Chapter 433: Third News
Athena woke to insistent knocks on her door. Groaning weakly, she let her eyes flutter open, gaze perching on
the white ceiling, and then on the door as she cocked her head to the left.
Who was knocking? she wondered as the knock cagain, twice in three succession. Whoever it was must
have an emergency, she concluded, her mind straining to push away the sleepy clogs swamping it.
Exhaling softly, she stretched like a cat, rolled her shoulders, and stood on her feet. Her eyes found the ton
the wall clock—just past six. A furrow marred her brows. An emergency, surely.
And when her mind wheels backtracked to the episodes of yesterday, to the episodes of last night, her heart
immediately sank to her stomach, her mind going off in different directions, different projections of bad news.
She reached for the robe by the bed with hurried hands. Has Kael’s second gift arrived? Her steps quickened as
she moved to the door, pulling it open to see Ewan standing right at the post.
"What's going on?" she asked immediately, noting his countenance, not bothering with greetings. Seeing the eye
bags underneath his eyes, she wondered if he had slept at all.
"Sfemale is here. She said she is one of the doctors at the hospital? She looks scared..."
Athena darted out of the room, shutting the door after her. Her feet were light on the air, her robe brushing her
ankles as she all but flew to the sitting room where Ewan had said the latter was waiting.
She was sure—no matter how much she wanted it not to be so—that it was the second gift promised by Kael.
"Doctor Athena, good morning..." The doctor, who had been sitting on the single sofa, stood to her feet, her eyes
flicking here and there, panicky, scared.
"Stella, what is going on?" Athena cut straight to the point, aware of the emptiness in the room, of the fact that
only Ewan was present. It meant that the others were still sleeping, that Ewan hadn’t slept at all after their last
check-in with Spider.
What had he been thinking, working all night? His health... She shook thoughts of him off her head, anxiety for
Stella's presence in her house taking over. This was a first, after all—an unannounced visit.
"Patients, ma'am. They cin an hour ago. The doctors on duty had alerted me, alerted you too, but it seemed
that your phone was switched off..."
Athena shut her eyes, pain ransacking her entire being—emotional pain. She gripped her robe tighter. She had
silenced her phone during the meetings, or rather after Antohad started bombarding her with texts—lovely,
mushy ones and then inquiries.
She had been too tired to check them out or answer his calls, and so had silenced the phone. And now, she had
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtbeen absent when her patients needed her.
"What's new about the patients?" she finally asked, opening her eyes and meeting Stella's scared ones. Already
she knew it wouldn't be a good one.
"They had the symptoms of the Grey disease, a varied coloration on their necks though, but we thought that the
medicine would cure it, or at least put them underwater long enough for the constituents to work on them. But
instead, it aggravated them, made them violent..."
Athena raised a brow, lifting one finger, discontinuing Stella's reports. "What do you mean by violent?"
Stella, one of the chief doctors, swallowed hard. "Violent, like mad. It's like the medicine aggravated whatever is
the causative agent. We have not seen this type... Sof the nurses and the guards, who had aided in putting
away the patients—about ten of them—have been quarantined too, as we figured this virus is a new one. | was
sent to call on you..."
Athena nodded, clasping her hands, tears of frustration and anger burning behind her eyes. "Okay. Okay." She
muttered, glancing around the room as though seeking an answer from the walls.
Inhaling deeply, she looked up, released her hands—which were beginning to sweat—and wiped them on her
thighs, only to clasp them again. She bit her lip when a blinding headache started at her temples. She needed
her drugs.
To Stella, she said, "You can get going. | will meet you in the hospital. Keep everything contained. And thank
you..."
Stella nodded, shifted on her feet like she had more to say, then thought better of it. She gave a nod to Ewan
and then started out of the sitting room.
"Who brought her in? | don’t see the servants around?" Athena muttered absently, really unaware of the content
of her words, as her mind was moving into overdrive.
"One of the security knocked. Luckily | was in the sitting room." As he spoke, he placed his hands gently on her
shoulders.
"Breathe in, Athena."
Athena obeyed, as if operated by a remote.
"And out."
She obeyed too, even as the tears stung her eyelids. Any moment now... A tear slipped from her left eye.
"This is cruel, Ewan."
"I know, Athena. | know. But we will get past it."
She shook her head slowly, turning around—his hands falling away as a result—to face him.
"But people will die. Maybe more now than before. I'm yet to work on a cure. I'm still trying to understand the
virus." Her voice cracked with the weight of it.
As much as she had anticipated this, she had hoped... oh, yes, she had hoped, that it wouldn't be until later.
I"
Those people have only three days,
Ewan. Three days to live. And what if
more are infectedthenurees) fe
gpards thé uctors.. What if the
virus is highly volatile, very
communicable unlike its
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is on novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
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Athena..." Ewan called softly,
drawing her close to him, into his
warmth, placing her head Qn his
chest. e Fgit eer cad soft,
A u" :
steddy aps on her back. "We will
work everything out, | promise. You
just focus on the drugs, doing the
best you can, and | will focus on
Fe [1 :
Eric's news and Kael." The content is
on novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
A pause.
I" :
| am also sure that the country will
understand the situation. You are not
a superwoman, Athen@)Yol aes!
dpcter, binéa nother. Surely,
empathy will be tendered by the
public. And if not, | will make them
on q
offer it." The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
This last statement of Ewan elicited a sad chuckle from Athena’s lips, even as she disengaged from the hug.
"And how will you do that, Iron Shoulder?"
Ewan smiled, pleased that she had gotten her humor back. What was that about Iron Shoulder, though?
"It’s a secret."
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