He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 197

Nelson had been standing outside all night, not daring to knock. He just stood there quietly, watching her.

Juniper lowered her head and headed straight into the mountains without saying a word.

Nelson followed closely behind her, matching her step for step.

The mountain was blanketed in a dense fog, and the heavy rain from the night before had turned the paths into treacherous mud pits.

Carrying her small bucket, Juniper nearly pitched forward into the dirt.

Nelson instinctively reached out to catch her, but she aggressively dodged his hand, grabbing onto a frail branch to steady herself instead.

He silently pulled his hand back.

*Cough, cough.*

He hacked quietly, desperately trying to suppress the burning itch in his chest.

*Cough, cough, cough.*

Juniper kept her head down, intensely focused on foraging. She didn't recognize many varieties, so after several hours, her bucket was only a third full.

Because of the excessive rainfall this year, the mushrooms were unusually scarce.

When she got hungry, she pulled out a piece of bread, took a few bites, and immediately resumed her search.

Whenever she stopped, Nelson sat quietly nearby.

Juniper ignored him completely. It wasn't until five in the afternoon, with her legs caked in mud, that she finally decided to call it a day.

If she left right now, it would take six hours to reach Metropolis. Then, she could have someone deliver the fresh harvest directly to Eleanor.

She returned to the cabin and grabbed a brush to aggressively scrub the thick mud off her boots.

She had previously arranged for a local driver to pick her up at six o'clock sharp.

But as the deadline approached, the driver called and cancelled. He claimed it was too far out of the way, and the location made him uneasy.

"Miss, don't blame me for being cautious. You're deep in the middle of nowhere, and I was worried it was some kind of setup."

Juniper let out a humorless laugh, but she understood his reservations and couldn't force the issue.

She hung up the phone, her brows knitting together as she tried to figure out a way back.

Nelson finally spoke up. "Quinn is nearby. I'll have him come over."

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