Gavin stepped out of the elevator just when Brian was about to head back into Joanne's room.

Apparently, this morning's awkward encounter had scarred Gavin for life as he handed the bag containing lunch to Brian instead of bringing it in himself. "Joanne sent me the address of a restaurant just now. I bought the food based on her choice. Don't blame me if it isn't up to your taste."

Gavin turned around to leave.

"Wait," Brian called. "Go back to Arlington today. I'm entrusting all corporate matters to you for the time being."

"But what about things over here?" Gavin asked. "Shall I relocate another person here?"

"There's no need for that," Brian said. "Clark will stay."

"Sounds good," Gavin said with a nod. "The earliest flight is tonight. I'll head back with Chris. But... What about you and Joanne? Don't tell me you guys are staying here until she fully recovers?"

"That's still uncertain," Brian said. He was not confident that he could convince Joanne to return within the next few days. "Ask Wesley to keep a close eye on Rowdy once you return."

"Got it," Gavin said and glanced towards Joanne's room. He dared not imagine what the future might entail for all of them. Sighing inwardly, Gavin turned around and left.

Brian entered into the room with the takeout bags in hand. Joanne sat on the bed with a conflicted look on her face. When she saw him, her mouth dropped open as if to say something. But in the end, she lowered her head without saying anything.

Brian walked toward her. "Are you hungry?" He asked her directly. It was as if the fight between them just now never happened.

Joanne had spent the entire morning lying in bed, so she had not expended a lot of calories. Right now, she did not feel hungry at all. But she remembered how important it was for Brian to have all his three meals on time, so she nodded and gave Brian the go-ahead to unpack the takeouts.

Gavin had bought three dishes and a bowl of soup for them. Although the food was still a far cry from what they usually had in Arlington, at least it was more palatable this time. Seeing the lack of frown on Brian's face, Joanne dug into her own food in relief. She did not eat much since she was not really hungry in the first place. After a few measly mouthfuls, she set her bowl and chopsticks down.

The rain had begun to fall from the sky by the time lunch was finished.

The sun had yet to be seen today. Despite the pattering of the rain against the lofty trees outside the window, the soundless hospital room seemed even quieter.

Joanne watched the white curtain of the pouring rain, her mind emptying gradually. She leaned back against the headboard, staring off into space, doing nothing else except to keep her beautiful eyes open.

"I'll take a quick nap," Brian said all of a sudden. "Wake me if there's anything you need."

It took Joanne a brief while to process his words. When she did, her eyes darted towards the couch automatically. A few folders were spread out on top of the coffee table, and the lid of his laptop was closed. Brian was lying on the couch.

The three-seated couch could not accommodate his tall stature at all. His long legs were bent, making it seem like he had curled himself up on the couch rather than lay himself there.

It was unfair, really; he still looked so handsome and attractive despite the shabby state he was in.

Joanne glanced down at her own hospital bed, which about 1.2 meters wide. Although it was not by any means a big bed, it would still be able to accommodate Brian's figure.

Somehow, Joanne found herself unable to get the words out even when they had already begun forming on her lips. "Will Brian misunderstand my meaning if I say it?"

By the time she got out the three words "Brian", the man himself was already out like a light.

Joanne hesitated for a moment. Then, she grabbed her crutch and silently climbed off the bed. She hobbled over towards the couch and crouched herself down. She gave Brian nudge. He did not react.

He had fallen asleep. Deep sleep, in fact.

By right, someone like him, who was constantly on alert, should not be able to sleep this soundly in the middle of the day.

Joanne remembered what the nurse had told her before. Brian had taken care of her until 3:00am before he finally went to sleep. And yet he had woken up so early this morning. He must really be tired.

How else could he have fallen asleep on the couch, especially considering how picky he was.

Today's temperature was not low, but since the room was air-conditioned, it might still be a bit chilly. Joanne grabbed a thin blanket and then draped it over Brian's sleeping form. Then, she tidied up the documents on the table for him.

