Chapter 5 Fever

After considering what Ashley had been going through recently, Ellie decided to take a few days off to keep her company.

The next morning, she got up early and without waking Ashley up, cooked rice porridge and went out.

To awaken her senses, she did a quick jog around the vicinity. The smell and feel of a new day refreshed her and her spirits. Before going home, she took a detour to her favorite shop and bought two bottles of soy milk and several steamed stuffed buns and deep-fried dough sticks. 'Ashley's favorite food, ' she thought to herself, highly amused at her best friend's taste in food. With several plastic bags in hand, she started towards their house.

Upon reaching the house, Ellie took a deep breath. She had hoped that by the time she got back, Ashley would already be awake. That wasn't the case though. With a resigned expression, she shook her head and walked into her best friend's bedroom.

"Get up, Ash," Ellie whispered excitedly while perching on the edge of the bed. "I made your favorite porridge," she continued, nudging the sleeping girl. The wonderful smell of the food filled the air.

"Ah," Ashley replied in a nasal voice. A quilt was tightly wrapped around her and it was clear that she still wasn't fully awake.

Seeing that, Ellie couldn't help but be amused. 'Why did she suddenly act so childish after last night?' she wondered.

As amused as she was, though, Ellie wanted Ashley to get up already. The porridge was getting cold. She nudged Ashley several more times but she wasn't responding. It seemed like she didn't want to move at all. Feeling that something was wrong with her friend, she lifted the quilt off of her.

"Ashley, your face is so red!" Ellie exclaimed, quickly feeling her friend's forehead. "And you're on fire! What's happening!"

Panic immediately set in. 'How am I gonna take her to the hospital alone?' Ellie anxiously thought.

For as long as she could remember, she and Ashley- and only she and Ashley - had stuck together. As a result, they didn't have any other friends. Ellie was now at a loss and she had no idea what to do.

Biting her lip, she pulled out her phone and dialed Raymond's number.

The other end of the line picked up the phone quickly. "Raymond, I need you to come over quickly. Ash is very sick!" she said in one breath, having worry all over her face.

Several moments had passed but the guy on the other end of the line still hadn't responded. Ellie was starting to think that she might have called the wrong person. With a skeptical look, she checked the screen and saw that she was indeed calling Raymond's number.

'What the hell, ' Ellie thought. 'What's wrong with this guy?' The panic that she was feeling quickly turned into rage. As she was about to hang up the phone, she heard a woman's sneer from the other end of the line. In a gloating tone, the woman quipped, "What? Ashley is sick?" The woman let out a sinister laugh. "Then you should take her to the doctor. Why did you call Raymond? He isn't a doctor!"

Ellie never expected that Lena would answer the phone. After immediately detecting the offensive, sarcastic tone in her voice, Ellie regretted her decision and became embarrassed. After a long pause, she found her voice back. In a weak and shaky voice, she apologized, "I'm so sorry. Bye!"

"Oh, hold on," Lena said.

"Oh, yeah?" Ellie responded, holding on to her phone.

"Don't call Raymond again. Also, please stay away from him. He just got engaged. If you continue doing this and keep in touch with him, I will feel very uncomfortable."

While she wasn't expecting anything good to come out of Lena's mouth, Ellie was still rendered speechless. 'Does she think I wanted to call Raymond? He literally is the last person I want to turn to for help!' she snapped silently.

Before she could give Lena a piece of her mind, Lena ended the call. Ellie couldn't do anything else but ball her hand into a fist. The annoyance that she was feeling made her want to drop her cellphone on the floor.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Ellie quickly ran to it and opened it. Two men wearing business suits were outside. With a stunned look, she surveyed the strangers and asked in confusion, "Um, sorry, but who are you?"

"Hello, miss. May I know if Miss Mu is home?" the man, Johnny Cheng, inquired with a friendly smile.

Baffled, Ellie nodded and asked, "What's your business with her?"

"My boss wanted to see her."

Johnny Cheng then turned sideways to make way for the man behind him.

The man who came forward was about 188 cm tall. The authority he was exuding was breath-taking. 'Maybe it's because of his three-piece black tailored suit, ' Ellie thought, gulping.

With a tousled, soft black hair, the man was blessed with an enchanting, flawless face which could fascinate women of all ages. People who made eye contact with him would definitely get lost in his deep-set, sparkling eyes. He also had thin, sexy lips.

Ellie studied him up and down quickly and concluded that he wasn't a simple person. There was a certain air of class and nobility in him.

