Chapter 14 Misunderstanding
Natalie just wanted to tell Luke the matters needing attention after he was discharged from the hospital, but upon hearing him speaking in such a low voice, she got a little nervous.
He was dressed in black leisurewear and was much higher than her, so when he stood in the backlight, his shadow completely wrapped her.
The light was dim and ambiguous.
"I'm on the night shift, and it is my work to..." Natalie calmed down and looked around as if nothing had happened.
"Really?" he said with a meaningful expression, "Your work?"
Natalie nodded heavily and hurriedly got down to business, saying, "Don't smoke too much. Although your injuries are almost healed, you still need to pay attention to your health. Try your best to avoid tobacco and alcohol. And you should also get more rest... "
Her voice was soft, and when she spoke in a low voice, it sounded as if a kitten were meowing into his ears, and even her chatter became interesting.
Luke suddenly laughed.
Natalie did not know why he was laughing, so she raised her head and looked at him quietly.
He commented, "You're good at disciplining people."
Natalie thought he was blaming her for being officious, so she hurriedly explained, "I told you these things because you are my patient."
Luke lowered his eyes, pondered over the words "my patient" for a while, and then raised his dashing eyebrows, saying "I will not be your patient anymore tomorrow." He took a step back and pulled the small sand chair in front of the cabinet over.
When he bent his back, his shirttail moved up, and his waist was revealed.
It was thin and tight, but he didn't wear anything inside.
Natalie immediately looked away so as not to offend him although she had seen it more than once before.
When Luke dragged the sand chair in front of her, Natalie suddenly realized the meaning of his words, so she widened her eyes slightly and asked in surprise, "Are you going to leave the hospital tomorrow?"
Luke straightened up, turned his head to face her, and gave her an meaningful look.
"Your tone..." He paused for two seconds, and then continued unhurriedly, "It sounds as if you don't want to part from me."
Natalie was speechless.
She didn't know how to explain, so she could only say with an innocent face, "Don't get me wrong." And then, she ponderously added, "You misunderstood my words."
Luke said in a low voice, "I misunderstood your words?"
"Yes," Natalie said firmly.
Luke leaned against the cabinet, folded his arms over his chest, stared at her, and said, "So, is it because you're addicted to disciplining me?
Natalie was quite out of spirits because she worked until midnight, and the smell of tobacco was full of the room, so she was so drowsy that she had felt her eyelids become heavy.
But when Luke began to tease her, she immediately woke up.
"I don't want to discipline you, don't say such words!" she blurted out, wrinkling her nose.
Who would dare to discipline him?
Anyway, she didn't dare.
Natalie wore a pair of glasses and a ponytail, and a light pink collar was revealed out of the neck of her white coat.
She was a petite woman with a small face, and her head couldn't even reach his shoulders. As long as he lowered his eyes, he could see the smooth skin that was partially covered by her collar.
The light was dim, but her eyes were bright. When she raised her head to look at him, her face looked a little childish and aggrieved.
On the eve of departure, Luke suddenly wanted to play a trick on her.
"Don't you want to discipline me?" He asked slowly, "Then, what do you want to do?"
Natalie froze.
When she was about to speak, Luke who was standing in front of her suddenly leaned forward, and a gust of wind poured in through the window, bringing his tobacco scent into her nose. Smelling this, Natalie quickly took a step back, and her legs bumped into the sand chair.
She suddenly lost her balance, swayed, and fell into the chair.
The "perpetrator" rested his hands on the armrests, leaned over, and looked down at her with a wicked smile in his eyes.  He then said word by word, "Do you want to discipline me?"
Natalie's heart skipped a beat and then pounded violently.
She knew Luke was playing tricks on her and that he loved pranks. She also knew that she should act calmly to let him feel bored.
But when he looked down at her condescendingly, his shadow completely enveloped her, and she couldn't help tensing up.
Although her ears turned red, she was unwilling to show the white feather. She glared at him and retorted, "You are so..."
