Natalie felt a strong urge to slap him.

I don't need a mirror to tell me I look filthy right now. It's not like he is in better shape, so why should he act all disgusted?

"Take off your jacket. I want to dry it over the fire."

Smiling, Sean replied, "How can I take off my jacket in this state?"

She suddenly remembered that both his arms were dislocated. Oh right, he can't move them at all.

"You need to undress me," Sean continued.

She furrowed her brows as she pondered the possibility of leaving him in his wet jacket.

He piqued up, "Since you decided to save me, you should take full responsibility to ensure my survival and wellbeing. Otherwise, you should've left me to die in that ditch."

"You..." Natalie stammered as her face reddened.

A smile broke out on Sean's face at the sight of Natalie huffing in anger.

His expression stunned her.

Natalie had seen his smile countless times in the past, though they were all of the fake, calculating, and cold variety.

This was the first time she had seen a genuine smile on his face.

She did not know what he was smiling about, but she caved and helped him remove his jacket.

Natalie moved the jacket closer to the fire before she approached Sean again. Under his suspicious gaze, she removed his tie and dragged it back and forth against a small stone. The stone cut through the fabric and formed a hole.

From there, Natalie tore the tie into several strips. She lined them on the floor and assembled some branches of similar lengths beside them.

Confused, Sean asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to put splints on your arms and leg," Natalie glanced at him and replied.

She had collected some branches for this purpose when she was out foraging for firewood.

Sean's heart filled with an inexplicable emotion as he watched Natalie work. There was a sense of warmth that felt unfamiliar to him.

He did not realize that he had begun staring at Natalie fondly.

Though he was an expert at faking tender gazes, this time was different. It was a sincere fondness that originated from the deepest recesses of his heart.

Unaware of his stares, Natalie picked up some branches and the remnants of the tie. She looked at his leg and warned him, "It's going to hurt. You'll need to push through the pain. I'll tie it as tightly as I can to set your bones in their original position, or you might risk dislocating them further."

"Ok. I'm all yours." Nodding, Sean's tone had softened considerably.

Natalie caught the change as well, but she did not linger on it and began splinting his leg.

Sean gritted his teeth in pain. His face contorted in distress as beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He moaned pitifully from time to time.

Natalie's hands shook when she heard him. She could hardly bring herself to finish the task at hand.

She steeled her nerves and pushed through with the procedure.

After splinting all his injured limbs, Natalie heaved a sigh of relief. Sean, on the other hand, had almost fainted from the pain. He leaned heavily against the cave wall and panted.

Twisting her head to look at him, she asked, "Hey, are you ok?"

He opened his eyes weakly, and the sweat on his forehead rolled straight into his eyes. The pain felt excruciating, and he closed his eyes once more. Finally, he forced a smile on his face as he answered, "I'm ok. I'm not going to die yet."

"That's great." Natalie did not press him further.

As long as he's alive, I've done my job. I can't help with anything else.

Just then, Natalie's stomach grumbled. The noise echoed through the cave.

Blushing, she rubbed her belly and avoided Sean's gaze.

He looked at her in amusement. "Hungry?"

"Duh. I haven't eaten a bite since you kidnapped me," Natalie replied in a huff.

The only sustenance she had was some water she drank off of some leaves when she was out searching for firewood. She had not eaten anything else beyond that.

With a wry smile on his face, Sean commented, "We can't do anything even if we're hungry. There's no food around here."

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