What Separates Me and You
Chapter 324 He Seemed Weaker

Josephine waited for a while, yet Lewis never replied, so she continued munching on the asparagus.

The crunching sounds were deafening. She looked like a rabbit munching on a carrot stick when she ate the asparagus.

As Josephine ate, she suddenly let out a loud burp. There was still half a stalk left in her hand, so she gave it to Lewis and indicated that she couldn't eat anymore.

The latter gazed at her unblinkingly for a moment. Then, he grabbed the remaining half and started eating it.

Josephine suddenly recalled that Lewis was still injured, so she quickly scooted over to him and felt his back. "Let me look at it," she gestured.

The man didn't say anything, which meant he didn't turn her down.

Josephine quickly got up to her feet and circled around him to check his back.

He was still wearing the shirt from before. A visible slash marred the fabric. Once Josephine parted it with her hands, she could see the wound on his back. Unfortunately, the glow emitted by the fireflies was too weak, so the young woman couldn't see the wound in its entirety. All she saw was a black line. She reached out to caress it gently, feeling the area around the wound starting to swell. At the same time, the wound felt a little moist as well. When Josephine looked down at her fingers and saw the blood staining them, she widened her eyes in shock before rushing to kneel in front of Lewis. Alarm took over her senses as she hurriedly gestured, "You're bleeding! What should we do?"

Lewis sat on the ground with one of his legs curled casually. He took another bite of the asparagus before replying nonchalantly, "I'll still live."

The young woman hung her head sadly. "I'm sorry."

Her partner shot her a glance. "Don't run away on your own next time."

Josephine nodded obediently, vowing to herself never to run away on her own ever again. If it wasn't for the fact that Lewis had been searching for her the whole time, his wound wouldn't have torn open. The sight of the man bleeding made Josephine recall the time when he was unconscious. She felt very alone and helpless back then. The thought of having to feel the same way again frightened her.

A while later, the young woman raised her head and started gesturing again. "Let me treat you again."

Lewis paused in his actions.

Josephine gazed at him innocently, her bright and doe-like eyes telling him that she really wanted to help him out.

However, the man thought for a moment before replying, "It's fine."

His partner shook her head stubbornly. With her hands now cupping his cheeks, she gazed into his eyes in a determined fashion.

Lewis' eyes glinted mysteriously, the corners of his mouth now pressed in a firm line. He wanted to say something but didn't do so in the end.

Josephine had no idea what the man was thinking about. All she knew was that his wound was starting to bleed again, so she leaned in without the slightest hesitation and kissed him on the lips. Lewis froze on the spot, not doing anything to reciprocate the young woman's actions at all.

Josephine didn't care about what he wanted. She immediately flopped onto his lap and started treating him just like he had taught her.

The man supported his weight with one hand lodged firmly on the ground while the other perched on Josephine's waist. However, his expression grew darker.

Then again, he was in a world of pain right now, not to mention he was severely weakened due to the massive blood loss he suffered.

Perhaps this was the true meaning of shooting himself in the foot.

Lewis closed his eyes just so he could recover from the pain. Suddenly, he reached out and pinned Josephine on the ground.

The latter looked surprised, but it soon turned into confusion as she gazed up at him quietly.

Lewis leaned in to kiss her immediately. Now that Josephine got the memo, she quickly went along with the flow and even wrapped her arms around his neck so that she could reciprocate better. They didn't know when exactly the birds had stopped chirping, making the woods eerily silent. Only the sounds of the stream sloshing down the bank could be heard.

Light started to pour into the woods.

It was quite chilly at dawn, so Josephine snuggled closer to Lewis subconsciously.

A while later, she was unable to continue sleeping because of how chilly it was.

The first thing she saw after opening her eyes was Lewis' chest. The young woman's gaze slowly trailed upward, soon noticing his familiar face.

Josephine couldn't help but sigh in relief.

