âOh, youâre talking about that.â Lisanneâs tone turned brighter. âI donât either. Have I told you about the person I admire?ââYes,â came Winnieâs reply. âI remember you telling me about it. Itâs Marie Curie, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize.ââYes, thatâs the great woman I admire. What a pity their research environment was terrible back then; they did not have as many precautionary measures as we do.
Because of her long-term exposure to radioactive material during her research, she ended up passing away from aplastic anemia. I donât want that, of course, but I believe death for a noble cause should be worthwhile. Alpha radioactive gas has yet to undergo human trials. Iâm simultaneously the researcher and the test subject. Even if I end up dying, I am sacrificing myself for science. I think itâs worth it. God, what am I talking about? Weâre not going to die. Iâll find a way to cure us all. Trust me, Winnie.ââOf course,â was Winnieâs confident answer. âI refuse to believe that Iâll die this easily. Still, thereâs something I want to ask you about.ââWhat is it?ââHow does the red marking look like? Is it ugly? I asked the doctor about it earlier, but she didnât tell me anything. Iâm guessing it looks horrible. Does it look like the markings of a melon?ââMelon markings? Iâm surprised you thought of that. Arenât the markings of melons too thick? Have you ever watched fantasy dramas? Do you know how the veins on their faces turn black when theyâre poisoned?ââI have. I still remember the name of the drama.ââWhat drama is it?
Letâs see if we were watching the same drama.â A moment later, she cried out, âDarn! Thatâs the drama I was talking about. We really watched the same thing.âThe two of them ended up chatting from the topic of a life-and-death situation to the topic of television shows they used to watch. It was as though they were unbothered by their crisis.At that moment, Xavier was outside the quarantine room, watching Winnie.By then, he had already found out about the red markings on Winnieâs body.He was afraid that she would feel bad, and he was terrified of losing her. That was why he had rushed over to her right away, wanting to cherish every second he had with her.Yet, it seemed that she was chatting merrily with Lisanne. Even though he had no idea what they were talking about, he was content with standing just outside, watching her.No matter which angle he looked at her from, the woman he loved was simply the most beautiful woman in the world, especially when she smiled.He could not bring himself to disturb her, so he continued standing outside until Lisanne noticed his presence and ended the call.Once Xavier saw that they were done with the call, he went into Winnieâs room.Upon hearing Xavier, Winnie stretched out her hand to him.Xavier strode toward her.Before he could say anything, Winnie uttered, âDid you bribe the doctor? Youâre here right after sheâs gone.ââItâs just a coincidence. If you werenât adamant about kicking me out, I wouldâve stayed here with you,â Xavier said as he put a hand on her stomach. âCan I take a look?ââNo. I havenât even looked at it myself, so how can I let you look at it first?â Winnie rejected him with a smile. âWhy arenât you talking? Are you really that interested? Lisanne and her colleague will be recording these symptoms. Theyâve taken photos of theirs, so you can go and check out Lisanneâs male colleagueâs photo instead.âThere was a pained look in Xavierâs eyes that Winnie could not see. âI donât want to. Iâm not interested in other people.âEven though Xavier was already suppressing his emotions, Winnie could still hear him choke on his words. She wrapped her arms around Xavierâs neck and said, âDonât be like this, okay? Youâve been here for a while now, right? You must have seen how unperturbed I was when I was chatting with Lisanne. If we, the ones caught up in this, arenât worried, why are you worrying about it instead? Youâre only stressing me out.ââThen what should I do?â Xavier asked, tears in his eyes.âYouâre neither a doctor nor a scientist, so thereâs nothing you can do. Just relax as I do and think of this as just a normal cold.
Go back to your normal schedule.âXavier was silent for a while.Winnie snapped her brows together.
âDonât stay silent. I canât see you now, and if you donât say anything, I canât tell what youâre thinking about.ââOkayâ¦â Xavier choked out as he hugged her tightly. âI wished I was the one in your place.ââBut I donât wish for that.â Winnie gently stroked the back of his head to console him. âDonât blame yourself for this. I have some things to do later.ââWhat things?ââOfficer Clark, Captain Gibson, and Greta will be coming over to visit me. Do you want to head back to work on your stuff first?ââNo need. Iâve already handled all the urgent matters.ââAll right. Iâm going to get up to familiarize myself with my surroundings, so Iâll be training myself. I need you to correct me.âXavier froze as another wave of heartache washed over him. It took him a while before he could give her a hum in agreement.About half an hour of training later, James and the others came.The first thing they did was ask how Winnie was before Winnie asked them some questions in return.âDid you find the bomb later on?ââWe did. Although Harold was shot to death on the spot, his subordinates have confessed everything,â James said. âHowever, according to his subordinates, thereâs someone else in the line of command above Harold who only Harold knows how to contact. Unfortunately, we couldnât find his phone at the scene. Apparently, that person was the one who provided Harold with the bomb. In other words, that person is the most dangerous person of all. Weâll have to catch them as quickly as possible if theyâre still in the country.âThose words brought a frown to Winnieâs face.He has someone else he reports to? A phone?All of a sudden, a thought popped into Winnieâs head.When she came out of the chemical plant back then, Harold had shoved her into a car. After saying things that Harold disliked hearing, Harold angrily put a bag over her head.Her hands were tied at that time, and her vision was blocked by the bag, but she could sense something falling beside her hand from the bag.It was something small and thick. She did not dwell much on it, and after getting it, she sneakily put it in the back pocket of her pants. She forgot about it after that.Recalling the moment now, she realized the thing felt like an old phone.Upon realizing that it could be something James and the others were looking for, Winnie squeezed Xavierâs hand and said, âWhere are the things, including my clothes, I had with me when I was rescued? Where are they?âXavier was quiet in contemplation for a second. âThey took it for processing when they quarantined you, but I think they kept it away.ââThen hurry up and get them back,â Winnie started. âThere should be an old phone inside.
It could be Haroldâs.ââAll right. Iâll get someone to work on that right away.âShortly after, the things Winnie had before she went into quarantine were brought over.Indeed, there was an old phone among the itemsâone that could only make calls and send messages.Winnie could not see anything, so she had to wait until James was done studying it before asking, âSo how is it? Did you find anything important?â