Chapter 63: Taking Care All Night
She hurriedly pushed away the IV stand that had fallen onto his face and tossed it aside.
With a worried look, she asked, "Are you okay?"
When people panic, they show their truest selves.
She was worried about him.
He hadn't been wrong before.
"I'm fine."
James weakly responded, watching her frown deepen as he raised his hand again.
Only when he lifted his hand did Mia notice his hand was covered in blood.
She had been so focused on pulling away the IV stand that she forgot the needle was still in his hand.
Mia watched the blood continuously seeping out, staining James's entire hand red. She looked up at the head of the bed for help, "Dr. Cox, there's so much blood—"
"Don't frown."
James's eyes only saw her furrowed brow. His hand struggled to lift, moving slowly, gently smoothing her wrinkled forehead.
His hand lightly brushed across, then slid down weakly, falling onto the bedsheet.
That small gesture had already drained all the strength from his body.
An unprecedented weakness.
Seeing Louis walk over, Mia stepped back a bit. After watching him stop James's bleeding, she turned to leave.
Seeing her go, James immediately reached out to grab her.
Louis, who was inserting the needle, missed the vein.
His lifelong reputation was being ruined by James.
What was his status in the medical field?
Missing a vein?
If word got out, what would happen to his dignity!
He hadn't even settled the score for yesterday's deception, and now this again.
This morning, word was spreading around the neighborhood about some pervert, warning single women to be careful.
Thinking about this, Louis wanted to miss a few more times.
His reputation was already ruined, a few more wouldn't hurt.
It wouldn't kill him anyway.
Louis sneered inwardly, picking up the needle.
Serves him right for tricking me!
Mia, who had just been about to go downstairs to get porridge for James now that he was awake, heard the commotion and turned around just in time to see this scene, "Dr. Cox, you should aim properly before inserting—"
After speaking, still worried, she walked back to the bed and watched Louis.
Louis felt utterly speechless being "supervised."
In front of Mia, Louis couldn't bring himself to bully James, so he could only quickly insert the needle.
...
James's fever had reached nearly 104 degrees Fahrenheit this time. His moment of consciousness was brief.
After groggily drinking half a bowl of porridge, he drifted back into drowsy sleep.
Louis didn't leave, staying by his side the whole time.
Annoyed as he was, James's fever had come on too fierce this time. He really couldn't feel at ease without keeping watch.
It wasn't until evening that James's fever finally came down.
When Mia heard from Louis that the fever had dropped, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew clearly why James had gotten sick this time.
In the video Louis sent, he was thinly dressed, frozen for so long. The seeds of illness must have been planted then, and last night, going out in heavy snow to buy her food—that's what made him collapse.
Louis glanced at James on the bed, then at Mia.
Last night, after being deceived by James, he had sworn that if he helped James again, he'd be a dog.
But now, they were clearly just one step away from success.
He—
Louis barked once in his mind.
Fine, a dog it is.
Dogs are man's best friend anyway, right?
Louis put away his stethoscope. Good thing they caught it in time—it hadn't turned into pneumonia. "Mia."
"What's wrong?"
Thinking something had happened to James, Mia quickly looked up.
"Don't panic, James is fine for now. But we need to watch him tonight. He's broken the fever, but it hasn't completely gone down yet."
"Tonight is crucial—someone needs to watch over him. I could stay here, but tonight, there's a very important surgery—"
"Dr. Cox, it's okay, I can do it."
Mia knew his status. Any surgery he was involved in must be critically important.
"Alright. Mia, you don't need to be too nervous. Tonight, just use physical cooling methods to help bring down his temperature."
Usually there would be relapses.
Actually, with James's build, if he just slept through it, he'd be fine by morning.
"How do I do physical cooling?"
Mia rarely got sick herself and didn't know much about colds and fevers.
After explaining physical cooling, Louis paused, securing some benefits for James, "Remember, once the temperature comes down, you must keep his body dry. Otherwise, he could easily spike another high fever."
"Okay, I'll remember."
Mia listened carefully, not realizing she was being tricked.
Louis left.
Mia stayed by the bedside the whole time, constantly reaching out to feel James's forehead.
After touching it, still worried, she'd use a thermometer to check, and only after confirming the temperature hadn't spiked would she sit back down.
Around nine o'clock, Mia reached out again. His forehead was burning hot.
The thermometer read 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mia immediately got up, went to the bathroom, got a towel, and following Louis's instructions, began physically cooling James down.
She didn't dare slack off for a moment.
Whenever the towel got warm, she'd go change it.
Repeating this over and over.
Until the towel was heating up more and more slowly. Mia checked James's temperature again.
100 degrees Fahrenheit.
It had really come down.
No longer a high fever, Mia breathed a sigh of relief.
She sat by the bed to catch her breath.
Then remembered Louis's instructions before leaving.
After the temperature comes down, you must keep his body dry. Otherwise, he could easily spike another high fever.
At the time, she hadn't thought much about it.
Now that the temperature had dropped—
Mia bit her lip.
They'd done even more intimate things. It was just changing clothes, no big deal.
After convincing herself, Mia got up to get James a set of clean pajamas.
...
Mia knelt on the bed, unbuttoning James's pajama top.
The pajamas were almost completely soaked through.
After unbuttoning them, he was too heavy. She tried but couldn't move him.
Because her hands kept moving back and forth across his body, James, burning and confused with fever, opened his eyes.
Seeing this, Mia said, "James, lift your arms."
After the high fever, he'd lost his usual refined coldness, seeming not quite with it.
She gave an instruction, he made a movement—very cooperative.
Worried he'd catch cold again, after wiping his upper body, she immediately helped him put on the top.
After getting that on, she pulled back the other half of the blanket and reached for his pants.
Taking off the pajama pants wasn't too difficult.
What really stumped Mia was the last remaining piece.
They'd been intimate countless times, completely open with each other.
But every time he had her help him undress, she still couldn't help feeling shy.
Even though, right now, he wasn't exactly conscious...
James's mind wasn't very clear.
His eyes were half-closed, and in his daze, he felt two very familiar hands touching him all over.
They were too familiar with each other's bodies.
The moment she touched him, he knew it was Mia.
Since Mia got pregnant, James had gone without for too long. Some reactions were beyond his control.
So, while Mia was still debating whether to also change the last piece that was equally soaked with sweat,
She watched as James showed a reaction.