Love's Second Chance novel Chapter 12

Hayden was speechless for a moment, but there was a subtle hint of amusement in his eyes. "You…"

Then he heard Zara say, "I'm on the way to the hospital. I'm bringing you food."

Hayden did not say anything, but he had an inkling of what was happening.

When Zara broke ties with Jonathan, she decided to let go of her past and start over.

In a way, she had also started accepting herself.

"Alright. Have a safe journey."

Harper was sitting beside Hayden, peeling him an apple.

She handed the apple to Hayden, but he ignored her.

"Hayden, have some fruits," she said.

Hayden did not even spare her a glance. When Harper tried to hand him the apple, he pushed her away with his hand, saying, "No, thanks."

Just then, the door opened.

When Zara came in with all her things, Harper saw Hayden's expression soften. She hadn't even known Hayden could look at someone with such warmth. Then again, it seemed like he would only have that expression around her—Zara Cardellini.

Harper glared at Zara coldly, but she couldn't do anything else but leave.

Zara glanced at Harper before walking up to Hayden. "What did you do to your sister?"

She placed the food on the bedside table and sat down, straightening Hayden's blanket as she did so.

Harden raised his eyebrows. "She's probably upset because I didn't eat the apple she peeled."

Zara opened the to-go container for Hayden. "That's it? She probably thinks you're playing favorites."

Hayden's eyes were dark, but the warmth in them was obvious. "You know her better than I do."

A woman would understand another woman better. Harper had looked like she was angry and jealous.

Hayden didn't want to talk about Harper anymore, so he changed the subject. "What did you get me?"

Zara opened the container. Hayden could smell the scent of chicken noodle soup from the box.

When Zara did not answer, he guessed, "Chicken noodle soup?"

Hayden was right. Hearing this, Zara asked if he often had chicken noodle soup.

"Not often. But I loved chicken noodle soup when I was a kid."

Zara nodded. She was about to hand the soup to Hayden, but he just stared up at her blankly without lifting his hand.

"What's the matter?"

Hayden still did not lift his hand. He looked down at his injuries, then back up at Zara.

When Zara seemed to not understand what he meant, Hayden said, "I think it's going to be hard for me to eat, what with my arm being injured."

Zara wanted to argue against that, but Hayden looked completely serious, so she didn't know how to start. Then again, Hayden had hurt himself because of her, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to take care of him.

It would also be rather unkind to expect him to feed himself when he was injured.

In the end, Zara did not say anything. She just grabbed a spoon and ladled up some soup. Then, she blew on it to cool it down before feeding the soup to Hayden.

Hayden looked smug and triumphant, which made Zara think that he was faking his injury.

It had been a clear day earlier, but right now, it was raining cats and dogs outside the hospital.

A sudden clap of thunder startled Zara. The container in her hand jolted slightly as well, but she continued feeding Hayden as if nothing had happened.

However, Hayden was perceptive. He'd seen Zara during a rainy day before; she'd looked uneasy then as well. She was dazed and looked a little terrified.

Cautiously, he asked, "Are you afraid of rainy days?"

Zara wasn't surprised that Hayden had guessed that. Even though she acted like she didn't care much, she still looked a little preoccupied.

"Yeah," she said.

It wasn't nice to keep bringing up someone else's pain, but sometimes one needed to face their fears, or the past would poison the future.

Zara sensed immediately that Hayden was about to say something, so she said, "I've thought about it too, but it's not that easy to recover from trauma. I've tried for several years, but I still can't forget what happened on that rainy day years ago."

If they hadn't come over to play with her, they might have their own families and living happy lives now.

Zara would be able to visit her parents. She could've had a little sister or a little brother.

However, just because they wanted to accompany her, tragedy struck.

Hearing this, Hayden did not continue to press on.

He stayed at the hospital for almost two weeks before he was in a good enough condition to be discharged.

However, he still couldn't do any intense or prolonged activities.

Zara often accompanied him on a walk in the park. Sometimes, they would also stay home and watch TV.

One time, when they were both bored, Zara saw that Hayden had a piano in his home.

She had seemed interested in the piano, so Hayden taught her how to play a song.

Zara was staying in his villa with him, and there was no longer the threat of Jonathan hanging over him. Therefore, Hayden made a request to Zara.

Zara stared at him dazedly, wondering what he would ask of her.

She had expected something outrageous, but Hayden just said softly, "Zar, could you dance for me?"

Zara paused. She didn't know how to answer that.

Hayden added, "I'll play the piano while you dance. Just treat this as a celebration of my discharge from the hospital."

It wasn't an outrageous request at all, so Zara agreed.

She went back to her room and put on a mid-length dress in white.

Then, she returned to the piano room and struck a starting pose, waiting for Hayden to start playing the piano.

Hayden was still trying to decide which song to play. When he saw Zara's dress, he finally thought of the perfect song.

When the music started, Zara began dancing to the tune.

Her dress swayed along with her movements, making it look like butterflies fluttering around her.

She looked like a goddess.