You are not my fake wife

Unknown to Arthur, Livy decided to return to their house. There should still be one class schedule tomorrow at the university, but suddenly the class teacher announced that tomorrow's class was closed.

At first she didn't intend to go home at all, but when she saw that the text she sent Arthur was still unread, she started to get nervous. It was almost late at night when she was returning home in a taxi. Until she finally arrived.

"Miss, payment according to the taxi fare." The driver warned.

Livy didn't hear it because her eyes were fixed on the open gate of the house and a car came out from there. Arthur's car. She was very clear that it was already eleven in the night.

Was Arthur in that car? Where is he going?

"Miss?"

"Ah? Sorry, sir, but could you follow the black car in front? I'm not getting off here."

The driver agreed, though he said, "It's getting late, don't you worry about going alone? My shift will end in half an hour."

Livy replied while continuing to look at the car she was following, "If it's too far, I'll get off. Now just follow the car first."

In the end the driver could only agree. After a few moments of following, the car stopped at a large private hospital building on the outskirts of town. It was actually a half hour drive.

Livy absentmindedly paid the taxi fare and got down. Didn't care about the change that the driver shouted.

She saw that the black car did not go to the parking basement, but waited in the lobby and someone approached the car.

"Evander?" She was confused.

No matter how hard she tried to digest this, she couldn't find an answer. Arthur's car finally drove away after the driver handed Evander a package. And the man went inside the hospital.

Livy followed him silently until he got on the elevator. She looked at the numbers on the elevator and saw that the elevator stop was the second floor. She waited for the elevator to come down again and headed to the same floor.

"Why did I follow him? Arthur could have just passed and left in the car. Now what am I doing here?" She grumbled. Even so, she still walked through the corridor full of nurses passing by.

She didn't even know which room Evander had gone to.

"Great, Livy. If you were caught, what answer would you give?" She sighed.

Every room door has a transparent glass that can be seen from the outside, she carefully looked at the doors one by one. She didn't look at Evander at all, until she finally stopped when her phone rang.

An incoming text.

[Livy, let's have some hotpot!]

'Hotpot my ass!' She growled.

It was almost twelve at night. Is Sarah crazy? Ah, Livy forgot that her friends are sometimes so magical with their thoughts. She ignored the text. She started looking at the doors again one by one, until she reached the end of the room, and saw Evander coming out of one. Livy reflexively hid.

As she peeked at Evander turning in another corridor, she headed into the room. From the door it was not visible who was inside, and she slowly opened the door.

However, when the door was not fully open, her eyes fixed on someone who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. She was so shocked that she was speechless. She staggered back a little.

'A-Arthur ...' She covered her mouth.

What on earth happened?

She with shaking legs approached the bed and convinced herself that the person lying on the bed was really Arthur, her husband. The man was very pale and thin. She watched Arthur's body from top to bottom. She reached out to touch, but she didn't have the courage at all. Her tears fell silently.

"A-Arthur ... what h-happened? Arthur? A-Arthur?" Livy was so scared now that her tears wouldn't stop falling.

What really happened? She still couldn't digest this. Arthur lying here weak and she didn't know anything? She clearly saw Evander coming out of this room, it was clear that this was Arthur, this was the truth. The man lying here was Arthur, no one else, but her husband!

But why?

"Arthur? What's wrong? What happened to you?" Livy sobbed, but didn't dare to touch him to wake him up. Afraid her touch hurt him.

Arthur was so pale and weak. Why did she feel that he had also lost weight?

Without she noticing, from the direction of the door Evander returned and he froze there. When he came to his senses, he grimaced and cursed whoever caused this trouble.

How did she get here?

"Livy?" he called, and he even forgot the greeting 'Miss' which he used to intentionally pin on his best friend's little wife.

As soon as she turned around, she was immediately taken aback.

"E-Evander, wh-what's going on? What happened to Arthur? Why is he like this?"

Evander winced and held her shoulder. "Calm down, ok. You calm down first."

He glanced at Arthur who was still asleep, and dragged Livy outside.

"Tell me what happened. Why is Arthur here? What happened to him? Why n-nobody tell me? Why ...?" Livy said impatiently while shaking Evander's shoulder.

"It's nothing. You sit down first." Evander guided her to sit down. Then after she calmed down a bit, he continued, "He's just asleep, don't worry."

Her tears could not stop falling again.

Evander sighed. "Ok. I'll tell you."

***

It took quite some time for Livy to feel calmer and accept Evander's explanation. Dave even approached the two of them after he left work. Livy hasn't said anything since then.

"He fell asleep under the influence of the medicine and won't wake up until morning. But he's fine. Don't worry, Sister-in-law." Dave tapped her on the shoulder. Because she was still silent, he glanced at Evander who immediately shook his head. "It's not our intention to keep this a secret, but Boss doesn't want you to worry and it will interfere with your studies."

Livy was crying again. "Can I see him?"

Dave glanced at Evander again before replying, "It doesn't matter, as long as you don't disturb him."

She entered the room alone now. She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath.

According to Dave's explanation, there is no disease so serious as a problem in his eyes. And therefore has a sudden relapse, causing Arthur to collapse in the office and be rushed to the hospital.

The incident happened on Monday, after she returned to university to start studying again. That meant four days have passed.

She was very sad because she just found out about it now.

Arriving at the edge of the bed, Livy sat down slowly on a plastic chair. She didn't take her eyes off Arthur for a second. Finally she was not crying anymore now, but her heart wrenched in pain. Seeing Arthur sleeping like this, he looked so frail and weak. Even to touch his hand, she did it as gently as possible, until finally she held his cold hand.

