Chapter 35 : She’s Exhausted
Jareth’s face was drawn with worry. “What now?” he asked.
Allison took out a small notebook and wrote calmly, “She’s exhausted. She’s only sleeping.”
She was elderly, had seizures for a long time, and had used up all her strength.
Sleep was the only thing her body had left.
Allison tore a page from her notebook and handed it to a maid. “Please go to the pharmacy and get these medicines.”
One maid left to buy the medicine, while the other brought hot water, exactly as Allison instructed.
When everything was taken care of, Allison turned to Jareth, who was still half-kneeling on the floor. She walked up to him and held out her hand. “Let me help you.”
Jareth, proud as ever, did not want to appear weak in front of anyone. But after several failed attempts to stand on his own, he had no choice but to reluctantly take her hand.
He was tall, nearly six feet three. At first, Allison was able to pull him up by his hand. But as he began to rise, she braced herself against his chest like a human crutch, wrapping her arms tightly around him to help him keep his balance.
Jareth lowered his head slightly and felt her messy hair brush against his chin. The touch awakened something unfamiliar inside his chest. He glanced at her tense little face and quickly looked away.
Yet even after turning his eyes away, he could not avoid the faint, clean scent coming from her.
Unaware of any of it, Allison shifted her position to secure him. Jareth managed to sit down, leaning against the bedside cabinet.
The hot water arrived, and Allison stopped paying attention to Jareth. She wrung out a towel and carefully wiped the old woman’s hands, feet, and body.
When the medicine arrived, she prepared an IV and connected it.
As he watched the woman’s vitals slowly stabilize, Jareth made another call to Oliver and told him not to come, only to keep the specialists on standby.
By the time everything settled down, it was already two in the morning. The woman was resting peacefully as her fever finally gone.
The two maids were nodding off nearby, and Allison rubbed her sleepy eyes as well.
Jareth sat quietly at the woman’s bedside.
Seeing that he was not asleep, Allison did not dare lie down either. She noticed the deep bite marks on his wrist and hesitated before speaking. “That wound needs to be disinfected. You should get a tetanus shot.”
Human bites were not always minor. If left untreated, they could become fatal.
Jareth glanced at her. He did not know how Allison knew the old woman.
Allison, on the other hand, had no idea what Jareth’s connection to the old woman was.
Out of respect for the elder, neither of them chose to ask.
Jareth did not want to be scolded by the old lady, so he silently held out his arm and let Allison do as she wished.
The wound itself was not hard to clean.
The problem was the injection.
Allison held the syringe and reminded him, “You need to take off your jacket. I need your upper arm exposed.”
Jareth looked at her. “Does it have to be the arm?”
“The thigh works too,” Allison replied.
Jareth was speechless.
She always spoke softly, almost timidly. Yet her words were so absurdly serious that they made people want to strangle her.
With a scoff, Jareth shrugged off his coat.
Underneath, he wore a black silk shirt. The fabric stretched across his shoulders, making the buttons pucker slightly when his muscles flexed.
He undid one cuff with a single hand and rolled up his sleeve, casting another glance at her.
“Is this good enough?”
“Mm.” Allison nodded and lowered her head to insert the needle.
To Jareth, the pain was nothing. It was less than a mosquito bite. What distracted him instead was a strange, ticklish sensation.
Frowning slightly, he turned his head and saw her other hand lightly brushing across his deltoid as she pushed the medicine inside the syringe harder.
“What are you scratching at?” he asked flatly.
To him, it felt borderline inappropriate, especially after the terrible first impression she had left.
Allison realized he did not like it and calmly explained, “It’s a technique to redirect pain.”
Even so, she stopped.
Once the injection was finished, Allison stepped aside. Jareth rolled his sleeve back down. Still, he could not shake the strange sensation lingering on his skin, as if he could still feel her fingers brushing his arm.
With nothing else to do, Allison did not dare sit on the bed beside Jareth. She sat cross-legged on the carpet instead. The room was warm enough that it did not feel cold.
And she stayed there until sunrise.
Jareth was the first to notice the old woman had woke up.
She smacked her lips, looking well rested. When she saw Jareth, she blinked and asked, “Jareth, did Amanda come see me last night?”
As she tried to sit up, Jareth slipped a pillow behind her. “You were dreaming. Amanda wasn’t here.”
The old woman did not believe him. Her eyes scanned the room until they landed on Allison, who was curled up on the floor, fast asleep.
She squinted, clearly confused. “Who’s that girl?”
Jareth answered casually, “She’s the doctor you called. She’s the one who saved your life last night.”
The old woman gave him a suspicious look. “Don’t try to fool an old lady. Why would you bring some girl into my room?”
A sharp glint flashed in Jareth’s eyes.
He and the old woman turned at the same time and looked at Allison, still asleep on the floor.
She was not someone the old lady had invited.
And Jareth certainly had not brought her.
So then, where had she come from?
The maid who had brought Allison last night looked pale. “She knocked on the door in the middle of the night and said she was here to treat Madam Berry. I thought Mr. Jareth had called her, so I let her in.”
Only then did the maid realize she had likely made a mistake. But if Allison had not been invited, how had she arrived at just the right moment to save the old woman?
As the question lingered, Allison, who had been dozing off, suddenly jerked forward and woke up.
Still groggy, she opened her eyes and instinctively reached for the notebook at her feet. When she looked up, she realized several pairs of eyes were staring at her.
As if she were a stranger. Someone unwelcome.