Charlotte’s face drained of all color upon hearing this. Mrs. Berry had also turned pale with fright. “That can’t be. Doesn’t that mean that Miss would…”
“Don’t fret.” Dr. Felch reassured, “I only said maybe. According to my experience, there should be hope still, but we must be patient.”
“That’s good to know.” Mrs. Berry’s voice sounded choked when she spoke. “Dr. Felch, Mr. Windt is no longer with us and Miss is his only surviving child. You must cure her for his sake.”
“I will do my best.” Dr. Felch nodded. “You need to be in a good frame of mind when you receive treatment. Relax and don’t think too much.”
“You’re right, Dr. Felch.” Charlotte was unusually calm. “Mrs. Berry, let’s go outside. We shouldn’t disturb Dr. Felch.”
Mrs. Berry nodded.
“Wait.” Dr. Felch handed Mrs. Berry a few pouches of herbal medicine. “Her poison can’t be neutralized yet, but your illness can be treated. Drink one of these every day for ten to fourteen days. It will greatly improve your health.”
“Sure, sure. Thank you so much, Dr. Felch.”
Mrs. Berry took the medicine from him, pleasantly surprised that she herself had benefited from this trip.
“I’ll take you to brew the medicine.”
Hayley led Mrs. Berry and Charlotte to the kitchen.
A great sense of relief flooded Charlotte. If her poison couldn’t be neutralized, at least Mrs. Berry should receive treatment for her illness, so that this trip wouldn’t be in vain.
While brewing the medicine for Mrs. Berry, Hayley cooked dinner at the same time.
Dr. Felch brought Sam out and they sat around the stone table for dinner.
The food Hayley cooked was delicious. Charlotte ate quite a lot, but her head started to hurt as blood trickled out of her nostrils.
Knowing that it was the poison at work, she covered her nose and ran toward the bathroom.
“Miss…” Mrs. Berry hurried after her.
A frown appeared on Dr. Felch’s face as he watched her retreating figure. He took a bottle of medicinal concoction and passed it to Hayley, telling her to bring it to Charlotte.
In the bathroom, Charlotte was still struggling through the agonizing pain. After drinking the medicine, she passed out immediately.
Mrs. Berry panicked and quickly called Dr. Felch.
Dr. Felch simply said, “Let her sleep for now. Letting her continue enduring the pain won’t help in finding the cure.”
Only then did Mrs. Berry understand. This medicine wasn’t to alleviate the pain, but to render her unconscious so that she wouldn’t feel any pain.
Mrs. Berry and Hayley helped Charlotte wash up and change her clothes, then supported her to lie down on the bed.
Then, Mrs. Berry stayed to guard her. Seeing how weak Charlotte looked made her heart break.
Hayley brought some dessert to her, but she had lost her appetite.
That night, Dr. Felch neither conducted additional examinations on Charlotte, nor prescribed her any medicine.
Mrs. Berry, on the other hand, received acupuncture on top of drinking some herbal concoction.
…
Meanwhile, Bruce and his men had lost Charlotte because of the brawl at the train station. After dealing with the attackers, they began inquiring about Charlotte’s whereabouts in Phoenix City.
Bruce called Zachary to report, “Someone was following Ms. Windt and tried to attack her, but our men intercepted in time. From what I could see, they were probably Ms. Blackwood’s men.”
“Sharon?” Zachary’s frowned deeply. “That woman really never learns.”
“Ms. Blackwood was so close to marrying you, but then you kicked her to the curb, so she can’t accept it. Knowing her temperament, she wouldn’t take it lying down.” Bruce was never one to mince his words. “Luckily, we were following Ms. Windt, or something would’ve happened to her at the train station.”
“We can’t let our guard down just yet. Find her as soon as possible,” Zachary instructed.
“Yes, sir,” Bruce replied. “We’ve found some clues. If we’re not mistaken, Ms. Windt came here to look for a traditional medicine practitioner.”
“A traditional medicine practitioner?” Zachary’s frown deepened. Could Charlotte have some kind of hidden illness?
“The doctor seems to be an old friend of Mr. Windt’s. Maybe Ms. Windt brought Mrs. Berry to get treated here?” Bruce didn’t mull over it for too long. “Anyway, I’ll continue searching. We’ll keep them safe.”
“Good.”
