Twisted Ties of Love

"Izabella!"

Casey suddenly blurted out, startling Izabella. She looked at Casey, who had just opened his eyes and softly said, "I'm right here."

Seeing Izabella in front of him, Casey felt disoriented. Was he still dreaming? Waking up from a deep sleep, his head felt like it was filled with mud, and his ears were ringing.

He stared blankly momentarily before looking at Izabella, automatically raising his right hand, only to feel a sharp pain in his elbow.

"Don't move around. You're injured," Izabella quickly cautioned him.

"I'm injured?" His voice was hoarse from just waking up.

Izabella handed him a glass of water, adjusted the angle of the bed for him, and helped him drink. After drinking the water, he began to recall what had happened. He remembered the cause of the accident and the dreams he had.

In his dream, Izabella had turned into a different person, with someone who looked like him. Even though it was just a dream, he felt upset.

Especially when Brett said, "Izabella only sees you as a stand-in." It was like brainwashing.

Casey felt a tightness in his chest, which was already pitch black outside the window.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"About five or six hours. It's almost half past eight now. I was afraid I wouldn't have time to buy food tonight, so I bought some soup in advance. There's a microwave in the hospital. I'll go and heat it for you." Casey didn't feel hungry, but seeing Izabella's eagerness to help, he didn't refuse.

"Thank you, Izabella."

Izabella gave a small smile. The microwave was outside the ward, and she needed to cross a corridor. She picked up the soup from the cabinet.

"You rest well in bed. Don't move around. I'll go heat the soup."

"Okay."

Watching Izabella's retreating figure, Casey's mind was filled with thoughts.

He felt scared, scared that the dream he had was real, scared that Izabella's kindness to him was because she saw him as a stand-in.

He always thought he was superior, but it turned out he had his own shortcomings.

Casey looked at his own hand, which would cause nerve pain at the slightest movement. His head was bandaged, and he could smell the scent of the antiseptic. He touched his forehead with his uninjured hand, unsure if he was disfigured.

If he really was a "stand-in", and if his looks were ruined, no longer resembling Ryker, would Izabella still give him a second glance?

Casey had never felt so humble, like a deflated ball. He thought that many things were unexplainable, yet they all seemed to tie together.

Whenever Izabella looked at him, it felt like she was looking through him at someone else.

Izabella's resume showed that she came from a rural area where she would never have the chance to meet someone like Brett.

But the relationship between Brett and Izabella felt like they knew each other from a past life. Brett even gave his cat to Izabella, and the way Izabella treated the cat was not like a regular pet. Previous events were unanswerable, but if he looked at it from another angle, if Izabella was the "Izabella" who died in a fire at the age of 27, then everything could be explained.

Casey closed his eyes, and a vibrating sound suddenly rang in his ears. He followed the sound and saw Izabella's phone on the cabinet.

A Twitter notification popped up. Casey's pupils contracted slightly, not because he saw any important information but because he was contemplating.

He had been in a car accident, and Izabella came to the hospital to find him. What would their fans think?

Even if Izabella hadn't see it before, didn't she know the news of his car accident?

How could she not see it? She must have pretended not to see it, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

This was quite good. At least he could stay by Izabella's side, unlike Brett, who couldn't even get close.

There was a noise outside the door. Casey looked over, "Your phone just rang. It was a Twitter notification."

"It's nothing serious." By her calculations, it should be the termination notice she had set up.

Izabella didn't even glance at her phone and sat by the bed, and the soup was just the right temperature, ready to be drunk.

Izabella fed him with a spoon, asking him, "Does it taste good?" Watching Casey eat, she asked.

"Yeah, it's delicious." In reality, it was just ordinary soup with some mushrooms and a hint of salt. It wasn't particularly good, but anything fed from Izabella's hand always tasted better and better the more he drank.

While drinking, Casey asked, "You just left the crew like this? Aren't you afraid people will see?"

Izabella replied, "I didn't think that much then."

Casey tested the waters, "Can I take it as you caring about me?"

"You don't need to take it that way, and I do care about you. I came to the hospital to find you when I saw the trending news about your accident." When Izabella said this, her head was lowered, her eyelashes trembling slightly, like a small fan.

Casey's heart beat in sync with her eyelashes. He asked, "How did you know I was in the hospital? Did you see it online?"

"Do you remember anything after the accident?"

"I remember some things, but mostly I don't."

Izabella didn't hide anything from Casey, telling him everything that happened after his accident. She couldn't find any information about him online, so she went to see Liam, then Brett and found out he was in this hospital. She even talked to his parents for a while when she came in.

She reported everything slowly, like a wife telling her husband what she did during the day.

Izabella was completely unaware of the change in herself.

"That's it. Bunny said something came up at home and left, asking me to stay with you. They'll be here tomorrow."

Casey automatically ignored the front and back, focusing only on the part where she called Brett.

"You called Brett?"

Izabella nodded, "Yes, I couldn't get through your phone, and I didn't have your family's number, nor did I know your agent's number."

"Give me your phone."

