Kathleen obediently nodded her head. "Yes, Young Master!"
Her stubbornness was driving John insane. 'Why isn't she begging? If she pleads with me, I would have altered her punishment.
'However, she's actually accepted the punishment! Fine then, go kneel outside the house!'
Kathleen obediently put on the pajamas and went outside quietly.
Autumn had passed into early winter, and the tranquil night was pitch black as ink.
A biting wind was blowing outside, and its bite feels like the keen edge of a knife.
A convulsive shudder passed over Kathleen the moment she stepped out of the house. She wrapped her arms around herself and got on her knees on the cold, hard ground.
The icy wind sliced right through her slender frame.
The servants looked at her sympathetically as they gone about their business, in and out of the house, but nobody dared to plead on her behalf.
Owing to the fact that everyone knew they would suffer the same fate as her if they infuriated Young Master.
On top of that, seeing Kathleen getting punished was the norm for everyone.
Kathleen felt the chilling wind continuously seeping into her pajamas, sending chills over her body.
She started shaking convulsively, and she could feel numbness and dull pain in her knees.
She gritted her teeth and remained in the kneeling position as she endured the discomfort she was feeling.
She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and curled up in a tight ball as the cold wind continued to howl. Her face had turned white, and her vision gradually turned blurry.
She had not known how long she lasted before she fell to the hard ground with a thud. The cold had stiffened up her body.
"Young Master, Ms. Yates has passed out!"
As soon as his words settled in, John rushed downstairs like a gust of wind. He opened the door and saw the skinny frame lying on the ground, and his black eyes turned even angrier.
He scooped her up in his arms, his eyes crimson-red, unable to suppress the panic in his heart. "Why can't you just behave yourself? Why do you always provoke me…"
John carried the unconscious girl into her room. Her body was freezing.
Her palm-sized face was deathly pale, and she looked as though she had lost all her vitality.
John hastily held her cold hands in his warm ones, his face grim.
He turned to look at Barkley and ordered, "Why are you still standing here? Go get the doctor!"
"Yes, Young Master! I'm on it!" Barkley dared not waste any time as he opened the door and sprinted downstairs.
John laid Kathleen in the bed and turned the heater to the maximum temperature. He wrapped the blanket tightly around her before he took out another two blankets from the wardrobe and laid them over her.
He then sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her cold hands between his. Despite that, she was still freezing and showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
Just when John wanted to pull up the blanket and take her to the hospital, the door was pushed open.
"Young Master, the doctor's here!" Barkley hastened into the room, followed by the family doctor.
"Corey, come and check on her!"
Corey Farber was the Lamberts' family doctor. He had been staying at Lambert's residence ever since John's leg was amputated.
Corey saw Kathleen, and he went up to her bed and pulled open the blankets wrapped tight around her to examine her condition.
"Young Master, Ms. Yates is experiencing hypothermia, and her body temperature is very low. I suppose her limbs are stiff and numb now."
"Treat her quickly and warm her up then!"
"Yes, Young Master!"
Corey told Barkley to bring him a few hot water bags and fill them up with hot water. He then put the hot water bags on her extremities, and soon, her body started warming up.
"Young Master, her body temperature had returned to normal. However, she has caught a cold, and predictably, she'll have a fever tonight."
John furrowed his brows, his face cold. "Stay here and take care of her."
Kathleen started sweating half an hour later.
She had regained consciousness and her pale face had turned red. She began trembling all over when she opened her eyes and saw John.
John went up to her and noticed her body trembling beneath the blanket. He placed his hand over her forehead. It was burning hot.
"She's burning up!"
After measuring her temperature, Corey looked into John's deep-set eyes and said, "40 degrees Celsius! She has a fever of 40 degrees Celsius!"
Shocked, Corey immediately prepared the medicine and put Kathleen on a drip.
Seeing Kathleen still shivering violently during the infusion, John leaned toward her and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Young Master, I'm cold…"
John took off his outerwear and wore only a white shirt. He lay on her bed, swooped her into his arms and pulled the blanket tight, pressing her against his chest.
Kathleen fell asleep again not long after, but her temperature remained high.
Her body was still burning hot even after the infusion had completed. John felt as though he was hugging a furnace between his arms, his white shirt was all soaked with sweat.
The man was a severe germophobe, but he seemed to have forgotten about his soaking wet shirt at this moment.
Corey measured Kathleen's temperature again. "39.5 degrees Celsius."
"I can't put her on another IV drip. She needs to be physically cooled down."
"What do I have to do?" John asked, his face was grim.
"Applying rubbing alcohol on her skin will help cool the skin when it evaporates and bring down the fever." Corey cast a glance at John and said hesitantly, "Focus on applying the alcohol on her neck, underarms and thighs where major arteries are."
"Leave the alcohol here. Everyone, get out!"