Chapter 3
She took a deep breath, pushing down the ache in her heart, and finally pulled back the curtain.
The conversation inside the tent stopped abruptly.
Matthew leaned against the makeshift bed, while Evelyn sat beside him, carefully checking his bandages.
They both looked at her, and the gentle expression on Matthew's face, the one he reserved only for Evelyn, vanished instantly.
It was replaced by a polite, distant look, so sudden that it chilled her to the bone.
Evelyn's delicate brows furrowed slightly, her eyes flickering with a subtle mix of scrutiny and caution.
Regina forced her voice to stay calm.
"Matthew, this is my family's ointment. It's great for mending bones, clearing bruises, and healing wounds. You should keep it."
She handed over the small clay jar.
Her nails, still damaged from digging earlier, dug into the jar with a slight squeeze.
Matthew's gaze lingered on the simple clay jar for less than a second before quickly shifting away, his tone flat.
"Thank you, Dr. Whitman, but I don't need it. Dr. Lynn is taking care of my injuries, and I trust her."
Regina's hand stiffened in mid-air.
He called her Dr. Whitman!
After decades of standing by each other, now they were just distant comrades.
Her outstretched hand felt awkward. Pulling it back seemed wrong, but leaving it there felt even worse.
Matthew seemed completely unaware of her discomfort, not even meeting her eyes.
"This ointment must be precious, Dr. Whitman. You should give it to someone who needs it more," he said.
"Dr. Whitman" and "someone who needs it more" carved a sharp divide between the decades they'd shared and the cold distance between them now.
Regina felt her face flush uncontrollably.
She felt embarrassed and disappointed.
Her goodwill was trampled on, and a chill of anger at how quickly he wanted to cut ties all surged through her.
She even caught Evelyn's gaze beside her—a look filled with either pity or, more likely, the cold scrutiny of a victor sizing her up.
Quietly, she withdrew her hand and gripped the cool clay jar tightly.
"Sorry for the interruption," she murmured, then quickly turned and left the tent, as if escaping from a place that humiliated her.
Inside the tent, Evelyn's gentle voice drifted faintly.
"She was only trying to help. You're really hurting her feelings."
And Matthew's deep, clear reply came.
"Precisely because she meant well, I can't be vague. I can't let her get the wrong idea and cause unnecessary trouble."
Regina had no heart to listen further.
It turned out, in this second life, she had already become his problem.
Regina felt a suffocating lump of resentment lodged in her chest, impossible to spit out.
But aftershocks kept shaking the disaster zone, piercing whistles and desperate shouts pulling her back. There was no time to lick her wounds.
She had just fastened her medical kit when a frantic call rang out from a distance.
"Dr. Whitman, Dr. Whitman, there's a child here with a ruptured aorta!"
"Coming!" Regina wiped the dust off her face and dashed toward the new rescue spot without a second thought.
Not long after she left, Matthew's injuries were severe, and with his father worried about his only son suffering long-term complications, after extensive coordination, Matthew was arranged to be transferred early to a better military hospital.
The higher-ups specially approved Evelyn to accompany him.
As the helicopter carrying Matthew and Evelyn took off, Regina knelt amid the rubble, carefully administering emergency treatment to a patient whose leg had been pierced by a steel rod.
Sweat slid down the side of her face, mixing with blood and dust, but she was completely unaware.
"Doctor, am I... going to be crippled?" The patient's voice trembled, eyes filled with fear.
Regina looked up and gave a reassuring smile, her hands moving quickly and steadily.
"Don't be afraid. Trust me. I'll save your leg." She quickly and skillfully inserted needles to staunch the bleeding.
Now that her hands were back, she'd make sure they fulfill their greatest purpose.
Amidst the daily chaos and countless thanks from her patients, her heart, which had been aching because of Matthew, was gradually filled, expanded, and strengthened.
There were still so many injured people who needed her care; this was truly where she belonged.
The Colonel saw Regina's hands drenched in blood, yet she kept on treating patients.
He couldn't help but praise her, "Regina, good job."
Regina just smiled and nodded.
She was determined to make up for the regrets of her past life.