Chapter 12 Visit

• Following that, Lewis followed the doctor to their office to discuss the surgery in detail.
• After the group had gone far, Shannon, who stood next to Tia, tugged on her and asked, "Tia, what does your fiancé do for a living?"
• He was certainly no average Joe, for she even saw Director Litchfield acting deferential to him.
• "I don't know." Tia shook her head.
• All she knew was that Lewis was a research institute personnel, and that was it. Then, she recalled how a chauffeur had waited for his parents after dinner the night before. Surely the Harveys were somebody.
• "Doesn't that just make him a civil servant?" Lance remarked disdainfully while clenching his fists, staring at where Lewis had left.
• Who knew if Lewis had anything to do with it, but Elizabeth's condition became a priority in the hospital, and they scheduled the surgery in the fastest possible time.
• Shannon and Lance came on the day of the surgery, and Lewis was naturally there too.
• Apart from the day he made the trip to the research institute when they confirmed the date of the surgery, he had been accompanying Tia in the hospital the whole time. Tia felt horrible about this and suggested multiple times that he leave, but he rejected her request every single time.
• The surgery went smoothly. When Elizabeth was pushed out of the operating room, her eyes were closed, and her face was bloodless. Following that, Tia kept vigil in Elizabeth's ward the whole night. When Elizabeth finally opened her eyes the next morning, Tia to burst into tears emotionally. Unlike a few days ago, these were tears of joy.
• On the second day post-surgery, Lewis brought his parents over while Tia was feeding Elizabeth some soup. Whitney came dressed in a light blue suit, and she looked sophisticated while carrying a fruit basket.
• A surprised Tia hurriedly put the bowl of soup down and stood up. "Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, we weren't expecting you to visit."
• After handing the fruit basket to Lewis, Whitney explained with a smile, "Sebastian and I have been so occupied with work in the last couple of days that we couldn't visit. Now that we're finally done with everything, we told Lewis to bring us over."
• As she explained, Whitney walked toward the hospital bed and sat next to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, we're so sorry for only visiting now."
• Elizabeth was still rather weak at this point, lying in bed as she shook her head. "You… you're too kind. You don't have to," she said weakly with a smile.
• No, we should. Now that Tia is seeing our Lewis, we're a family. It's only right that we visit." Whitney wasn't wrong.
• Bearing in mind that Elizabeth needed to rest since she had just undergone surgery, Whitney and Sebastian didn't stay for long.
• Tia sent them out, and when they got to the hospital entrance, Whitney held Tia's hand and said, "Tia, take good care of your grandma, and go to Lewis if you ever need any help."
• "I will. Thanks for coming to visit my grandma, Mrs. Harvey."
• "You silly child, you'll be marrying Lewis soon. We're a family now."
• Tia reflexively blushed and glanced toward Lewis in an awkward manner, only to find the man unruffled as usual while he stood to the side.
• Whitney thought Tia was only being bashful when she saw the young woman blushing. With that, she smiled and said, "Lewis said the report for the marriage review has come out. Why don't you guys register your marriage when things calm down? As for the wedding, Lewis said you two are not into it, am I right?"
• Tia nodded in reply. They had indeed talked about it and thought pro forma things like a wedding was too troublesome. Signing a marriage certificate would suffice.
• Whitney glanced at her husband in response, then said, "Well, if it's what you guys want. Sebastian and I are fine with it, and we respect your thoughts." At that, she checked her watch, seeming to be in a rush. "Alright, our flight's in the afternoon. We should be heading to the airport soon."
• Tia nodded and said, "You should let Lewis drive you guys there."
• At that, Whitney looked toward her son expectantly, hoping Lewis would do so.
• "There's no need for that. Their ride has arrived," Lewis said with a deadpan face as he looked toward the hospital gates.
• Tia followed his line of sight, and sure enough, a car was parked on the side of the road. The chauffeur even nodded deferentially at them when he noticed the crowd looking over.
• A hint of disappointment flashed across Whitney's face, but she still smiled at Tia. "Alright, go upstairs and take care of your grandmother. Come and visit us at Shoreside with Lewis when you have the time, okay?"
• Tia smiled and nodded in response, but she sensed that there seemed to be an invisible barrier between Lewis and his parents. As for what and why, she had no clue.
• On their way back to Elizabeth's ward, Tia would look over at Lewis from time to time. It seemed like she wanted to tell him something, but she was hesitant about it.
• Even if she wasn't tired of it, Lewis was getting frustrated and spoke up when they were at the elevator. "What is it that you want to ask or tell me?"
• "Will you answer me if I ask?" Tia asked while looking at him.
• Lewis took a gander at her at that. "It depends on what the question is."
• Tia quirked her lips and despised his decision to answer selectively. However, she was burning with curiosity. "What do your parents do for a living?"
• The elevator had arrived just then, and Lewis answered crisply without looking at her. "They're civil servants."
• Tia desperately wanted to roll her eyes at the answer. Then again, it gave her a rough direction to guess. "Even if they're civil servants, I'm pretty sure they're high-ranking ones," she mumbled.
• On the other hand, Lewis said nothing else but only looked at the red moving digits on the screen.
• Before entering the ward, Lewis suddenly spoke up. "Let's find a time to get registered once Grandma gets discharged."
• It was so sudden that Tia was stumped for a moment, but after coming to her senses, she nodded in agreement.
• Eight days post-surgery, Elizabeth was given the green light to leave the hospital. Her wounds had recovered well, and her cheeks were becoming increasingly rosy as opposed to her pallid countenance the few days right after surgery. However, what bothered Elizabeth most was Tia's marriage, and she urged the two to get their certificates signed as soon as they got home.
• As simple as the marriage procedure was, it could be quite troublesome. Yet, as complicated as it was, they just had to follow the procedure with no hassle at all.
• Then again, what was troublesome was that they had to get a reference letter to support their marriage at the subdistrict office.