Chapter 29 He Called Her in the Middle of the Night
In the library, Camilla knocked out two test papers back-to-back but got stuck on the last question of both.
She crunched numbers for what felt like forever but still couldn't crack it. Then she remembered seeing a similar problem in a book somewhere. So, she got up and headed to the borrowing section to hunt for it.
After a few minutes, she found the book and was about to head back to her seat when another book caught her eye.
The title was "Recombination and Fusion of Gene Sequences." Sebastian's words popped into her head, and she instinctively pulled the book off the shelf.
Flipping through a few pages, she was stoked to find that the book's ideas matched her own thoughts.
She kept flipping, getting more and more into it, totally lost in the pages.
Until her phone buzzed in her pocket.
A Facebook message lit up her screen.
Juniper: [Guess where I am?]
Camilla thought it was some kind of word game and was about to reply when a thought hit her: [You came to the school?]
Juniper: [Bingo!]
Outside the library.
As soon as Camilla got downstairs, she spotted a figure standing under a tree.
"Why'd you show up out of the blue?"
"I was nearby and thought I'd bring you some grub." Juniper lifted her hand, and the smell of delicious food hit Camilla's nose.
"I've delivered the food, so I'm out."
Camilla was surprised, "You're not gonna eat with me?"
Juniper waved her off, "I brought it just for you. I'm swamped." She sighed, "I just took on a new project. Been at it for three days and only caught eight hours of sleep. Just woke up, and my dad's already on my case. It's brutal!"
Juniper was a designer who only took on a few big projects a year, but each one was a beast, so when she was busy, she was really busy.
This time, she got called in last minute; otherwise, she wouldn't have had to go.
"By the way, this project has something to do with the Wipere family." Her eyes gleamed mischievously, "Would you be interested in..."
"Nope." Camilla cut her off and handed her an umbrella, "Aren't you busy? It's scorching out here."
Juniper raised an eyebrow as she watched her leave. She hadn't even spilled the tea yet.
Juniper glanced down at the bidding documents. She wasn't kidding; one of the Russell family's competitors was the Wipere family.
Meanwhile, after sending Amara off, Leopold also shooed away the nosy Simon and Oliver.
The hospital room went from chaos to dead quiet. Leopold rubbed his temples, looked at the IV in his hand, and yanked it out without a second thought.
Blood spurted from the needle hole. He frowned, grabbed a tissue to press on it, found his coat, and got ready to bounce.
"Mr. Wipere! You can't leave yet!" The nurse walked in just as he was about to leave and blocked his way.
Leopold frowned, "Move!"
The nurse wanted to argue but saw the cold, hostile look in his eyes and backed off, watching him leave before rushing to report to the hospital admin.
Leopold hated the hospital smell and the helpless feeling that came with it. He just wanted to get home.
Sure enough, Elodie's call came through shortly after.
Leopold focused on driving and ignored it.
But Elodie was relentless, calling over and over.
Annoyed, he finally hit the answer button with one hand.
Elodie's frantic voice blasted through the phone. "The hospital just called me. You left without permission! Do you even know how serious your condition is?! Get back there right now!"
Leopold listened for a few seconds before he couldn't take it anymore. He hung up and switched his phone to airplane mode.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
Walking into the house, Leopold felt his irritation ease a bit and let out a long breath.
As he headed upstairs, he found himself drifting towards the kitchen.
In the kitchen, the spotless utensils reminded him of Camilla bustling around.
She'd spend ages making porridge, prepping the ingredients the night before, washing and soaking them.
The next morning, when everything was soft, she'd cook it all together.
He used to think it was a hassle and told her not to bother, but every day after work, a steaming bowl of stomach-soothing porridge would be waiting for him.
Eventually, he stopped trying to talk her out of it and just accepted it as part of his routine.
Lost in thought, he was jolted back to reality when the door opened.
"Mr. Wipere?" Mira had been called over by Elodie.
Leopold had bailed from the hospital, and Elodie, unable to handle him and worried about him being alone, had sent Mira to keep an eye on him.
Leopold gave a quick order, "Mira, make some pumpkin porridge." Then he headed upstairs.
Mira sighed.
'Pumpkin porridge again? When is Camilla coming back? This is exhausting!'
Despite her grumbling, Mira put on an apron, went into the kitchen, and started making the porridge.
When it was ready, she brought it upstairs and found Leopold already asleep.
His face was still pale, and even in sleep, his brows were furrowed. Mira gently set down the porridge, cleaned up the kitchen, and quietly left.
In the middle of the night, Leopold, half-asleep, felt a burning sensation in his stomach, like he was roasting over a fire.
A cold needle pierced his vein, and as the liquid flowed in, the burning pain slowly eased, but he still felt hot.
Elodie stood by the bedside, looking at Leopold, who was delirious with fever, both angry and heartbroken.
At ten o'clock, she had called Leopold, but he didn't answer.
Worried something had happened, she rushed to the villa.
Sure enough, she found Leopold burning up and out of it.
He kept calling "Camilla," "Camilla," but no matter how Elodie called him, he wouldn't wake up. She quickly contacted the family doctor.
"How's Leopold?"
"I just took his temperature. It's slowly coming down. This fever is still due to his chronic stomach issues. I'll prescribe some meds and have them sent over. Make sure he takes them."
Leopold's fingers twitched, and Elodie, not wanting to disturb his rest, followed the doctor into the hallway.
After one IV drip finished, the nurse was changing the bottle when Leopold opened his eyes. Seeing the figure moving in front of him, he covered his eyes with his arm and hoarsely said, "Can I borrow your phone to make a call?"
With the phone in hand, Leopold dialed that familiar number.
After two rings, the call connected.
Leopold's throat tightened, his rough voice stuck, and the words he wanted to say wouldn't come out.
On the other end, Camilla was sleeping soundly. She heard the ringtone, groggily reached for her phone, and answered with a sleepy hello.
But no one spoke.
Camilla struggled to open her eyes, thinking it was a wrong number, and was about to hang up.
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