He Mourned My Death, I Loved Another Man

Chapter 3

When Matthew woke up, he was all alone in the hospital room, and although the wound on the back of his head had already been treated, it still throbbed so badly it felt like someone was drilling into his skull.

"Don't move yet!" a nurse said as she came in carrying a tray of supplies. "Let me change your dressing first."

He nodded and then asked, "How did I get to the hospital?"

"The cemetery caretaker called an ambulance," she replied.

A sharp sting shot through his heart, but at the same time, he felt it made perfect sense. Of course, Dakota wouldn't have bothered with him.

After the nurse finished changing his bandage, she told him to get some rest, so he lay back down, but sleep just wouldn't come.

Just then, he heard two nurses chatting from outside his door. "That patient, Justin, is so lucky. His girlfriend is beautiful and so caring. She acts like she'd rather take his pain herself."

"I know. The way she fusses over him, it's enough to make anyone jealous."

Matthew clutched the blanket tightly and, without even meaning to, remembered how back when he used to get sick, Dakota would always frown and say, "Matt, I wish I could take your pain instead."

Then the next day, she would purposely go take a cold bath, wake up with a fever and a cold herself, all in the name of "feeling the same thing together" with him.

But now, that tenderness of hers was no longer meant for him.

Drifting in and out of sleep, he dozed off again.

When he opened his eyes next, Dakota was sitting by the bed, and she gave him a cold, hard look. "Matt, go apologize to Justin."

"What did you say?" Matthew thought he must have heard wrong, and he let out a cold laugh. "You want me to apologize to the son of the person who killed my parents?"

"He's not a killer!" She corrected him, her expression still cold. "He had no idea what his parents did. He's innocent. Back when I was captured and nearly died in there, he saved me, took care of me, and helped me escape step by step."

By the time she finished, a trace of warmth had actually crept into her eyes, as if she were savoring those moments all over again.

Matthew felt a prickling, stabbing ache in his heart. He fought to hold back the tears burning in his eyes, and his voice shook as he spoke, "Why does he get to live his life just fine while I feel like a shell of a person? I even almost killed myself because of you!"

Dakota's expression didn't change, as if it had nothing to do with her. "Matt, his parents are already gone. We already got our revenge. It's over now. It's time for us to move on."

"I can't move on!" Matthew gasped for air, his eyes unyielding. "Dakota, as long as I'm alive, I will never let Justin get away with this!"

The moment the words left his mouth, a loud thud came from behind him.

Dakota turned around and saw Justin take off running, his eyes bloodshot and wild.

"Justin!" Her face changed instantly, and she rushed after him, but not before throwing a warning over her shoulder. "Matthew, Justin already feels guilty enough. If anything happens to him, I will never forgive you!"

Matthew's heart gave a painful lurch, and he struggled out of bed to follow them.

Up on the rooftop, Justin's face was deathly pale. His thin body leaned against the outside of the railing, his toes barely touching the edge, and he swayed so much that it looked like the smallest gust of wind would send him falling.

"Justin, get down from there! You're scaring me!" Dakota's voice was tight with fear as she crept a few small steps forward.

But Justin barked at her to stop. "Don't come any closer! If you take one more step, I'll jump right now!"

"Okay, I'm not moving!" Dakota froze instantly, her eyes full of panic, and her voice turned into a desperate plea. "Justin, please just come down, all right? If something happens to you, I won't want to live anymore either."

Matthew had just burst onto the rooftop when his footsteps suddenly froze, and a cold chill ran through his whole body.

Justin's tears kept streaming down his face, and his voice cracked as he spoke, "Kota, Mr. Walsh is right. If it weren't for my parents, you two wouldn't have lost yours, and you and he wouldn't have ended up like this. It's all my fault. I'm the one who owes you."

"Come down first. We can talk about this slowly," Dakota said, reaching out her hand, the corners of her eyes red. "I'm begging you, Justin."

Justin shook his head as tears ran down his face, and he looked at Matthew. "Mr. Walsh, I'm sorry. I'll pay for it with my life."

But even as he said that, he didn't make a single move to jump.

Matthew suddenly let out a cold laugh and started walking toward him step by step, his eyes like ice. "If you really feel that guilty, then why don't you just jump? If you're too scared to do it, stop putting on this poor act."

"Shut up!" Dakota grabbed Matthew's wrist in one swift motion, and the next second, she slapped him hard across the face.

A sharp c***k rang out, and Matthew's head snapped to the side, his cheek stinging with fire.

"Matthew, are you looking to get yourself killed?" Her voice was terrifyingly cold.

His eyes red, Matthew shoved her away and charged at Justin like a madman. "You're too scared to die, aren't you? Fine, I'll join you. Let's head to hell together!"

He lunged forward and seized Justin, and the two of them went sliding down along the edge of the roof like kites with their strings cut.

"Matthew!" Dakota's scream tore through the air behind them.

Matthew opened his eyes and saw her diving toward him, but instead, she threw her arms around Justin and pulled him protectively against her.

Matthew let out a bitter laugh, feeling foolish for thinking she had come for him, and closed his eyes, waiting for death to take him.

A loud bang rang out, and his head felt fuzzy, but there was no pain. Beneath him was a rescue air cushion.

Sirens blared from every direction as paramedics and firefighters swarmed onto the roof. Matthew was lifted onto a stretcher, and before he lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was Dakota, her eyes full of worry, staying close to Justin as they both got into another ambulance.