No Strings Attached

She lay there on the hospital bed, swathed in bandages from head to toe like a mummy straight out of a horror flick. Her throat could only muster up a series of feeble "ahh ahh" sounds, not a single coherent word.

He turned to Clara. His voice was gentle. "I brought her back. I want her to witness our happiness with her own eyes."

Clara's expression was nonchalant. "Let's go in. I suspect I'm the last person she wants to see." With that said, Clara took the lead, stepping into the hospital room.

Heidi, stubbornly clamping her mouth shut, was refusing her medicine just as Clara's slim silhouette appeared before her.

Despite the ordeal Clara had been through, just a few days of recuperation had restored the radiant beauty to her face. Her complexion was glowing once again.

Sure enough, the moment Heidi laid eyes on Clara, her eyes bulged in disbelief. She shook her head furiously, a raspy growl emerging from her throat, "No, no, no..."

softly, "Did you ever imagine I'd come back

state. But no matter how much she struggled, her arms and legs were numb, unresponsive. She began to sob uncontrollably. Her

tied up, beaten, and left for dead in a fire by you, yet I never gave up on living. How can you not have the courage to keep going? Don't you want to see me welcomed back by the Campbell family? Don't you want

Her teeth chattered from the force of her bite. But no matter how hard she tried, not a single curse could pass her lips. She could only watch helplessly as

her ear, "Rest assured. I'll find the best doctors to

down at Heidi as if she were nothing more than

defeat to Clara. She couldn't stand the thought of everything that

have been the one to seal Clara's fate, so why was she the one who

would never accept