"And in case you will be worried that there is no one taking care of him right now, Byako is with him," Ben added.
"Byako? You mean His Majesty's pet cat?" Rei asked, she sounded obviously surprised. Well, can't blame her though.
"Yes. And once again, you don't need to worry about that. Despite being a cat, Byako is kind of good at taking care of a person." said Ben as he politely took away the empty cup from Rei's hand.
"Ah... I see..."
With a half-suspicious attitude, Rei murmured as she nodded despite in disbelief.
As Rei sheepishly nodded her head, she spotted a small brownish-red spot on Ben's right sleeve, which really looked like a blood stain.
"Dr. Ben... Is that a blood stain on your sleeve?" Rei asked in a slightly anxious tone.
"Hmm? Ah... Sorry about this unpleasant view, I accidentally pricked my fingers just now when processing some herbs." Ben apologized as he immediately covered up the blood stain with his left hand, and as he did so, Rei saw that Ben's left index and middle fingers were indeed in bandages.
"Heh?"
Hearing that response from Ben regarding the blood stain, Rei was slightly surprised mixed with a dash of confusion, she was surprised to find out that the blood stain was just from a pricked finger but at the same time, she was confused, the Dr Ben she know is an extremely cautious person who doesn't seem like would make such a lowly mistake when doing his work.
"Well... I guess it's better for me to go and get this cleaned up first right now," said Ben as he hastily walked away from Rei's bed.
.
.
.
After the doctor stepped about ten steps away from Rei's bed, he suddenly felt an overwhelmingly numbing sensation from his fingertips which later rapidly spread throughout his body and eventually turned into a severe stinging sensation that struck onto his heart without any warning. As a result of that sudden stinging sensation, Ben threw up a mouthful of blood.
"Dr Ben!"
"Ah... Now there's more to clean up... Maybe later... I guess..." Ben murmured as he staggered to a long chair nearby and lay down.
Shocked by the scene, Rei hastily sat up from her bed and was about to get out of the bed but stopped by Ben.
"I would prefer you to stay in your bed... the injury on your ankle has yet to fully recover..." said Ben in a slightly out-of-breath voice as he briefly wiped away the blood on his mouth and chin with his slightly shaky hand.
Then he clumsily took off his glasses before closing his eyes...
***
Rei slowly sat back onto her bed with hesitation, and as she laid back on the bed, the King's words suddenly rang in her head.
.
.
.
"Well, Ben is a person who hates troublesome stuff and if possible, he will avoid himself from all the troublesome situations. However, because of me, he has no choice but to get himself into all sorts of troubles..."
.
.
.
Recalling that statement from the King, Rei suddenly understands everything behind Ben's unusual behaviour, including her disturbing dream regarding him earlier. Rei believe that no matter how disturbing Ben's deeds are, he has a good reason, and most importantly, he did it all for the King's sake, or at least, that's the important thing for Rei at that moment.
With that realisation, Rei once again sat up from her bed, and this time, with no hesitation, she stood up with the help of a walking cane.
Hearing Rei's movements, Ben started nagging with his eyes remaining closed
"Hah... You are just as stubborn as that idiot... Fine... As long as you don't stress out your injured leg too much, I... Ah..."
Ben's nagging stopped as soon as he felt the soft warm wet towel that softly pressed on his lips. He opened his eyes out of curiosity and was immediately greeted by Rei's concerned look. To Ben's surprise, Rei is helping Ben clean the blood on his lips and chin with the towel that was originally prepared for Rei on the table at Rei's bedside.
Her movements are as gentle as a feather but at the same time not lack of efficiency despite the gentle moves. With just a few soft and gentle wipes, Rei had cleaned all the bloodstain on Ben's lips and chin.
That series of actions from Rei somewhat triggered a complicated feeling from deep inside of Ben's heart. Aside from being amused by Rei's efficiency despite the gentle movements, that fire in Ben's heart that was supposed to be extinguished is reignited once again...
***
Without any warning, Ben grabbed Rei's hand with his left hand as she was about to retract her hand away from his face.
"Ah... Dr. Ben... Is anything..."
Rei asked, in a slightly awkward tone.
"Rei... I... Hah... You don't have to do this for me, I would want you to get a good rest after this whole chaotic day..." said Ben who forcibly pressed down that fire in his heart.
Hearing those words from Ben, Rei smiled without saying anything before proceeding to clean Ben's right hand which is stained with blood as well.
"Ah..."
At that moment, the cool, serious and rational doctor is slightly lost, he is uncertain of how he should react to this situation, after all, that's the first girl he ever had special feelings for...
.
.
.
"Rei... If you want to... You... You can go see Chris in the room two doors away from here, despite yet to regain consciousness, his condition is stable enough for a visitor as gentle as you." said the doctor who knows it so well that Rei would most unlikely be rejecting this suggestion of him.
"Eh? Can I?"
And yes, it's just as Ben predicted.
"Mmm... If you really want to, I will get someone to get you your wheelchair, after all, you shouldn't really be using your injured leg this much right now," said Ben.
Hearing that, Rei sheepishly nodded without saying anything, a tiny sparkle of joy could be seen in her eyes...