Her grumble sounded a little flirtish, and the second half of the sentence was interrupted by a loud collision.
The two froze together and then looked at the source of the sound tacitly.
Mark was standing still at the door with fear in his eyes.
From his angle of view, he could only see Luke's back, and Dr. Moore was sitting in the sand chair encircled by him.
Mark thought Dr. Moore was facing Luke's private part, and it was so dark inside.
He heard Luke ask whether she wanted to discipline him.
And she had praised him.
Mark was dumbfounded, and the words "love affair" were resounding in his mind.
To survive, he forced a flattering smile and said, "I am just passing by and accidentally hit against the door... I am going back to my room right away."
He decided to leave them alone.
"See you around, Dr. Moore." Mark tried hard to reduce his presence and even considerately shut the door for them before leaving.
Natalie came back to her senses when hearing the sound of the door closing.
Feeling something was wrong, she abruptly stood up, glared at Luke who remained calm, and ran away with a blushing face.
She could not face Mark anymore!
-
Natalie had never seen Luke again since that night.
He was discharged the next day and disappeared from Natalie's world. Or rather, when their doctor-patient relationship ended, they returned to their separate worlds.  
Luke didn't completely disappear from Natalie's world because Mark often updated his Facebook.
The turmoil of the hospital acquisition had not subsided, but the acquisition process in the Bennington Group seemed to have been hindered, so it had not started yet.
Natalie had thought Luke was still in Alcomara.
But Mark's Facebook told her they were abroad.
Mark updated his Facebook almost every day. From scenic spots to yummy meals, he had posted many fragments of his daily life, which were very trivial.
But Natalie often saw a trace of Luke in his pictures.
For example, in the corner of the dining table, she saw Luke's left hand wearing a black and gold watch,  and his fingers looked slender. In Mark's selfies, Luke's blurry figure occasionally appeared too.
There was a distance of more than 14,000 kilometers between them.
When he was enjoying his life in a foreign country, Natalie was traveling back and forth between the hospital and Clovervale Residence every morning and night.
Every time she saw the black suit hanging in the closet or saw Mark's update on Facebook, she would have an inexplicable trance.
She even felt that the memory of Luke being hospitalized in No. 901 for a month was unreal.
After sunset, the whole world was like a dream.
After people woke up, everything would disappear as if they were unreal.
A week before New Year's Day, Mark posted a video at a racing track in Stodan and wrote, "Do you want to race with me?"
In the video,  he was trying to look cool beside the racing track.
Natalie finished her night shift around 1 am. Before she went to bed, she saw his post.
It was still daytime in Stodan now.
In the video, the racing track was spectacular, crisscrossing through valleys, and the motorcycles in the distance were rumbling by. Only by watching the video, Natalie could feel the thrills.
In the last few seconds of the video, she saw Luke behind Mark.
He swung one of his long legs and rode on a black heavy-duty modified motorcycle, wearing a black and red protective suit.
He stretched his hand to pick up the helmet and put it on neatly, poising for take-off.
The video ended here.
Natalie sat on the bed, wondering whether his bone injuries had completely healed. Why did he dare to race now?
She thought he was courting death.
The night before he left, she had especially reminded him to have more rest.
-
December 31st was New Year's Eve.
On this day, the hospital sent all the medical staff and inpatients strawberries and bouquets as New Year gifts.
The strawberries were big and plump,  and the color was red and white, looking expensive.
Natalie's whole office was immersed in surprise, and the doctors were all moved by the generosity of the hospital.
Natalie suddenly thought of Luke.
While he was in the hospital, she ate his strawberries, which had also been red and white, and they had been very sweet. She still remembered the taste.
And she also remembered the mangoes he ate.
The bouquets were wrapped in high-end matte paper and tied with a lovely white ribbon, and there was a card attached.
Natalie opened the card, and it read, "Happy New Year, Dr. Moore."
Natalie showed a faint smile inadvertently.
She then received a message from Mia, saying, "Mt. Waters is snowing! Let's go there to celebrate New Year's Eve!"
