Chapter 56: Chapter 56

The sound of the five children running down the hall made Raymond subconsciously give a small smile as he looked at them. The joy of the children seemed to provide a much more pleasant atmosphere amid the crowd of hospital patients, mostly elders. Few patients were the same age as him, and it did not take them to stay long, either. Unlike them. The children laughed loudly before finally falling silent when a female nurse scolded them for making a fuss. Their happy faces faded, followed by their languid heads. He, who had just finished the hospital administration process, only shook his head slowly, approaching the children and also the female nurse who was still busy scolding them with repeated words.

'Let them go,' Raymond's left hand moved to caress one of the children's head with long straight hair, dark brown, which was flowing. The child looked up at him, a little afraid to glance at the nurse, who was now diverting attention from the children towards him. 'In fact, it's more fun to hear their laughter in the middle of a hospital filled with only full of elders and adults, right?'

'But…,' the nurse glanced at the five children who now had hopeful eyes. Then the nurse finally gave up when she saw Raymond, who was smiling and embracing the children. 'You all should thank Uncle Raymond for making me not scolding you.'

As soon as the nurse left, the five children immediately pulled his hands to the playroom that specially prepared for children, which was still well-arranged even though they were rarely visited by children after thanking him in unison. He just nodded, following the children. After all, this would be his last day in the hospital, having spent two years in the mental health department within the same building as the hospital.

Just seeing children who seemed happy because he wanted to join them made him feel better. He lost track of time how much time he spent playing with them until he heard the voices of two people calling out his name out loud before being scolded by a stern-faced head nurse, causing him to turn his attention away from the five children to the source of the voices.

'I thought you came home because your room was empty. Until we found you here,' Hazel scowled, hugging the big dark brown box he did not know what was inside it.

His eyes focused solely on Hazel and Edward who were standing beside her. Since he said that the woman was suitable to wear cute things, the woman changed her clothing style, assisted by Amanda who occasionally came to visit her. Not that he did not like Hazel's old style of dress. It was just that according to him, her fashion style now successfully did their great job to maximize Hazel's charm. As it was now. The woman wore a baby-white beret with a light beige oversize sweater combined with a flared skirt and black platform shoes. Her hair was styled in waves and loose, with a small pink backpack decorated with an alpaca doll.

Meanwhile, Edward was still the same as usual. Wearing a black shirt with a grey-green sweater and dark brown trousers and black shoes was more than enough to bring out the man's charm. The green eyes remained hidden behind the glasses that the man always wore, but that did not reduce the magnetic power created by the two shady eyes.

He immediately said goodbye to the children, who looked disappointed, then approached the two of them.

'Sorry. I thought it would take you long to come here,' he said, making a slightly apologetic face.

'Don't worry about it,' Hazel grinned at him, tapping the top of the box she was carrying. 'We're gonna celebrate the day you succeed in completing your therapy!'

'Although we still have to keep you under our watch,' Edward rubbed the top of his head. 'That was what the doctors and psychiatrists said to us earlier.'

'At least he's a lot better than he used to be,' Hazel continued Edward's words. 'Guess what is in the box I am bringing?'

'Blackforest cake?' he guessed, to which Hazel shook her head back.

'Nearly true. Anyway, it has a thing that you really like.'

'Or at least that's what you believe,' Edward added, his eyes bored. 'It is ti—'

Edward stopped shortly after realized Hazel's sharp glare, sending a signal not to tell him.

Relying on his sense of smell, he tried to guess what was inside once more, then smiled faintly at the cake Hazel had made.

'I know. It is tira—'

'Glad if you already know, but save it for yourself,' said Hazel, looked relieved. 'Our plan was to eat this cake in your room, but because you are not in your room, we move to another place.'

'How about we go to my apartment?' suggested Edward, which both of them quickly rejected.

'Your apartment is really narrow. How could it fit for three people?' Hazel said, puffing out her cheeks.

'Not that one. I just moved into a new apartment,' Edward winked at her. 'It's bigger and spacier than my old apartment, and enough to accommodate three people.'

He and Hazel suddenly blinked in surprise, unable to believe what they had just heard. Especially Hazel. The woman's reaction was more transparent compared to him.

'I didn't tell you on purpose because I wanted to surprise you. The moving process was just finished yesterday. You will definitely like it.'

'Where?' he asked, even more curious.

'It's a secret. You'll know once we got there.'

He just smiled wryly in response to Edward's answer, which was more or less the same as Hazel's. They both prepared a surprise for him. Even though today was not his birthday.

'We better get out now before it's getting dark outside,' said Edward again after taking his smartphone. 'The weather forecast says there will be a blizzard.'

He and Hazel nodded.

They walked away from the hospital building, with him walking flanked by the two people who now officially became his lovers.

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