Chapter 274
Suzy was immensely grateful that, when she had originally hoarded those medical supplies into her dimensional space, she had taken the storage cabinets along with them.
Each unit had been meticulously labeled with the names of the herbs inside—the sole reason she had managed to locate everything so quickly.
Without those tags, she would have been entirely lost trying to identify dozens of traditional ingredients on her own. Moving with frantic efficiency, she grabbed generous handfuls of each required herb, packing them into separate bags without bothering to measure exact quantities, and hurried out of the space.
Suppressing her mounting excitement, Suzy rushed back into Derek’s room.
Bill was still bent over the bed, his brow furrowed as he administered acupuncture. Several slender silver needles were already embedded in Derek’s wrist, a desperate bid to ease the suffering caused by his relentless fever. Just as he tapped the final needle into place, the bedroom door swung open.
Both Bill and Aaron snapped their heads toward the entrance. Suzy stood there, practically vibrating with anticipation.
For some reason, a sudden prickle of foreboding rose in Bill’s chest. Why on earth did she look so excited?
Suzy didn’t waste time explaining. She thrust the bags directly at him. "Are these the right ones?"
Bill blinked, momentarily thrown. "What do you mean?"
Aaron, however, was quicker. He took the pink plastic bags from her hands, peeking into the first one. Surprise flashed across his usually stoic face. "Brother, they’re medicinal herbs."
"What?"
Only then did Bill recall her parting words.
She had claimed she was going to look for the ingredients, but he hadn’t actually believed she would find them.
Swiftly plucking the acupuncture needles from Derek’s wrist, he snatched the bags from Aaron and began inspecting the contents.
The more bags he opened, the more dramatic his expression became. Shock gave way to disbelief, disbelief to confusion, and finally, complete astonishment.
When he reached the last bag and uncovered a perfectly preserved, pristine ginseng root, his eyes nearly rolled back before he let out a long, ragged breath.
Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn’t expected Suzy to possess a specimen of this quality. Before the apocalypse, a root like this would have been a rare, exorbitantly expensive luxury. For a fleeting second, a pang of pure professional envy surged through him.
Forcing it down, he looked up at Suzy, who was watching him with an anxious, breathless intensity.
"Are they correct?" she whispered.
"Yes," he exhaled, the disbelief still heavy in his voice. "Every single one."
It felt far too smooth. Almost suspiciously so. Rising to his feet with the herbs clutched tightly, he said,
"Stay here and watch him. If anything changes, call me immediately. I’m going to prepare the medicine now."
He glanced down at the ingredients. "This needs to simmer for at least two hours."
Suzy nodded eagerly. "Don’t worry, I won’t leave him."
Bill shot a meaningful, heavy look at Aaron before exiting. As before, the bedroom door was left slightly ajar.
Not long after, the faint, muffled murmur of voices drifted in from the corridor. Bill was clearly explaining the brewing process to Thomas. The words were too distorted to make out clearly, but the cadence was steady, professional. Eventually, the voices faded, and the apartment fell into a heavy silence once more.
Suzy’s attention never wavered from Derek. The acupuncture seemed to have done its job; the tight knot between his brows had finally loosened, and his breathing, though shallow, was less labored.
Seeing him look even marginally more comfortable eased some of the crushing weight in her chest.
She reached out to touch his forehead. The cooling patch she’d applied earlier was already warm and dried out. Opening the bedside drawer, she retrieved a fresh one, gently smoothing it over his skin. When she finished, she took his limp right hand in both of hers, holding it tightly.
"What is he to you?" Aaron’s voice cut through the quiet like a knife.
Suzy paused, turning to find him studying Derek. Sensing her gaze, Aaron shifted his eyes to meet hers. Behind his clear lenses, his dark eyes were completely unreadable. For a long, tense moment, the two simply measured each other.
Finally, Suzy spoke. "Family."
Something flickered behind Aaron’s glasses. "I see." He didn’t push further.
As the silence settled back over the room, Suzy decided to flip the script. "Where did you come from?"
Aaron clearly hadn’t expected the counter-question. He looked subtly caught off guard, his lips parting slightly, but he didn’t answer right away. As the silence stretched, Suzy gave a small, indifferent shrug.
"You don’t have to tell me if it’s a secret."
"It’s not exactly a secret." A faint, weary smile touched Aaron’s pale, refined face, softening his sharp features. Meeting her gaze again, he said quietly, "We came from the West City."
West City. That was a massive, treacherous distance from Starlight Towers.
"How is it over there?" Suzy asked.
Aaron let out a heavy sigh. "Not good. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have fled." He paused, his voice dropping an octave. "West City has already fallen under someone’s control."
Suzy froze. "So that’s why you’re here."
Aaron nodded grimly.
A thoughtful, dark look crossed Suzy’s face. "I have a feeling this place will end up the same way before long."
Given how aggressively the new faction within the complex was expanding, it felt like a matter of time before Starlight Towers was forced to its knees. Of course, Suzy had absolutely no intention of being ruled by anyone.
She left the thought unsaid, and Aaron merely observed her, offering no comment.
Neither felt inclined to probe deeper. Suzy turned back to Derek, her focus returning entirely to the unconscious man, and after a moment, Aaron followed her gaze.
A short while later, the bedroom door creaked open again. Bill entered, bringing with him the sharp, bitter, and earthy aroma of medicinal herbs.
The cold air of the hallway clung to his clothes, mixing with the heavy scent of the brew. It wasn’t pleasant, per se, but to Suzy, it smelled like hope.
"Move aside," the doctor muttered, gesturing for Suzy to step back.
He conducted a swift, thorough re-examination—checking Derek’s pulse, inspecting his pallor, feeling his temperature, and counting his respirations. After several agonizing minutes, Bill finally nodded, a wave of relief softening his stern face.
"There shouldn’t be any major complications for now," he said, packing his medical instruments back into his bag. "Once the decoction is ready, feed it to him. I’ve already gone over the preparation and precautions with the tall guy outside."
Thomas.
"He knows exactly what to do," Bill continued, zipping his bag shut and straightening his posture. "All that’s left now is to wait for the medicine to finish simmering and get it down his throat. There’s nothing more I can do here. I should head back."
He paused at the door. "If anything goes wrong, come find me."
Suzy’s heart constricted slightly. "You’re leaving already?"
"Yes." Bill sighed, his expression darkening with a grim, pragmatic reality. "If this medicine works, he’ll make it. If it doesn’t... well, there won’t be much else I can do anyway."
The brutal honesty hit her like a physical blow, but Suzy understood the reality of their world. She swallowed her anxiety and managed a tight nod.
"I’ll walk you out."
This time, she didn’t try to beg him to stay.