Chapter 20
Felix leaned worriedly over Elias’s hospital bed as the doctor adjusted the IV line connected to his arm. After checking the monitor once more, the doctor straightened and looked at Felix.
“He should be alright now,” the doctor said calmly. “We’ve managed to bring the fever under control, so his condition should improve within a few hours.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Felix replied quickly.
The doctor gave a small nod before walking out of the room.
The moment the door closed, Felix looked back at Elias with growing worry.
Elias’s face looked unnaturally pale, and there were faint signs of exhaustion and declining health written all over him. Even unconscious, he looked troubled, as though he hadn’t properly rested in days.
Felix slowly exhaled and pulled out his phone. His thumb hovered over Amara’s number while conflicted emotions crossed his face.
After leaving the party the previous night and seeing Jasper with Amara, Elias had gone completely silent. The entire drive home had been suffocatingly quiet, and it was obvious he had been deeply upset.
When Felix arrived at Elias’s house that morning, he had been horrified to find him unconscious on the living room couch, burning with fever.
No matter how much he called his name, Elias hadn’t woken up.
Felix had no choice but to rush him to the emergency room immediately.
He glanced at Elias once more before finally taking a deep breath and pressing the call button.
Amara answered after a few rings.
“Felix?”
“Mrs. Creed…” Felix spoke carefully, nervousness slipping into his voice. “Can you come to City Hospital? Mr. Creed is very ill and has been hospitalized.”
“What?” Her voice immediately sharpened with alarm. “Elias is in the hospital? What happened?”
“He has a very high fever,” Felix explained quickly. “His condition is stable now, but he’s still sick.”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
When Amara spoke again, her voice had lowered slightly.
“I’m sure you can take care of him,” she said quietly. “I won’t be coming. We’re already divorced now. You should call his family instead.”
“Mrs. Creed—”
Felix immediately interrupted her.
“Please, can you come over?” he asked hurriedly. “Mr. Creed’s family isn’t here right now. They’re all away on vacation.”
The lie came out instantly as he glanced guiltily toward Elias.
“I also have to leave for an important business matter soon,” he continued. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave Mr. Creed alone in the hospital. Could you just stay for a little while? You can leave after checking on him.”
Amara didn’t answer right away.
Felix could almost imagine her frowning on the other side of the phone.
Finally, she sighed softly.
“…Alright.”
An hour later, Amara stepped into Elias’s hospital room.
Felix was standing near the door, and the moment he saw her, relief flashed across his face.
“Thank you for coming, Mrs. Creed,” he said with a small smile.
Amara gave a quiet nod.
Felix gestured toward the hospital bed. “Mr. Creed’s fever has gone down a little now.”
Amara’s eyes slowly shifted toward Elias.
He was lying still on the bed with his eyes closed. The IV drip hung beside him, the clear fluid slowly dripping through the line attached to his arm.
For a moment, she simply stood there silently.
Then she slowly walked toward him.
The closer she got, the tighter her brows knitted together.
He really looked sick.
His face was pale, and there was a faint tiredness beneath his eyes that she had never noticed before.
Amara had never once seen Elias sick during all the years she had known him.
Seeing him like this sent an unexpected stab of pain through her chest.
Quietly, she placed the “Get Well Soon” flower bouquet and her purse onto the bedside table.
Then she stepped closer.
Her movements unconsciously softened as her hand slowly reached toward his face.
The moment her fingertips brushed against his skin, Elias’s eyes suddenly opened slightly.
Before she could react, his hand lifted and firmly grabbed her wrist.
The next second, he pulled her onto the bed beside him.
“Elias—”
Amara gasped in surprise, but he didn’t even give her the chance to react properly.
With one sharp pull on her wrist, he dragged her forward. She lost her balance and fell onto the bed with a soft gasp, landing against the pillows behind her.
Before she could sit up properly, Elias had already shifted closer and dropped his head into her lap. His arms slid tightly around her waist, locking her in place against him as though afraid she might disappear the second he let go.
A small, satisfied smile appeared on his pale face.
“Elias!” Amara frowned immediately, trying to pry his arms off her. “Let go.”
She pushed against his forearms, but he suddenly groaned softly, sounding almost genuinely uncomfortable.
“Stop,” he muttered weakly. “I’m sick. I want some silence and comfort.”
