What Separates Me and You

Lewis smirked, but his teeth clenched behind his lips. "I'll live for a long time, Josephine. Likewise, I'll ensure that you live just as long. Don't forget.

"My condition before agreeing to your promise was you must follow through with your treatments. Otherwise, your little scheme will fail."

Josephine's eyelids weakly fell shut as she sighed. "Whatever."

"Get some rest." Lewis placed the blanket over her and tucked her in before leaving the bedroom.

Only after entering the study did his suppressed emotions blow up. He shoved everything off his desk and threw things against the floor. By then, a thunderous storm had shrouded his features. Josephine couldn't hear anything from upstairs. Yet, everyone downstairs could and quivered in fear.

Not long after, Lewis phoned Yannis to come over.

Yannis' features warbled anxiously at Mrs. Larson, who returned his stares with a look that said, "Poor you. You're on your own."

With every trembling step, Yannis arrived to knock on the study door. As he stepped toward the couch, it felt like he were a criminal approaching the stand for his trial.

"I-Is there anything you need, M-Mr. Alvarez?"

Lewis tugged at the collar of his shirt but accidentally ripped out one of the buttons because he had used too much strength. It revealed the gauze bandage on his chest, which had a pool of blood seeping from beneath it.

"Change my bandages," he ordered.

That caught Yannis off guard, so he took some time to process it. He couldn't believe Lewis had finally come around after throwing a tantrum.

While Yannis was in a daze, Lewis shot him a murderous stare that scared the bejesus out of him.

"I-I'll get my kit right away!" He sprinted out the door and returned with his medical kit in less than two minutes.

Lewis slumped on the couch with his legs wide apart while Yannis removed his bandage. As expected, his wound had torn open, causing fresh blood to pour out. Near this gunshot wound was another scar on his chest from his previous surgery that hadn't vanished yet. There was also a scar on his back, likely from when Kiran stabbed him.

Yannis spoke with the utmost caution. "Mr. Alvarez, you'll need new stitches, but I-I didn't bring any numbing cream."

"I don't need it."

Yannis wiped the sweat off his forehead, sanitized his equipment, and put on some gloves to begin sewing up Lewis' open wound.

He distracted Lewis by saying, "Mr. Alvarez, your injury hasn't healed, so please don't overexert yourself. Likewise, try to keep your emotions stable. Otherwise, it will affect the time it takes for you to heal." Even though Lewis seemed active, only Yannis knew how severe his wounds were. His life wasn't in danger. Still, Lewis didn't want to underestimate the seriousness of a gunshot wound, especially since he bled so much.

It wasn't an exaggeration to assume Lewis couldn't even beat Yannis in a fight right now. In fact, Yannis believed he could defeat Lewis with a mere punch. Of course, those were merely Yannis' thoughts. He wouldn't dare try it in real life.

"How's Josephine doing?" Lewis ignored the former's advice.

Yannis' hand trembled, which caused him to accidentally stab Lewis' wound. All at once, he fell silent and looked up, only to meet Lewis' stern gaze.

With a gulp, he quickly lowered his head to focus on stitching up the wound. "Things with Mrs. Alvarez aren't looking positive. Why don't you send her to the hospital since her health is declining?" "Didn't you say she has a mental illness? What's the use of sending her to a hospital?"

Yannis quivered again. Fortunately, he gripped the needle hard and prevented himself from stabbing the former. He even pretended to appear calm. "Other doctors may know ways to improve her depression." Lewis' piercing gaze fixed on Yannis. He studied the latter as if discerning whether the latter was lying. "Yannis Halliday, think about how I'll end you if I find out you're lying to me."

It took all of Yannis' concentration to keep his body from trembling.

Pure hostility radiated from Lewis as he stood close to Yannis.

A chill crept down Yannis' neck. It felt like a sharpened knife hung above Yannis' head and would fall onto Yannis at any moment. He stitched up, applied some medication cream, and bandaged Lewis' wound quickly.

"It's done, Mr. Alvarez."

Lewis grabbed his shirt and put it on while walking out of the room. It was almost impossible to tell he had just received stitches for a wound from his tall and straight demeanor.

Yannis felt that someone who was cruel to themselves as Lewis wouldn't let him off the hook. So, he needed to think of ways to escape this place.

...

The next day, Josephine opened her eyes to see a group of foreigners standing before her. She guessed that they were doctors from how they dressed. The group discussed amongst themselves in an unfamiliar language.

Josephine wasn't in the mood to listen to them. Her head felt too heavy. Not to mention, she couldn't understand a word they said. So, she shut her eyes and let them do whatever they wanted. It was the third time something like this happened.

She had learned from Avery yesterday that Lewis had made an online announcement to the world. He offered 20 billion dollars to anyone who could cure her. It was 10 billion before but had risen to 20 billion. There was no telling if Lewis would further increase the reward money later.

This method allowed him to locate someone capable of curing her. Yet, it also came with a main disadvantage. Plenty of scammers would try to profit from this situation.

Josephine's temples ached even more now that the group argued loudly before her bed.

Sitting on the couch was Lewis, who donned a black outfit from head to toe. Even he frowned coldly at the group.

Conrad stood beside the former and whispered, "Chairman Alvarez, these people claim to have a unique medication, but are we really letting Mrs. Alvarez take it? What if her body can't handle taking too many medications..."

"Have you checked their backgrounds?"

"Yes. Their identities and qualifications check out."

Lewis no longer replied. His gaze settled on Josephine's face and saw her tightly furrowed brows. That was when he ordered, "Tell them to leave."

That baffled Conrad, but he quickly snapped out of his daze and ushered the group out.

One person was unwilling to give up. He insisted that Josephine tried his medication. In the next second, several bodyguards barged into the room to forcefully remove him.

The bedroom soon returned to its usual silence.

Lewis approached to sit beside Josephine. While cupping her cheek, he asked, "How are you feeling today, Josephine?"

Josephine opened her eyes to glance at him before forcing herself to sit up.

Lewis helped her at once.

That one action used up her strength. It left her panting as she spoke. "Lewis, can you please stop torturing me?"

A frown marred Lewis' face. "I told you I'd cure you. Just pretend those guys don't exist and accept whatever treatments they give you.

"You" Hearing his reply sparked rage in Josephine, who gripped her collar tightly while heaving.

"Josephine!" Lewis held her in his arms and patted her back to soothe her.

Josephine's chest rose and fell hard. No matter how much she tried, it felt like something had clogged her airways, and she couldn't breathe. It felt like she was drowning.

"Yannis!" Lewis bellowed.

Yannis had been standing outside the room, so he bolted in once he heard Lewis. Josephine's flushed face startled him, but he soon took some acupuncture needles. After lifting her sleeves, he stuck the needles on the insides of her forearms.

In less than two seconds, the trapped air in Josephine's lungs shot up her throat. Blood spattered out of her mouth and landed on Lewis. The warm fluid leaked from his neck onto his shirt. Splotches of blood dotted his face down to his chin.