Ryn was just concluding her talk with her mother, saying goodbyes with each other, when she heard a loud shriek and even yelling coming from outside the room. She closed her eyes, trying to turn her ears deaf but one word made her eyes popped open in shock."Jeremy!"
Without thinking she rushed to open the door and saw a male servant was holding an unconscious Jeremy. Her face paled seeing him looking so sick.
"What is wrong with Jeremy?" she asked when n.o.body even bothered to look at her or explain.
"Young Master suddenly faints. I will call the doctor," the butler quickly. He led the way for the servants to help bringing the unconscious Jeremy to his room. At the same time, he looked for the number of the resident doctor. Once he found it, he quickly called the doctor.
"How could he faint all of a sudden?" Ryn was unsatisfied with the way the butler answering the question. She looked at the others, waiting for their answer.
No one answered her question.
The maids were still shocked. Mei Li and Mika were following behind the servants in panic.
What would happen now? Jeremy was the anchor in the family. If he was not there to lead them, who would?
Ryn followed behind them. She was worried seeing that despite the noisy noise and even the struggle, Jeremy did not even stir. Had he been hiding his sickness?
She watched as the servants placing Jeremy on his bed carefully. Then, without thinking, she ordered a maid to bring cold water and two clothes. Another maid was told to bring a gla.s.s of water just in case Jeremy regain his consciousness. She also shooed the servants away and pulled the blanket to cover Jeremy.
When the maid came with a bucket of cold water and the clothes, Ryn took the cloth to dip into the water, squeeze it as hard as she could and then placed the folded cloth on Jeremy"s forehead. His body was burning and it made her worried sick.
"When will the doctor come?" she asked the butler coldly despite the hoa.r.s.e voice.
"He is on the way. Should... What should we do now?" the butler asked her worriedly.
Ryn did not answer. She was busy replacing the already warm cloth to another dipped cloth. Then, she noticed something.
"Has he eaten anything after breakfast?"
"I... I am not sure, young miss."
"Go and find out. If he hasn"t, tell the cook to prepare porridge for him. Lighter is better."
"Yes, young miss."
The butler quickly urged the others to leave the room. Honestly, he was a bit scared seeing Miss Catherine"s temper. She almost made him thinking about Old Madam Long when she was angry at them. Better get away from her quickly. He also did not forget to close the door.
Mika and Mei Li were blinking their eyes all the time seeing how Ryn taking over everything.
What was going on right now? Who was the woman in front of them right now?
Ryn did not even register their presence. Her attention was fully on Jeremy. She even wiped his face and arms with the wet cloth.
"What should we do?" Mei Li whispered.
"I don"t know..." Mika replied. Her eyes were still glued at Ryn. Was this Ryn she knew?
No. Most importantly, has Ryn forgiven them? Was she no longer angry at them?
She was about to approach Ryn but Mei Li held her hand. Mei Li shook her head, signalling her to follow out of the room.
"Why didn"t you let me talk to her?" Mika asked once they were out of the room and Mei Li closed the door carefully.
"We can ask her later. Just let the two of them together."
Mika wanted to argue but thinking about how long Ryn has been locking herself in the room and now she finally out of that "jail", Mika changed her mind. If she asked her now, Ryn might remember back her dissatisfaction and lock herself again. They might not be able to coax her again if she gets mad again.
So, both of them went downstairs reluctantly and waited at the living room. It was nerve-wracking.
Ryn, on the other hand, was busy wiping Jeremy"s face and arms. She did not change his clothes at all, just unb.u.t.toning a few b.u.t.tons of his s.h.i.+rt.
"Why are you pus.h.i.+ng yourself when you"re sick?" she asked him worriedly but of course he could not answer her question. He was still unconscious.
When the doctor came, she quickly gave up her seat and hovered close as the doctor checked on Jeremy. She did not even notice she was twisting and pulling on the cloth she dip into the water. She did not even notice the wetness she just created on the fluffy carpet. Her attention was only on Jeremy and the doctor.
"How is he, doctor?" she quickly asked when it seemed like the checking was done.
"He is just too exhausted mentally and physically. And it seems like he always skipping his meals?" the doctor c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at Ryn. He already asked the butler what happened to Jeremy and also his recent activity while climbing up the stairs. He could guess why Young Master Jeremy collapse suddenly. The stress from work and then this. And then, he knew about Jeremy"s habit of skipping his meals. Jeremy did come to him for his stomach problem and when he asked, Jeremy admitted about this bad habit.
Jeremy did promise he would not skip anymore and even promise to prepare snacks in his office so he would eat even if he was too busy with his work.
It seemed like a promise was just words. The doctor would never believe in promise anymore, especially from Young Master Jeremy.
"He needs rest. I will prescribe for him and make sure he doesn"t skip his meals again," the doctor gave a warning look at Ryn. He could guess this woman in front of him who was the reason why Young Master Jeremy having too much stress. Why couldn"t this woman just behave herself and not making Young Master Jeremy worried?
Hmph.
Ryn did not comment upon his rude behaviour. She was too worried about Jeremy to even care about this man"s att.i.tude. She signalled the butler to follow the doctor and prepare everything the doctor told him to. She herself sat back on her previous seat (on a chair next to his bed) and checked on him.
There was no changes in him. His body was still hot and he was still unconscious.
Ryn sighed. She returned back to wiping his face and arms, as well as replacing the warm towel with a newly dipped cold water cloth.
Mika and Mei Li quickly approached the doctor when they saw him on the way to the door to leave the house. Just now when he came, they did not dare to approach, not wanting him to be distracted (and also did not dare to make Ryn angrier if they made the doctor late to check on Jeremy).
"How is it? How is my brother, doctor?" Mika asked hurriedly, now daring to block his way.
"Young Mistress Long, your brother is exhausted physically and mentally. I have given my prescription to your butler. Make sure he has a lot of rest and doesn"t skip his meals again."
"So he is not sick, right?"
He stiffed hearing Mei Li"s question. "Not sick?"
Mei Li gulped. She took a step back and tried to hide her body behind Mika. What... what did she say that make him angry?
"You think high fever is not sickness?" he muttered each word coldly.
Now even Mika took a few steps back. She even tried to push Mei Li to stand in front of her, protecting her from the doctor"s wrath.
The doctor stormed toward them, wiggling his long skinny finger. His mouth kept throwing angry nags at them as he followed them. Each step back they took, he would step forward until they ended up almost hitting a maid on their way to escape from him.
Had the doctor gone mad for treating so many patients?
Mika and Mei Li clutched each other in horror. When they almost hit the maid, without thinking, they grabbed the maid and pushed the poor girl in front of them, blocking them from the angry doctor.
The maid cried and tried to escape but failed. She could only cry and beg the doctor to stop frightening her.
But the doctor was too furious to care.
The butler and the other maids could only watch in horror. Their feet glued on the floor. What... what was going on today? First, Miss Catherine locked herself in the room for hours and refused to talk to anyone except her own mother. Then, Young Master Jeremy collapsed. And now, the doctor they called to cure Young Master Jeremy seemed to be possessed and kept chasing after Young Mistress Mika and Miss Mei Li.
"Has... has this family being possessed by evil spirit? Should we call someone to exorcism the house?" one of the maids asked the butler.
The butler did not answer. He was busy trying to tell himself it was just a nightmare, not real. This was not happening at all. He was just having a nightmare, that"s all. When he woke up in the morning, he would see that nothing like this actually happened.