As if proving his point, he rubbed his face lightly against her stomach and inhaled deeply, surrounding himself with her scent. His arms tightened even more around her waist.
Amara let out a frustrated breath.
“Gosh, stop throwing childish tantrums.”
Elias didn’t feel even the slightest shame.
Instead of moving away, he buried his face deeper against her and held onto her like a stubborn child refusing to let go of his favorite person.
The warmth of her presence slowly eased the exhaustion crushing his body.
At some point, without even realizing it, the sleepless nights and emotional strain finally caught up to him.
He fell asleep.
The room became quiet except for the soft sound of the IV drip.
Some time later, Elias slowly woke up.
Still half-asleep, his arms instinctively tightened, wanting to pull Amara closer again.
But something felt wrong.
His brows furrowed.
The softness beneath his head didn’t feel like her lap anymore.
His eyes snapped open immediately.
Instead of Amara, he was hugging a pillow.
Elias instantly jerked upright on the bed, his sleepy eyes scanning the room frantically.
“Amara?”
There was no sign of her anywhere.
Felix, who had been standing near the window while speaking on the phone, noticed Elias awake and quickly ended the call before walking over.
“Mr. Creed, how are you feeling now?”
“Where is Amara?” Elias demanded immediately.
His sharp gaze locked onto Felix with terrifying intensity.
Felix hesitated slightly before answering carefully.
“She already left, sir. I tried to make her stay, but she walked out.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Elias’s expression darkened.
“Why would you let her leave?” he snapped furiously.
His voice echoed sharply through the hospital room.
“You should’ve stopped her! It was already difficult enough getting her to come see me, and you just let her leave?”
Felix visibly flinched under the sudden anger.
“Mr. Creed,” he defended himself quickly, instinctively taking a step backward, “s-she’s your wife. How am I supposed to stop my boss’s wife if she insists on leaving?”
“You’re back on security guard duty for the next two months,” Elias snapped coldly. “Apparently two weeks wasn’t enough for you to learn how to do your damn job properly.”
Felix looked personally wounded.
A painful sigh escaped him as though life had completely lost meaning.
He shot Elias a bitter side glance before muttering under his breath in annoyance, “Mrs. Creed was absolutely right.”
He shook his head dramatically.
“You really do throw childish tantrums.”
The very next second, the pillow Elias had been holding flew across the room at full speed and smacked Felix directly in the face.
“Ow—!”
Felix stumbled backward with a wince while Elias glared at him murderously from the hospital bed.
***
“Dial her number.”
Elias stared coldly at Cassian from the hospital bed, his sharp eyes practically daring him to refuse.
He had already changed out of his hospital gown and was now wearing a dark suit, looking more like he was about to attend a business meeting than someone who had collapsed from a severe fever only hours ago. Even sitting on the bed, impatience radiated from him.
Cassian and Xavier exchanged exhausted looks before both turning toward him.
“Are you serious right now?” Xavier groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. “She’s already blocked Felix, Lucius, and me. She clearly doesn’t want to talk to you. Isn’t that hint enough?”
Elias’s expression darkened instantly.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the flower bouquet from the bedside table, clearly about to throw it straight at Xavier’s head.
But midway, he suddenly paused.
His eyes flickered toward the bouquet for half a second as he remembered Amara had brought it for him.
His movements immediately slowed.
Carefully, he placed it back onto the table like it was something precious.
Then, without missing a beat, he grabbed the nearest pen and hurled it directly at Xavier instead.
“Hey—!”
Xavier flinched but caught the pen before it could smack him in the face. He stared at Elias in disbelief before letting out another frustrated sigh.
“For the love of fucking God, Elias,” Cassian gritted out.
Finally giving up, he pulled out his phone and dialed Amara’s number before placing the call on speaker.
The phone rang several times.
Then Amara picked up.
The second her voice came through the speaker, Elias immediately straightened slightly on the bed.
“Elias Creed!” Amara snapped furiously from the other side. “Call me one more time, and I swear I’ll post your number and all your friends’ personal numbers on social media so you people can finally understand what nonstop calls feel like!”
Then the call disconnected instantly.
Silence filled the hospital room.
Xavier slowly lowered the pen in his hand.
Cassian quietly stared at his phone.
Elias frowned deeply before falling back against the bed with his arms folded tightly across his chest, irritation written all over his face.
“This damn woman,” he muttered angrily. “She blocked all of you without a second thought?”