A few minutes later, Old Hughes hurried in.
Seeing Hassan standing at the door, he already guessed the purpose of his visit. Without even a glance, he ignored him and went straight into the room.
As soon as he entered, he saw Lance cooling Deanna down physically and immediately understood the situation.
"How long has Anna had a fever?" he asked.
"When she woke up at dawn, she had no symptoms. The fever must have started after she fell back asleep, probably within the last hour or so," Lance replied in a deep voice.
Old Hughes nodded and began to check Deanna's pulse.
After a few moments, he released her wrist and relaxed. "Don't worry, Anna is fine. It's just a fever caused by excessive fright. It's not serious. I'll give her a few acupuncture treatments, and she'll be better by the afternoon."
"Thank you, Old Hughes," Lance said gratefully.
Old Hughes shook his head and said nothing more as he began the acupuncture treatment.
A few minutes later, Deanna, who had been in a feverish daze, woke up again. Her throat felt like it was on fire, both painful and dry.
"Water..." she whispered.
Seeing this, Lance quickly brought some water, helped her sit up, and fed her.
After drinking some water, Deanna's mind gradually cleared.
Knowing she was ill, she looked at Old Hughes and gratefully said, "Thank you for your trouble."
"Don't say that, girl. I regret it deeply now. If I had known this would happen, I would never have agreed to come help Old Walsh with his illness," Old Hughes said angrily.
Deanna listened quietly without saying a word.
At this moment, Lance's concerned voice came to her ears, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, don't worry," Deanna replied hoarsely due to her sore throat.
Hearing her raspy voice, Lance felt a pang of heartache. He gently brushed the hair from her face and softly said, "I understand. Your throat is injured; try to speak less."
Deanna nodded.
Old Hughes watched the affectionate interaction between the two and smiled with satisfaction.
Although this trip to Jando wasn't pleasant, it wasn't without its rewards.
At least Lance and Deanna were together now.
Downstairs, however, the atmosphere was tense.
Old Walsh's angry eyes swept over Mr. and Mrs. Walsh, filled with disappointment.
"You two have really let me down, especially you, Ernest. You can't manage the company or raise your daughter properly. What use are you?"
These words were a harsh blow.
Ernest couldn't lift his head under the scolding.
Mrs. Walsh felt equally remorseful.
If she hadn't made that mistake earlier, her daughter wouldn't have become so obsessed and done such terrible things.
Old Walsh didn't care about their thoughts. Since Dr. Deanna was too ill to come down, he would go up to her.
He would not allow the Walsh family to clash with the Mercer family, nor would he sever ties with an old friend or offend a promising ancient medical artist.
"Someone, bring Leticia here!" he ordered before heading upstairs.
Meanwhile, under Lance's care, Deanna felt physically uncomfortable but mentally quite well.
A bodyguard knocked on the door from outside. "Mr. Mercer, Old Walsh has brought Miss Walsh to apologize to Mrs. Mercer."
Hearing this, Lance looked at Deanna instead of responding immediately.
"What do you plan to do about this?" he asked her.
Deanna instinctively looked at Old Hughes.
Seeing this, Old Hughes immediately understood her thoughts and stated firmly, "Don't worry about me. If you hadn't been lucky enough to fall into the pool downstairs, who knows how badly you could have been hurt? Handle this however you see fit. I've already told Old Walsh that if he dares to cover for his granddaughter, our lifelong friendship is over."
"Thank you, Old Hughes," Deanna said gratefully.
She knew Old Hughes was trying to ease her burden by making his stance clear.
After thinking for a moment, she said to Lance, "Let them in first. Let's see what Old Walsh has to say."
Lance nodded and ordered the bodyguard to let the Walsh family in.
Soon, Old Walsh led the rest of the Walsh family into the room.
Seeing Deanna sitting on the bed with a pale face, Hassan opened his mouth as if to say something but restrained himself in the end.
Mr. and Mrs. Walsh also looked at Deanna but were shocked by the bruises on her neck.
The dark purple marks clearly showed how much force their daughter had used; she had genuinely intended to kill.
"Dr. Deanna, how are you feeling?" Mrs. Walsh asked with a forced smile.
Deanna looked at her indifferently and said, "I'm still alive."
Her words left Mr. and Mrs. Walsh speechless and unsure how to respond.
Leticia, who was being held on the ground, showed a flash of resentment in her eyes.
Why was this woman so lucky?
She felt deeply unwilling.
Just then, her grandfather's voice came from above her head.
"Dr. Deanna, I know what happened last night was our family's fault. So today I brought this ungrateful girl here to apologize."