In complete contrast to Leonid's expectations, Charlotte took the initiative of wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing her face into the crook of his neck.
Leonid stopped mid-step and felt the size of the scorching inferno touch his cold white skin, touches he was not accustomed to.
He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment, feeling Charlotte's breath on his skin, then headed towards the hospital with urgent steps.
His silver locks covered the tops of his ears, which were pale red.
"Smell of blood."
"Smell what?"
Leonid asked, surprised by Charlotte's sudden whisper of the smell as she entered the hospital gate.
He asked in his head if she meant his smell or the smell of the hospital, which was a far cry from the smell of blood.
If Charlotte really meant it, this is completely unacceptable logic. Leonid took a shower this morning before and after the victim was found, so his smell is a far cry from blood.
Leonid went smoothly to the reception, and after the procedures he was given a private room for treatment. He sat in the chair next to the bed, waiting for the doctor or nurse in charge of examining Charlotte to arrive.
His muscular body was relaxed as his arm leaned on the arm of the chair, his leg crossed over the other.
Leonid chose to go to private clinics to secure the best treatment for Charlotte instead of government hospitals, but he still has to wait.
In the middle of waiting, someone called his phone.
Leonid took out his phone and read Dmitri's name before picking up the line and answering in a rather low tone so as not to disturb Charlotte's sleep lying on the bed.
"Hello."
"Where are you?"
As soon as Leonid spoke, Dmitri asked him a question, and he didn't stop at just asking him.
"I came looking for you in your apartment, but the security guard prevented me from entering, and he went looking for you and did not find you."
"Huh?"
Leonid raised an eyebrow in response to Dmitri from behind the phone.
Suddenly, a woman wearing a hospital medical staff uniform entered the room. Leonid did not pay attention to her and continued to talk to dmitri.
"What do you want, why were you looking for me?"
He continued to talk on the phone while observing the woman who approached Charlotte after pulling out her heart rate and blood pressure monitor.
"I am looking for you to inform you of something dangerous."
"And what's so dangerous about you?"
The woman tried to wrap the blood pressure monitor around Charlotte's arm, but at that moment Charlotte woke up from her light sleep and crawled away from the woman's hands, crossing her arms over her chest.
It was like an earthworm trying to crawl away.
"No problem."
Leonid whispered in a low voice, reaching out to Charlotte and grabbing her cheeks to turn her head towards him. He never expected that she would suddenly wake up during the process of examining her body and still cling to the idea of escaping.
Her eyes were obscured by sunglasses, so Leonid couldn't see where she was looking, but her plump lips still gave the opposite reaction as she immediately pouted.
"Vasili found…"
Dmitri continued talking on the phone while Leonid snatched the earplugs from Charlotte's ears.
Dmitri said immediately.
"Vasili found evidence bearing Charlotte Smith's fingerprints at the crime scene."
"What?"
For a moment, Leonid felt as if the world had stopped around him. He blinked a few times as he helped the nurse stabilize Charlotte with one arm during the blood pressure check.
"What do you mean by that? "
He asks, his icy blue eyes staring at Charlotte, and he reaches over and takes off his sunglasses so the nurse can get a good look at Charlotte's face.
"As I heard, there was a heel that was not the same length as the rest of the heels in Sofia's apartment, so Vasili took that shoe and asked me to analyze the prints on it. After I examined the prints on that shoe, we discovered that the shoe belonged to Charlotte Smith because of her fingerprints on it."
Leonid remained silently listening to Dmitri, his eyes still staring only at Charlotte who finally gave in and rested her head on his upper torso as she sat on the mattress and allowed the nurse to do her work.
Charlotte was breathing softly as she looked at the white cover of the bed, and as time passed she suddenly felt Leonid's hand gently patting the top of her head.
The nurse noticed Leonid's reassuring movements and Charlotte's clear worry on her face, so she decided to lighten the atmosphere.
"Please Mrs. Smith relax, no need to tense up, you can breathe."
"Hmm."
Charlotte continued to frown after muttering, burying her face in Leonid's shirt, and indirectly ignoring the nurse.
After taking her blood pressure and heart rate, the nurse took out the thermometer and took Charlotte's temperature.
(39.02°C)
The nurse's eyes widened after taking Charlotte's temperature. It was remarkable that Charlotte was still conscious of such heat.
Leonid, on the other hand, looked at the number on the screen and then backed into position in momentary amazement.
He now understood why he felt the heat from Charlotte's head seep into his palm.
"Are you feeling dizzy or nauseous, Mrs. Smith?"
"…."
The nurse asked Charlotte in a worried voice, but Charlotte completely ignored her question and refused to answer.
"I see, let's talk later."
At that moment, Leonid ended his call, raised Charlotte's chin towards him, and repeated the question to her, saying:
"The nurse asks you, 'Are you feeling dizzy or nauseous?'"
Leonid waited patiently for her answer, but Charlotte pulled his hand away and put her head back in.
She could feel Leonid's abdominal muscles with her head, but she didn't care.
