The hospital was packed with people; the corridor was chaotic. Doctors and nurses hurried back and forth, patients wandered around, and visitors bustled through. Beds were being wheeled up and down the hallway. Daisy and Yuki, out of breath, dashed into the hospital, squeezing past the crowd, sprinting up to the third floor, heading straight for the west end, and bursting into Room 302.
The door to the hospital room was flung open!
"Emily!"
Daisy rushed in, shouting. They had suddenly received a call saying Emily was in the hospital, urging them to come immediately. No explanation was given for why she was hospitalized, nor were any details about her condition provided before the call abruptly ended. Throughout the frantic journey to the hospital, neither Daisy nor Yuki could utter a word, too overwhelmed with worry.
Yuki, closing the door behind them, scanned the room. There were no doctors or emergency medical equipment in sight, and her heart gradually settled. It seemed Emily's situation wasn't as dire as they had feared.
Daisy rushed to the bedside, calling out repeatedly, "Emily! Emily! How are you?!"
Emily lay quietly on the hospital bed. Her short hair was still slightly damp, her face paler than the pillow beneath her, and her lips had a faint purple hue. She was in a deep sleep, her left hand clenched tightly.
An IV bag hung by the bedside.
Drops of fluid trickled through the tube into her slender right wrist, where a faint scratch could be seen, though it was unclear what had caused it.
"Keep it down, she's sleeping," Yuki whispered, gently pulling the anxious Daisy away from the bed.
"Oh."
Daisy glanced at Emily and tiptoed to a spot further from the bed. She hoped they hadn't disturbed her rest.
Silence filled the room.
It felt as though Emily's weak, slumbering breaths were the only sounds in the air.
Daisy's gaze drifted away from the bed, and only then did she notice, with surprise, that there was someone else in the room!
Ryan leaned against the wall, standing in the corner about three or four meters from Emily's bed. His hands rested loosely in his pockets, and his gaze was dark. His face, shrouded in the corner's shadow, made it impossible to discern his expression.
Daisy rushed over and pointed at him. "That's right, Emily went on a date with you today, didn't she? What did you do to land her in the hospital?!"
Ryan's shadow was almost entirely consumed by the darkness of the corner.
Daisy continued to shout, "Hey! Emily has been so good to you—running miles for you, helping you with your papers. She even wore that thin dress you gave her... Do you even know she's sick? She's burning up with a high fever! A fever of 39 degrees! I tried to stop her, but she insisted on going. She was afraid you'd be waiting, so she left early, even before ten! Tell me, what did you do this time to make her end up like this?"
"Daisy!"
Yuki hissed, reminding her to keep her voice down. Everyone at Elm Academy knew Ryan was a hopeless case. Hopefully, this would be a lesson for Emily, so she wouldn't continue to be so stubborn in the future.
Daisy quickly covered her mouth, startled. Oh no, in her anger, she had forgotten everything. She shot Ryan another fierce glare, suppressing a furious huff.
Ryan remained cold and indifferent, not looking at Daisy, seemingly ignoring her words. His eyes were dark, and his lips pressed tightly together.
Suddenly—
He straightened up and walked toward the bed.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Daisy quickly stretched out her arms to block him. Was he planning to do something bad to Emily again? Ryan brushed her arms aside and stepped up to Emily's bedside.
"Awake?"
His voice was a bit hoarse.
Daisy rushed over and looked down. Emily lay quietly, her eyes barely open, shimmering with the dew of early morning.
Emily struggled to sit up, her gaze moving over the anxious Daisy and the still-concerned Yuki. She weakly said, "Thank you. I'm good."
Daisy was alarmed and pressed her back down onto the bed, shouting, "How can you be fine? How could you end up in the hospital if you're fine?! Tell us what Ryan did to you!"
"No. I'm okay."
Emily forced a weak smile and then her eyes settled on Ryan.
She gazed at him.
With an angelic smile, she said softly—
"I found it."
She lifted her left arm with effort, opening her tightly clenched hand to reveal a small diamond. Perhaps because she had held it too tightly for too long, the sharp edge of the diamond had left a deep blue-white mark on her palm.
Ryan stared at the diamond.
The diamond suddenly burst forth with dazzling brilliance from her palm!