Izabella handed over the phone from the cabinet. Izabella saw him save the numbers one by one with one hand.

"Here's my parents' number, and I

got a sister back home. If you can't reach me, try calling home or get in touch with my housekeeper, nanny, or my dad's assistant. They're all on call 24/7. And this last one, it's my agent's number." Casey finished typing the last name and handed the

phone over to Izabella. Content

Izabella chuckled, "That's a lot."

"I just don't want you to have trouble finding me." Inside, Casey didn't want Izabella to go looking for Brett again.

Izabella took the phone and put it back in the cabinet. Even though her phone was now filled with unnecessary numbers, it gave her a sense of comfort.

He hadn't finished his soup yet, so she continued to feed Casey.

Izabella's eyes were glued to his lips.

He started feeling uncomfortable under her gaze as if trying to escape. Casey stretched out his left hand and said, "I can handle it."

"Your hand is injured. It's inconvenient. Let me feed you, and it'll be faster this way."

"Have you eaten?"

"I have," Izabella replied, but in reality, she hadn't even sipped water when Casey was unconscious. With him in trouble, she had no appetite. Perhaps out of worry, she no longer felt hungry. After waking up, Casey still felt dizzy and was experiencing occasional pain, symptoms of a concussion. He lost his appetite after having some soup, fearing he would faint if he drank any more. Izabella noticed that he didn't want to continue eating soup, so she dumped the rest in the garbage.

There was only one bed in the room, so Izabella went to the nursing department to get some sheets and a blanket.

"Do you want to sleep on the bed?" Izabella, who was making the bed, looked up at him, and Casey's heart rate accelerated upon realizing what he had just said.

"You're the one who's sick. If I sleep on the bed, where will you sleep?"

"I didn't think that through," Casey said, his hand hidden under the blanket, lightly pinching his own thigh. "You might find it uncomfortable to sleep in these clothes. I can have someone bring you a set."

"Now? Isn't it too late?"

"Not at all. It'll be here by ten at the latest." Casey started looking for his phone but couldn't find it. Probably left it in the car.

"Can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call."

"Here you go."

Casey had a good memory and was sensitive to numbers. He could remember all the numbers he'd seen in the phone.

He made a call, identified himself, and asked the person on the other end to buy two sets of clothes and bring them over. As for intimate clothing, Casey didn't feel

comfortable discussing it inerne

front of

Izabella, even though he knew her

size.

The clothes arrived before ten. Izabella took the clothes into the bathroom to change, saw the hot water, and decided to take a shower.

"Did you ask for leave from Mr. York?"

"I did, and Kristin's issue has beenCòntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

solved. He has found a suitable person to replace her, and they will reshoot her scenes soon. My scenes can be postponed a bit." There weren't many scenes left, at most another week of shooting.

"Kristin's problem is solved?"

"You could say it's partially solved, but at least it's a good start."

"Have you checked Twitter lately?" Casey suddenly stopped, not continuing.

Izabella was drying her hair, her ears filled with the noise of the hairdryer. She could only vaguely hear Casey saying something. She turned off the hairdryer and asked, "What did you say?" "N-nothing," Casey seemed timid.

Izabella noticed his puzzled and conflicted expression, thinking he needed to use the restroom, so she offered to help.

A portable toilet was available in the patient room, right in the bathroom. She went to get it.

Seeing what she was holding, Casey was startled. He was already stuttering, and now he was even more incoherent, his face turning bright red, "What are you doing with that? I only hurt my hand and I can still walk."

He had been lying down for a while after waking up, and his head no longer felt foggy. He used his left elbow to prop himself up against the edge of the bed and slowly sat up.

Izabella put down the object in her hands. She saw nothing wrong with what she did. To a doctor, patients have no gender, and even though she wasn't a doctor, she still cared for a patient.

Casey's face turned red from his cheeks to his neck, especially his earlobes, like apples on a mountain.

Izabella reached out to help him to the bathroom. He was a bit unsteady, but there were handrails in the bathroom and the wall to lean on so he wouldn't fall.

"Can you take off your pants by yourself?" Izabella asked, not feeling confident.

"Yes," Casey replied quietly. He had changed into the hospital's patient uniform, which was very loose and easy to remove with one hand.

After confirming that he could manage independently, Izabella left the bathroom and shut the door.

She continued drying her hair while keeping an eye on the bathroom. When she saw Casey come out, she breathed a sigh of relief.

After helping Casey back into bed, Izabella brought a basin and filled it with hot water to wash his face. Casey's body tensed like a cooked shrimp.

After a busy period, it was already close to eleven o'clock. Izabella lay on the bed, covered herself with the blanket, and didn't check her phone, but could guess how lively the internet must be. Aside from Casey's car accident, the hottest topic was Kristin's contract termination with "Blood Ties".

The polite term was termination, but to put it bluntly, "Blood Ties" had fired her.

"Due to our artist Kristin's misconduct, which violated her contract and failed to set a positive example on the internet and in public, we have accepted the drama's request to terminate her contract."