Chapter 44
"Go ahead. We will wait for you," Rachel said and Eric vanished quickly.
Before long, he came back as there were not many patients at noon.
Eric's hand had properly healed.
After writing a short note requesting for leave, Rachel left the hospital with them. Her temperature had lowered a little.
Eric demonstrated great concern by feeling Rachel's forehead, when he noticed her gloomy attitude. "Why don't you get an intravenous drip before we go back?" he asked. "That's not necessary at all," answered Rachel. "I will be fine as long as I take some medicine."
Eric looked at Rachel with amusement and abruptly burst into laughter. "Turns out a doctor will get a fever too," he joked.
Rachel pursed her lips and leaned her head against the window without a word.
Lucas, who was driving, narrowed his eyes.
"Cover her with that blanket," he told Eric.
'What a considerate man!' thought Eric. It was at this point that he noticed that Lucas had brought a blanket specifically for Rachel to cover herself from the cold breeze.
He leaned over and whispered to Rachel, "Why is Lucas so nice to you?"
Rachel's heart missed a beat. She lifted her foot and stepped hard on his.
"Ouch!" shouted Eric in pain.
Lucas felt amused
and shook his head slightly.
They arrived at Rachel's residence very quickly because the traffic was not very heavy.
As they all got out of the car, Rachel was a little shocked to see a sleek, black Land Rover packed in the garage.
"Why does this car seem familiar?" blurted Eric after following Rachel's gaze. He blinked in confusion.
Rachel ignored him and slightly pursed her dry
lips.
Lucas followed Rachel's gaze, unaware that the car belonged to Jack. "Did you buy a new car?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"Of course not," Rachel answered.
She looked away from Lucas and intuitively directed her gaze upstairs.
She wondered why the car was in her garage. Had Jack come to her house again?
Rachel did not want to set her eyes upon the man because he was the source of all her problems.
What was more, Lucas was here.
"Go upstairs," Lucas said. ■3
He guessed that Rachel must have a guest. Although he was oblivious of whom the guest was, he could tell Rachel didn't like the guest.
Who could enter Rachel's house at will? Lucas then realized it.
Eric was still in confusion and wondered why this car looked so familiar.
The situation was different from the previous time Jack came visiting because the hallway door was locked up.
Rachel opened the door, went upstairs and used her fingerprints to unlock the door to her apartment.
A complete silence engulfed the house, for apparently there was no guest as they had expected.
Lucas stepped forward and looked around the house in silence.
'Why did Jack pack his car in my garage when he himself wasn't here?' wondered Rachel.
Rachel was sick, tired and drowsy. She then put a cooling gel sheet on to lower her temperature. After some time, she felt more tired than ever and lay down in her bed.
After Rachel finally fell asleep, Lucas could not stay any longer and hence he left. Eric, though, stayed on and looked after his cousin.
Before Lucas left, he instructed Eric on how he would give Rachel her pills. He also reminded him to check on her temperature later.
Although Rachel had slept deeply and her ■3
temperature had lowered significantly, Lucas was still worried about her. Hence he asked Eric to take good care of her. Eric nodded with approval as Lucas went out of the house with a worried expression. Eric wondered why Lucas cared about his cousin so intensely. He was out rightly suspicious of Lucas' endearing attitude towards Rachel.
"Do you have feelings for Rachel?" Eric asked Lucas as he walked him through the door.
Lucas was thunderstruck by Eric's question. He almost fell to the floor. After wearing his shoes, he looked up with a cool demeanor. "What do you think?" Eric was completely speechless for a moment. Lucas finished wearing his shoes, raised his hand, briefly looked at his watch and was ready to go.
"I have to go now. Kindly take care of Rachel." "She is my cousin, you don't have to remind me about that," retorted Eric.
"However, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for taking care of Rachel. Take care."
Despite Eric's apparent childishness, it was clear that he cared for Rachel very much.
Eric definitely paid a lot of attention to anyone who had paid special attention to Rachel.
Eric completely disregarded the marriage that was between Jack and Rachel. According to him, Jack was the worst man ever.
