Rachel had to admit that she felt sorry for him after Jack explained that he had a cold. Before she could consider how to properly react to it, she found her hand had already reached out to pull him closer. And now, she was stuck trying to figure out a way to properly explain what just happened. She looked up at the screen of the elevator and found that it was only at the twenty -eighth floor. She felt anxious and irritated with her eyes wide open in disbelief. When her eyes met his smiling eyes, she felt like she was quickly losing control. She turned to him with a reddish face and said in an agitated voice, "Go to the hospital to have your cold or cough checked. Do you really believe that you can avoid infecting me if you take a couple of steps back? There are only two of us here, and we breathe the same air. It was really unnecessary to step away from me." After a brief moment of silence, Jack smiled and turned to her. "Well, aren't you a doctor? I don't really need to go to the hospital anymore since you're here." Rachel was rendered speechless. It was fortunate for her that the elevator finally stopped at their destination. Or her uncanny silence would've made the elevator scene even more awkward for her. "Come in quickly," she said to Jack as she opened the door. They put down the things that Lea had brought inside the house. Rachel then prepared to leave with Jack once more to help him bring back some of the remaining things. But before she could leave, he pressed down her shoulders and had her sit on the sofa to rest. "I'll move the rest of them. Sweating can help relieve my cold," he said. He went back and forth a total of five times before he finally had everything into the house. Henry eventually arrived. He got into the house in a hurry while Jack was drinking a glass of water and was slightly panting. "Where are the things that Lea has bought? I'll go get them," he announced as he entered the door. "Your timing is impeccable as always. I already brought them all in," Jack teased with a mocking look. Henry happily tapped Jack on the shoulder and said, "That's my ever-reliable buddy!" Jack and Rachel stayed for dinner. Henry drank wine alone during dinner and felt bored drinking alone. He tried to persuade Jack to drink with him a few times, but Jack refused him each time. Jack reasoned that he still needed to bring Rachel home so he couldn't drink. Only Rachel, who sat next to Jack, knew whenever he had to turn his head to cough. He made sure that his coughing wasn't loud and no one else noticed. And he coughed quite a number of times during dinner alone. She watched him each time he coughed in secret. After dinner, the four sat in the living room and chatted. Jack yawned and stood up from the sofa. "We have to go back home. I'm a little tired," he declared. During their drive home, Rachel noticed that Jack kept coughing into his balled hand. She frowned as she turned to him. "Jack, that seems like a bad cold. I think you should go and see a doctor tomorrow," she suggested in a soft voice. "Well, like I said, you are a doctor. You can check me if you want to," Jack said as he slightly gasped for breath. "But I don't know that much about coughs and colds, " Rachel argued. "Well, whatever, then. I won't go to the hospital anyway," Jack replied. Rachel furrowed her eyebrows when she heard Jack's words. She felt annoyed because he was being stubborn about going to the hospital. She helplessly turned to look out of the window. "Well, suit yourself. It's totally up to you whether to go to a doctor or not," she said and tried to ignore Jack. Jack smiled broadly when he saw her angry face. Only those who truly cared about his health would become angry with his refusal to go to the hospital and see a doctor. The next morning, Rachel wanted to leave Jack to his cough and cold, but she still couldn't just let it pass. She felt very worried. During her shift, she always remembered how Jack coughed into a balled hand as he drove the car. She then sighed to herself, shook her head and walked out of the office. Rachel waved Celia over. "Are you free?" she asked.
Celia glanced at her watch uncertainly. "Well, it's almost time for me to get off work, so I guess there's nothing else for me to do."
"I have something to deal with today. Do you mind taking over for me. If there's an emergency, just call me." After saying that, she quickly left for the outpatient building and registered a number on the reception desk. There weren't many people in the queue, so it didn't take long till it was her turn. Standing up from her seat, she headed over to one of the consultation rooms. "Hello, Dr. Zhang."
Sitting behind his computer desk, the man adjusted his glasses and squinted at the woman in front of him. "Dr. Shen, what brings you here? Are you sick?"
"Someone gets a cold and keeps on coughing all day." Rachel briefly described Jack's condition.
"Someone?
Who is it?"
he asked in confusion. He had never seen anyone come in behalf of the actual patient to see the doctor.
In a moment of anxiety, she motioned to the door. "It's Celia, a nurse in our department. I just saw her cough badly, so I came over to get a prescription for cough drops."
He nodded. "I'll prescribe some right away. Let her take it for two days, and if she has any other reaction, she needs to come to me,"
he lectured. "You're a doctor yourself. You should know how hard it is to diagnose a patient when he isn't here."
Smiling awkwardly, she bowed her head. "I understand. Thank you."
Rachel took the prescription, paid the bill, and took the medicine. Without another thought, she took out her phone and typed, "Do you have time tonight? I have something to tell you."
The phone on the conference table vibrated for two seconds. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack glanced at the screen. Initially, he had planned to ignore it, but after seeing that it was from Rachel, he leaned forward and read the message. "I'll pick you up after work," he replied.
He glanced at the supervisor, who was still reporting the marketing details of their firm, and raised his hand. "I have to go," he said lightly. "If you still haven't reported yet, hand over your documents to Austin."
For a moment, the boisterous meeting room instantly quieted down from the unexpected dismissal. The shareholders shared a look, wondering what was going on.
"Give me the file if you haven't reported yet," Austin cut off, snapping all of them out of their reverie.
As soon as it was time to get off work, Celia knocked on Rachel's door. Seeing that she was already packing up, she asked, "What are you planning to do now?"
"I'm going home. I still need to deal with something." Rachel stopped what she was doing and looked up. "Don't you want to go home? What exactly did Marcus tell you when you were at the coffee shop?"
Immediately, Celia turned bright red from the implication. She waved her hands exasperatedly and sputtered out, "Nothing. We have absolutely nothing to talk about."
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