A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

Emily's words gave Sam relief and made him feel less guilty about the way he had behaved with her earlier. Emily's attitude
assured him that he had helped improve the relationship between Jacob and Emily.
In the meantime, Emily stared pensively at the man lying unconscious in the sickbed. She walked closer and reached out to
touch his face.
It was burning hot.
The memories of seeing every piece of blood soaked gauze being removed, as the doctor changed Jacob's dressing, flooded
back to her mind. It had already been a long time since the earthquake happened, but Jacob's wounds hadn't fully healed yet.
'How severe are his injuries?
And why did he save me?'
Emily breathed out softly, dipped a cotton swab in warm water, and moistened Jacob's chapped lips with it.
When she turned round, she found Sam still standing guard, by the door. She went over to him and whispered,"Sam, you may go
back to the company to take care of your own business. I will stay here and take care of Jacob."
Sam looked at Emily for a few seconds, and then nodded,"That's so kind of you, Ms. Emily."
'Mr. Jacob always makes special efforts for Ms. Emily. I assume, at this moment, he would want Ms. Emily to be by his side, '
Sam thought, 'so, I guess I should leave instead of standing here as a third wheel.'
Be that as it may, Sam couldn't help worrying for his boss. So instead of standing there, he left for the vacant ward next to
Jacob's, and waited, for either his boss or Emily, in case they ever needed anything.
Emily followed Sam to the door, assuming he was heading back to his office. So she called the company to ask for leave. When
everything was settled, Emily pulled up and sat on a chair by the sickbed, as she stared quietly at Jacob's handsome but gaunt
face.
In her heart, she believed that Jacob was the kind of man who could do anything even when the sky came falling. However, she
suddenly realized that, at that moment, he was also an ordinary man who wasn't immune to sickness or injuries.
Everyone had a weakness, so did Emily, and Jacob.

A few hours later, after having an intravenous drip, Jacob's temperature dropped a little, but not significant enough to come down
to normal temperature.
Later that afternoon, Emily was feeling hungry because she missed breakfast and lunch and had been sitting in the ward since
that morning. She did not worry about Jacob because he was treated with glucose infusion.
Much to her relief, Sam went downstairs and bought lunch for her just in time. Seeing that his boss's condition had stablized, he
left to the ward next door again.
Feeling grateful, Emily thanked Sam and began to eat her lunch without further delay.
While she was eating, she felt like someone was staring at her. She turned around, and to her great surprise, she saw Jacob,
wide-awake, lying still in his sick bed, gazing right at her.
"You're awake!" Emily quickly put down the chopsticks and went over to Jacob. There was a certain glow of joy in her eyes, as
she touched Jacob's forehead to check his temperature. She was also glad that Jacob showed no signs of resistance to her
concerns.
"Well, you still have a fever. How're you feeling now?"
Still dazed from the medication, Jacob did not respond to her question at once. Out of the blue, he sluggishly raised his eyelids
towards Emily and said,"Hungry."
Before Emily could process what Jacob had said, he continued,"I want to eat what you are eating."
Emily looked at her fast-food box, and denied Jacob's request,"No, it's almost done, and it is too greasy for a patient like you."
Having received no proper response in return from Jacob, Emily added,"I'll go downstairs and fetch some porridge for you,
okay?"
Jacob stared at her for a few seconds and nodded slowly.
At that moment, Jacob was like a little helpless puppy who needed someone to take care of him. Emily found Jacob's attitude
refreshing, as it was a dramatic contrast from his usual cold and poker-faced persona.
Emily's heart fluttered like a butterfly, as she found herself getting attracted to Jacob's vulnerable side.
'Wait, no, no, no. Have I completely lost my mind?

What am I thinking about? Nonsense!'
Just when Emily was about to go downstairs for porridge, Sam walked in with a bowl of hot vegetable porridge in his hand. He
was a godsend.
"Here you are, Ms. Emily."
Emily glared at Sam, suspiciously and asked,"How did you get here with food just at the right time? Don't tell me that you have
been hiding somewhere nearby."
Having been caught red-handed by Emily, Sam continued to deny her suspicions and feign seriousness as he replied,"You are
such a joker, Ms. Emily. After I left the hospital, I suddenly remembered that I should have bought some food for Mr. Jacob in
case he would be hungry when he woke up. That's why I am here again."
Fortunately for Sam, Emily did not entertain her suspicions any further. She reached out to take the bowl from him and then
thanked him. Sam was just glad to see Jacob awake, so he thoughtfully decided to give Emily and his boss some time alone to
themselves, before walking out and closing the door.
'That's good. Now I don't have to buy porridge and leave him alone here, ' Emily thought.
As soon as she took the lid off the bowl, the mouth-watering fragrance of the vegetable porridge filled the entire room.
Jacob, however, did not even have to move his finger at all. Emily took care of everything for him. She washed the spoon, sat by
bed, scooped some porridge, carefully blew on it and took it up to Jacob's mouth.
Oddly enough, Jacob, who was just staring at Emily expressionlessly, did not open his mouth.
"I thought you said you were hungry. Come on," Emily urged.
This time Jacob listened to Emily's words as if he was following an order. He opened his mouth slightly and swallowed the
porridge from the spoon.
"Does it taste good?"
"Yes," Jacob paused before answering; he was still muddled.
Emily did not pay much attention to his reactions. As long as he was cooperative, she didn't mind it. She continued to feed him
porridge, one spoon after another.

To her, it felt like she was taking care of a baby.
After eating a bowl of porridge, Jacob said,"I want some water."
"Water? Okay, wait a minute." Emily cleaned everything up and left to get a glass of warm water for Jacob. She carefully used
the back of her hand to make sure the water was neither too hot nor too cold, and then gave it to Jacob.
Jacob looked at Emily blankly, with no intentions of picking up the glass. However, unlike before, there was a hint of tenderness
in his eyes now.
'Does he want me to feed him water?
Well, since he is the patient now, I will not refuse him.'
Emily brought the glass up to Jacob's lips and asked him to open his mouth. While he was drinking, he eyes wondered
downwards. Emily had no idea what he was thinking about.
"I want to have some fruits," Jacob made another request.
Emily felt indecisive, and she suggested,"Maybe a patient should not eat too much, right?"
Unfortunately, her effort was in vain, as one dramatic look from Jacob's big, tender eyes had defeated her,"Okay, I'll peel an
apple for you, but since you're not supposed to eat too much, I will only give you one piece. Deal?"
"Deal."
Emily grabbed an apple from the counter, peeled it and then gave Jacob a small piece. She did not want to waste the rest of the
apple so she cut them up in small slices and ate them.
After asking a nurse to change the drip bottle, Emily sat by the sickbed again and looked at Jacob, who was also staring at her. It
was strange how none of them felt embarrassed.
In the end Emily could not keep it down, and she chuckled,"Why are you staring at me like that?"
Jacob fixated his eyes towards Emily's face, contemplatively. After a great deal of consideration, he finally opened his mouth as if
he had reached a conclusion,"You are not Emily."
Emily laughed uncontrollably,"Are you having a fever dream? If I am not Emily, then who am I?"

"The Emily I know always hides away from me. She would never treat me with such tender care."
Stunned and astonished, Emily felt slightly guilty and couldn't utter anything in return.