“I guess I’m going to need a rabies shot,” Zachary simply replied.
Louis almost spat his wine out at that.
Just then, Raina came into the room. “Mr. Nacht, let me tend to your wound.”
“How is she?”
“She has calmed down, and there are no serious injuries,” Raina said as she cleaned Zachary’s wound. “Lupine put a pair of noise-canceling headphones on her, so there won’t be any worries of her waking up again to the thunder.”
“Exactly,” Louis chimed in. “They usually pay a lot of attention to the weather. If there were reports of a thunderstorm, they’d make sure to have Charlotte wear the headphones. But, for some reason, they forgot about it today.”
Hearing that, Zachary grew silent. Charlotte got attacked two years ago, and they destroyed her last antidote. She must have gone through hell and back after that episode. It was a miracle that she even survived it.
Her memory loss and having a relapse every time there’s a thunderstorm could also be the effects of that traumatic event.
“Your wound looks bad.” Raina frowned. “You’ll have to get a tetanus shot at the hospital. I’m afraid I haven’t brought any with me.”
“I’ll do it later.” Zachary didn’t care about it right now. “You should go stay by Charlotte.”
Raina nodded and left with her medical kit.
After she left, Louis looked at Zachary quizzically. When Zachary kissed Charlotte and even claimed to like her, Louis didn’t believe him. He had thought it was all part of Zachary’s plan to force Charlotte out of the project.
But now, it seemed like Zachary wasn’t lying at all.
When Charlotte had a relapse, Zachary was far more anxious than anyone else in the room. He had no care for himself when he used his body to protect Charlotte. Even when she bit him, he still didn’t let go.
With such a display of selflessness, Louis knew Zachary wasn’t joking around.
Zachary was calling Marino when he saw Louis staring at him. “What are you looking at?”
“Do you really like Charlotte?” Louis blurted out. “When did you start liking her?”
Zachary didn’t reply instantly. Instead, he barked his orders at Marino over the phone, “Where are my clothes?”
“Coming, Mr. Nacht! I’m downstairs right now.”
“Hurry up.”
“Yes, Mr. Nacht.”
After ending the call, Zachary looked up at Louis. “Two years ago.”
“What?” Louis widened his eyes in shock. It took him a while to recover from it. “You’ve known her since two years ago?”
Louis paused as he contemplated more about it. Something didn’t add up. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you have a wife two years ago? She went missing, and you searched for her high and low… “
“She doesn’t belong to you. Go look for another,” Zachary said sternly.
His words had only just sunk in when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Marino came in with a bag of clothes before excusing himself.
Then, Zachary picked up the clothes and proceeded to change in the bathroom.
Louis, on the other hand, stood behind the door with panic in his voice as he asked, “What happened exactly? Tell me everything right now!”
Despite that, Zachary ignored him as he continued changing. When he was done, he made a beeline for Charlotte’s room.
“Hey! Answer me!” Louis followed behind in exasperation.
When Zachary reached Charlotte’s room, he was glad to see her sleeping peacefully in her bed, but at the same time, his emotions were all over the place.
“Mr. Nacht, thank you for your help tonight. We’ll let Ms. Lindberg have a good night’s sleep now. We can talk tomorrow if there’s anything else,” Lupine said calmly.
Both she and Morgan seemed guarded, as if afraid that Zachary might touch Charlotte again.
“Take good care of her.” Zachary took one good look at Charlotte before taking his leave.
“Can I come in?” Louis decided to try his luck with Lupine and Morgan.
As expected, they denied his request. “Sir Louis, we’re very sorry. We can’t let anyone in to disturb Ms. Lindberg right now. You can talk to her tomorrow.”
Louis still felt a little hurt by the rejection as he followed sullenly behind Zachary.
