Chapter 54: Chapter 54: A Beautiful Past (II)
Claudia POV
Truly, I could never understand what was in his mind. Most of the time, he treated me like an item, just like how he treated everyone else. Other times, he saw me as a lab rat. And at rare moments, he actually treated me like a human.
Since he kept spoon-feeding me, I had to keep eating until I finished a cup of ice cream all by myself.
He finally let go of my hand once he went to the nearest trash bin to toss the cup.
I rubbed my sweaty palm on my dress, not wanting to look gross in front of a man who was a clean freak. Yet, once he returned, he decided to hold my other hand instead.
"You—what are you doing, Ray?" I asked, rather annoyed. "Holding my hand like this... do you not remember how you hated my touch back then?"
"..."
Ray ignored me again. He stared at the lake solemnly.
"Ray, say something!" I demanded. "We haven’t had any conversation since we left the car!"
"What do you want me to say, Claudia?" he asked back, his eyes still on the lake. "I’m just fulfilling your request to go out and enjoy the air, so we’re enjoying some air here."
He slowly turned his head toward me and gave me a smile, but it wasn’t a mocking grin like usual. His thin smile looked... peaceful, as if he was genuinely enjoying the time we had together.
His expression made me choke on my own words, because it reminded me of a wishlist I once compiled and gave to him when we started dating.
That wishlist contained all the romantic places I wanted to visit with him and what we should do in those places.
And in one of those entries, I wanted to go on a simple park date with Ray—holding hands while eating ice cream or having a picnic under the shade of a lush tree, enjoying the fresh air after studying endlessly at university.
After all, we were both studying medicine, and it was a highly stressful degree—especially for me, who had to maintain a great GPA because I was on a scholarship.
Of course, none of those dates ever happened, because Ray hated touching me. He would frown when I tried to hug his arm and yank his hand away a few times, even in public.
His gestures disheartened me, but I still foolishly thought that Ray was just shy.
In the end, I dated him for a year, and we never held hands properly—not even once.
Which made this whole situation feel strange, because I didn’t expect him to take the initiative and hold my hand for this long.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but everything we had done so far was in line with my park date wishlist—including holding hands and feeding me ice cream.
The only thing missing was a kiss under a tree, but that was just too much to ask, and I didn’t want to be kissed by him.
"Did you visit this park often?" Ray finally struck up a conversation.
"Yep, with Aurora. She has a lot of energy and likes walking in this park or spending time at the playground," I replied. A smile slowly formed on my face as I recalled my daughter’s silly smile. "She said she wants to have a dog so she can walk and play with it in this park, but I told her no—at least not yet. She’s still too young, and owning a pet is a responsibility."
"Now I regret not giving her a pet... since I don’t know how long it will take for her to wake up."
The smile on my face gradually disappeared as I was reminded of my daughter’s condition in the hospital.
I was constantly reminded that Aurora was in a coma, and there was a chance she might never wake up.
The idea of losing my daughter before I could make her happy filled me with dread. It made me feel ill and weighed heavily on my heart.
Ray didn’t say a word, but I could feel his hand tightening around mine.
Then, he suddenly said something that pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts.
"Have you ever ridden a swan boat?"
"Swan boat?"
I lifted my head and followed his finger as he pointed at the lake.
Indeed, there was a young couple riding a swan pedal boat, pedaling while laughing with each other.
That couple looked like they were having fun. Well, they were only teenagers, so it looked cute and romantic for them.
But Ray and I?
Well, back when I was in my early twenties, I told Ray that I wanted to ride a swan boat with him. It would be cute spending time together while pedaling around the lake.
However, that was just one of my silly ideas. We were in our thirties now and definitely wouldn’t look cute riding a swan boat together.
"Isn’t that a little childish?" I asked, silently hoping that Ray would drop the idea.
But he stood up instead, forcing me to do the same, and said, "Let’s go. You can pick whichever boat you want."
"W-wait, I didn’t say that I want it—"
And once again, I was dragged to the boat dock where many colorful pedal boats were lined up.
"Go on, pick one," he said.
Since he wouldn’t change his mind, I looked around and pointed at a white swan boat at the end of the dock.
Then he hopped into the swan boat first—which was easy because of his long legs—before opening his arms.
"Jump to me, Claudia. I’ll catch you."
"A-are you sure?" I asked while looking at the water. "It’s a little far, and I can’t swim."
"Don’t look down. Just look at me," he said, his arms still open. "I’ll catch you, I promise."
I swallowed nervously before nodding. I took a step back, then jumped into his embrace.
Just as he promised, Ray caught me steadily in his arms and gave a faint smile.
"See? It’s not so scary when you’re willing to trust me."