When she was done, she crouched down to Brian's level just to watch him.

There was an unhealthy tinge on his face, probably due to his lack of rest last night. A mild greenish shade had formed beneath his eyes, somewhat ruining his handsomeness.

Joanne reached out a hand boldly and stroked Brian's cheek. His skin felt real beneath her hand.

In other words, everything that had happened this morning was real as well.

Including Brian's declaration of love.

The corners of Joanne's lips lifted suddenly. A feeling akin to a mixture of sweetness and surprise erupted from her heart, carried forth to all corners of her body via the blood flowing inside her veins. It was as if every pore on her skin were cheering and leaping in joy.

She had feelings for Brian, and Brian loved her. What reason did they have to even part with each other?

For the life of her, Joanne could not come up with any reason at all.

Then again, there was no harm in messing with Brian for a bit.

She stood up quietly and made her way back to the bed, where she lay back down. The pitter-patter of the rain on foliage soon lulled her to sleep.

Brian rarely took naps during the day unless he was really tired. Even if he did take a nap, he would sleep for no more than an hour. Shortly after he had fallen asleep, his eyes blinked back open.

His eyes automatically sought out Joanne when they opened. She had fallen asleep as well, though this time she did not kick the covers away, perhaps due to the injuries on her leg. The thin blanket was properly draped over her body. Occasionally, he would hear the sound of her breathing. She seemed to be having a nice dream.

Brian stood up, and that was when he noticed that there was a blanket draped over his own body too.

"Did Joanne do this?" He thought.

A certain someone felt a small tug on the corners of his lips. He peeled the blanket off and then stowed it away. After that, he booted up his laptop and got back to work. He tried to keep the noise he made to a minimum despite knowing that it would take more than just ordinary sounds to rouse Joanne from sleep.

Joanne's nap lasted until four in the afternoon.

As far as she could remember, she had never slept so peacefully ever since she turned 15. When she woke up, the sound of the pattering the rain floated beside her ear and her chest was suffused with a feeling of great joy, one that she could not quite put a finger on. Somehow, her fuzzy mind had conjured upon an illusion that everything else in her future would be okay.

Rolling to her side, she sat up. She noticed that the rain had stopped. The pitter-patter she heard before had come from water droplets dripping off tree leaves.

All of a sudden, the sun appeared, much to her delight. More so, considering the rainbow adorning the horizon.

In all the 24 years she had lived, there were only three occasions where she had the opportunity to gaze upon a rainbow like this. Brian was there beside her in all three.

The corners of Joanne's lips tugged upwards automatically. "Brian," she said, "the rain stopped."

Brian closed the lid of his laptop. "You want to go down there?"

"Oh, you mean you're free?" Joanne asked, surprised.

Brian walked towards a corner of the room, where the wheelchair sat. He pushed the wheelchair towards the bed and helped Joanne onto it.

Never in her life had Joanne imagined that there would be an occasion where she ended up in a wheelchair. "Can I not use this?" She asked a bit grumpily. Frankly, she would rather take her chances with the crutches...

"How long do you think you can last with only those crutches?" Brian said, reading her mind. "Or would you rather I carry you?"

"Oh, get over yourself, you narcissist!"

Joanne pushed the wheelchair out of the room on her own while Brian followed closely behind her. Inside the elevator, they ran into the nurse who had taken Joanne's body temperature this morning.

The nurse smiled and greeted them. "Mr. Lambert, Mrs. Lambert."

Brian nodded politely, causing the nurse's tiny face to turn beet red. Hugging the clipboard to her chest, the nurse dashed out quickly when the elevator arrived at her intended floor. She looked about as shy as one of those 17-year-old girls portrayed in TV dramas.

Joanne finally understood something: Brian was capable of ruining anyone wherever he went.

"What a scourge, in the purest sense of the word," Joanne mumbled.

"What?" Brian asked, frowning. He did not quite catch what she had muttered.

