Chapter 737: Chapter 737: Cold Qi

At two in the morning, Evelyn Ford was jolted awake by a pounding on the door. Half-asleep, she heard someone outside, crying and calling for Wendy.

With a CREAK, Peter Owens came out of his room, wearing a military greatcoat. He looked at the snow that was already knee-deep, braced himself, and went to open the main gate.

When a young couple saw him open the gate, they immediately knelt, clutching the child in their arms.

"Whoa, get up, get up. If something’s wrong, just tell me. The ground is covered in snow; you’ll freeze your knees."

Peter Owens pulled the young couple into the courtyard. Just then, Wendy also came out, wrapped in a heavy coat.

"What’s wrong?"

"Dr. Graham, our child has a high fever. He wasn’t feeling well today, but we didn’t think much of it. Then tonight, he started vomiting and said everything was going dark. He was dizzy, nauseous, and couldn’t even stand steadily. At eleven o’clock, he started running a high fever. His father and I were scared to death. Dr. Graham, please, take a look at our son. I’m begging you." The young woman cried as she spoke, and Wendy quickly had them bring the child inside.

Since winter began, a cold wave had swept across all of Eldoria. Many adults had come down with the flu and fevers, to say nothing of the elderly and children with weaker immune systems. Most people sought medical attention immediately, but this child had been suffering for a whole day. ’It’s shocking they waited until now to bring him in.’

"Has he been playing in the snow and eating it these past couple of days?"

"Yes. The day before yesterday, a few of his friends came over, and he went with them to have a snowball fight in the community square. I dressed him in a lot of layers. His father and I both feel that boys don’t need to be coddled. Besides, he’s an active kid, so we shouldn’t hold him back. Dr. Graham, was the high fever caused by the snowball fight?"

After examining him, Wendy nodded. "Yes. The cold has seeped into his body. Has his voice been a little hoarse these last two days?"

"That’s right, it was a little hoarse yesterday. His friends made fun of him, calling him a ’quacking duck,’ so he’s been upset with them and didn’t go out to play today. I thought he was listless because he was fighting with his friends. I was so careless." The child’s mother was filled with self-reproach, sobbing uncontrollably.

The child’s father was also deeply worried. He couldn’t believe just an hour of playing outside could make their son this sick.

"The cold entering his body caused the high fever. If you had waited until morning to bring him, it wouldn’t just be his brain; his kidneys could have been damaged as well."

Every day lately, people with high fevers were brought over for treatment; the small courtyard had practically become a clinic. Wendy was exhausted. She had just fallen asleep when she was woken up. This child would probably need to be observed overnight, which meant she’d have to pull another all-nighter.

"Go back to sleep. I’ll take it from here." Just as Wendy was about to set up an IV for the child, Evelyn Ford appeared at the door.

"It’s fine. I can just catch up on sleep tomorrow."

"There will probably be even more people tomorrow. Go to sleep. Your dark circles are worse than a panda’s."

Wendy couldn’t argue with Evelyn, so after a word with the child’s parents, she went back to her room to sleep. Evelyn also sent Peter Owens back to his room and told the parents to go warm themselves by the fire in the kitchen.

The boy’s condition was a bit serious, but not yet critical. Evelyn gave him a dose of potent medicine and a small injection, then let him sleep.

"Dr. Ford, doesn’t he need an IV?" Wendy had been preparing to start one, but Evelyn felt an IV would be too slow, so she gave him an injection instead.

"An IV isn’t necessary. Let him get some sleep, and the fever will break by morning." Evelyn stood by the window with a thermos, watching the heavy, feathery snow fall outside. Ronan Kendrick was in the kitchen making her something delicious; she could already smell the aroma.

Looking at the snow in the courtyard, Evelyn suddenly recalled a scene from many years ago, when she and Ronan had gone to Westeria.

The child’s mother was slumped over the edge of the bed. It was a wonder she had so many tears; she hadn’t stopped crying since the moment she arrived.

The father, meanwhile, silently watched his sleeping child. Though his face was expressionless, the worry and self-blame in his eyes were unmistakable.

Evelyn watched their reflections in the windowpane for a long time. At four in the morning, the child’s fever still hadn’t broken. Evelyn gave him another dose of the potent medicine, this time adding a cooling patch for his fever.

"Dr. Ford, my son... is he going to be okay?"

The boy had been whimpering through the latter half of the night, and the bedsheets were soiled with his vomit. The mother’s composure began to crumble, and she even started saying things like she would trade her life for her son’s.

"This is what happens with a high fever after the cold gets into the body. You brought him in just in time. The fever will break by the time he wakes up tomorrow. You don’t need to be so anxious."

"How can I not be anxious? If anything happens to my son, I don’t want to live anymore."

"Don’t say things like that," the father cut in. "He just has a fever. Does anyone have a perfectly smooth childhood without ever getting sick? It’s the middle of the night. Stop crying and making a scene. The boy needs to rest, and so does everyone else. One more shout like that and you’ll wake the whole house." The father shot an apologetic look at Evelyn.

"Dr. Ford, may I go to the kitchen to get a cup of hot water?"

"Go ahead."

The father returned with the hot water, blew on it to cool it down a bit, and handed it to his wife. After drinking the water, the mother’s emotions settled. She apologized to Evelyn, who understood her state of mind. When a child is sick, it’s impossible for a parent to remain completely calm.

Just then, Ronan Kendrick knocked on the door. He glanced at the child on the bed, then gestured for Evelyn to come have a late-night snack.

"Stir-fried rabbit heads?" In the past two years, after learning to cook from Officer Graham, Ronan’s skills were on par with a five-star chef. Whenever Evelyn craved something, he would whip it up for her.

"I bet the others will be here in less than two minutes." The smell was too fragrant. The moment the pot lid was lifted, the aroma had wafted out.

Three minutes later, faced with a crowd of people with messy, bed-head hair, clad in military greatcoats, their eyes half-open with sleep, Evelyn sighed in resignation. She pushed the large basin of rabbit heads to the center of the table.

"Help yourselves."

"How’s the kid?"

"High fever. All the patients we’ve gotten these past few days have high fevers from exposure to the cold."

"I heard crying earlier and it startled me. I thought..." Quincy didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he meant.

"As long as they get medical attention in time, it won’t be a major problem. The snow has been too heavy these last few days. Most people, even if they have a fever or a cold, don’t want to come in for treatment because the roads are blocked by snowdrifts."

"Let’s go out and shovel snow tomorrow. We should at least clear the path in front of our gate. Everyone has the same attitude right now: ’If you don’t move, I won’t move.’ No one wants to be the one to lose out. Besides, it’s too cold. No one wants to leave their warm bed to get blasted by the wind."

The wind had been fierce lately, feeling less like a breeze and more like scraping blades. In their small courtyard alone, several people had already developed eye infections from the wind.

Evelyn put down her chopsticks after eating three rabbit heads. She had no idea how many chili peppers Ronan had put in. Everyone was probably going to suffer in the bathroom tomorrow.

"I agree with shoveling the snow. Someone has to be the first to step up and do the work."

"Forget about shoveling for a minute! Is there any milk? I’m dying from the spice!"

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