If Rachel were to date again, Eric was hell bent to make sure he was a man that he would approve. He would not allow a man like Jack to be near his ■3
cousin. However, he was not against her finding love again.
As the only man around Rachel after her parents died, Eric felt that he had a responsibility to take care of her. He had thought about this for quite some time now and did not want her to be hurt again. Ironically, it was the other way round. Rachel was the one taking care of him.
Rachel slept deeply till the dusk, and when she woke up, Eric had stepped out to go and buy her porridge.
While Eric was still out, Jack came to Rachel's residence.
When Rachel woke up, she was feeling much better. She went downstairs and sat down in the living room. Eric had left her a message in a notebook and some snacks on the table. Rachel decided to play her video game as she waited for Eric.
Her opponent in the computer game was playing intelligently, and Rachel carefully studied his playing tactics with excitement.
When Jack came in, he found Rachel sitting on her sofa with her legs crossed. She was pale, had an antipyretic sticker on her forehead and was completely engrossed in the computer game. "Are you unwell?" enquired Jack.
She raised her head in surprise and then frowned when she saw Jack's tall figure.
Jack changed his shoes before he came in, as ■3
he did in his own house.
"Why are you here?" asked Rachel as she paused the game
She wondered why he had come to her house.
Previously, when Jack entered his car, he noticed a lady's coat on the back seat. For a moment, he thought of asking someone to bring it to Rachel, but resolved to bring it himself.
When he left Rachel at the hotel last night, his plan was to call her after comforting Celine.
But Vincent called him before he could call Rachel, and told him, "I have sent Ms. Shen back."
Jack was thoroughly embarrassed, but he thanked him.
Jack was so angry with Celine that he forgot all about Rachel. He could not remember that he took her to the hotel and abandoned her there.
He could have requested someone else to send the coat, but he opted to bring it himself.
It was only after he drove into her garage that he realized Rachel could have been at work at that moment.
So he packed his car in her garage and went away for a while.
The light from Rachel's upstairs window made him know that she had come back.
However, when Jack saw the cooling sticker on her forehead, he remembered that Rachel had not dressed warmly the previous day.
She had worn a light strapless dress which ■3
covered nothing.
Her arms and legs were barely covered, which probably contributed to her sickness.
It was not in Jack's nature to feel guilty, but in this case he was, because he took Rachel to the hotel and abandoned her there. "What do you want here?"
asked Rachel.
Jack took a deep breath, moved forward and put her coat on the chair. "I brought back your coat," he said.
"You threw me there and sent back my coat the next day," Rachel said sarcastically.
Jack was completely speechless and did not know how to react. "Sorry," he said at last.
Rachel laughed scornfully.
Jack touched his nose, wondering how he would make up for the mistake he had done. He knew he had to do something about it.
"Have you been to the doctor?" Jack asked.
"I am the doctor; which other doctor would you like me to see?"
"Have you taken your medicine?" Jack said, trying to change the subject.
"Why wouldn't I take medicine if I am sick?"
Rachel was always on the defense and was acting like the proverbial hedgehog. Ever ready to prick whenever Jack told her anything.
Realizing how edgy she was towards him, Jack ■3
frowned and asked, "Have you eaten anything today?" "Not yet."
After a while Rachel asked with a ridiculous smile on her face, "Mr. Fu, would you like to buy me some dinner?"
"What would you like to eat?" Jack asked unexpectedly.
"Will you buy it?" she teased. "Yes I will," he answered seriously.
Jack wanted to make use of this opportunity to make up for what he had done yesterday.
Eric was still in queue impatiently waiting to buy porridge when Rachel's call came through.
"You don't have to buy the porridge, I am going to eat outside," Rachel said on the phone. Eric was completely sandwiched in the middle of the long queue and feeling claustrophobic because he hated crowds. The crowd was so big that one couldn't see the end of it.
"Damn! Are you kidding me?"
Eric asked over the phone. After Rachel answered something, he retorted, "Who are you going to have dinner with?"