Oh, no! She could not allow Brian to know that she was jealous! Not now, at least!

Joanne cleared her throat in affected seriousness. "Nothing! I was just thinking about the case..."

When they exited the hospital building, Joanne realized that coming down for a walk had been the wrong decision after all.

Although this was the largest hospital in City Z, all they could see outdoors were a bunch of skyscrapers. There were no parks available, not even a place for patients to take a walk.

The only thing worth rejoicing was that the air was particularly fresh after the rain. Aloft, the sky was blue and clear as if it had been cleansed by the rain. Up ahead, trees whose name were unknown to Joanne lined the two sides of the small pavement. The leaves of the trees held a tinge of yellow. Some of them had fallen off the trees' branches and were now resting soggily on the muddy ground. Stepping upon them was akin to bringing the sounds of autumn straight to one's ears.

Brian pushed Joanne towards a spot that would provide her with the greatest field of vision. Joanne pointed at the sky. "Look, there's a rainbow," she said excitedly.

A rainbow was just another common natural phenomenon; Brian did not find it all that interesting. Joanne, on the other hand, was as excited as a kid in a candy store. He wanted to understand what it was about rainbows that could bring her so much happiness.

Other than their stripes of various colors, Brian failed to see any other special features that rainbows possessed.

Naturally, Joanne had no plans of telling Brian that her enjoyment of rainbows actually had something to do with him.

After a while, Joanne suddenly asked, "This morning you told me you were there at the golf course at that time when I followed my brother there. So, how come I didn't I see you back then?"

She had been planning to ask Brian about it since this morning, but her mind had been in a state of chaos and disbelief at that time, so she did not manage to ask.

"When I arrived at the golf course that day, Gavin told me you were there. So I left," Brian said.

Joanne's mind went blank for a brief moment. When she realized the insinuation behind that comment, she nearly vomited a mouthful of blood. She whirled the wheelchair around and stared at Brian furiously. "Did you really hate to see me that much?"

"I just wasn't ready. I haven't thought things through yet," Brian said slowly. "I didn't expect you to be there, so I haven't thought about how I should greet, or even face you. That's why I left."

Brian had known all this while that he and Joanne were in the same city. He also knew everything about the comings and goings of her life. The only thing he did not know was how to reunite with her.

Gavin and Wesley never did let him hear the end of it after his avoidance of her at the golf course.

Joanne tilted her head. When she gazed at Brian, her eyes were scorchingly bright. "You were scared, weren't you?"

For a moment, Brian went silent in thought. "Well, it's not entirely wrong if you want to think about it that way," he said.

"..." Joanne was rendered speechless. "How can this man be so aloof even when admitting that he's scared?"

Then again, this was a good opportunity for her to tease Brian!

Joanne was inwardly rubbing her palms in anticipation as she formulated her teasing remarks when Brian suddenly asked her a question. "You don't know anything about golf, if I'm not mistaken. Why did you tag along with your brother to the golf course that day?"

"Um..." All the teasing remarks that Joanne had come up with suddenly got stuck in her throat. She held Brian's gaze for a moment before she started averting her eyes.

She had gone there because her mind had short-circuited, that was why. She thought that by going there, she might run into him by chance or something...

No. She could not let him know that. She absolutely could not let him know that!

The gears in Joanne's tiny brain turned fast. In the end, she came up with what she thought of as a flawless excuse. "A whim! I joined my brother on a whim!"

Brian narrowed his eyes. "Is that right?"

Joanne lifted her chin as a show of boldness. "Of course, it is!"

"If we did run into each other that day, what would you do?" Brian asked steadily.

What would she do? Well, Joanne never really thought about it to be honest. She had acted on impulse for the first time in her life that day. She had barely considered the consequences at all.

Now that she thought about it, she was entirely clueless about what she would actually do if she did run into him.

She raised her chin again. "What do you mean what would I do? Who would even remember you?"