The weather these days has been really unusual.
By late May, it should be quite warm, but this cold front has lingered for three or four days, making the classroom feel chilly.
The teacher is lecturing at the podium.
Emily is attentively taking notes while shivering slightly. She wants to cough but fears it might disturb her classmates.
"Are you okay?" Daisy whispers.
Emily shakes her head, smiles, and tries to appear unaffected. Since she decided to attend the class, she can't let a little illness disrupt others.
Suppressing the urge to cough.
Enduring the chill that seeps through her clothes.
Fighting through the dizziness.
Emily focuses all her strength on ignoring the discomfort, scribbling notes furiously as she tries to hear what the teacher is saying. But the effort to hold back her cough is making her lungs feel like they're about to burst, her breathing becomes rapid, and her face turns bright red.
"Bang!"
The sound of a backpack being dropped onto the desk.
Classmates turned to look as Ryan, with a stern face, stood up from his seat, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He pulled out a voice recorder from his pocket, pressed the record button, and walked to the podium, slamming the recorder onto the teacher's desk. He instructed:
"Speak into this, and speak loudly!"
Before the teacher could respond, Ryan had already turned his back and walked away.
Ryan, with a dark expression, approached Emily.
Emily tried to say something in panic, but his cold demeanor left her momentarily speechless.
Without a word, Ryan bent slightly—his left arm securing her knee, his right arm supporting her back. In a swift motion, he lifted Emily off the ground and cradled her in his arms!
"What are you doing—?!"
Emily gasped in shock, struggling vigorously in his arms. The effort to hold back her cough failed, and she began coughing uncontrollably, her body trembling weakly.
"To the infirmary," Ryan said with a smirk, carrying her as he spoke. "I've recorded the lecture, so it won't delay your studies!"
"Cough! Cough, let me down! Please…" Emily begged, coughing heavily as she tried to free herself from his hold.
"Be quiet!" Ryan growled.
His right arm tightened, and Emily's head was forcefully pressed against his chest with a thud! Her face was buried in his shirt, her mouth blocked, unable to open, breathless, and her protests were muffled.
The teacher and classmates were left stunned, frozen in shock.
And so—
Ryan, with a blank expression, carried Emily out of the classroom with determined strides!
The door to the infirmary was kicked open with a loud bang!
The sudden noise made Nurse Henry's hand tremble, nearly causing him to jab the needle into the wrong spot beside the sick girl's vein. He frowned slightly but ignored the commotion and continued with the injection.
"Hey! You, come here!"
A harsh voice roared through the infirmary.
Henry finished administering the injection, wiped the injection site with an alcohol swab, and said coolly, "Come back this afternoon for the final shot."
"Nurse! Didn't you hear me?!" The voice was laced with aggression.
"Thank you, Doctor," the sick girl said hurriedly, glancing toward the door and seeing a pair of fiery eyes that looked ready to kill. Terrified, she rushed out of the infirmary.
Henry discarded the needle and swabs into the waste bin.
"Are you deaf?!"
The roar was deafening next to Henry.
Without looking up, Henry pointed to a sign on the snow-white wall:
"Please do not make loud noises."
Ryan's face alternated between shades of red and white, veins bulging on his forehead. If he weren't holding Emily, his fists would have already been swinging!
"Pfft!"
Emily couldn't help but laugh in his arms. It was the first time she had seen Ryan at such a loss since coming to Elm Academy. From the classroom to the infirmary, he had held her so tightly that her bones felt like they were almost breaking from the pressure.
"What are you laughing at?!" Ryan glared at her with anger.
"Uh…" Emily tried to suppress her smile, clearing her throat. "I'm just happy we finally made it to the infirmary, hehe."
Ryan's fierce gaze remained fixed on her, his irritation only growing as he sensed the strange amusement in her eyes.
"Cough, the way you spoke earlier wasn't very nice. Nurse Henry…"
"Shut up!" Ryan shouted at Emily. "You're scolding me because of him?! Didn't you say that you like—"
He suddenly fell silent, his face turning ashen, his lips pressed into a tight line.