Chapter 11: Fever Panic

Eltan Storm

It had been a week since Faith's birthday, and things between us were better than ever. It truly felt like she has given me a place in her life, and I never wanted to lose that.

However, the fact that I let my parents' murderers get away kept nagging me. The men I sent to Arizona instead of me couldn't get them. If it was me, I could have caught them and finally brought peace to my parents. The guilt of that ate away at me. I didn't know what I was doing. Getting revenge had been my purpose for the last two years.

But now... I was totally off-tracked.

Faith was consuming my every thought. It wasn't good for me. A part of me wanted to stay away from her, but a bigger part of me wanted to stay close to her. That's why once again, without fail, I was present at Berserkers at night to meet Faith.

I was sitting at the bar counter waiting for Faith, but she was nowhere in sight. When I ran out of patience after ten minutes, I texted her, asking where she was.

Just a minute later, she came out of the staff room. She tried to smile at me, but even under the dimmed lights, I could see that she looked extremely pale, almost borderline anemic.

Faith came and leaned forward on the counter, greeting me, "Hi, Eltan."

"Faith, are you okay?" I asked her in concern.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Saying so, she nodded her head confidently, but that ended up causing a painful expression on her face.

"You clearly don't seem okay," I stated.

"No, Eltan. I'm fine. This is nothing. I feel sick like this all the time," she shrugged.

"You do know that it doesn't make your health sound any better, right?" As she tried to maintain a normal expression, I added, "Hey, just get some rest, okay?"

"No, I'm fine—"

"No, you're not. If you intend to work like this, you might put glass cleaner into someone's drink."

"That would be the height of stupidity. I wouldn't do that."

"Yes, you will. There is a glass cleaner just under the counter." She tried to protest more, but I added, "Unless you take some rest and we could—" Her eyes started to droop. "Shit, shit." I stood up from my stool and rushed behind the counter to catch her before she lost her balance.

"I'm fine..." she mumbled as she fainted in my arms.

I could feel the warmth radiating off her, indicating that she not only looked anemic but also seemed to be having a high fever. "Yep, you are totally fine."

Sighing, I picked her up in my arms and made my way to the cabin that technically belonged to me but I had never stepped my foot in there before.

I got into my cabin, which was unexpectedly neat and clean, and put Faith on the couch. With how high her fever was running, she should be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. But Faith hadn't renewed her medical insurance, and I wasn't sure if she would like it if I paid for her. So I called my family doctor, Dr. Parkins.

After that, I ordered a staff member to get a warm blanket for Faith. I turned up the heat of the cabin when I noticed her shivering.

I had always been taken care of by someone else when I was sick. Now that I was on the other side of taking care, I didn't know what else to keep doing until Dr. Parkins arrived.

The only thing I could do was rub her hands while waiting. In between, I had the horrible idea of googling if high fevers were dangerous and Google successfully traumatized me.

I was freaking out by the time Dr. Parkins came. My feet were bouncing up and down in anxiety while he was doing his check-up on her.

When he was finally done with the check-up and gave her an injection, I bombarded him with questions, "Is she going to be okay? She is not going to die, right? The fever won't cause her brain damage or anything like that, will it? Is the fever a sign of something serious? Is it—"

"Eltan," Dr. Parkins called out, placing a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. "Take a deep breath. She is going to be fine." I held my breath as he continued, "She is only a bit anemic. But not serious enough to need a blood transfusion. She just needs to rest and eat healthily for a whole week. I think her anemia and fever must have stemmed from an unhealthy lifestyle, like overworking, not eating on time or skipping meals, not getting enough sleep, or staying under stress."

"Are you sure? What if something else is causing all of it?"

He squeezed my shoulder in assurance and said, "From my experience, I'm sure she is going to be okay. But if you want to be even more sure, you can always get her tested. In fact, I suggest you do."

I glanced at Faith, who was knocked out, and decided that I would bring her to the hospital to get a full body scan without her knowing so that she wouldn't know I paid for her tests. I would only tell her if the tests found something serious in her.

She wouldn't have to know any of it happened if she woke up in her bed the next morning, feeling all well.

###

After the hospital tests were done on Faith, I couldn't get her home like I planned, because of a huge loophole in my plan. I didn't have her keys and it didn't sit right with me to go through her purse to find them.

Therefore, I decided to bring her to my mansion. I just hoped she didn't think I kidnapped her in her sleep.

I laid her down on my bed and covered her with the duvet. I already had her take the medicines, so I made sure she was perfectly comfortable. Of course, I wouldn't want her to find me sleeping next to her—which honestly sounded very tempting—so I got freshened up and sat on the couch in the corner of my room, reading a written report about the recent shipment.

Occasionally, I would look up at Faith and get lost in watching her beautiful face. I just wish her face wasn't as pale as it was. She had so much sickness, yet she refused to get her medical insurance renewed, despite knowing she couldn't afford treatment without it. Didn't she care what happened to her? And what would happen to her family if she got hurt?

Wait, she didn't have any family. Not like it mattered to me. It didn't change anything. I cared for her—more than any damn thing.

I got lost in my complicated thoughts when I noticed Faith getting up. I walked up to her as she tried to process where she was.

"Faith, how are you feeling?"

She flinched a little and looked at me in surprise. "Eltan? What are you doing here?"

I sat on the side of my bed and said, "Considering it's my bedroom you are in, it's not that surprising for me to be here, is it?"

Her eyes widened like saucers. "Why am I in your bedroom?"

"Just in case anything weird is going on inside your head, let me clarify, that's not it. You fainted at work and I brought you to my house because I didn't have the keys to yours."

"You could have just left me at the Berserkers. You didn't have to bring me here," she objected.

"Hey, it's fine, alright? I went to your place once, and now, you are at mine. Isn't it normal for friends to visit each other?" She gave me a flat look. "Well, I guess it isn't technically a visit—"

"You guess?"

"Fine, but just in case, you're feeling weird because I'm your boss, you don't have to. No one has to know, okay? You can just rest here for the night and get better. Also, I'm giving you a week of paid leave."

This time, her eyes almost popped out of her sockets. "Say what?"

"You heard that right. The dream of every employee. Paid leave." Her eyes had stars in them now. "Only if you stay the night here and promise me that you will rest at home for the remaining week."

"Promise!" she agreed excitedly, and I chuckled.

"Great. Let me call the maid over to bring you some nutritious soup."

"Okay, thank you."

She rested against the headboard until the maid brought the hot soup for her.

"Don't burn your tongue. Be sure to blow on it," I reminded.

She laughed a little and nodded. She slowly drank the soup while I watched her with a small smile.

Once she was done with her soup, I gave her the medicine Dr. Parkins told me to give her after her stomach had something in it. Then, I tucked her in with the duvet again.

"Eltan," she called out in a low voice, and I looked into her exhausted eyes, "I don't know how to thank you. You have been doing so much for me, and I feel like I'm doing nothing in return—"

"Nonsense. Just your smile alone makes everything in this world so much better for me." I knew that I sounded corny, but that was the truth. Ever since Faith came into my life, I had smiled and laughed more than I had altogether for the last two years.

"How is that possible?" she asked in awe.

"I don't know how, either. But you just do," I admitted. "That's why I need you to take care of yourself better so that you don't get sick like this again and worry the hell out of me."

"I will try."

A big smile formed on my lips. I couldn't stop myself from leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "You better."