As soon as the housekeeper turned to leave, Thorne fetched her phone from Jasmine''s room and handed it to her.


    Charlene took the phone without looking up. "Thanks," she murmured.


    Thorne said nothing.


    She slid off the bed, intending to head to Jasmine''s room to freshen up.


    But Thorne seemed to catch her intention and spoke first, still standing where he was, his gaze on her profile. "There''s a spare toothbrush and cup in here too."


    Charlene paused.


    Since she was already resting in this room, it didn''t seem like a big deal to use the bathroom here.


    After a second''s hesitation, she turned and slipped into the en suite bathroom off Thorne''s room.


    She was brushing her teeth when Dr. Ableson arrived.


    By the time she finished, Dr. Ableson had checked her pulse, asked carefully about her symptoms, set up an IV for her, and gave Thorne detailed instructions on what to watch for over the next few days.


    After the doctor left, Thorne brought over a bowl of soup the housekeeper had just delivered.


    Charlene hesitated, then reached out to take it. "Thank you."


    "No problem."


    Her fever had spiked to nearly 104 degrees; she felt dreadful and had no appetite whatsoever.


    Even so, she forced herself to eat, spoonful by slow spoonful.


    Halfway through, as she sipped the soup, something urred to her. She turned to look at Thorne, who was sitting a short distance away, quietly watching her. Her voice was rough as she asked, "Where''s Minnie?"


    “She''s downstairs. Minnie and her grandmother are both really worried about you, but Minnie''s still young and her grandmother''s still recovering from her own illness. We didn''t want them to catch anything, so I asked them not toe up."


    "I see."


    After half a bowl, Charlene couldn''t eat anymore.


    Seeing how much effort it took her, Thorne didn''t insist. He took the bowl from her Hands, puffed a napkin from the box, and passed it to her. "Try to get some rest. When the IV is finished, I''ll let Dr. Ableson know."  s


    "...Thank you."


    Thorne didn''t reply.


    Charlene was exhausted, but before she fell asleep, she sent Stewart a quick message, letting him know what was going on.<fn0634> The rightful source is f?ndnovel</fn0634>


    Stewart was worried when he heard she''d developed such a high fever, and told her to get plenty of rest. Work could wait until she was well again.


    Charlene put her phone aside and, as she prepared to sleep, her gaze drifted to Thorne at his desk, focused on hisptop.


    She watched him for a moment, then closed her eyes and drifted off.


    When she woke again, more than two hours had passed.


    She was drenched in sweat, her clothes sticking ufortably to her skin.


    At some point, the IV had finished. Thorne was still there, keeping watch.


    When he saw she was awake, he closed hisptop and walked over. "How do you feel?"


    "Hot," she replied.


    To be honest, she felt both hot and cold, and the sweat made it worse. She got up


    and went to the bathroom to change into fresh clothes.


    As soon as she came out, Thorne


    handed her a thermometer. "I


    checked your temperature twice just now. The first time, it had gone


    down quite a bit but the second time, it started to creep up again. Dr.


    Ableson said that''s normal. It''s about time to check again."  s


    Charlene took it. "Okay."


    She still felt weak, but a little better than before. ncing at Thorne''sputer on the desk, sh


    said


    can take care of myself now Go


    ahead and finish your work."  s


    Thorne looked over at her, saying nothing. Just then, his phone rang.


    He walked over, picked it up, and stepped out of the room to take the call.