'When did Ash make acquaintance with this guy?' she wondered inwardly.

"I'm sorry," Ellie started, flashing the two men her best cordial smile. "I can't let you two in. It's not convenient for Ash to see you today." Her lips were starting to twitch. "If you have something important for her, please come over another day." To emphasize her politeness even more, she widened her smile. 'These two can definitely wait, ' Ellie thought. 'Since Ashley is ill in bed, she is in no mood to deal with these two strangers.' In her mind, Ellie had already planned how she was going to send her Ashley to the hospital to get treatment. A few moments passed and Ellie took the men's silence as agreement, so she went ahead and started to close the door. However, just as she was about to do that, the imposing man barged into the house.

"Oh jeez. What are you doing?!" Ellie shouted at the man with an alert look. She ran towards the man in an attempt to stop him, but Johnny Cheng stood in front of her and blocked her way.

"Please don't worry," Johnny started, not even looking at Ellie. "My boss will not hurt Miss Mu!" Reassuring as his words might be, the girl still looked so rattled.

Actually, he, too, was taken aback by his boss' rude behavior. 'The girl asked us to leave but he broke in against her will, ' he sighed inwardly.

It was the first time that he had seen his boss act this way. Today, he had been ordered to leave his work behind and investigate a woman. After learning the woman's address, he reported it to his boss. Andrew then gave him instructions and he drove him here immediately.

"Ash is ill!" Ellie shouted anxiously. With all her might, she pushed Johnny Cheng aside and ran quickly to Ashley's bedroom.

'What?

The girl got sick?' Johnny exclaimed silently.

Oh, that's not good.'

Deciding that it was for the best, he let the girl follow Andrew to where he was going.

Ellie came upon Andrew crouched beside the still sleeping girl. With his eyes fixed on Ashley's red face, Andrew quickly realized that something was wrong with her. He bit his lower lip and asked in a low voice, "What's going on with her?"

"Ash has a fever. Can you help me take her to the hospital?" Ellie replied with a worried look.

Upon hearing this, Andrew immediately lifted the patient to his chest. "Get the car and inform the hospital. We're going!" he instructed, casting his assistant a stern glance.

It was the first time that Johnny had seen his boss panic like this. Out of curiosity, he stole a glance at the girl in Andrew's arms. 'She's beautiful, ' he thought, somehow understanding why Andrew was acting the way he was. As his boss strode out of the room, he hurried out of the house to prepare the car.

Ellie grabbed her cell phone and purse and joined the two men.

As soon as she got into the car, they sped towards the hospital.

"Hurry up!" Andrew commanded Johnny Cheng. His voice was so icy it could freeze the air inside the car.

The assistant put on a helpless expression. 'Boss, I am already driving at full speed, ' he complained in his heart. 'Didn't you see that we were already being chased by the traffic police?' he continued wordlessly.

As much as he wanted to say these things, he didn't have the guts to do it.

At the hospital, a bunch of doctors and even the hospital's dean were already waiting for them. The moment that they arrived, they all swarmed towards Andrew.

"Mr. Lu!"

they all said in unison.

...

...

There were so many people that Ellie was forced to leave Andrew's side.

In a swift motion, Andrew carried Ashley into a VIP ward and placed her on the bed gently. Without taking his eyes off the patient, he commanded in a detached voice, "Check her!"

This was the first time that the attending physicians had seen Andrew care about someone so much, not to mention a woman.

A doctor then came forward instantly and examined the patient carefully.

While working, the doctor could feel Andrew's killing gaze. After finishing his examination, he wiped the sweat off of his forehead nervously. "Mr. Lu, this lady has a fever. Don't worry, though. She will definitely get better," he said gingerly.

"Umm," Andrew responded coldly, devoid of any facial expression.

A nurse then came forward to give Ashley a shot, but she missed when Ashley moved her hand. As a result, the needle poked Ashley's skin and several drops of blood seeped out.

Seeing the blood on Ashley's white-snow arm, Andrew went ballistic. With a livid expression, he kicked a chair over. Glaring at the nurse, he huffed, "What's wrong with you?!"

The innocent nurse was so frightened by his reaction that her hand shook and she messed the whole thing again.

Feeling Andrew's scary stare, the nurse became so scared that she wanted to cry. As much as she wanted to finish her task, she couldn't even move her hand because she was afraid of making a mistake again.

An experienced doctor then came to the nurse's rescue. He took the needle from her and gave the patient the shot himself.