Chapter 200 Climbing Into His Bed

• Emily’s steps were heavy but fast, the butler’s words echoing in her mind. ‘It’s Charles’s cut. It’s infected.’ The guilt pressed harder with each stride. She was the reason he had taken that wound, the reason he was suffering now. She hadn’t been able to care for him at the hospital, hadn’t been given the chance. But tonight, she told herself, it was her time…not because she was obliged, but because she wanted to. It felt like her responsibility.
• She pushed open the door to his room and slipped inside. The air was thick, heavy with heat. Charles lay on the bed, draped in his blanket, his face pale and damp with sweat. Emily moved closer, careful not to disturb him. His eyes were closed, and in sleep he looked so different from the cold, sharp man she had faced earlier. Peaceful. Almost gentle.
• She reached out, her fingers brushing his forehead. Her heart sank. He was burning hot. Suddenly, his body began to shiver violently, his lips trembling as though he was freezing from the inside. Panic surged through her. She rushed to wet a towel with cold water and pressed it against his forehead, but it did little to ease him.