"Mrs. King, why is your face so red? Did you fall sick again?" Dr. Xiao stroked his old beard as he admonished Ella for half a day.
The old man only stopped reluctantly when Adrian came to stand beside Ella after finishing his phone call.
But still, Ella heard him mumble ’A sin! A catastrophic sin!’ under his breath.
Before Dr. Xiao left, he said, "For today’s session, I have already started the arrangements. Once you feel ready, we can start it in an hour."
Ella nodded to him, even as a layer of cold sweat covered her hands.
Suddenly, a warm hand wrapped around her own, "Nervous?"
Ella turned to Adrian. After a beat, she shook her head slowly, "Dr. Xiao’s treatment is rather unconventional so I just don’t know what to expect."
Adrian pulled her into his arms, "Expect me to be there."
Ella looked up at him with a smile, wondering how he managed to say something so cheeky with a straight face, "What else?"
"Anything else is needed?" Adrian raised a brow.
"Of course, how can you be enough..." The words had yet to leave her mouth when she was pinned against the cold wall.
And all the breath was knocked out of her lungs as Adrian captured her lips in a fiery kiss, in the middle of the desolate hallway.
Ella’s eyes widened for a moment. But as his kiss slowly turned gentle, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
"Not enough?" He whispered when their lips parted for a breath.
"No..." Ella batted her eyelashes but in the next moment, Adrian picked her up in his arms, "Wait... Baby! That’s enough! You are enough, really~"
Ella planted her lips on his cheeks.
Adrian’s urgent steps slowed, flowers blooming around him.
Ji Yan, who had just reached the hospital by foot, nearly collapsed when a layer of unwanted dogfood was plastered on his face.
He wanted to cry, but he lacked tears.
Second Master, ah, Second Master, you abandoned me in the middle of that elite district where I couldn’t even get a cab! I walked back, thinking you guys got into a fight but you are being lovey-dovey here? Is there no justice in the world?
On the other hand, Adrian carried her out to the small garden by the private clinic.
He took a seat on the bench and placed her on his lap.
Ella wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her head on his shoulder, "Have you been here before?"
Ella looked up at him, "For... treatment?"
Ella fell silent. Adrian’s untreated condition told her that even Dr. Xiao, despite his proficiency, couldn’t cure him.
She wanted to ask him if he was getting his insomnia treated or...
Ella’s thoughts wandered back to her previous life.
’Second Master! Second Master! Please hang in there!’
Adrian’s hands were tied to the bed as his body thrashed violently.
The silk restraints had torn into his wrists, fresh blood seeping into the sheets. His skin had turned deathly pale, slick with cold sweat, and his eyes—
They were wide open, red and unseeing. Adrian had looked like a beast who had lost all trace of humanity.
He let out a guttural, almost inhuman sound, something between a growl and a scream and the sheer force of it had sent two grown men stumbling back.
Ella had stood frozen at the doorway, unable to breathe, her heart pounding so loudly it drowned everything else.
She had never seen Adrian like that, without his composure and poise.
The tendons in his neck strained as he arched up, mouth open in a silent cry, and then, just as suddenly, he went limp.
’He’s lost consciousness...’
Something about his state had tugged at her heart, making her pity him just a little yet that pity was drowned by her fear of him, that kept intensifying.
Ella snapped back to her senses when she felt Adrian’s lips on her neck.
"What is it?" He asked.
She opened her mouth and then closed it. She could talk about his episodes because in this life, she had never seen him... that way.
’Maybe, that condition of his has healed this time...?’ The thought comforted Ella a little.
"Baby, have you been sleeping properly these days?" Ella raised her hand and stroked his hair as the man peppered soft kisses on the crook of her neck.
Adrian did not respond, only sucking on her skin harder.
She squirmed in his lap, her face flushing, "That’s a no?" She gently pushed him back from her body.
He let out a disgruntled grunt.
Ella rolled her eyes. For the past three days, they had been staying in the same hospital room.
And Adrian usually sat by her side, watching her until she fell asleep.
By the time she woke up, he would be busy with his work setup that had been laid out in the corner small hospital room.
Ella declared, "We will sleep together tonight."
A sparkle glinted in Adrian’s eyes, "Mm."
"Don’t ’Mm’ me. Say yes."
"Yes," He glanced at her, eyes sparkling even more.
Ella was about to nag some more when she caught the look in his eyes.
She choked on the air as a hint of red splotched her way, "No... I-I did not mean it like that..."
Adrian pulled her close when she started backing out, "Like what?"
Ella closed her eyes. God, she just wanted to jump to the bottom of a well and hide there forever!
Dr. Xiao’s room was dim. Only the soft amber glow of a side lamp lit the space, casting long shadows across the leather couch where Ella lay, her hands limp at her sides.
A metronome beeped at a little distance, matching the rhythm of Ella’s breathing.
Dr. Xiao’s voice was steady, but gentle, "Take a deep breath... In... and out... Let your body soften with every exhale."
Ella’s lips parted slightly. Her chest rose and fell. The muscles in her face slackened.
"You are safe, Ella," Dr. Xiao murmured. "There’s no danger here. I’m right here with you."
After a beat, Dr. Xiao asked, "What do you see?"