Livy dropped her cheek on the side of the bed, facing his face. Holding the man's hand, she looked at his pale face and said nothing. She let the silence allow her to hear his quiet breathing.

Only then could she sense that Arthur was fine.

"Please be okay."

When Arthur woke the next morning, he had a cramp in his right arm. He didn't know why, but his arms were heavy to move and a little numb too. He opened his eyes slowly, just like the previous days, he only saw black in his eyes, but he knew it was already morning.

There was a gentle breeze brushing against his skin. The more he came to his senses, the more he was sure that someone's head was resting on his arm.

Without thinking, he reached out in the intended direction. He touched a head with straight, silky hair down to its shoulders, before flinching and pulling his hand back.

In an instant, he became irritated.

Livy.

Arthur was sure that the person sleeping in his arms was Livy. After all, who else if not her? But how did she come here?

When Arthur tried to pull his arm as slowly as possible, the head that was above him twitched.

"You awake?" Livy said in a sleepy voice. Stretching her body slightly, she picked up a glass and poured some water. "Want to drink?"

"Why you are here?" asked Arthur coldly.

The bad mood that Livy had been trying to suppress since last night came right out again. "I accidentally came here and saw you."

Arthur sighed. "Someone told you, didn't they? Dave or Evan?"

"N-No, no, no. I'm telling the truth," said Livy. "Nobody told me. I just knew."

She held herself back from crying and her nose was already turning red.

She looked down. "But why didn't you tell me? Why did you deliberately hide this from me, huh? Don't you like me knowing?"

Arthur didn't answer.

"You know ... I was so scared to see you lying in this bed last night. I thought ... I thought you ..."

Livy didn't continue and she cried silently. On the other hand, Arthur knew that something like this would happen, that was why he didn't want to tell her. He immediately grabbed her hand and held it.

"I'm fine."

"So, why?" Livy asked slowly. "Why didn't you want to tell me? Don't you believe me? What if something bad happened to you and I found out from someone else? Did you think I could take it? Why, Arthur? Why?"

Arthur didn't know how to answer that.

"Is it because I'm just your fake wife. That's why you think you don't care whether I know or not?" continued Livy softly.

"It's not that ... sorry."

The apology did not represent any question. Livy increasingly felt that she was so far away from Arthur and the man seemed to be increasing the distance between them.

Livy withdrew her hand from his grip and stood up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Livy answered while wiping the tears off her cheeks, "Washroom."

Arthur clenched his fists. He couldn't see but he could feel that Livy was angry. Obediently he waited for her to return. He thought he had to say something so that she wouldn't misunderstand. He shouldn't just apologize flatly like that.

But right when she returned, Arthur didn't know where to start, so he just kept quiet.

"You drink first," said Livy.

Arthur still didn't know if she already knows that he is blind at this time. So he could only try hard to stare at her through her voice.

She ignored Arthur's outstretched hand, instead she pressed a straw to the corner of his dry lips.

"I will help you," she said.

Arthur complied and drank a few sips of the water. At the same time the nurse on duty came to check. There were two nurses and one of them was pushing a tool cart. She watched as the nurse exchanged pleasantries before checking on Arthur and changing his IV.

Livy secretly watched Arthur's expression, he only showed a straight face.

"So I'm home today, right?" Arthur asked as he felt a cold liquid being injected into his bloodstream. He tried not to wince at the lingering stinging sensation.

The nurse smiled. "I'll get the doctor's advice on that. Mr. Finnegan is under Dr. Hummel's supervision, right?"

"Yes."

Livy who was confused, immediately approached. "Going home? Has he recovered?"

"All physical examinations are good. Do you still feel dizzy, nauseous or have stomach discomfort?"

"... No." Arthur replied calmly, not completely lying.

"That's good. If your vital tests later show good results, you can request discharge procedures."

The nurse answered smoothly. With one glance, she could tell that this girl in front of her was the girl her superior referred to as the wife of the owner of this hospital. Incidentally, his boss—Dave—has warned them not to worry this girl.

After the nurse left, there were only two people left in the room and both of them refused to talk. Livy remembered that Dave said that the problem was only in Arthur's eyes. Then she realized that his eyes had been out of focus and the color in his eyes had thickened. She casually waved in his face to make sure.

"Why are you waving your hand in my face?" asked Arthur flatly.

Livy flinched and pulled her hand back. "You can still see?"

The answer was no.

However, the movement of her hand created a slight sweep of air that Arthur could feel and there were faint shadows moving in his eyes.

Since he didn't answer, Livy continued, "I mean, I thought you had a recurrence in your eyes and a worsening of your vision. I just wanted to make sure."

"Has Dave told you yet?"

Livy shook her head wearily. "He didn't explain much, nor did I listen to him talk because I was still so shocked last night."

Arthur was silent.

"Arthur, I know that I'm just your fake wife. But can I be notified if you are in trouble? I may not be able to help you, but I will be there to provide support. I am so sad to see you like this. I don't want ... something bad to happen to you."

If it were anyone else who said this, Arthur believed they were just trying to look good to ingratiate themselves with him. Because everyone who has been close to him is a hypocrite.

It was just that when Livy said it, he somehow believed that she was very sincere. He has been investigating her life long before they were 'married'. He knew that she was a pure and very sincere girl.

Arthur patted the empty space beside him. "Sit here."

Livy obediently sat on the side in question. When she sat down, Arthur's arms wrapped around her shoulders and hugged her. His long fingers stroked her hair gently.

"You are not my fake wife anymore. So ... will you be my legal wife from now on?"

Arthur continued to hug her even though he felt her body stiffen.

... to be continued ...