The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 348

The IV finished past midnight.

After removing the needle, Riley sat on the edge of the bed. Since she no longer needed to monitor the IV bags, she simply stared at Sebastian, lost in thought.

She had never looked at him this brazenly, this closely, or for this long.

His dark, perfectly shaped eyebrows sat above slightly pronounced brow ridges. The deep eyes that normally radiated overwhelming dominance were quietly shut. Without his usual sharp edge, all that remained was a fragile vulnerability.

His nose was straight and distinguished, his lips thin and pale.

Riley sat quietly, staring at him for a long time. As she watched, her nose began to sting, and her eyes gradually grew wet.

She tilted her head back slightly, forcing the moisture in her eyes to recede.

He was going to be fine. He absolutely had to be fine.

Around two in the morning, Sebastian's fever spiked.

Riley checked him with the thermometer gun: 101.3°F.

She went into the bathroom to fill a basin with water slightly cooler than his body temperature. Then, she unbuttoned his pajama shirt and wiped down his entire body with a damp towel, paying extra attention to his underarms. She wiped his neck and arms, moving meticulously and carefully.

After going over him once, she swapped the basin for fresh cold water. She found two hand towels, soaked them, wrung them out, and placed one on his forehead. When one grew warm, she swapped it for the other.

Wiping down his body, rotating the cold towels on his forehead, and using the cotton swabs to moisten his cracked lips—Riley repeated these tasks in a continuous cycle. She worked tirelessly for nearly two hours before Sebastian's temperature finally began to slowly drop.

When the thermometer gun read 98.8°F, the heavy weight in Riley's chest finally settled.

The fever had caused him to sweat, so Riley fetched some warm water and gently wiped down his upper body again.

At six in the morning, Zach walked into the bedroom. "Did he get a fever last night?"

Riley was sitting on the edge of the bed, gently massaging Sebastian's arms to keep his blood circulating. "It spiked at two. I focused on cooling him down with damp towels, and his temperature returned to normal around four."

A flash of relief and surprise crossed Zach's eyes. The past two nights, they had needed to administer injections to get his fever down, and it had been incredibly volatile.

He hadn't slept well the last two days, so he had slept a bit heavily last night. When he woke up and saw it was already six, he had been terrified and rushed in a panic, completely unprepared to find things far better than he'd expected.

He knew this was entirely Riley's doing. Women really were far better at this kind of care.

"Thanks for the hard work. I'm going to go wash up, then I'll come swap with you."

"It's fine, it's still early. You go back to sleep for a bit."

Zach looked at Riley's bloodshot eyes, which clearly screamed that she had been awake all night. He didn't argue, simply turned around, and left. He quickly returned after washing up. "Go get some rest. I've got it from here."

"I'm fine..."

She had to admit, having Sebastian transfer Dr. Jenson to First Hospital made things incredibly convenient for her. Having someone she knew made work communication much easier, and in special situations like this where she couldn't explain the real reason, she could still get the time off without any hassle.

When Zach opened the door and saw the person who had left less than two hours ago standing there, he frowned. "Didn't I tell you to get some decent rest at home?"

"I'm fine, I feel perfectly awake." Riley honestly felt like she wasn't tired at all.

Zach took the suitcase from Riley's hand. "Your body is already exhausted, but your brain refuses to shut down. You're dangerously overdrawing your physical limits. Franklin is awake and watching over him right now. You need to go get some sleep immediately."

"I really..."

"Dr. Vance." Zach cut Riley off. "You're a doctor. You should know better than anyone that what you're doing is wrong."

Riley fell silent.

"Go catch up on your sleep. We'll rotate taking care of him so none of us collapse. I promise, if he wakes up, I'll come get you immediately."

Unable to argue with Zach, Riley had no choice but to go rest.

That night, it was Riley's turn to keep watch. Around three in the morning, Sebastian's fever spiked again.

Riley cared for him just as meticulously as she had the night before. By about five o'clock, the fever finally broke. She filled a basin with water to wipe the sweat from his body.

She was leaning over, gently wiping his chest, when a deep, hoarse, and incredibly weak voice drifted over her head. "Riley?"