Love at the Door

“No, it won’t affect the drip,” Toby assured.

“Thank you, Dr. Ludwig. Let’s have dinner now,” Melina said. All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.

Andrew, who’d been on the verge of refusing the IV drip, swallowed his words back down, and Toby exhaled in relief. It was just as he’d predicted. By having Melina around, Andrew would accept the IV drip without protest.

Melina brought out three boxes of food and passed one each to the two men. After opening his, Toby was a little mystified by what he saw. He’d never eaten such plain fare before. All the box contained was a chicken chop, coleslaw, mashed potatoes,

and a side of bacon.

Amid his inward grumbling, he saw Andrew opening the box and digging in. He could hardly believe it. The Andrew he knew was the pickiest eater known to man. How could someone who often turned his nose up at everything scarf down this box of takeout?

Andrew shot Toby a warning glare, and Toby had no choice but to eat the food. It tasted awful to him. The coleslaw was too sweet, the mashed potatoes were tasteless, and the bacon had more fat than meat to it.

Melina, who sat a little further away, was also eating from her box of takeout. Seeing how much she enjoyed her food, Toby couldn’t help but observe her. It was then that he inadvertently noticed how her box only contained a huge pile of mashed potatoes and a small salad on the side.

Clutching his box of takeout, Toby turned to Andrew in shock and used his eyes to ask if that was all Melina was going to eat.

The information they found had clearly stated how impoverished Melina had been. She had scrimped and saved all her life. But alas, since it was all only on paper, Toby never had to imagine what a life like that actually looked like, so seeing it now was a whole new experience for him.

When Melina noticed Toby looking toward her, she shifted slightly to hide her box of food. She was relishing the food because she was truly starving today.

The food sold right outside the hospital was too expensive for her. If it hadn’t been for Toby and Andrew, she wouldn’t have bought these–she even had to pay extra for the mashed potatoes and the takeout boxes.

Once again, Andrew shot Toby a warning look, and the latter quickly shoveled the

food into his mouth. But now, he felt bad. It’d been so terrible for them to toy with the feelings of a woman like Melina.

Not only was she an orphan, but she had only recently graduated from high school. She was striving so hard despite her impoverished circumstances.

People like them could easily spend hundreds of thousands at the drop of a hat. They’d never encountered someone who couldn’t even afford to eat a decent meal. Melina’s box only had some mashed potatoes and vegetables, but theirs was a full meal complete with some meat.

Toby desperately wanted to stuff some money into Melina’s hands!

On the other hand, Andrew looked completely calm–he’d seen an even more tragic side of Melina when she’d eaten nothing but bread for three meals a day.

Andrew, who’d been busy eating, abruptly said, “I don’t eat chicken thighs. Take it away, Melina.”

Melina had tried her best to choose what Andrew would eat, but she figured he didn’t want it now because the taste didn’t suit him. Since he’d always been a picky eater, she didn’t think much of it. Without saying a word, she took the chicken thigh from

him.

If he didn’t want to eat it, she would be more than happy to have it. After biting into it, she thought it tasted pretty good.

Toby’s shrewd eyes caught the exchange, and he thought to himself, “Andrew has caught feelings, alright!”