Chapter 301 High Fever
After Caspian took his seat, he glanced at Caroline casually. She was listening to Caleb's report on the progress of the wind power project. There was an important component being installed today, so they hadn't come over—everyone was at the construction site.
After lunch, colleagues were taken back to the office by Caleb to rest, with activities resuming at 1:30 PM.
Caroline planned to check out the wind power project site. Caleb drove the office's work truck to take Caroline. Caspian asked Tyler, "Can I come along and take a look?"
Tyler shook his head. "You think this is a field trip? Go rest."
"Got it."
Caspian followed the crowd towards the substation.
Caroline got in the back seat. Caleb hit the gas, and the work truck headed toward the wind power project site.
Winter had arrived, and the sea wind was biting, cutting like a knife against their faces.
Today they were supposed to install an offshore wind turbine, but when they arrived at the site, they found work had stopped. After talking to the chief engineer, they learnt that while installing a lifting base at a special location, the crane had broken down. They were currently waiting for repair personnel.
The onshore substation and power grid installation didn't present any technical difficulties. The challenge was the offshore installation.
As the afternoon training time approached, Caroline said goodbye to the chief engineer and left by car.
On the way back, Caroline felt a headache. The wind by the sea had been too fierce. Even though she'd worn a hat, it had blown so hard her scalp went numb, and her brain felt frozen.
The afternoon training covered pole climbing and guy wire installation. Meanwhile, Caspian was concentrating on Tyler teaching the key points about temperature measurement.
Tyler held up the equipment and said, "You need to remember, the key to temperature measurement is correctly selecting the emissivity of the equipment being measured. Also, you need to operate within the safe distance allowed. The infrared thermometer in your hands should get as close as possible to the equipment being measured, so that the equipment fills the entire field of view of the infrared thermometer. Got it?"
Caspian's brow furrowed tightly. "Got it."
"You got it, you go first." Tyler had Caspian come over for hands-on practice.
Just then, Caroline walked over, raising her hand to cover her mouth as she coughed a few times.
The activity ended at 3 PM. Based on today's overall performance, the top three would receive job title promotions.
On the bus ride back, everyone sat in the same seats as on the way there. When Caroline got on the bus, she noticed Caspian had sat back down next to Tyler.
Fallon saw Caroline's cheeks flushed an unnatural red and asked, "Ms. Tudor, are you feeling okay? Your face is so red."
Caroline coughed several more times in a row before sitting down and saying, "I probably caught a chill from the wind at the construction site earlier."
Hearing her heavily nasal voice, Fallon said, "Ms. Tudor, do you have a fever?"
"Probably. I'm cold all over." Caroline took a mask from her pocket and put it on. "Don't want to give it to you."
"It's fine, I'm healthy as a horse," Fallon said.
Feeling unwell and with the rough road, her stomach churned. During a rest stop at a service area, Caroline ran to the bathroom and threw up.
When she came out, she felt weak all over and had no energy.
She got back on the bus, and someone tapped her shoulder from behind. She turned her head slightly to see Caspian offering her a hot drink.
"Here, drinking something hot might make you feel better."
Caroline took it. "Thanks, how much was it? I'll transfer you the money."
"Don't worry about it, it's just a few dollars. Don't transfer me anything." Caspian sat back down without disturbing Caroline's rest further.
Half-asleep, she felt someone calling her. Caroline opened her eyes to see the familiar office compound.
Fallon said, "Ms. Tudor, we're here."
Caroline stood up. Caspian in the back seat hadn't left either. Tyler asked, "How are you feeling? Ms. Tudor, maybe you should go to the hospital."
"I'm fine, I'll just take some medicine." Caroline followed the crowd off the bus.
Back at the office, Caroline leaned back in her chair to rest for a bit. She remembered having some basic medicine in her drawer, and after searching, she actually found a fever reducer.
She took the medicine and prepared to leave work, running into Caspian at the parking spot.
"Ms. Tudor." Caspian greeted her. "You still don't look well. You should go to the hospital."
Caroline replied, "Okay. Why are you just leaving now?"
Caspian said, "I had something to take care of, got held up."
Caroline said, "You should get going. If you wait much longer, you'll hit rush hour traffic."
Caspian smiled. "I'm leaving now."
They both got in their cars. Caspian waited for Caroline to drive out first before slowly pulling out of the office compound.
Leopold sent a message saying he was working late and she shouldn't wait for him for dinner.
Caroline wasn't sure if there was any medicine at home, so she stopped to buy cold medicine and fever reducers. As soon as she got home, she took off her coat and headed straight for the bedroom. She collapsed on the bed and pulled the covers over herself to sleep.
Leopold got home after 10 PM. When he walked in, it was pitch black and completely silent.
He turned on the hallway light and saw Caroline's heels on the floor mat.
"Caroline." Leopold called out toward the interior, but it was dead quiet.
By the living room light, Leopold saw Caroline lying in the bedroom.
"Caroline?" Sensing something was wrong, he went to the bedside and heard her breathing heavily. He turned on the bedside lamp, and the light fell on her face—her cheeks were as red as cooked shrimp.
Leopold touched her forehead and clearly felt the heat against his palm.
He got a thermometer. Her body was burning hot too.
Caroline barely opened her eyes. "You're back?"
Leopold glanced at the number on the thermometer. "You have a high fever. Did you take any medicine?"
Caroline said, "I took a fever reducer before leaving work."
Leopold asked, "You didn't eat dinner, did you?"
Caroline said, "I had no appetite, didn't want to eat."
Leopold felt both sorry for her and guilty. "If only I'd come home earlier."
Caroline said, "It's not your fault. I got caught in the sea wind at the construction site during the day."
"Alright, don't talk anymore. Just lie down for a bit. I'll go make you some porridge. You need to eat something before taking medicine." Leopold tucked the covers around her, got up, and walked away while unbuttoning and rolling up his sleeves.
Hearing the sounds from the kitchen, Caroline drifted off to sleep again.
When she woke up again, Leopold was holding a bowl of porridge, with medicine and water on the nightstand.
Caroline looked at the porridge in the bowl and said, "I really don't want to eat. I have no appetite at all."
"Come on, you need to eat something before taking the medicine." He scooped up a spoonful and brought it to her mouth. Caroline turned her head away. "I can do it myself, it's not that bad."
She forced down two mouthfuls and handed the bowl back to him. "I really can't eat anymore."
Leopold negotiated, "Just one more bite."
He coaxed and cajoled her into eating half the bowl before he gave up.
After taking the medicine, she lay back down. The fever made her keep kicking off the covers. Leopold could only bring a basin of hot water and use a towel to wipe her whole body to help bring down the temperature.
By the time her fever broke, it was already dawn. Leopold had changed the hot water countless times. When he finally straightened up, his back ached from exhaustion.
Winter's chill arrived with the first snow, covering everything in a quiet, elegant white.
When Caroline opened her eyes, she saw Leopold sleeping soundly. She quietly got out of bed, only to see a basin of water on the floor with a towel soaking in it.