Chapter 136: Ch 136: Sickness

Alan’s expression immediately changed when he saw Noah lying there with the IV attached to his hand. The worry on his face was quickly replaced by irritation as he turned towards Daniel.

"What happened to him?"

Daniel frowned at the accusatory tone but answered anyway.

"He had a high fever. He collapsed after returning to his room, so I brought him here."

Alan’s eyes narrowed as he looked back at Noah.

"You collapsed?"

Noah gave him an awkward smile and tried to sit up a little straighter.

"I’m fine now. Professor Ethan already treated me, and the fever has gone down."

"That does not look like you’re fine."

Alan walked closer and stared at the IV drip as if he could somehow blame it for what had happened. Then his gaze moved towards Daniel, who immediately looked defensive.

"Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do anything to him."

"I didn’t say you did. I am just trying to say that you stood by and did nothing—"

"Stop pushing your luck here."

Alan ignored him and reached out to touch Noah’s forehead, checking his temperature himself.

Noah blinked at the sudden concern.

"Did you really track my phone just because Daniel wasn’t answering?"

"Of course I did. You disappeared, and neither of you answered me. What else was I supposed to do?"

Noah could not help but smile.

For someone who was supposed to be dangerous, Alan sure worried too much.

’This is exactly why I need to keep my distance. Sometimes, Alan feels creepy. Well, he had always been creepy, but he needs to be creepy towards Daniel and not me.’

But since Alan could not hear his thoughts, Noah could only entertain him and try to force him towards the chosen path.

Unluckily, both Alan and Daniel were masters of ignoring what they did not want to hear. And they had decided that they did not want to hear Noah’s nagging, so they tuned half of his words out.

At least Noah got a good rest that night in the medical wing because the pair was finally driven out by Ethan once they overstayed their welcome and started to get on his nerves.

Both Alan and Daniel protested when they were being thrown out, and Alan even sweetly threatened to break his own bone in order to end up here. But the look that Ethan gave him told him that it was better not to try.

Once they were both gone (thrown out), Ethan let out a relief-filled sigh and turned to look at Noah with a gentle but annoyed expression.

"Those two are far too close to you, and this does not seem like it’s an act. I don’t know whether I feel happy for you or sorry for you."

Ethan asked, and Noah only smiled in his direction.

In reality, he did feel happy that he had people who were so close to him to the point where they wanted to help him. But it was a double-edged sword as well, especially in his case.

...

Staying in the medical wing was nothing new, but this time, Noah had nothing to do. He could not make calls because he was afraid he would be heard, and sleep refused to claim him tonight.

So he tossed and turned in the bed, wondering what he was supposed to do next. After about fifteen minutes of this, he decided to get up and take a walk.

He was not supposed to leave his bed, much less the medical wing, but he was starting to feel claustrophobic in the white space. He needed some space to be able to breathe.

So he headed out of the wing and towards the outside corridor, where he took a deep breath.

The cold winter air felt nice against him, and Noah allowed his feet to lead him wherever they wanted to.

He trusted his body to be able to take care of itself, and he closed his eyes as he enjoyed the winter breeze. But things did not feel the same when he opened his eyes.

Noah had no idea where he had walked off to. This was a section of the academy he had never come to, and he had a feeling he should turn back and leave.

But he felt too curious not to explore ahead. So he ignored the warning bells in his mind and stepped forward.

He sensed the barrier and pressed his hand against it, only for his wrist to be yanked back.

One second, he had been trying to get inside the barrier, and the next, he was pulled against a hard chest with his back held tightly in place. He could also feel a piercing glare drilling into him.

"Who are you, and why are you trying to get into the restricted area?"

If the voice could be ’handsome’, it was this voice. It was so soft yet strong that Noah felt like he was going weak in his knees.

He wanted to turn back and take a look at the speaker, but he froze. He could not bring himself to turn back.

Seeing this, the other person let out a sigh and dragged him towards the side he came from.

"Please do not come here again. This place is off-limits to outsiders. If you want to live, then forget that this place exists."

The handsome voice threatened Noah, and he was thrown out. The second he was free, he turned around to see the owner of that handsome voice, but there was no one standing behind him.

In fact, he could not even sense anyone, and it made him panic.

"A ghost... no, a hallucination? Ugh, my head hurts so badly."

Noah’s vision was blurring, and he was beginning to see double. He wanted to believe that the encounter he just had was real, but it was hard to say in his current condition.

All he knew was that he was having a headache which was making it hard for him to return to the medical wing.