"Charlotte."
Leonid sighed and leaned his upper torso against Charlotte. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and brushed random strands of hair away from her face with his right hand. He could see the tears that were slowly sliding down her reddened cheeks.
"It's okay, I'll answer for you, so just tell me."
"…Yes."
Charlotte answered in a very low voice, then buried her face in Leonid's shoulder.
"She says yes."
Leonid answered the nurse's question as he said it in a clear voice.
The nurse watched what was happening calmly, and was actually not surprised. There were many couple who behaved this way. Women usually like to pretend to be afraid until their men's hearts soften toward them.
But this couple was completely different.
The nurse felt that Charlotte was really afraid and that Leonid was showing his affection and not trying to appear in her eyes as a noble husband.
The nurse softened her gaze and asked.
"Well, did you throw up this morning?"
Instead of looking at Charlotte, the nurse directed her question to Leonid, thinking that he was the husband and the person who was always with her all the time.
Leonid noticed the look on the nurse's face and felt a little suspicious. He hesitated for a moment before placing his hand on Charlotte's cheek, turning her face towards him, and repeating the question to her, saying:
"Did you throw up before this?"
Charlotte remained silent and quiet, ashamed to say "yes." As time passed, she opened her lips and said in a very low voice.
"… Yes. "
"Yes."
Leonid repeated Charlotte's answer in a clear voice and finally straightened his back.
The nurse nodded and said.
"Well, the patient needs the nutrient to regain the fluid she lost. Please, you cannot leave until the nutrient dose is finished."
"Good."
"The feeder has an antipyretic, so it's only a matter of time until the fever subsides."
The nurse moved and prepared the transparent bag and the syringe. Meanwhile, Charlotte's eyes widened and she tried to escape, but Leonid threw her on the bed, took off her coat, and took out her arm so that the nurse could insert the sharp tip of the syringe.
"I don't want to, I don't need the feeder."
Charlotte tried to get up and run away, but Leonid's hand pinned her to her head.
"Hush… it's okay. It's okay."
Leonid's hand gently patted the top of Charlotte's head, then he placed his palm over her eyes and said:
"Take a deep breath and don't think about anything. This way you won't feel the injection on your arm."
"No…please…"
Charlotte's free hand grabbed Leonid's wrist. She was already tired and unable to move, yet she was still trying to escape and stop the treatment.
The nurse saw what was happening while preparing the nutrient syringe, smiled and said gently to Charlotte before inserting the tip of the syringe abruptly.
"The patient has a nice husband."
"Husband?"
"Who?"
At first, Charlotte was trying to push away Leonid's hand in order to escape, but now she was curious to see who the nurse was talking about, and in return, Leonid was subjected to an internal storm.
Even the military service exam did not cause him all this stress.
"There is a misunderstanding."
Leonid cleared his throat and adjusted his tie with his free hand before adding.
"I'm not her husband."
"Oh please excuse me, I thought you were her husband."
The nurse smiled and stepped back after attaching the feeder to Charlotte's arm.
"Well, you are treating the patient nicely. It is rare to see a caring man like you so patient at times like these."
Leonid stiffened and his hand stiffened over Charlotte's eyes.
Although the nurse said that and left quickly to avoid embarrassment, Leonid did not get over it yet and did not remove his hand from Charlotte's eyes.
The room was so quiet now, even Charlotte stopped struggling and lay down while not daring to move Leonid's cold hand away from her eyes and see the expression on Leonid's face.
Two hours later, the nurse returned again to check Charlotte's condition, knocked gently on the door and entered the room.
After closing the door behind her, she noticed that the atmosphere had changed. Instead of open curtains, the room was a bit dark now.
Two hours ago As soon as Charlotte had fallen asleep, Leonid closed the curtains and sat down again.
The room remained quiet until now, only the sound of Charlotte's sleeping breathing making a faint noise.
After staring for a while, the nurse advanced slowly and cautiously, opened the inner curtain of the bed, and was greeted by Leonid's sharp gaze.
Leonid was sitting in the same chair except that it was much closer to Charlotte's bed, plus this time he was holding Charlotte's hand with his free hand.
The nurse tried to curb her curiosity and smiled at these two lovers and said in a low voice.
"Please excuse me, I came to check the patient's temperature."
"Hmm."
Leonid murmured coldly and ignored the nurse while turning his eyes to Charlotte's form.
Her white skin was better now than before, plus the dryness on her lips gradually disappeared.
Leonid intertwined his fingers with Charlotte's, and looked at the thermometer that beeped after taking Charlotte's temperature.
(36.34°C)
"This is very good. The patient's temperature has dropped, but we still have to check. Who knows, maybe it will rise again, so sir, do you want to spend the night here or leave?"
Leonid remained calm, just staring and stroking the skin of Charlotte's hand with his thumb. After thinking, he answered.
"Please add today to the bill."
"Okay, as you wish, sir."
The nurse smiled and left after checking the finished feeder.
After the nurse left, Leonid sighed and let go of Charlotte's hand.