Chapter 62
Chapter 62 A Friendly Face in a Foreign Land
When I entered the questhouse, I shed my wet clothes and cranked up the heater. Then I hopped into the shower. Hot water poured over me, thawing my frozen body with steam.
I
Since I didn’t have spare clothes, I wrapped myself in a blanket. Then I boiled some water and sipped it. I didn’t care how clean the cups were, but I wished there was tea to warm me up
That made me laugh wryly, but my mind was racing to figure out how to meet Fred. I reached for the pamphlet and looked through the contact information. I dialed a few numbers, but no one answered. It seemed this business wasn’t customer-friendly.
I
The middle-aged man I met earlier was my only hope. However, my hope faded as the night wore on and no calls came. I eventually dozed off.
In the middle of the night, I woke up with a fever. Wrapped tightly in my blanket, I couldn’t stop shivering. My teeth chattered uncontrollab
In my delirium, I desperately longed for a sip of warm water. However, I couldn’t even summon the strength to open my eyes, let alone get out of bed. Nightmares plagued me all night.
Fearing Matthew would call, I forced myself out of bed the next morning
I went to a nearby grocery store and video-called him from there, as if showing him my hometown. The
store was difficult to locate, and after a brief conversation, I hung up. I felt utterly drained.
I had planned to buy some medicine, but there was no pharmacy in the area. I learned from the grocery store staff that the nearest hospital was a long taxi ride away. My phone was also running low on battery Reluctantly, I returned to my room to charge my phone before heading out. However, I fell asleep again from exhaustion. Despite being asleep, my subconscious nagged me that time was running out.
I needed to find Fred to secure the deal. This was my trump card against Matthew.
At some point, my phone rang, startling me. I fumbled for it, hoping for a message from Fred. When
Atlas’s name flashed on the screen, I felt somewhat disappointed.
We exchanged a few words before I hung up, but I couldn’t remember what we discussed, I struggled to sit up and realized I was burning up and shivering uncontrollably.
Tknow I had a fever. The accumulation of stress, that night of binge drinking, and the rain all contributed.
to ir stowly, I started losing consciousness.
And my arse from a distance, but I couldn’t respond it was de werk
“Chloe… Chloe…”
+15 BONUS
I searched for the source of the voice, which sounded oddly close. My body tossed and turned.
“Chloe, wake up!” I felt a warm sensation on my forehead and leaned into it. “Chloe…”
I struggled to open my eyes, and a sharply defined face appeared. I wondered if it was a hallucination. “Chloe, are you awake?” He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Feeling better?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Why are you here?”
“I was in town on business and had a dozen ways to track you down,” he responded, observing me. “You
have a high fever. Aren’t you just asking for trouble by not going to the hospital?”
Despite feeling sorrowful, I licked my dry lips and replied. “It’s fine. I just fell asleep.”
Atlas didn’t like that. He frowned and said impatiently, “You’ve got no sense of self-preservation! You
have no idea how bad this can get. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
I chuckled bitterly, tears flowing despite my best efforts.
Time seemed to stand still as we both fell silent. After a while, he touched my forehead, checking my temperature. “The fever’s gone!”
Before I could ask him why he was there, a knock on the door interrupted our conversation.
The door swung open, and two people hurried in. I stared at them in surprise.
Atlas, however, remained unfazed. He looked at me and remarked, “Looks like we have some unexpected