Alejandro slowly moved his gaze towards the doctor who approached him.
“You have damaged a bone in your neck. We think you have a disability somewhere in your body, so let me check it out.”
Having said that, the doctor first took Alejandro’s right hand.
“Excuse me.”
“…”
Alejandro looks at the doctor examining his right hand, somewhat dazed.
“It’s going to hurt a little bit.”
The doctor then pressed the tweezers lightly against the palm of his right hand.
“…”
Alejandro frowns slightly.
The doctor checks it and then moves the tweezers, this time to the fingertips.
Probably a sensory check to see if there was any sensation, followed by making him grip things to see if his hands are moving normally.
After checking the right hand, the doctor proceeded with the left hand, and then started checking the right leg.
“…apparently, you can’t feel your legs.”
The doctor muttered a few words and hurriedly applied tweezers to the left leg as well.
“…”
After the doctor returned the instruments he was using to the tray, he nodded to Unukan and the others.
Leaving Alejandro and one of the nurses there, the doctor leads Unukan and the others to another room.
When they opened the door, they found Rembrandt, who slipped out of the royal palace after receiving the news, already waiting there.
“Paraplegic1?”
The doctor nodded to Rembrandt, who asked back.
“He has no feeling from the arms down. He will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.”
“I see.”
With that said, Rembrandt leaned back against the back of the sofa.
“…now, what should I do…”
No one answered the words that came out of his mouth.
Alejandro apparently protected Natalia as he fell into the river.
As a result, Alejandro alone took most of the impact of the water landing, leaving Natalia with a relatively minor injury of a dislocated right shoulder.
The fact that he was unconscious for two weeks indicates that he must have received a considerable head injury.
Alejandro was still only giving a probing look and did not speak nor give any reaction, so the diagnosis was a bit half-hearted.
“I don’t know if it’s because he’s on guard that he doesn’t speak… but he doesn’t seem like Alejandro to me.”
“Yes, that’s true. He has a tendency to smoke people out with his words.”
“Can’t he talk, or is there some reason he doesn’t want to… not even to the doctor or the nurse?”
“It seems that way. His response was the same for both men and women.”
“What about when he saw your face? You were undercover as well, he should know your face right?”
“…he was unresponsive to me too. The same was true for Leopold, who was standing next to me.”
“…”
Rembrandt put his hand on his chin and looked thoughtful, but settled on the idea of waiting and seeing after a while.
…
…
…
Two more days passed.
The original plan was for Natalia to be discharged from the hospital and return to her own residence, but because of her father, she was forced to stay in the staff room while helping out at the hospital.
She goes to school during the daytime on weekdays, and after returning, she helps with hospital work until midnight. She often works as a menial laborer, carrying medical equipment, taking records, checking medicine, and other such things while securing food and shelter at the hospital.
Leopold’s offer of assistance was considered a last resort, as Natalia was still unable to reach a decision.
“Even at home, when I come back from school, I would clean the house and prepare meals.”
When asked by the nurses if it was difficult to balance schoolwork, Natalia answered in that way and laughed that nothing much had changed.
…
…
…
Alejandro, still silent, was taken out of his ward today for what they call a walk. A nurse pushed his wheelchair down the hallway.
When offered food, he would eat and respond to medical examinations. However, he did not seem to want to do anything, nor did he stubbornly try to speak.
And yet, when he steps out of his hospital room in his wheelchair, he looks around as if searching for something.
Then, he would let out a sigh.
They once thought that perhaps he lost his voice.
But once Alejandro spilled his soup, he made a small noise, and that suspicion disappeared.
But he was still silent for some reason.
Rembrandt made a decision accordingly and placed several shadow guards around Alejandro, disguised as nurses.
Whether he was aware of such surveillance or not, Alejandro was still in his wheelchair, his gaze wandering from place to place during the journey.
The destination is the hospital courtyard.
The lawn is expansive and sunny.
It is a recreational area where many patients often enjoy taking a walk in.
At that moment, Natalia, who was carrying a basketful of freshly washed clothes, appeared from the corner at the end of the hallway.
Today is the weekend.
Natalia spent the morning helping with hospital chores.
No one told Natalia that Alejandro has already regained consciousness.
Therefore, this was the first encounter between Alejandro and Natalia since they fell into the river.