However, seeing his pallid complexion made her worry about him again. She wondered if the treatment she administered to him last night was starting to work its magic.

As Josephine summoned her dwindling strength to prop herself up into a sitting position, Lewis stirred from his slumber. He opened his eyes but closed them right away to get used to the brightness. Josephine leaned over to study the man's back. Delight washed over her when she realized his wound was no longer bleeding. Even though the blood was now coagulated and made the wound look nasty, at least it was starting to form another layer of scab.

It was worth going through the pain last night.

However, Lewis was still lying on the ground. He wasn't showing any signs of getting up at all.

Josephine sat back down and looked at him with her head hung low.

The man's eyes flew open right away. He just gazed at her blankly.

She gestured seriously, "Are you still in pain?"

Lewis pursed his thin lips together tightly without saying a word.

Just as Josephine was about to gesture again, he suddenly sat up on the ground. "Are you hungry?"

The young woman paused for a moment before nodding in response.

Since Lewis was badly hurt, Josephine picked up the blade from the ground and walked over to the bushes to harvest more asparagus.

Once she was done washing them in the stream, she handed a stalk to the man.

At the same time, the young woman couldn't help but look at him in puzzlement. Why did he look weaker even though his wound was healing nicely?

Lewis accepted the asparagus and started chewing on it. Then, he remained where he was just to rest for some time.

It was then he started scanning the environment they were in right now. The bushes here didn't grow rampantly. Surprisingly enough, wildflowers grew everywhere in this particular area, which made it look even more beautiful.

A while later, Lewis forced himself to stand up, though he looked a little unsteady on his feet.

Josephine quickly supported him.

The man stated, "Remember, if you ever get lost in the woods, just look at the leaves. The thick and lush leaves grow in the south, which means the trees sporting lesser leaves are in the north."

His partner nodded immediately before shooting him another worried look. She didn't know why he was saying such things.

Lewis seemed to know what she was thinking about. He continued, "No one would come looking for us if Seth did end up dying on the cruise ship. Maybe—"

He paused for a moment, his expression growing somber. "Maybe you and I will have to keep living here."

Upon hearing his words, Josephine's heart skipped a beat, though she wasn't that surprised.

She would gladly remain on this island if it meant staying with him.

Lewis ignored Josephine's gaze as he said, "Let's go back for now. We'll need to remember the route to this place. This stream is most likely the only freshwater source closest to the beach." The young woman took note of what he said.

They walked out of the woods slowly, seeing as Josephine had to support Lewis the entire time. Finally, they were able to return to the beach.

Once they left the woods, Josephine harvested countless vegetables and even a big bundle of vines according to Lewis' instructions. Upon returning to the beach, Lewis started two campfires and waded into the water to catch some fish.

While waiting for the fish to cook over the fire, the man used the vines to craft a few traps so that he could set them up in the woods later.

A metal crate was placed atop the other campfire. It was currently boiling seawater.

As Josephine watched Lewis busying himself with all the tasks, she couldn't help but gesture, "What's the water for?"

"I'm producing salt."

She looked confused. "But the water itself is salty."

Lewis sighed in resignation while shooting her a blank look. Still, he explained, "If we don't extract salt from the seawater, we'll die."

Josephine might not understand everything else, but she knew the concept of death very well.

She nodded immediately before gesturing, "We can always omit salt."

The man continued weaving the vines together, saying, "If we don't include salt in our diet, we'll bloat up. Do you want to become as bloated as a balloon?"

Josephine blinked as she tried to imagine herself swelling up like a balloon. She quickly shook her head in response.

After that, she pointed at the vines in Lewis' hands. "What are those for, then?"

The latter replied patiently, "These will catch rabbits for us."

Josephine tilted her head in puzzlement and gave it a serious thought. She didn't remember seeing any rabbits on the island.

Lewis grabbed the woven traps that he had finished crafting before getting up. Then, he instructed, "Remember to keep adding firewood. Don't run away on your own, okay? I'll be back soon."