"I feel dizzy and have no strength. What's wrong with me?" Debbie asked weakly.
She couldn't work out why she was feeling so awful.
When he looked at how haggard and pale Debbie looked, Alex's heart ached.
"It's okay," Alex told her as he sat by her bed and took her hand. He decided not to tell her the whole truth about the poison. He wanted her to try to keep up her strength for as long as possible. "The doctor said that you just have a bad infection. You need to stay in the hospital for a couple more days, but you'll be feeling better soon."
"Okay, that's good." Debbie gave a small smile and said, "Maybe Melissa will bring me some soup later. I'm sure that will help me regain my strength and recover."
When he heard that Debbie still thought of Melissa as a friend, Alex felt frustrated, but he couldn't tell her the truth while she was so ill.
The four Moon girls were also very angry, but they were under strict instructions from Alex not to say anything to upset Debbie.
"I'm tired and I need to sleep for a while," she said as she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Mr. Alex, we think it was Melissa who poisoned Debbie," Callisto told Alex.
"That's right. Debbie drank the soup that Melissa gave her and straight after that she started to feel ill. And yesterday, Melissa disappeared," agreed Selene.
The Moon girls all told Alex their suspicions about Melissa.
"I know," Alex nodded his head.
"Then the four of us will go and kill her now to avenge Debbie," Celeste said. The other three women nodded in agreement.
"She's already run away and now she's hiding. Baltimore is so big. How am I going to find her?" Alex said despairingly. He continued, "My top priority now is to help Debbie recover. Her body is full of a very powerful poison. I want to find the best doctor in the world to treat her."
Alex still has a glimmer of hope in his heart. Although Jessop had said that there was no antidote to black poison water, he refused to believe it. Even if there was a one per cent chance of success, Alex would try it.
"Mr. Alex, why don't we take Debbie to the Moon Palace? I think there's a certain flower, a special orchid, that grows in the mountains near the palace that might help her," Celeste suggested. She told him that while he had been gone, the four of them had discussed it and agreed that it might work.
"This orchid, do you really think that might work?" Alex's spirits lifted a little as he looked at Celeste.
"Jasper told us that the orchid has a detoxification effect on the body. She was once injured in a fight, and she used this orchid to cure her infection when the doctors couldn't do anything. She said it worked really well. And she said that a particular kind of this orchid is over a thousand years old, and it can bring back the dead and they will be reborn. I'm certain we can cure Debbie if we can find a special orchid that's a thousand years old."
"A thousand-year-old orchid," Alex murmured. He looked at Debbie asleep in the bed. She was too weak to say anything so he would have to decide for her.
He made his decision and said to the four women, "Okay, we'll go to the Moon Palace."
"Wonderful. Mr. Alex, we'll buy the plane tickets now," Celeste said and she took out her cell phone and began searching online for plane tickets.
She bought six tickets to fly out at nine o'clock the following morning.
Alex bought some drugs for Debbie to inhibit the spread of the poison. Of course, the Clifton family had secretly given him the money for them.
Then he called Jessop and informed him that he wanted to take Debbie to the Moon Palace. Jessop knew that the doctors had no antidotes against black poison water. Since Alex said that the thousand-year-old orchid could save Debbie's life, he agreed that they should try.
Although he hadn't been involved in her life until relatively recently, he loved her dearly and the thought of losing her was devastating.
**
The next morning, Alex arrived at Baltimore Airport with Debbie and the four girls.
They wanted to keep the severity of her condition secret from Debbie.
Alex said gently to her, "Debbie, the doctor said that your condition is improving. He said that it would be really good for you to travel to the mountains where you'll breathe fresh air."
Debbie leaned on his shoulder, but her mind was confused, and she didn't really comprehend what he was saying.
"That's good. I've been longing to walk in the mountains. I haven't been for ages. I'd love to go," Debbie said softly with a smile.
Debbie looked so fragile that the four girls were worried that she might not survive the flight.
Not long after they reached the airport, there was an announcement that their flight was boarding.
"Let's go," Alex said as he supported Debbie toward the boarding gate with the four girls following behind.
**
Once their flight had taken off, a man stepped out from behind a pillar in the departure lounge of the airport. He was being paid by Chris to carry out surveillance on Alex. He called his boss's phone.
"Chris, they just took off. The girl looked terrible. I think it will be over soon."
"How's Alex doing?" Chris asked.
"Ever since he found out that the girl's dying, he's been inconsolable. Several times I've seen him secretly crying when he thought no one could see him. Yesterday he went to the Clifton house, but I don't know exactly what was discussed there."
"Well done," Chris replied and ended the call.
He was in the Hilton Hotel where he had reserved a room for Melissa to hide in. She was sitting beside him and had heard his conversation.
"Chris, I'm right. If his girlfriend dies, Alex will never recover. I am certain that he'll commit suicide because he'd rather die for love than live without her," she said wistfully.
"We don't know that for sure. What if he doesn't die for love? This whole thing is taking too long," Chris said impatiently.
Melissa was annoyed. She had helped Chris with his plan, so she thought he should be grateful to her, not questioning her loyalty.
Chris suddenly thought of something and asked, "Hang on, you said Alex's girlfriend is called Debbie. Isn't the Clifton's daughter called Debbie?" He wondered if it was just a coincidence.
"Chris, you can't think Debbie's from the Clifton family? It's impossible. I know all about her. She's from a very poor family. She was only able to enroll at university because she got financial aid," Melissa said quickly. She knew nothing about Debbie's history before she had arrived in D. C.
"Are you sure?" Chris still had some doubts.
"Chris, don't worry about it anymore. Let's plan our wedding. When will you take me to meet your father?" she asked expectantly.
"What's the hurry? Let's wait until we know for sure that Alex is really dead," he replied.
"Well, without Debbie, he'll definitely die of grief. Even if he doesn't die, he'll become so pitiful that he might as well be dead. Then he'll be much easier to deal with," Melissa said. Then she turned to him and said beseechingly, "Chris, you haven't stayed over with me for two days now. I really want you. Please stay with me tonight."
"I don't have time now. I have a lot of work to do. I need to go to the office, but I'll come and see you tomorrow." Chris pushed her hand away, stood up, and walked out of the room without looking back.
Melissa called after him, "Chris? Chris!" As she watched him walk out of the room, she smashed her fist on the bed. Trying to comfort herself, she muttered, "He's just busy. Next time, he'll stay with me, and soon we'll be married.