It was a message from Noah Smith, asking when he could sign the contract with Xyla Quest.
Xyla chose to reply by calling him. He picked up almost immediately. “Aren’t you going to ask about the contract details before signing it?”
Noah chuckled. “I’m quite sure that you won’t treat me unjustly.”
“Even so, couldn’t you at least pretend to be a little more worried?” Xyla laughed. She liked Noah’s straightforwardness.
“It’s fine, really. Just get the contract ready and tell me once it’s done. We can sign it in person.”
“Sure,” replied Xyla.
After hanging up, Xyla suddenly felt an acute pain in her abdomen. It came from the lower right side. Her face turned pale almost immediately. As the pain slowly increased, her body became weaker and weaker.
She held onto the sides of the bathtub to pull herself out.
A second later, she lost control of her legs and she fell forward. Instinctively, she grabbed on to the closest thing to her and it was a metal shelf full of skincare products.
However, this only resulted in the metal shelf crashing to the ground with her. As the skincare products were mostly stored in glass containers, shards of broken glass flew around the room in a sickening crash.
The concoction of liquids mixed on the floor, forming an unbearable stench. It made Xyla nauseous almost immediately.
When she tried to get to her feet again, she just couldn’t find the energy to do so. The pain from the cramp in her abdomen was only growing more severe with every breath she took. In her mind, she guessed that it was acute appendicitis after putting two and two together.
Not too long after, the bathroom door swung open. Stanley Batton ran into the room. When he saw Xyla sprawled on the ground, naked and pale from all the pain she was experiencing, he froze in utter shock.
He instantly moved toward her and helped her up. “What happened here?” His eyes were full of worry.
Xyla could barely even form words with her mouth. She shook her head before pointing toward the pain in her abdomen.
She was aware of the shameful state she was in and despite all the pain, her face still managed to turn red. She wanted to tell him to help put some clothes on her but her mouth simply would not comply. All she could do was let him hold on to her and see her body as it was.
Stanley acted fast, carrying her swiftly to her bed. He returned to the bathroom to get a towel and wiped her body dry.
Though she felt like she could die from embarrassment as Stanley helped her, the pain in her body was so overwhelming that she couldn’t care less about being seen naked anymore. When she looked into his eyes, she was able to sense how worried he was. It brought her heart a slight calm amidst the pain.
Once her body was fully dry, Stanley rushed to her closet and randomly grabbed a set of undergarments and a white hoodie before putting them on her.
The pain had not stopped and it was getting worse. Xyla’s vision began to fail her. She was losing consciousness at an accelerated rate.
Though this was the case, she didn’t feel scared at all. It was mostly because she knew Stanley was with her. She felt like there was nothing to be afraid of as long as he was by her side.
Stanley picked Xyla up again before rushing down the stairs and gently laying her down in the back seat of his Honda.
“Hang in there Xyla, we’ll be at the hospital very soon.”
With that, he quickly shut the back door and got into the driver’s seat. He accelerated all the way to the hospital, his black Honda as swift as an arrow. As he drove, he frequently looked at the rearview mirror. Looking at her poor condition, his heart continued to ache.
On his way to the hospital, he called the dean of the Municipal Hospital. “Get a few paramedics on standby at the hospital’s entrance…”
Stanley didn’t care about anything else. He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and continued driving on.
