Chapter 90: None of my business.

Monroe.

“Can you finally tell me what happened?”

I took off the scarf around my neck and hung it.

It was his.

It had crossed my mind to give it to him after he asked for a hug, but somehow, I couldn't.

“Someone needed help,” I replied to Onyx, who tried to read me with her eyes as I walked around the room, trying to busy myself. Trying to get my mind off him.

Why had he asked for a hug?

Was he like the others?

They all wanted something from me. No matter how much they hid it, they all wanted something.

Yeah. Dad wanted my mouth shut. His friends wanted me. Rolan wanted a pet.

My eyes darted to Onyx.

At least she didn't want to strip me of what I couldn't offer.

She raised a brow.

“Why the look?”

“Maybe you have a…I don't know…boyfriend I'm not aware of.”

I shot her a look.

“Really? That was the best you could come up with?”

“What else better explains a girl running out in the middle of the night to ‘help someone who needed help’?”

“Maybe humanity.”

She laughed. The teasing she always pulled when she had me cornered.

“Urrgh. It's really useless speaking to you.”

“Oh, really?”

I palmed my face.

“It's a guy. Are you happy now?”

She raised both hands in surrender.

“He…he seemed to be in distress. You know. I guess a high fever or something of that sort.”

She crossed her arms and looked at me with fleeting attention.

“He was sweating, struggling to breathe and all that. So I gave him an ice pack. I didn't know what else to do. I had to do something.”

“Maybe, like, take him to the hospital.”

“He didn't seem to want to go there.”

“Why?”

“Ask me. I think I know the answer,” I answered sarcastically.

She sighed.

“If my guess is right,” she started, “he may be ill or on something.”

“Like…” I swallowed, lowering my voice.

“Drugs?”

“Possibly…or he was drugged.”

“Because if he was on drugs, I doubt he'd be sane enough to ask for help. Maybe it's an aphrodisiac.”

I stared at her blankly.

“Aphrodisiac,” I repeated, trying to understand the situation.

“Yup.”

“That can't be…right.”

She shrugged.

“Isn't that supposed to make someone feel good or something?”

“Oh, my innocent little Mon. Not really. In fact, it has the opposite effect. Intense pain until he's able to get relief.”

“Oh.” A small sound escaped my lips.

“It's not your problem anyway. He can save himself…don't you think?”

I flashed a small smile and nodded.

“Yeah…it’s not my problem.”

But as soon as I heard he might be going through intense pain, my throat began to run dry.

I barely knew this guy…so why did it hurt so much?

Could I really leave him there?

It was surprisingly cold as well.

Maybe I could toss a blanket at him or something…

I let out a deep breath, allowing my lips to tremble while at it.

Onyx spoke about a coursemate of hers who she didn't like because she had a thing for being annoyingly sultry whenever a guy was near.

I nodded and listened as she spoke with half-lidded eyes, yawning at intervals.

But my mind was somewhere else.

I hated how I could barely concentrate because of someone I barely knew.

In a few minutes, Onyx began to mumble incoherent words and slowly drifted to sleep.

Like a thief, I slowly got up from the bed and tiptoed to the wardrobe, pulling out a clean blanket before looking back at Onyx.

Would he need pillows?

But I didn't have any extra ones, so I had to make do with what I had.

What was I about to do?

I carefully shut the wardrobe door and moved towards the front door.

I may regret this.

How many times had I told myself that in one night?

The door creaked open despite my quiet attempts.

“Please,” I whispered to the door.

Of course, it kept creaking with every movement.

Yet Onyx seemed to be sleeping like a log.

I let out a trapped sigh.

I'll give him the blanket and get the hell out of that forest.

Aphrodisiac.

I played with the fabric in my hand as I snuck out the gate, hoping no one had seen me.

That was unlikely, but I still hoped.

I walked towards the forest, the whole way thinking about what I was doing and how senseless everything was, yet I couldn't hold my legs still or make my mind drift to other things.

As much as I didn't want to, his vermilion eyes found a way to disrupt my thinking.

I'll just help him one last time.

The gloom of the forest was scary, to say the least, but I moved in like I owned it, a feeling of safety enveloping me in a place where safety was the last thing to exist.

By the time I got to where I had left him, he was still there.

My thumping chest relaxed. The fear of him leaving was replaced by relief, pushing away the doubt and questions.

But seeing him made something in me feel at peace.

But then he didn't raise his head to look at me.

Nor did he move.

His back was resting against a tree, his head hung low, his body stiff.

Instantly, a wave of panic spread across my body.

It can't be.

The blanket dropped from my fingers as I bolted towards him.

My legs doing what they wanted, my hands reaching for him, my mind acting against every order.

I placed both my hands on his face.

The chill made my heart skip.

He was hot a moment ago.

Under the dim moonlight, his face was pale, his lips darkening.

His eyes were closed.

“Sir! Sir!” I called out with urgency, my voice cracking with threatening tears.

“You…can't…sir.” My voice began to break.

No time to ask why.

No time to question what made me feel so hurt at his state.

“Sir!” I began to scream, even though no one was going to hear me.

“Roe.”

A small voice said it.

It came from him.

I swallowed.

He was alive.

I looked briefly at the sky, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill.

“Sir…I'm here.”

A small smile spread across his lips. Pained, with a hint of relief.

“I'm…I'm so…cold.”

Without thinking twice, I wrapped him in my arms.

Throwing caution out the open window.

What if I had just met him?

He said he was cold.