Although Freya tried to hide it well, Elijah could immediately hear the hint of tears in her voice.
“Are you crying?” came his deep voice from the other end.
Freya struggled to conceal it and denied, “No, I’m fine.”
There was a moment of silence from the other side. “Okay, you’re not crying.”
Freya lowered her head, staring at her toes. “I miss you.”
Hearing about Luna’s situation had been a heavy blow for her. She tried her best to hold herself together, but with Elijah, she wanted a shoulder to lean on, a moment of weakness.
There was a long pause before he spoke again. “Rest well.”
Freya asked, “Didn’t you say you would come back after taking care of things?”
“There’s been a slight complication…”
Freya felt disappointed. “I understand.”
She lowered her eyes, tears glistening on her lashes. “You called just to tell me that you can’t come back for now, right?”
A low voice came from the other end. “Mm.”
Freya took a deep breath, mustering up her spirits. “I’m fine. Focus on what you need to do. If there’s any news, let me know right away.”
“Uh-huh.”
Freya held onto her phone tightly. “It’s okay, I’ll hang up now.”
“Okay.”
She put down her phone and stared blankly at a spot for a while.
…
Late at night, Freya had already fallen asleep. The door to the house opened. Elijah’s tall and slender figure stepped in from outside. He had his suit jacket draped over his arm, the collar of his shirt loose and open, revealing his solid chest. A stubble of blue-black beard covered his chin, and weariness could be seen on his face. He was a far cry from the confident and spirited man he used to be. At this moment, he seemed even more profound.
He entered the house without alerting anyone, walking softly inside. Gently pushing open the bedroom door, silver moonlight filled the room. He could see her lying in bed, curled up, sound asleep. Elijah didn’t disturb her and quietly exited the room. He washed away the dust in the bathroom outside, putting on clean pajamas before returning to the bedroom.
Freya had stayed up late, struggling with insomnia for a while. So now she was sleeping deeply, unaware of the presence in the room. Elijah walked to the side of the bed and gently lay down, wrapping his arms around her. He had some urgent matters to attend to, but when he received Freya’s call and heard the sadness in her voice, he became extremely worried and rushed back earlier than planned. Freya seemed to sense the warmth and snuggled into his embrace. Elijah gently kissed her forehead and patted her back, afraid of waking her up. In the morning, Freya woke up groggily and gradually became more alert as she saw the person in front of her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to confirm if she was dreaming or hallucinating. But his face had warmth. The real touch made her realize that it wasn’t a dream.
She asked, “Elijah? How did you come back? I thought you had something to take care of and couldn’t come back.”
Elijah held her tightly. “I missed you.”
Freya’s heart melted, and she collapsed into his arms, completely soft. She greedily savored the warmth of his embrace in this moment.
After a while, Elijah finally spoke, “Why were you crying?”
Freya couldn’t control herself because of Luna’s situation, and now Elijah mentioning it again made her heart ache and tighten. She softly replied, “Something happened to Luna…”
Elijah furrowed his brows. He wasn’t close to Luna and didn’t have a deep connection with her, but he could sense that Freya wouldn’t be able to handle these consecutive changes well. He didn’t know how to comfort her, so he could only try to offer her some warmth with his own body temperature. Freya made an effort to control her emotions and calm herself down. She slightly lifted her chin and asked, “Will this delay your matters?”
“No,” Elijah raised his hand, his fingertips grazing her eyebrows and gently tucking away the stray strands of hair blocking her vision. He smiled at her and said, “I’m here with you. Just get some more rest.”
Freya closed her eyes. She fell asleep again. Maybe it was because she felt safe with him around. When she woke up again, it was already nine o’clock, and Elijah was still there. She got up, not wanting to sleep anymore, and Elijah left the room first. He went to check on Kai.
Everyone in the house had already eaten, except for Freya and Elijah, so it was just the two of them sitting at the dining table.
“I’ll be going to the office later,” Elijah said.
Freya nodded. He had just come back, so there must be something he needed to take care of.
“Oh, by the way…”
Thinking about the photo, Freya wanted to ask Elijah about it.
“What’s wrong?” Elijah looked at her.
Freya hesitated. “It’s nothing.”
She should trust Elijah. If there was something she needed to know, he would tell her sooner or later.
After eating, Elijah left and told her to rest well. Freya was feeling okay today. Kai was sitting on the floor, playing with the little dog. She walked over, reached out to touch her son’s head, and asked, “Having fun?”
Kai looked up at her and smiled, showing his little teeth. Freya picked up her son and kissed his cheek. Elowen came over and took Kai from her.
“Go back to your room.” Elowen said to Freya.
Freya knew that Elowen cared about her and obediently went back to her room. Unable to fall asleep even lying in bed, she picked up a book to read. Just as she had flipped through a few pages, there was an urgent knock on the door.
Freya got up to open the door. Elowen stood at the doorway, holding Kai. “Look, Kai has developed these red bumps all over his body. It looks like an allergic reaction.”
Freya checked and saw that it wasn’t just on his arms but all over his body. It seemed like an allergy, but also not quite.
“Get the driver ready, I’ll take her to the hospital.”
“I’ll go with Linda, you stay at home,” Elowen said, reminding her that she hadn’t even completed a month of postpartum recovery and shouldn’t be running around and straining her body.
Freya shook her head. “No, I won’t feel at ease. I’ll just wear something thicker.”
Seeing her determination, Elowen could only go along with her.
They hurriedly took Kai to the hospital. After the dermatologist examined him, they said, “This is a viral infection. It’s a bacteria that belongs to the rodent family. Have you been keeping a pet?”
Freya nodded. “We have a dog.”
The Doctor asked, “Has he been in close contact with the dog?”
“Yes,” Freya replied.
“Does your pet dog have a health certificate?” the doctor asked.
Freya answered, “It should have!”
She instructed Linda to make sure the driver bought a healthy dog. In theory, nothing like this should have happened.
“Your pet dog should also be taken to the veterinary hospital for a check-up to see if it’s ill. After all, animals carry many different types of bacteria, so you must be careful,” the doctor advised.
Freya said, “I understand.”
“I’ll prescribe some medication for you to apply on the skin. Also, avoid contact with the dog for now,” the doctor added.
Freya nodded.
…
Back at home, Freya asked Elowen to go to the room and apply the medicine on Kai.
Freya called Linda and asked, “Did the driver buy the dog?”
Linda hesitated for a moment and nodded, “Yes.”
“Go get the driver here,” Freya’s expression turned grim.
Linda cautiously asked, “Has something happened?”
“I said to buy a healthy dog, but is this dog really healthy?” She had deep suspicions.
Linda’s face changed. This dog wasn’t bought by the driver!
“Go get the driver,” Freya urged.
Linda nervously rubbed her hands, “Um, well, this dog was bought by the secretary.”
Freya stood up abruptly, “What?!”