'Hypoglycemia?' Rachel was confused.
Celia always liked eating. She always said that she would rather die eating than die starving. It was
hard to believe that she had hypoglycemia.
Rachel was restless while she sat and was about to stand up, but Jack pressed her shoulder to prevent
her from standing.
She was surprised that Jack seemed to know exactly what to ask the attending doctor. "Does her
hypoglycemia have anything to do with her diet?"
"It is probably from very low blood sugar that resulted from going on a diet to lose weight," the doctor
replied with a frown. "What puzzles me, though, is why a good-looking girl like her has a very bad
hygiene.
Don't worry about the rashes on her face. That's just skin allergy. You're her friends. Talk to her about
maintaining proper hygiene. It doesn't matter how good your figure is. If you don't have good personal
hygiene, then you'd still be unattractive to guys."
'What? Celia doesn't have a good personal hygiene?'
Rachel wondered to herself.
She doubted whether the patient that the doctor described was really Celia. 'Maybe it's a completely
different girl who has the same name.'
They entered the ward and the sight that greeted them made Rachel gasp in surprise. They found it
hard to believe that the girl who sat on the bed was really Celia.
Celia looked like she hadn't washed her hair, or anything else, in a very long time. Her hair was in large
oily clumps and the rashes on her face made her look creepy. There was a strong pungent smell that
wafted off her body. There was a faint smell of perfume, but it wasn't enough to completely mask the
unpleasant smell.
"Celia! What happened to you?" Rachel exclaimed right away when she finally recognized Celia
despite her wretched state.
Celia's face suddenly flushed like freshly-picked tomatoes. She turned her head down and stared at the
floor in embarrassment. "You didn't have to come here, Rachel," she said in a soft tone of voice.
She felt herself crushed by the weight of embarrassment at her state as she faced her guests.
"We were talking on the phone, but you suddenly stopped speaking. A waiter from that coffee shop
said that you were brought to the hospital. There was no way that we would not come here to check on
you," Rachel explained patiently.
The smell became so unbearable inside the ward that Rachel was forced to pinch her nose. "What
happened to your hair?" she asked as she pointed at her own hair.
Celia raised her head up slightly that revealed her sad eyes. She stared at Jack who stood next to
Rachel. He had an emotionless face, but his gaze never left Rachel. Marcus stood at Jack's opposite
side with a frown. "Can you two leave us for a while?" Celia asked Jack and Marcus in a gentle voice.
"No way!"
Jack and Marcus answered at the same time.
Jack didn't want to leave because Rachel was here, while Marcuse refused to leave because of Celia.
Celia knew that there was no escape for her, she had to explain what happened. She sighed as she bit
her lips and thought about the best words to use to say what she had to say. "I wanted to find my Mr.
Right."
Apparently, it all started two days ago after Celia left the hospital. She was fascinated to find out that
Jack patiently waited for Rachel the entire evening.
She instinctively went to a local fortune teller and asked about her fate. She wanted to know when
she'd meet a man who would love and protect her deeply.
Unexpectedly, the fortune teller frowned at her and shook his head. "It is truly unfortunate," he
mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Celia asked in a worried tone of voice.
She suddenly became so nervous that her heart started to beat fast. "Can't I meet my one true love?"
The fortune teller sighed heavily before he replied, "Your fate is not very good. Even if you finally meet
your true love, he will leave you in less than three months!"
"What?" Celia exclaimed. Rachel's laughter interrupted Celia's recounting of the events. "How could
you trust the words of that charlatan?" she asked incredulously.
Celia understood Rachel's point as she nodded in regret. "The fortune teller said that if I wanted to
break this fate, I must buy a special crystal bracelet and wear it for three months. During the same
time, I am not allowed to wash my hair, bathe or eat meat. It was the only way..."
Rachel gently tapped her forehead with her hand in disbelief. She was completely speechless. She
didn't know whether Celia was too naive or just stupid.
Marcus initially thought that she might have been bullied by some mean individual. He found it hard to
believe the true reason even after he heard it with his own ears.
He wanted to reach out to her to caress her head, but when he saw her hair that was in oily clumps, he
decided against his initial plan. "This is so crazy yet so adorable at the same time," he said in disbelief.
"I'm not stupid. I was badly upset by some certain scene!" Celia looked at Jack and Rachel with eyes
filled with frustration.
Rachel smiled and involuntarily placed her right hand at the back of her waist. "I am really worried
about you, Celia. I'm afraid you'll be deceived one day."
"Don't worry, Rachel. I will look after her," Marcus interrupted in a husky and determined voice. He
stared at her eyes steadily and then suddenly looked away. He never expected that he would utter
those words that just came out of his lips.
Jack remained silent throughout the discussion. He was not in the mood to participate and simply
maintained all of his focus on Rachel.
"Since Marcus is already here to help, I will get Rachel back home. Her waist is still not back to normal.
She still can't remain standing for too long," Jack explained patiently.
