Caught In His Embrace: A Second Chance Romance

Instinctively, Sienna raised her hands to help her. However, the force was too great, and they both fell to the floor, with Sienna unintentionally becoming her cushion, hitting the ground hard.

"I'm sorry." The woman clumsily scrambled to her feet, trying to apologize, but before Sienna could say anything, Conner came back.

Like picking up a small animal, Conner grabbed the woman and anxiously looked at Sienna. "Sienna, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Sienna shook her head, stood up, and noticed her palms were scraped and stung, with tiny beads of blood appearing.

Conner instantly became furious, glaring at the woman. "Can't you watch where you're going? You just walked right into her." He thought, 'Sienna has a condition and can't afford to get hurt.'

"Ah!" The woman raised her arms to protect her head, trembling with fear, "I'm sorry."

"Apologize is useless. If Sienna's..." Conner said.

"Forget it." Sienna shook her head at Conner, seeing the woman shivering, "It's just a small injury."

In the crowd, a large number of people rushed forward. The woman suddenly struggled. "Let me go!"

"Think you can just walk away after hurting someone?" Conner refused to let go. Sienna frowned, those people must be after this woman. "Conner, let her go."

"Sienna?" Conner asked confused.

"Hurry!" Sienna yelled. Those people might discover the woman any moment now. "Alright." Conner reluctantly released his grip.

The woman was stunned, she lifted her head to glance at Sienna and managed a smile. "Thank you." She then quickly turned around and dashed into the crowd.

"Where is the woman?"

"She clearly ran this way."

"Spread out and find her."

Watching the direction the woman ran off to, Sienna silently prayed that she wouldn't get caught. They were strangers. Sienna didn't know what had happened to her. But the woman's desperate escape reminded her of herself that year in Fliraty.

Conner grabbed Sienna's wrist, very worried. "Sienna. You're bleeding a lot. Quick, let's see a doctor."noveldrama

"Why are you exaggerating?" Sienna chuckled and pulled her hand back. "It's just a scrape. A tissue will clean it right up, and by the time we see a doctor, it'll already be healed."

"You can still make jokes?" Conner frowned, eyes wide, nearly stomping his foot. "What's wrong with you? Your blood is valuable."

Sienna suddenly realized that Conner didn't know about Joyce yet. She pressed her lips together and looked up at him. "Actually, I'm not the one who's sick. It's not me who has aplastic anemia."

"What?" Conner was taken aback, confused. "Sienna, what do you mean?" He thought, 'If Sienna isn't sick, then why do we go to the hospital?'

"Let me show you a picture." Sienna picked up her phone and opened the gallery. "I didn't mention it because I hadn't expected a successful match. I have a daughter. The one who's sick is my daughter."

Sienna held up the photo for Conner to see. "Look, this is my daughter. Joyce."

"Let me see." Conner was still a little confused. He took the photo and looked at it, unsure whether to feel happy or sad. "She's so beautiful, so adorable."

Conner thought, 'Joyce is so cute, I should feel happy, but such an adorable girl having aplastic anemia.' His emotions were all over the place. "What's her name?"

"Joyce," Sienna replied.

Conner murmured, "Joyce, Joyce. She looks like me."

Indeed, Joyce's eyes and brows had a certain resemblance to Conner. Conner's eyes became slightly moist, and he said with difficulty, "Sienna, I'm sorry."

Conner thought, 'Their family owes Sienna so much. None of them even know Joyce.' "Your daughter is already so grown up."

Sienna pressed her lips together and couldn't say she was good, so she stayed silent.

Conner adjusted his mood, flashing a smile. "Sienna, when can I meet Joyce?"

"Sure," Sienna nodded. The surgery was already being prepared and scheduled, so it was time for Joyce to meet Conner. Besides being her uncle, Joyce should also meet Conner who donated bone marrow to her.

"Oh!" Conner slapped his forehead in excitement. "I need to prepare a gift. Meeting Joyce for the first time, I can't be careless. What does Joyce like? Sienna, tell me about it."

"Alright." Sienna nodded with a smile.

*****

At the hospital, Josiah slowly opened his eyes. The afternoon ward was quiet. The caretaker was snoozing on the attendant bed, and Yvette was resting by the bedside, her long hair draped over her shoulders.

Josiah thought, 'Is she Sienna?' He frowned and raised his hand.

Yvette stirred, lifted her head, and saw him awake, was both surprised and delighted. "Josiah, you're awake?" It wasn't Sienna. It was Yvette.

Josiah's raised hand quickly fell. He thought, 'Of course, it can't be Sienna. Sienna doesn't want me anymore.'

"Feeling better?" Yvette raised her hand to check Josiah's forehead temperature.

"Much better," Josiah turned his face away, leaving Yvette's hand hanging in the air. "It's just sweat," he said, "Don't dirty your hands. I feel much better."

Yvette withdrew her hand with a slight smile. "That's good."

The caretaker woke up too and brought over some water. "Would Mr. Flynn like some water?"

"Thanks," Josiah replied.

"Give it to me." Yvette took the cup from the caretaker and offered it to Josiah, "I'll hold it while you drink."

Josiah shook his head. "I can handle it myself. It's not anything serious." He picked up the cup, tilted his head back, drank it all, and handed the empty cup back to the caretaker.

"I want to take a bath, could you run the water for me?" Josiah asked.

"Sure." The caretaker nodded and went to do it.

Josiah finally looked at Yvette. "Yvette..." Just then, Yvette's phone rang, interrupting him.

Yvette waved her phone. "I'm taking a call. I'll be right back."

With that, Yvette pushed her wheelchair out of the hospital room. "Hello..." The caretaker came out of the bathroom. "Mr. Flynn, the water's ready." "Okay." Josiah nodded, standing up and heading into the bathroom. Soaking in the warm water, Josiah closed his eyes, and all he could see were Sienna's different expressions-whether smiling, pouting or angry, there were so many of them. He took a deep breath and suddenly ducked under the water. Josiah thought, 'It's alright. I'll forget. Over time, I'll surely forget her. Sienna is right; who can't live without someone in this world? I'd been alone since birth, and haven't I managed to survive until now?

'But my chest felt so empty as a barren land with not even a blade of grass growing. Is this my retribution? I didn't care for her before. And now she discards me like an old shoe. What goes around comes around, right?'

When Josiah came out of the bathroom, Yvette had back and waved to him from the dining table. "All done? Come over here. I ordered some porridge with side dishes. It's tasty and easy to digest."

Josiah dried his hair, glanced at her, then at the table. He nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Thanks."

"No need to be so formal," Yvette gave him a playful eye roll. "Just because you didn't accept my confession, you don't treat me like family anymore?"