A Replacement Bride

Chapter 406

Chapter 405 Exhausted

When Katherine came out of the lab, Howard was already waiting outside. "You must be exhausted. Want to have breakfast? We can have breakfast together. It's been a while since we met, yet we've never had the chance to have a meal together. Let's do it today," he said genuinely, his eyes flaring with delight. It felt like he was looking at something he loved.

It had been a few days since Katherine had any rest, and she didn't look too good. Her lips were pale. "No," she refused right away. "I have something to do. Maybe next time." Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Howard was smart enough to know it wasn't the right time to press on further, so he nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll get a driver to take you home. Where are you staying?"

Katherine looked at her phone. Joaquin's here. She coolly declined, "No need. Someone's here to pick me up."

She tucked the reagent into her bag and left. Seeing that his attempt to get closer to her had failed again, Howard gave up and sent her all the way to the research center's entrance to see her off.

Joaquin looked in the rearview mirror. Howard was but a speck now, and Joaquin teased, "He really likes you. It seems like he thinks of you as his invaluable treasure."

Katherine leaned on the back of her seat and shrugged the tease off. "He'd love to have a bit of my fruit of labor. Of course, he's nice to me."

Joaquin was a little worried seeing her so exhausted. So, he changed the subject. "You must be tired. Take a nap. We'll be home soon," he said gently, his eyes filled with concern.

Katherine's eyes were still closed, and she shook her head. "No. I'll just rest my eyes. I haven't slept a wink, and I'm seeing double. Once I cure Corey, I'll sleep."

"You sure that'll work? Corey's condition hasn't been the best for the past few days. It feels like his soul is missing."

Katherine opened her eyes and looked at him. "You don't trust me?"

Joaquin smiled. "I do. But you know how complex his situation is. Even I got worried."

She sneered. "Corey has his father to thank. I can't believe Emmanuel did this to his own son." Reminded of something, she kept quiet for a moment. When she spoke again, there was an iciness in her tone. "But I guess he's not the only cruel man around. My father is the same. I wonder how he's doing now." She brought up Jorge without any facial expression. It was as if he was just a stranger to her.

Joaquin stopped at a red light and patted her cheek. "Don't think about him. It's in the past now. He got what he deserved, and soon, Emmanuel will share his fate. Now, you have to rest. I thought you said you wanted to rest your eyes. It will take some time to get home, so you should get some rest. I'll tell you once we reach home."

"Alright." Katherine was exhausted. She nodded and rested her head against the car window before closing her eyes.

Twenty minutes later, they came back to Silver Gardens, and David had been waiting by the entrance for a while. Once the car had stopped, he opened up the passenger seat door. "How did it go, Kathy? Did you make it?"

Katherine unbuckled herself and got out of the car. Then, she looked at him. "That's why I came back." As she spoke, she went into the villa. "Where's Corey? How is he doing?"

David followed her, taking big strides. He was nervous. "Not too good. He's getting weaker and puking up more meds. He puked up half at first, but now he's puking up about two-thirds. I had to up the dosage."

Katherine wasn't surprised. "That's normal. There's some residual poison in his body attacking his innards. But as long as he lives, I can save him."

Her confidence assured David, and they entered Corey's room. Joaquin followed closely. Corey was lying on the bed, looking worse than he was before Katherine left. He was so pale that his blood vessels were almost visible. His lips were parched and cracking, and his eyes were sunken like all his vitality was sucked out.

Katherine frowned and checked his pulse. He was too weak to be administered the reagent. A moment of musing later, she took her silver needles out and gave him an acupuncture session. When she was done, she was already drenched in sweat.

Worried about her, Joaquin took his handkerchief out and wiped her forehead. After checking Corey's pulse a second time, Katherine heaved a long sigh before whipping out the reagent and injecting it into him. "Done. Feed him three more days of meds, and the poison should be cleared."

She handed David the prescription she had written in the lab and stood up. She wanted to say something, but her exhaustion got to her, and she lost consciousness.

"Kathy!" Shocked, Joaquin quickly held her and pulled her into his embrace. She was pale as a ghost, and he frowned. Quickly, he held her in a princess carry and took her to the room next door.

A worried David tried to go with him, but Joaquin said, "She's just exhausted. She'll be fine with some rest. Get someone to get the meds. Don't waste her effort."

David looked at the unconscious Katherine, pursed his lips, and did as he was told.

Joaquin carefully placed Katherine on the bed and took a basin of hot water and a towel from the bathroom. He was about to wipe her face and hands when he noticed the deep frown on her face. She looked uncomfortable, and then Joaquin realized it must have been because she was drenched in sweat.

A moment of hesitation later, he pursed his lips and heaved a sigh. Then, he took Katherine into the bathroom and cleaned her up. It was a slightly arduous process since he had to close a lot of thoughts away. A long while later, he came back out with Katherine wrapped in a piece of towel. Only when she was finally lying on the bed and not frowning did Joaquin finally sigh in relief. He, too, was drenched in sweat, so he went to take a shower.