Early autumn weather was always unpredictable. When Rachel left for the hospital, the sun was
shining brightly in the sky. When they left the hospital, rain has started to fall from dark clouds that
loomed in the sky.
Rachel sat snugly in the passenger seat. A waist cushion comfortably supported her back that Jack
seemed to have pulled out from nowhere when they got into the car.
During the past two days, their relationship seemed to have improved somewhat and they both noticed
this.
Jack turned his head towards Rachel and stared at her silently. She stared out at the scenery that
passed by outside the window. He chuckled softly and asked, "Celia said she was badly upset by some
certain scene. What was it?"
Rachel looked away as she asked, "Did you really stay outside my ward the entire night that day?"
The car suddenly screeched to a halt in the middle of the road.
Jack turned to Rachel with a surprised look. "How did you know? Rachel, you know I didn't mean
anything malicious," he explained in a nervous tone of voice.
"I know, Jack," Rachel replied in a solemn tone.
Several loud honks came from the rear of their car and she pointed at the front of the car to Jack.
"Keep driving. It's dangerous to suddenly stop in the middle of the road."
The car started to move forward once more and smoothly straightened itself on the lane. Jack felt
nervous. He was afraid that Rachel might overthink what he did. A rare trace of hesitation masked his
face as he drove the car. "Rachel, you know I don't do things just so you'd feel sorry for me," he
explained.
"I couldn't sleep that evening. So I stayed there."
"I didn't overthink, Jack. I just want to let you know that you really don't have to do that for me," Rachel
reassured him.
"I would be the judge of whether I should do something for you or not," Jack replied in a determined
tone.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly and gently tapped on it twice with his long slender forefinger. "My
feelings for you has never changed even after all these years, Rachel."
"Let sleeping dogs lie, Jack. Isn't it good the way we are right now? Don't you like it?"
They were friends, but more like family.
A bitter smile crossed Jack's lips. 'What do I need to do? How long do I need to wait before you come
back to me?' he thought to himself.
Rachel turned her face away and avoided looking at Jack during the rest of the trip. Her breathing
didn't take long before it turned into a deep sigh.
After all the things that happened over the years, Rachel was no longer the naive girl who used to
believe that love was just a matter between two.
She believed that there were just so many things that could never be recovered no matter how hard
they wanted them to.
There were just too many factors involved in their relationship, like Celine's constant presence.
Celine, on the other hand, walked with a downcast look on her face and a brown paper box in her
arms. The box was filled with the things that were on her desk before she was fired.
She walked the street feeling the brunt of the situation within her heart.
A keen feeling of being a failure in both love and work nagged at her.
A strong feeling of hatred started to grow inside Celine's chest like a rising tide. In her mind, she was
convinced that it was all Rachel's fault that she fell to the lowest pitch of abject fortune.
She threw her box down on the sidewalk and stepped heavily on it to vent her anger and frustration.
She felt determined to take back everything that she had lost, and then make Rachel understand how it
felt to lose in both love and career.
Rachel got up from her bed immediately when she heard the doorbell ring.
These past couple of days, Jack always came to her apartment daily. He didn't talk much. Sometimes
he'd just check on her and sit for a while and then left. But he was never absent even for a day.
The thought that Jack was outside and waited for her to open the door brought a feeling of excitement
and happiness to Rachel's heart. She hurriedly opened the door with a smile on her face but was
surprised to see Bill there instead of Jack. Her smile melted right away and disappointment flashed
across her eyes that she was not even aware of.
But Bill noticed all the changes that went across her face. "Who were you waiting for?"
"No one." Rachel looked at the box of pizza and the box of cake in Bill's hands and asked, "Are those
for me?"
"Of course!" Bill replied immediately.
"I went back to France two days ago, but when I heard that you injured your waist, I came back as
soon as I could. Are you feeling better now?"
"I'm much better now. I'll be going back to work at the hospital in two days," Rachel replied
optimistically.
She immediately opened the box of pizza. It was her favorite cheese pizza and it made her smile with
glee.
She always had only takeout food during the past few days. Seeing her favorite pizza made her
impatient to pick up a slice and put it into her mouth right away.
The satisfaction and happiness in her eyes made Bill smile as he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He
never expected that she would be so eager to eat the pizza that he brought for her.
His eyes suddenly turned to one side of the house and happened to see a man's coat that was casually
placed on an armchair. "Did Eric leave his coat?" he asked casually.
"No, it's Jack's," Rachel replied as she took another large bite at the pizza. Her reply sounded too
casual for Bill.
His face darkened right away. He suddenly felt a little uneasy when he heard Rachel's reply.
There was a natural intimacy when Rachel spoke of Jack. He noticed that there was less resistance
and rejection in her voice.
He sighed slightly and muttered, "I... I don't have a chance, do I?"
Unfortunately, his voice sounded unclear, and because Rachel was focused on the pizza in her hand,
she was not able to understand what Bill said. She turned her head towards him and slightly leaned
forward. "What did you say just now?" she asked.
"Nothing," Bill replied in an indifferent tone of voice as he withdrew.
Rachel immediately believed what he said.
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