The New Year's Day holiday was coming, and Natalie could have a rare rest.
She was quite interested in Mia's  proposal, so she replied, "I will get off work in 30 minutes."
Mia said, "Beauties reached consensus! I will pick you up at the hospital in half an hour! Do you want a burly man or a cute one? I promise either will be handsome and in good shape. Choose one!"
Natalie asked in confusion, "Tour guide?"
Mia replied, " I would rather to called them gigolos."
Natalie refused, "I don't want to take a holiday with boys I don't know!"
Mia retorted self-righteously, "We're both single! Why can't we take a holiday with the boys? Don't be so No boys, no fun!"
Natalie nodded and thought her words made sense.
The festive atmosphere was pleasant, so Natalie decided to humor Mia and said she wanted both.
Seeing her reply, Mia excitedly began to make calls right away.
When Natalie put down the phone and tried to finish the work at hand, a nurse on duty suddenly appeared at the door of the office and said, "Nata, Mr. Scott asked you to go to the parking lot in Area A."
Natalie was stunned for a while before responding to the nurse.
She could not figure out why Mr. Scott wanted her to go to the parking lot, but she could not refuse, so she went there with doubts.
The parking lot in Area A was not far from the inpatient department.
It was 5 pm in winter, so it was like iced red wine outside. The light was dim, and the weather was cold.
The streetlights in the hospital all lit up, and when she breathed, a cloud of white fog would appear in the orange light. It was freezing cold, so there were very few people along the way. Natalie straightened her down jacket, tightened her neckline, and speeded up her pace.
If Forrest had not appeared, it would be a perfect New Year's Eve.
But there was a crook in the lot of everyone, and Natalie saw Mr. Scott and Forrest waiting together in the parking lot.
Forrest was dressed in winter business suits, and his sternness was unchanged when he got out of the black Cayenne.
Seeing him, Natalie froze in situ for two seconds, and then, she turned back to leave without hesitation.
But after she took two steps, Forrest quickly grabbed her arm.
"Natalie," Forrest said in a deep voice, pulled her back, and continued, "Go back to have dinner with me."
Natalie wanted to break free, but there was a huge disparity in the strength between men and women.
To tell the truth, she and Forrest could never become strangers. After all, she had been raised by his family, so she could not be so ruthless. But Forrest's bossing attitude made her uncomfortable.
"We've broken up," Natalie said coldly.
Forrest grabbed her stubbornly and said expressionlessly, "My mother asked us to go back."
Hearing this, Natalie acutely found the problem.
"Madam Hart doesn't know we broke up?" she asked.
Forrest's eyes darkened, and he didn't answer her question.
Seeing this, Natalie knew the answer.
"I will tell her myself." Natalie didn't hate Forrest, but they were indeed not for each.
And she always wanted to part friends.
She took a deep breath, and the air was so chilly that her internal organs felt cold. She said, "Forrest, Happy New Year! Can you please not come to meet me at the hospital anymore?"
Natalie was still gentle, but there was no love or care in her tone anymore.
Forrest pursed his lips, and his grip gradually tightened as if he wanted to break her arm. Natalie frowned because she felt a little pain although she was wearing thick clothes.
After a moment of silence, Forrest sneered,  "If you hadn't blocked me, I would not have come here to meet you!"
Natalie looked up and met his eyes.
Forrest took a deep breath, but he was still raising his chin because his pride did not allow him to bow his head. He said, "Natalie, enough is enough. Can you stop it now?"
...
It was a quiet winter evening, and the sky was getting dark.
The army green Wrangler was parked nearby, but the place was hidden and far away from the streetlights, so no one noticed it.
Luke leaned against the car, put the cigarette between his fingers into his mouth, took a heavy puff into his lungs, and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
While the smoke was floating, he stared in the direction of the Cayenne not far away and narrowed his eyes.
He did not expect to see the scene as soon as returning to Alcomara, and he felt annoyed to see Natalie meet her ex-boyfriend.