the unknown void.
The cold lips were soon warmed by a gentle heat. Debert’s calm, grey eyelashes were right in front of her. As their lips parted briefly, Beth inhaled deeply, taking in his scent along with the air.
The warmth was far softer than the words he had spoken. The lingering sensation of his presence made Beth eventually close her eyes tightly.
As Debert’s lips left hers, his glossy smile lifted slightly. Beth gazed at him, mesmerised, with the moonlight at his back.
“Oops.”
Wanting to tease the woman with such a dazed expression that he felt like devouring her, Debert pretended to wobble intentionally, causing the more startled Beth to quickly grab hold of him.
Her lips, as red as her flushed cheeks, were visibly quivering. Unable to hold back, Debert burst into laughter.
Beth could only watch his smiling face, unable to laugh along. Her heart pounded. The new sight of his curved eyes, the way his mouth lifted into a grin, and the deep, resonant laughter kept making her feel this way.
Debert leaned in, as if he were about to fall over.
Unlike the earlier kiss, this one was light, with an awkward friction sound as their lips briefly touched.
“Beth! Have you had dinner?”
It was Dixie’s voice, freshly washed.
Beth quickly shoved the man from the windowsill. Though she heard him say something as he fell to the floor, the window was already closed.
Dixie, barging in, looked groggy.
“You seem off today. Are you ill? I said we should open the window.”
Beth forced a smile while sitting on the windowsill, waving her hand dismissively.
Debert looked up at the old window with no secrets. The red of Beth’s ears was visible next to his dark head.
If he wanted to, he might have made those wide eyes again at the thought of biting that small head.
Leaning against the exterior wall, Debert slowly traced his lips with his fingers. The brief warmth of their touch left him longing.
“When the war is over…”
The words he hadn’t finished earlier.
Perhaps if she had heard that, she would have shown an even more vacant expression.
His half-formed laughter dissipated into the air. For today, this was enough. Her precious face was worth cherishing.
The light illuminating the floor was turned off. Debert looked up once more at the window where he could see nothing.
His impulse to climb the window, something he had only ever looked up at before, was driven by his frustration. For someone like him, the window of this old place with Beth seemed unusually high.
He hated that.
It felt infuriating that what seemed so close was described as out of reach. It was horrifying to think that he was meant to stand below it for his entire life.
So he wanted to break through that gap.
And tonight, where impulse had overcome reason.
The taste of standing on that window ledge was sweet. (T/L: This chapter is so sweet.)
