Just as Harper was finding a way to make the antidote, Daphne rushed into the pharmacy, grabbed Harper by the arm, and forcefully dragged her out. "Harper, you must come with me! Darren... Darren..."
"Is he dead?" asked Rolando, in a deep, throaty voice that made him sound very much like Matthew—the man whom he was disguising to be.
"Shut up, Matthew! I'd break both of your legs, I swear to God!" Daphne blurted, heaving with anger. She pointed at Rolando's face and hissed, "If I hear you say something as despicable as that about my brother ever again, I promise you—I will hunt you down to the ends of the world!"
Helpless and troubled, she massaged her temples and inquired, "What happened to Darren?"
"He's finally woken up!" Daphne said excitedly. But her expression changed abruptly as she said, "But... something's not right about him, Harper."
Harper's eyebrows furrowed with surprise and confusion. First of all, she wasn't expecting that Darren would wake up so soon—that in itself was surprising and strange. Second, what was Daphne talking about? What seemed to be wrong with him? To find out, she immediately followed Daphne and made their way to Darren's room. She needed to know what was happening as soon as possible.
As Darren lied on the bed, his face showed nothing but a blank, lifeless expression. The physician tending to him was visibly trembling with fear, anxious about the mind-boggling condition that befell the young lord. Quincey shared the same feelings if not worse and more intensely.
"Come in quick, Harper! You must diagnose whatever's wrong with Darren before it worsens!" Daphne cried out, almost literally shoving Harper in front of an awake yet unresponsive Darren. "Do you think he sustained a head injury? Is he like that because of brain damage?"
As soon as Harper came into Darren's view, he turned to her, his glassy eyes staring into her soul. This, at first, caught Harper off guard, but she was soon able to get over it. She reached out her hand to grab Darren's wrist to feel his pulse, but before she was able to, Darren had already snatched her hand, hissing, "Since when did you start checking the living instead of the dead?"
Harper stood frozen on the spot, a horrified expression plastered on her face as she stared at Darren intently. Several times she tried to say something, but whenever she opened her mouth, no word would come out. No one in this place knew that she was a forensic doctor who usually dealt with the dead!
Confusion clouded Daphne's eyes as she bounced between Darren and Harper. Something about Harper's reaction made her feel uneasy, and so she asked, "What's going on, Harper? Did Darren say something he shouldn't have? Is it because of his condition right now?"
Darren's stare was so intent on Harper that it seemed like Daphne wasn't in the room with them at all. Then, all of a sudden, he forcefully pulled Harper into his arms, putting them both in a compromising position. As Harper wasn't able to react in time to stop him from doing what he did, she tried to control herself to avoid pressing on the wounds on Darren's body.
Daphne gasped audibly. Her brother was literally hugging Harper in front of her husband, Matthew! Did his injuries really drive him insane? Was he going to take her away from her jealous husband at all cost after he narrowly escaped from death? She feared for her brother's life at the thought of the possible consequences. 'Maybe people who have encountered death have no fear of it,' she thought to herself, holding her breath.
Rolando's eyes narrowed as this scene unfolded before his very eyes. Upon seeing this, Daphne immediately rushed beside him to stop him from doing whatever he was thinking of doing. "Matthew, please! My brother is extremely sick at the moment and he doesn't know what he's doing. Please spare him!"
Rolando didn't react to this and turned to look at Harper. As he knew her so well, he believed that she would still wriggle out of Darren's hold even though he was a patient. But to his surprise, she didn't do that. Instead, she buried her head in Darren's neck and started to weep.
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