I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 281

Nora froze.

She had never expected a seven-year-old child to ask a question like that.

She looked at Annabel's pale face, a gentle smile slowly curving onto her lips. "Annabel, what makes you ask that?"

Annabel fiddled with the hem of her doll's dress and looked up, a heavy smile appearing on her face—one far too burdened for a child.

"I know you must be exhausted. You all are under so much pressure. It's not just us; all those eyes outside are watching you every single second."

She paused, her voice dropping to a near whisper as she sighed. "I'm really tired, too."

Nora didn't say a word, her eyes flashing with a deep ache for the little girl.

"From the aggressive treatments in the beginning to now, when nothing seems to be working," Annabel continued, "my parents have spent so much money. They've spent everything just to cure me. They have absolutely no life of their own anymore, and I hate seeing them like that. It breaks my heart."

Tears welled up in her incredibly red eyes as she looked up. "Nora, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm so tired. Can you please just tell them that my illness has spread everywhere and I can't be cured?"

A heavy wave of suffocation washed over Nora's chest.

It wasn't that she hadn't seen patients want to give up before; after spending so much time in the wards, she had witnessed every shade of despair.

But hearing it from the mouth of a seven-year-old child felt unbearably heavy.

The little girl must have seen something. Perhaps it was the sight of her parents begging on their knees before doctors, or her mother's tear-stained face hidden in the middle of the night.

Annabel nodded. "I am, but..."

"Then there are no 'buts'." Nora cut her off, her tone leaving no room for argument, though her eyes were endlessly warm. "You can rest easy."

Annabel didn't argue further. She stayed quiet for a moment, her gaze drifting past Nora's shoulder toward the door of the ward.

Her expression shifted as if she had suddenly remembered something. "But earlier, I think my dad might have hurt that man. Can you go check on him? I'm a little worried."

Nora stood up. "Don't worry, I'll go check right now. From this second on, don't overthink anything. Just get some good rest."

Annabel nodded, hugging her doll tightly to her chest. "Okay, I'll be good."