Take My Breath Away

Blair didn't take her car out that day. She slowly walked down the road back home in her high heels, carrying the laptop bag in her hand.

As she walked to an intersection, she saw a young couple bickering along the sidewalk.

The girl looked unhappy and was giving the boy a cold shoulder. He threw her onto his back without warning and ran straight ahead, ignoring her protests.

The scene reminded Blair of Wesley. He always did the same to her.

In most cases, when she was angry with him, he threw her over his shoulder, carrying her like a sack of potato, rather than carry her gracefully in his arms.

Immersed in her memories of Wesley, Blair didn't notice that the traffic light had turned red and continued to cross the road.

The sounds of the squeaking brakes and blaring horns snapped her out of the trance. But it was too late. She saw a car on the right bearing down on her.

In a panic, she instinctively stepped backwards and because of her high heels, she lost her balance and sprained her ankle. She fell to the ground and her laptop bag was thrown a few feet away from her.

The driver reacted quickly and swerved the car abruptly to avoid hitting her. It narrowly missed her body, but the rear tire grazed her leg. The car didn't stop until it crashed onto the green belt in the middle of the road.

A searing pain shot through her leg.

She felt her heart ache when she saw that her laptop bag was run over by the car. 'It's probably broken, ' she thought.

In no time, a woman got out of the car in a hurry. When she saw Blair sitting on the ground with a bleeding leg, she was so frightened that she had to support herself against the car door.

A man opened the passenger door and jumped out. He ran to the frightened woman and pulled her into his arms. "Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm all right, but she..." Her voice trailed off as she pointed towards Blair. The pool of blood scared the life out of her.

After comforting his wife, the man quickly strode to Blair and checked her condition. "Miss, are you okay?"

"Yes... It's nothing serious..." Blair said weakly, bearing the pain.

More cars had stopped behind them, piling up the traffic on the road. To avoid a traffic jam, the man carefully held up Blair from the ground. She stood on one foot. "Miss, let's get you to the sidewalk first," the man suggested.

"Thank you." He carefully walked her to the side of the road.

After making sure that she was fine, he ran back to the middle of the road and picked up her laptop bag. "Is this yours?" he asked.

Blair nodded and took the bag from him. She unzipped it, fearing the worst. The laptop was indeed broken.

She sighed. Now, there was no way to check the video file that Wesley had copied to her laptop.

The man called the traffic police and an ambulance. His wife hadn't recovered from the shock yet and was crying.

The caring husband didn't have the time to access the situation of the accident. He tried his best to soothe his wife. "Honey, calm down. I already called the traffic police and the ambulance. She should be okay. Her leg is injured, but it's nothing life threatening."

The weeping woman threw herself into his arms and nodded, "Mmm... I was just so scared."

"Don't worry. It's okay," he comforted her again and again.

Blair was jealous as she witnessed the loving scene in front of her. How much she hoped Wesley was by her side at that moment! If he were with her, he would have cared about her and comforted her just like that man.

The traffic police came very soon. Blair admitted her mistake and apologized, "Sir, it was me who ran the red light. I take full responsibility for the accident."

Blair's statement surprised the couple. They didn't think that she would admit her mistake. Feeling a little guilty, the woman said, "I was in the wrong too. I shouldn't have driven so fast at an intersection." She looked down at Blair's wounded leg and added worriedly, "Your leg...Does it hurt? Why hasn't the ambulance arrived yet?"

Her husband assured her, "It will arrive soon, honey."

Luckily, Blair's purse wasn't run over by the car. Her belongings were safe. She pulled out her phone and told the couple, "I don't have much cash on me at the moment. I'll wire part of the compensation now. After repairing the car, please let me know the total amount and I'll pay the rest."

They heard the siren of the ambulance approaching and Blair quickly wired one hundred thousand dollars to the woman's account.

Unfortunately for Blair, their car was a Mercedes-Benz. She knew that the repairing fee would be very high.

She took a look at the crashed car. The front part was smashed. Realizing that the money she had sent was not nearly enough, she wired another one hundred thousand. "I really have no idea how much this is gonna cost you. Just let me know if this is not enough." She handed them a business card. "This is my card. I work in a company nearby. You can call this number anytime."

The couple was impressed by Blair's genuine attitude. They nodded, "Please take care of your wound first. We'll contact you later."

"Okay. Sorry for the trouble." Then the couple, together with a nurse, helped Blair into the ambulance.

Coincidentally, Blair was sent to the hospital where Niles worked.

Niles was just about to leave when the ambulance arrived at the hospital. Out of habit, he went closer to the ambulance to see if it was a severe case.

But when the doors of the ambulance opened, his eyes went wide in shock. "Blair? Oh, Sister-in-law!"

Hearing his voice, Blair opened her eyes slowly. She was in pain. "Oh…Hi, Niles," she greeted, embarrassed.

A nurse, who was next to her stretcher, smiled at Niles. "Dr. Li, is this your sister-in-law?"

"Yes," he nodded to the nurse and then turned to Blair again. "What happened, Blair? What's wrong with your leg?" Niles freaked out after seeing her bleeding leg.

Before Blair could speak, the nurse explained, "She was in a car accident. Her leg is injured. She's lucky that no bones were broken."

Niles heaved a sigh of relief. He and the nurse helped Blair onto the hospital bed. Then, they wheeled her to the emergency room.

There was a deep wound in her leg. She had lost a lot of blood.

When the doctor on duty was treating Blair's wound, Niles took the chance to call Wesley. "Wesley, you busy?"

"No. Just finished today's outdoor training. What's up?"

"Blair had a car accident..." Niles deliberately left his words unfinished, waiting for his brother's reaction.

Wesley's reaction was within his expectations. He immediately bombarded Niles with a barrage of questions. "What? How? Is it serious? Where's she now? Is she hurt?"

"Hey, hey! Let me speak," Niles interrupted him. "She injured her leg. I already checked her wound and it's nothing to worry about. She won't even have a scar left on her leg after some good treatment."

Wesley was a little relieved. "Does she need to stay at the hospital?"

"No. I'll drive her back to the apartment later."

"Mm hmm."

Niles continued, "I heard that she was hit by a Benz. It was Blair's fault; she ran a red light. So, she has to take full responsibility for the accident. She has apparently paid two hundred thousand dollars to the car owner, but I don't think that's going to suffice. The car bonnet was rammed onto the green belt. I would love to help my dear sister-in-law, but Grandpa has a tight hold over my purse strings. I guess you know what to do, right?"

Wesley silently listened to him. He replied calmly, "Give her a general check-up. Let her stay at the hospital tonight. Let her go tomorrow after making sure that she's completely fine."

'A general check-up?' "But... Wesley, there's no need. It's just a small wound in her leg..."

"Cut the crap! Just do what I say!"

"Okay, okay. Got it. You're the boss."

Niles hung up the phone angrily.

In the emergency room, a nurse was applying medicine to Blair's wound. Niles walked up to them, grabbed the medical tools and told the nurse, "Leave this to me. Please help her complete the admission procedures. And tell Dr. Liu that my sister-in-law needs a general check-up. I'll make the payment later."

The nurse was confused. She thought that Niles was overreacting to the situation because the woman was his relative. She said, "But her condition isn't serious. She doesn't need to stay overnight, much less accept a general check-up."

Blair agreed with the nurse. She only had a wound in her leg and a small bruise on her arm. It wasn't severe at all.