“Not just the prosecutor…”
“Excuse me?”
As Lola opened her mouth, Frank fixed his gaze on her, expecting something.
“The patient was under a lot of psychological pressure while undergoing the prosecutor’s investigation. So, I think he might have attempted suicide. It’s the same now. The fact that the patient isn’t trying to wake up explains that he lacks the will to do so.”
“So, what’s the way for the patient to wake up?”
Frank asked impatiently. Lola calmly continued.
“I think it would be best if you didn’t come to the hospital for a while.”
“……”
“Instead, if someone kinder comes or if someone important to the patient or family visits and talks to him frequently, it might help him wake up.”
Lola’s suggestion seemed absurd to Frank, who looked dumbfounded.
“Doctor, you’re joking, right?”
“I’m not joking; it was advice. When the mental stress is too high, a person’s will to live tends to weaken.”
“This is driving me crazy.”
As Frank let out a hollow laugh and muttered to himself, suddenly,
“Doctor, there you are! I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
A refreshing female voice unexpectedly interrupted between the two.
It was Nina, Professor Xavier’s daughter.
‘She was looking for me?’
Lola asked in surprise.
“Nina, is there something wrong?”
Nina’s cheeks quickly flushed with shyness. Although both Lola and Frank were present, it seemed as if Nina only had eyes for Lola.
Nina stepped closer to Lola and lowered her voice to ask.
“Doctor, did you manage to deliver the gift to that guy?”
‘Ah! That’s why she came to find me.’
As Lola pondered how to respond, Frank answered curtly on her behalf.
“The guy you’re interested in is taken.”
“The man you’re interested in, he’s taken.”
When the taciturn man revealed this, Lola was quite taken aback, and her heart tightened with anxiety, fearing that Frank would spill everything.
Nina’s eyes, equally startled, shook violently.
“How do you know who I’m interested in, Frank?”
“Why wouldn’t I know? It’s obvious.”
At Frank’s words, Nina’s face turned bright red, as if she had been caught revealing a precious secret.
‘This man sometimes speaks too carelessly.’
Thinking this, Lola urgently mouthed for him to stop, but it was useless.
Frank didn’t even glance at Lola.
“W-wait, does that guy have a, a partner?”
Nina stuttered as she asked, and Frank confirmed her fears.
“Yeah. He’s probably getting married soon.”
“Excuse me, Prosecutor.”
Lola shot a glance at Frank, signaling him to stop talking, but his lips opened again.
“So it’s better to give up on him.”
Nina’s expression was already on the verge of tears. Her eyes, unsteadily wavering, seemed like they would spill tears at any moment.
“Nina.” When Lola called her with concern,
“Did you know too, Dr.?” Nina said resentfully, then burst into tears and turned to run away.
“Prosecutor, what are you doing? Why did you say that? How could you talk to Nina like that?”
Lola, with a slightly flushed face, poured out her words in succession, and Frank grumbled in confusion.
“Even when I help, I get scolded.”
‘Help? What a joke.’
Now I have a headache.
Holding back her anger, Lola exhaled sharply and said firmly.
“Prosecutor, don’t come to me again. I don’t want to talk to you ever again.”
Frank sighed and, as Lola turned her back, protested as if he were wronged.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong. Nina will find out one day what kind of relationship Dylan and I have, so why should I hide it? I think it’s better for her to know sooner rather than later.”
Lola didn’t respond any further and walked out of the hallway.
She needed to find Nina.
‘What does this man know?’
Why couldn’t I be honest with Nina?
Xavier’s treatment had just begun to show some improvement.
Seeing his daughter, whom he cherished like a treasure, upset would only lead to more worries for Xavier.
Then he might have another panic attack.
After losing his wife, Nina was his only source of solace.
******
Nina was sitting alone on a bench, sobbing. Lola quietly approached and sat beside her.
“Nina, are you okay?”
Of course, she couldn’t be okay, but Lola asked the question anyway. Nina didn’t stop her sobbing.
She seemed to be in considerable shock or quite a bit startled.
‘Why did it have to be Dylan Eve?’
Lola felt sorry for Nina, and on the other hand, she resented that prosecutor Frank.
Yes, just like he said, Nina would eventually find out about her and Dylan Eve, but there was no need to reveal it so bluntly.
If it had to be done, I should be the one to do it.
