Chapter 91: Applying Medicine
Vivian Lowell bustled about.
She first went to the bathroom to fill the tub with hot water, then fetched Julian Faulkner’s cup and poured him some lukewarm water. She then gathered povidone-iodine, cotton swabs, and a few other things, and returned to Julian Faulkner’s side.
"Let me apply the ointment for you!"
Vivian Lowell was very serious.
Using tweezers to hold a cotton ball, she dipped it in the povidone-iodine solution and began gently dabbing the back of Julian Faulkner’s hand.
As she dabbed, she also blew on the wound, cooing as if to a child, "Don’t you worry, little one. The nice nurse will be gentle~"
"I’ll be very gentle, it won’t hurt!"
"..."
A rush of heat went to Vivian Lowell’s head; she felt like she’d just said something incredibly suggestive.
The heater was on in the room, and the warm air was enough to make her cheeks flush a faint pink.
Thankfully, when Vivian Lowell snuck a glance at Julian Faulkner from the corner of her eye, she saw that he didn’t seem to have noticed her little slip-up.
’Good, he didn’t notice!’
Vivian Lowell felt a bit more relieved. After she finished treating Julian’s wound, she was about to wrap it in a bandage again.
"There’s no need for a bandage."
But Julian Faulkner frowned and refused. He said, "The wound hasn’t fully healed. If I bandage it now, taking it off later will just tear the skin open again."
Vivian winced.
Hearing Julian’s description and picturing the scene in her mind, Vivian felt a throbbing ache on the back of her own hand.
She had actually experienced it before.
When she was little, she was just learning to ride a bike. She’d been clumsy and had fallen, scraping her knee and needing a bandage.
Her knee had been bleeding, and when the bandage was applied, the blood had glued it to the wound. When it was time to take it off, it was incredibly difficult. Soaking it in warm water helped a little.
But there were scabbed areas that wouldn’t soften, and it was excruciatingly painful when the bandage was just ripped off.
’Just now... when I saw Julian take off his bandage, he was so quick and clean about it. Was that when he tore the wound open?’
’He didn’t even make a sound!’
’His... his pain tolerance is just unbelievable!’
Vivian Lowell was astonished.
She looked at Julian Faulkner seriously and said, "Well... if you don’t want a bandage, that’s fine. But the iodine on the back of your hand isn’t dry yet, so please be careful."
"Try not to get it wet when you shower, and when you go to bed to rest..."
At this, Vivian Lowell trailed off.
’Go to bed to rest.’
’What bed does Julian even have!’
’Ever since they’d started living in the same suite, she had completely taken over his bed. Julian could only sleep on the sofa!’
He had been sleeping on the sofa for almost a month now.
Luckily, the sofa was soft and quite large. Vivian had sat on it a few times and felt it wasn’t much different from being on a bed.
But even so, it was still unfair to Julian.
The illustrious CEO of the Faulkner Group, sleeping on the sofa for a month after marrying his own wife—if word of that got out, Julian’s ’cool and aloof CEO’ image would be in tatters!
Thinking about this, Vivian Lowell felt a pang of guilt.
"How about you sleep in the bed tonight? I can sleep on the sofa?"
Vivian Lowell asked tentatively, feeling this was a perfectly reasonable way to care for an injured person.
"..."
Julian Faulkner sighed, looking at Vivian Lowell with a complicated expression.
Vivian’s confidence wavered. She didn’t quite understand the look in his eyes.
’Is he resentful that I’ve occupied his bed for so long?’
"You... you want to sleep in the bed from now on?" Vivian asked again, testing the waters. Just as she’d thought, Julian Faulkner nodded.
’So it’s true!’
Vivian Lowell felt like crying. A sudden thought struck her: ’Julian Faulkner is a little mean!’
’He’s using his injury as leverage to take back ownership of the bed!’
’Does this mean I’m the one who’ll have to sleep on the sofa from now on?’
Vivian felt bitter. She hesitated for a moment, then her gaze fell on the back of Julian’s hand, injured because of her. She sighed and said, "Alright."
"From now on, I’ll let you sleep on the bed. I’ll..."
Before she could finish, Julian Faulkner cut her off. "That’s not what I mean."
!?
Huh?
Vivian Lowell didn’t get it. She gave Julian a puzzled look.
Julian continued, "The bed is huge. We have two comforters, so we can each have our own. We won’t disturb each other, right?"
"That way, one of us doesn’t always have to be on the sofa. And it’s such a hassle moving the pillow and bedding from the sofa back to the bedroom every morning."
!!!
Vivian Lowell mulled over his words.
’So, he only suggested we sleep together because he finds it troublesome for me to bring him his bedding every night, for him to "make his bed," and then for it all to be put away first thing in the morning?’
Julian’s bed was at least two and a half meters wide.
It was definitely big enough for both of them; they could probably fit two or three toddlers in the space between them. But...
Before, a wall had separated them.
Now, only a comforter would lie between them.
Vivian Lowell felt a mix of guilt and panic.
’Luckily, Julian Faulkner is a gentleman. Even if we sleep together, he’ll probably be a total Galahad, right?’
Vivian Lowell repeated this to herself until she felt much more at ease. Only then did she say, "Okay, then. I agree. Uh... I think the bathwater is ready."
"Why don’t you go take your bath first?"
Julian Faulkner nodded. Without saying a word about how he was supposed to bathe by himself, he turned and left.
Only then did Vivian Lowell breathe a sigh of relief.
However, as she watched him walk away and remembered his suggestion that they sleep in the same bed from now on, she had the sudden urge to roll around on the floor in frustration.
’How did it come to this!?’
Vivian Lowell was extremely vexed. As she listened to the sound of running water from the bathroom, her heart fluttered with panic.
"Tanya!"
She sent a message to Eleanor Rhodes: "What do I do, what do I do! Julian Faulkner said he wants me to sleep with him!"
"!!!"
Eleanor Rhodes replied almost instantly.
Just as Vivian was waiting for Eleanor to reply with a strategy to save her, Eleanor sent an image macro with the text "Wishing you a hundred years of happiness."
"Vivian, congratulations! Julian is being so proactive, HAHAHAHA! Don’t tell me tonight’s going to be your actual wedding night? This is great!"
"Julian is a good man, I think he’s a great catch. Seize the day, Vivian!"
"Anyway! It’s super late now, I need to get some sleep! I’m signing off!"
"Oh, right! Since it’s your first night sleeping together, why don’t you decorate the room a bit? That way it’ll feel more ceremonial, you know?"
"..."
Vivian Lowell was speechless.
She sent a few more messages to Eleanor Rhodes, but received no further replies.
’Hey, you completely misunderstood! It’s not like that!’
On the verge of tears, Vivian Lowell took a deep breath and glanced at her and Julian Faulkner’s bed.
That’s right.
This was their bed now.