The next morning, Fiona woke up with half-closed eyes. She stretched her body while blinking a few times, realizing that she was still in the hospital. On the other side, Odel was already awake, looking at her with a grateful expression.
"Fiona, you should go home. Spending the whole night here must have made your body ache," Odel said softly.
Fiona yawned and rubbed her face. "I'm fine, really. How about you? Still feeling dizzy?"
"No, I'm feeling much better now. Besides..." Odel paused for a moment, her eyes glancing toward the door that suddenly opened. "Look who came earlier than the sun."
Daffin walked in casually, carrying a bag of food in his hand. He flashed a small smile.
"Good morning, ladies. I'm here to rescue you from starvation."
Fiona immediately stood up and let out a relieved sigh.
"Wow, having so many possessive cousins isn't so bad after all!" she whispered teasingly to Odel.
"You're impossible!"
"Fiona, have some. You must be hungry, right?" Daffin offered.
"No, thanks. You and Odel can have it. I have things to do this morning, so I should head home now."
"Is that so? Thanks for taking care of my Odel!"
"Your Odel? Haha, yeah yeah, I'm handing her back to you now," Fiona replied, laughing.
Odel could only smile wryly at their silly conversation, but deep inside, she was truly grateful to Fiona for everything.
"I'm leaving now, Odel!" Fiona said, waving.
"Take care!"
"Okay! Umm, Daffin, I'm leaving everything to you, okay? Let me know if anything happens."
Daffin nodded. "You can count on me."
Fiona held back a laugh as she waved goodbye, glancing at Odel with a playful look before stepping out.
Once Fiona was out of sight, Daffin sat down in the chair next to Odel and handed her the bag of food.
"I brought your favorite cake. But the nurse gave me this," Daffin said, placing the hospital food on the small table in front of Odel.
"Ugh, no! Hospital food is always bland! I don't like it!" Odel whispered.
"The nurse said you need to eat a lot while you're here, so finish it now! No complaints!"
"It's not tasty!" Odel whined again.
"Hey, do you want me to cook something else? Stir-fried blood balls or maybe steamed ones?" Daffin whispered teasingly.
"Ugh, no! You're making me feel even more nauseous!" Odel groaned.
"Alright then, just eat up. I'm keeping an eye on you!" Daffin crossed his arms and stared at Odel sternly.
"Ugh, fine, fine! As if I had a choice!" Odel grumbled.
She started spooning the food into her mouth, chewing slowly, and forcing it down with water to swallow it properly.
"This is the worst!" she muttered.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Yeah, even Clayton's unappealing porridge tastes better than this!" Odel replied.
"Clayton's cooking? Yeah, he's actually pretty decent. But he seems preoccupied; he didn't even come home last night," Daffin added, making Odel stop eating and think.
"Do you know anything? I feel like Clayton's been acting weird since yesterday," Odel said.
She shook her head slowly, pretending not to know anything, even though deep down she was certain that she was the reason behind Clayton's change in behavior.
"Forget about him! If he keeps being annoying, just cross him off your list of potential husbands!" Daffin said with a hint of annoyance.
After Odel finished eating, Daffin pulled out a wheelchair from the corner of the room.
"Come on, let's take a short walk. People say that humans with the flu need to sunbathe often. Sunlight is good for your body; it'll make you feel fresher."
Odel snorted and rolled her eyes. "Where did you hear that? You're a vampire, remember?"
"Don't you know that your attending doctor here is a female vampire? She's really skilled at medicine! She gave me a lot of advice about you," Daffin whispered.
Odel widened her eyes, realizing she had missed something while she was unconscious yesterday.
"But... she doesn't bite her patients, right?" Odel whispered, just to be sure.
"As for that, how should I know? We vampires have our own privacy, you know!"
"Oh my God! That's terrifying!" Odel muttered with a shiver.
"Come on, let me help you up!" Daffin extended his hand and lifted Odel into the wheelchair.
"What would you do without me? From now on, you can always rely on me, Odel!" Daffin said with a sweet smile.
Odel grinned; she felt Daffin was being overly dramatic, but when she turned to look at him, she was even more surprised. Daffin was wearing a thick jacket and a face mask while planning to take her out to enjoy the morning sun.
"Daffin, seriously? Why do you look like you're going to the North Pole?"
Daffin chuckled and began to explain. "Well, you see... I'm a vampire, so my skin is a bit sensitive to sunlight. I rushed here without applying my sunblock, so I had to use all this protection," he replied.
Odel looked at him with admiration; she never thought Daffin would go to such lengths—doing something unnatural for a vampire—just for her.
Daffin slowly pushed Odel's wheelchair, leaving the room and heading toward the garden. The morning sun looked beautiful, and the fresh air made Odel feel much better.
Daffin smiled at Odel's reaction, seeing how happy she was to be in the sun.
"Odel! Even though my skin feels uncomfortable, if you ever want to sunbathe with me again, I'll do it!" Daffin whispered.
Odel fell silent for a moment. She realized how much Daffin truly cared for her, even if his ways were sometimes silly. She began to admire his efforts to stay by her side despite his limitations.
"Alright then, let's take a walk. I want to see how long you can last under the sun with that outfit," Odel said with a little laugh.
"Hey, why are you so mean?"
"Didn't you just offer?"
"Yeah, but not for too long!" Daffin replied, running toward the shade of a tree.
Odel laughed, enjoying the peaceful morning in the hospital garden. Without realizing it, she felt much better.
"Um, Daffin!"
"Yeah?"
"If you're sensitive to sunlight, why are you wearing a black jacket?" Odel asked.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Isn't black known to absorb more heat than lighter colors?" Odel replied.
"Oh, no! Why didn't I think of that? I've never even questioned why all my jackets have been black since I was a kid!" Daffin grumbled.
Odel burst into laughter, realizing how naïve Daffin could be. However, a pair of eyes was watching their interaction from a distance with a gloomy expression.
"Tch, first Adrian, now Daffin. That flirtatious girl!" Clayton muttered as he watched them from afar.