Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
Raquella woke up the next morning looking pale as a ghost, much to Frank’s worry. He thought she ran into something the night before. “What’s wrong?”
“My stomach’s acting up.” Raquella clutched her belly; she looked even more in pain. “I can’t make breakfast for you today, but there’s bread in the fridge, so you’ll have to make do with that.”
Raquella sat on the sofa, looking like she was in agony. At that moment, Frank picked her up. “You should worry more about yourself.” He was a bit angry that she didn’t care about herself. “I won’t die just because I skipped a meal.” Thereafter, he took her back to his room.
“What are you doing? I wanna go back to my own room.” Raquella struggled for a bit, but he held her down. “I won’t know whether you’re safe or not if you hide in your own room. Besides, you’d never trouble me anyway. What if you were to faint or something?”
Frank thought he should worry more. If Raquella were to hide in her own room, something might happen to her, and he would have no idea about it.
Raquella was then placed on Frank’s bed. As the scent of Frank wafted through her nostrils, she felt at ease.
“So how did this happen? Any meds to solve your situation?”
Raquella tried to say something, but she shook her head. “I’m fine. I just need a rest.”
“What happened?” Frank frowned sternly.
“It’s…” It was a hard thing to say, and it took Raquella a long time before she answered, “My period…”
I see. Frank said, “Oh, so that’s why. That’s good to hear.” Reminded of something, he tucked Raquella in. “Get some rest. I’ll be right back.”
Raquella tried to say something, but he hurried out of the room. Ten minutes later, she heard footsteps closing in on the room. However, Frank stopped right outside the door.
Raquella’s belly might be killing her, but her hearing was acute. Frank seemed to be on a call, and he sounded impatient. “No, I am not playing any games. I have some ginger tea to brew. You and your game can suck it!”
Ginger tea? Raquella felt a surge of emotions creeping up her heart. At that, her heart skipped a beat.
Raquella lay back down the moment Frank came back in with the ginger tea.
“What is it? Were you going to take something? Don’t move. Just tell me what you want. I’ll take it for you,” said Frank gently. Raquella was a lot weaker than usual, so he was tender with her.
“No. I just…” Raquella fidgeted.
“I see. Here, drink this.” Frank covered the cup with a towel and handed it to her. “It’s hot, so take it slow.”
Raquella nodded, took the cup, and said her thanks.
“Don’t mention it.” Frank patted her head out of habit, but then he realized this might feel too intimate. In fact, he felt her freezing up. “It’s alright now. You should get some rest.”
Raquella looked at him. “Were you going to play with your friend? I’m fine. You don’t have to keep an eye on me at all times.”
“Why? You’re not feeling well today, so you’re staying with me.”
“But it doesn’t mean you can’t play with your friends.” Raquella smiled. “I mean you can play while you watch over me.”
Frank frowned. “No. You need some rest. It’d be too loud if I were to play any games.”
Raquella cocked her eyebrow. Ah, so he remembers. “Not like I can sleep anyway.”
Frank looked at the time. It was 10.35PM; it surely was not a time to sleep. “Fine then.” He took to his computer and looked back at Raquella. She was taking sips from the cup, and he felt happy just seeing her.
“Thought you said you didn’t have time, Frank.”
“Shut it and start the match.” Frank wore his headphones, and his friends, seeing that he was in a good mood, started asking questions.
“So, who did you make that ginger tea for?”
“One more word and I’m not playing.”
Noticing that Frank was going to get angry, his friend said, “Whoops, sorry.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Frank started the match, but this time, he wasn’t as focused as he was before. He would turn around frequently to see if Raquella needed his help.
“Don’t look at me. Play your game.” Raquella didn’t play games, but she knew that if players didn’t pay attention during a match, they’d make a lot of mistakes.
And true enough, the situation of the match turned downhill for Frank’s team, but his team members didn’t complain. They merely grumbled, “This is going to be bad, Frank.”
“Then I’m not playing.”
He was about to put his headphones down, but Raquella said, “It’s fine. Just play your game.”
Since the mic was on, Frank’s teammates heard everything. “Oh, so you have a girl over at your place. Well, guess we’re taking the L this time, boys. Go to your wife, Frank.” It’s just a game. Nothing’s more important than Frank’s relationship.
Raquella couldn’t hear anything, but she saw Frank suddenly smile when he was already on the verge of getting angry. Curious, she asked, “What happened?” He was happy that his friends called Raquella his wife. “Nothing. Just catching a break. I’ll be quiet.”
His teammates booed him. Hearing his reply, Raquella nodded. For some reason, she used to hate him playing games, yet now she liked to see him do that. Wait, what? Raquella touched her face. For some reason, it was burning. I must be mad.
…
The lockdown came faster than Elspeth expected. Aside from the hypermarkets, all the shops their company was running were locked down. Furthermore, the chip manufacturing plant had to be put aside. She was about to talk about the chip problem with Welson, but that plan was delayed.
The virus was spreading too fast. In a single month, there were already a lot of deaths. As ground zero, Damoria sustained a lot of deaths.
Elspeth called Harper that day to ask about the company’s stuff. At that moment, she heard coughs. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Harper clearly sounded weak, but he pretended to be fine. “I’m fine. Just down with the cold.”
Elspeth frowned and chided, “The pandemic’s running wild. You should be careful.”
Harper did think he was infected, but he dashed that possibility right away. I’m always healthy. There’s no way I’d be infected. “Ah, I won’t be infected.”
“How’s the company?”
“It’s going in the direction you think it is. The employees have all gone back home.” Harper sighed. “The virus is spreading fast. We didn’t want to take any risks, so we sent them home.”
Elspeth nodded. If anything were to happen to the employees, there would be hell to pay on her side.
“But the company’s growth is affected. The virus is spreading fast, and we have no cure for it just yet. It’ll take a long time before we can recover.” Harper was having a headache. If the company stops growing, it’ll be bad for Elspeth and Azure.
“Cure?”
Harper froze for a moment, wondering what she was trying to say. “Yes. There are no cures for this virus just yet.”
Something hit Elspeth, and her eyes shone. “Perhaps, we can make one.”
Harper was surprised by that thought. “I know you’re a good doctor, but this is not a simple infection. This is serious. If something happens to you, it’d be disastrous.”
Elspeth shrugged it off. “It’s because no one has done it that we must be the pioneers. This might be a good opportunity to make money.” She had a feeling if she managed to do this, she would gain a lot from it.
“I think this is too risky, Elsie.”
Elspeth knew that too, but she had the idea, so she must try. The results didn’t matter; what mattered was that she put in her effort. “I’ll think this through, alright?”
Harper wasn’t too worried since Elspeth was a rational woman. “I’ll go back to work now.” He coughed again.
Elspeth was worried for him. “You should rest if it’s getting too hard. I can handle things myself.” Harper had done a lot for the company.
“This is nothing. I can handle this.”
Still worried, Elspeth told him to take care of himself before she hung up.
A few days later, one piece of news made its way to the headlines.
‘Famous lawyer Hank infected. His days are numbered.’
Elspeth couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Hank? She read through the whole thing before she believed it was really Hank. All she felt was a hint of sympathy, but most of what she felt was grim satisfaction. Justice. Sadly, she didn’t even get to celebrate her near-psychopathic delight for long before Yelena called her.
Elspeth could hear that Yelena was concerned. “What happened to him? How is he?”
She didn’t think Yelena could get the news so soon. “You’re overseas. Why are you so concerned about him?”
