The entire night, Ivy, Noah and Joshua did not leave Aria's side who had no idea about it as she had gone back to sleep right after having some porridge. She only opened her eyes when the first rays of the sun hit the city. At first, she was confused when she saw herself in an unfamiliar place. The sun was rising slowly, but her ward was still dark and if not for the fact that one of the lamps at the opposite side of the wall was kept on, she would not even have noticed where she was.
Aria tried to move her head slightly and the next second, she let out a groan. Although she had taken good rest the entire night, her head still felt heavy and her sudden movement made her head to ache. Noah who had been nodding off right beside her, heard her groan and opened his eyes immediately.
He saw the Aria was wide awake and she was looking around in confusion. Even though she was still white as paper, in his eyes, she looked so damn beautiful. He got up immediately and held her free hand as he gently spoke to her. "Aria, how do you feel now, baby?"
Aria only nodded her head lightly while she tried to press her other hand on her forehead. However, she stopped half way when she saw a drip attached to her. Noah noticed her discomfort and immediately understood her problem. So, without her asking, he pressed his right palm on her forehead and started to massage it gently. His touch eased her pain lightly and she smiled at him gratefully.
When Aria felt better, she tried to get up and Noah supported. He made her sit down and he brushed her bangs that had fallen over her eyes to the side. "Aria, you scared me. Don't ever do this to me ever again. Do you understand? You have no idea how I felt when I saw you lying unconscious. My heart was about to stop beating and if something were to happen to you, what would happen to me?"
Noah revealed all the pent up feelings in front of his woman. Only he knew how he had survived the time until Aria had woken up the previous night. This was a hundred times, no, a thousand times or even more worse than the time when Aria had been angry with him. At least then, there was no potential harm to her life. But yesterday had been worse than any nightmare he had ever seen and he would never like to see something like this again.
Aria could see how worried was and she did not have to guess what he must have gone through seeing her in this state. She was filled with remorse for putting him in such a predicament although she was not the one at fault. She had been unfortunate to have inhaled the poison before they could even find out what exactly had happened.
She could not help but lower her head and mutter in guilt. "Sorry."
Noah held her hand in his and ran his thumb over them as though he was consoling her. "No baby. I am sorry. It was my fault that I did not take care of you well. Please forgive me, love." Noah bent his head in regret and shame and Aria choked up seeing the man she loved blaming himself for things he was not even responsible for.
Aria was just about to console him when she heard the door to the ward open and Ian entered inside. He seemed to be exhausted and his eyes were slightly red. Aria could see how overworked the man was and she was filled with guilt once again. She was supposed to help and take care of the patients, but what had she done? She had fallen sick herself and pushed all her work to him.
Aria did not say anything as she had no idea how to apologize to him. Even though she did not speak a word, Ian could guess what was running in her mind. So, he flicked her forehead making her hiss in pain. "Stop thinking about unnecessary things. What you should be thinking about is your health and also about how much work I am going to give you once you return after recovering."
Aria gave him a helpless smile and whispered. "Sorry."
"And why are you sorry?" Ian enquired as he checked her pulse while Noah looked silently.
"For troubling you."
"As I said earlier, stop having nonsensical thoughts. Only concentrate on taking care of yourself." Ian smiled at her gently. "You seem to be perfectly fine except that your is a little weak. Also, I have got the reports from the lab. There are no other side effects of the poison and you are good to go."
"Then, may I take her home?" Noah spoke up suddenly when he heard that Aria was fine. He did not want her to stay here, in the hospital where there were high chances of her falling sick again. He did not want to risk her life again.
"I'll prepare the discharge papers and you may leave in the evening. We will keep her here until then just in case. And Aria, you are to take complete rest for two days and you may only join your duty on the third day, that is if Noah allows you to. Also, I request you two to restrain yourself from having sex or other exhausting exercises for at least a weak. Your body needs time to recuperate. We do not want you fainting right when you are in the middle of doing something naughty."
Ian winked at her and Aria averted her gaze from him in embarrassment. However, Noah remained expressionless. Even if Ian had not warned him, he would not have indulged in sexual activity with her given her condition. Nobody said a word until they heard Joshua's word from the door.
"Who is doing naughty things here?" He asked as he and Ivy entered inside with two cups of coffee with each of them. While Joshua handed one of the cups to Noah, Ivy handed hers to Ian who took it with a grateful smile. He was in dire need of some caffeine. His head was throbbing slightly due to lack of sleep. However, he had not found time to go to the canteen due to work.
Noah only rolled his eyes at Joshua and took the cup from him. When the man who had asked the question did not receive any response from anybody, he put forth his question before them again with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Who is doing naughty things here? Ian, you? Nah. It can't be you. It has to be Noah and Aria. Am I right?"
Nobody gave him any response again, but the man did not care. He was having fun teasing people and he continued with his work. The previous night had been extremely stressful and frightening and now that everything seemed to be normal, he could at least crack some jokes to ease the tension which was still hovering around in the ward and make everybody smile at least.
"You guys. Can't you control yourselves until you reach home? Do you have to make babies where you actually deliver babies? Tch, tch, tch." Joshua commented after taking a sip from his cup. Now it was Ivy's turn to roll her eyes. What was this man blabbering this early in the morning? Can't he just control his tongue? She scolded him silently in her mind. But she knew what the man was doing here and she appreciated his efforts wholeheartedly.
"I know you guys are in a hurry to make babies. But Noah, please control yourself. Your wife has just gained consciousness and you are already trying to exhaust her. How inconsiderate!!!" Joshua continued to spout nonsense without a care in the world.
If it was any other time, Noah would have reprimanded him severely for his mad tongue. But he had noticed Aria blushing lightly on Joshua's words and her pale skin had gained some color. So, he allowed Joshua to continue what he was doing.
Ivy did not give much heed to his words anymore. She finished her cup of coffee and approached Ian. "How is my sister, Ian?"
"Aria is fine, Ivy. Although her body is weak, she recovering well. You can take her home this evening and take care that she does not do any strenuous work for at least a weak."
"Thank you, Ian. Thank you so much." Ian thanked him, her eyes tearing up a little. Just like Noah, she too had been scared out of wits to see her beloved sister lie in this state. Now that she was fine, she felt her heart to have been revived.
"No problem," Ian replied understanding the girl's predicament. He seriously envied Aria and Ivy for having each other. The sisters were always there at every step of each other's life and their bond was just amazing. He too was having the desire to have a sister now. But he was unlucky in that aspect and could do nothing.
"If there is nothing else, I am going to go," Ian said looking at all of them.
"Ian, don't overwork yourself," Aria warned him as she knew how the man would forget about everything else once he involved himself in his work. He had to be reminded constantly to take care of himself. Otherwise, the man would not even consider his health.
"Okay, Aria."
So what if he did not have a sister, Ian had awesome friends and that was enough for him.