I Have To Love【Abo】 Chapter 14
byA Pale Face Takes the Stage
When Xie Qiao returned home, he received a call from Su Tai. He was suffering from a headache; the nerves in his Gland and brain were throbbing violently, as if crawling with restless parasites.
He had experienced this before when taking the medication, but never this severely. He was usually very tolerant of pain, yet now he let out small whimpers of agony.
“A’Qiao, I’ve arrived.”
The Alpha Pheromones’ voice came through the receiver. Xie Qiao was in so much pain that he couldn’t straighten his finger joints. His entire body was convulsing and curling up irregularly, his forearms bent and unable to straighten. He struggled to gather the energy to answer the phone.
“G-ge.” His jaw trembled, unable to form continuous words.
The alpha keenly sensed that something was wrong. He took the room card from the front desk, his suitcase being handled by the hotel staff, and followed them upstairs. “What’s wrong?”
Xie Qiao was in so much pain that physiological tears streamed down his face, but his body was too contorted and his hand nerves too stiff to wipe them away. The tears slid down his cheeks, dripping onto the warm, sticky screen of the phone beneath his head. “Nothing, I just missed you.”
Su Tai didn’t doubt him, attributing the earlier sounds to Xie Qiao’s crying out of longing for him. He comforted Xie Qiao for a few moments, but Xie Qiao couldn’t bear it any longer. He made an excuse that he needed to sleep and hung up with Su Tai.
His head ached so badly that he couldn’t distinguish reality from illusion. He felt as if he could smell Su Tai’s Alpha Pheromones, and his body was being caressed by Su Tai’s warm fingers. The more he suppressed it, the stronger the backlash. His Omega Scent burst forth instantly, surging through Xie Qiao’s body, causing him to spasm uncontrollably.
The Alpha Pheromones seemed to be squeezing his Gland, threatening to tear apart whatever was inhibiting it. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Xie Qiao gasped for breath as a terrifying memory flooded his mind: he was pinned to an operating table like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, the painful memory of his Gland repeatedly tormenting him.
He vaguely heard someone outside gasp, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.
A cool liquid entered his body, slowly soothing the pain and the heat. After a while, he adjusted to the medication. He struggled to open his eyes and saw a doctor in a white coat. Using his last shred of rationality, he warned, “You cannot tell my brother about this.”
Only after hearing the doctor agree did he finally fall into a deep sleep under the effect of the sedative.
Sweat soaked his clothes, sticking to his skin. He was now being cared for like a plush toy. The lights were turned off, and the surroundings darkened. Xie Qiao no longer cried out in pain or yearned for the alpha’s Alpha Pheromones; only his Gland remained swollen.
He had a long, chaotic dream. He dreamt he was being chased by a knife-wielding assailant, dreamt of the bright reflection off the blade, and dreamt of being repeatedly cut and bleeding.
In the warm room, he felt a chill. Outside, a heavy rain began to fall, pouring down. The winding streaks of water were quickly overwhelmed by the greater volume, forming a sheet of water. Xie Qiao felt a thick needle pierce his skin—a puncture that wouldn’t return to normal even after the needle was withdrawn—followed by a medicine colder than late autumn rain.
After his meeting, Su Tai belatedly realized Xie Qiao’s distress. He called several times with no answer, then called Aunt Wang. “What is A’Qiao doing?”
Aunt Wang’s wrist was still red from where the confused Xie Qiao had grabbed it; his bloodshot eyes were vivid in her memory. “Sir, the young master is sick. He just took his medicine and is asleep.”
Su Tai stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the presidential suite, his gaze unfocused on the distant high-rises. “What did the doctor say?”
“The doctor said his Omega Scent was disordered, but it’s nothing serious,” Aunt Wang lied, glancing at the Family Doctor beside her.
“Mhm. Ask his teachers for leave. He should stay home for the next few days and only go back when he’s better.”
Aunt Wang looked at the door to Xie Qiao’s room, recalling his symptoms, and agreed.
The Family Doctor, as the only person privy to the truth, stayed in the room. In the middle of the night, Xie Qiao woke up with a start from his dream. In the darkness, he saw the doctor sitting upright. He blinked a few times before his vision focused.
“You’re awake.”
“Why are you here?” Xie Qiao found his voice hoarse. His hands were as soft as noodles, and his legs couldn’t move.
“You can’t move completely yet. I looked in your drawer and saw the medication you take; the components are too complex.” The doctor paused. “I believe I have the right, as your doctor, to know the origin of the medication. I don’t want a medical accident to occur.”
“Turn on the light.”
The doctor pressed the bedside lamp on, only then noticing that Xie Qiao’s face was as white as paper.
Xie Qiao took a breath. “Bendoxinate. It’s a newly developed drug. I can’t give it to you. I asked him today, and he said it would affect the nerves. I just didn’t realize it would happen so quickly.”
“It might have been induced by your dependence on Mr. Su Tai.”
The doctor offered a rational analysis. Xie Qiao’s feelings for Su Tai were difficult to explain. Such intense emotion severely impacted Xie Qiao’s specific condition. Emotional fluctuations can affect human organs, and naturally, the Gland as well.
In other words, there was an eighty percent chance that this symptom was brought on by Xie Qiao missing Su Tai.
“By the way, he called a few hours ago. We covered for you, but he will find out sooner or later. Aunt Wang can’t lie a second time.”
“I know. Thank you.”
“Consider it a debt I owe you. After all, you saved my child.”
Xie Qiao managed a pale smile. The doctor’s child was about his age, an omega who was nearly harmed during their Heat/Estrus Period. Xie Qiao had encountered and rescued them.
“You should go back and rest. I feel much better.”
The doctor was hesitant and worried, but Xie Qiao’s statement meant he wanted to be alone. “Call me if anything happens.”
Xie Qiao hummed in acknowledgment, and the doctor left.
He looked out the window. The black night sky showed no rain streaks, only the sound of the rain. It really was raining.
His eyes sank like water. He had a nightmare, dreaming of the day Xie Renqing passed away, dreaming of his terrified expression, his muttering and weeping, asking what they would do if Su Kun ever drove them out. The fear of being adrift spurred his cries of anguish.
People say that what you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Perhaps his recent suspicion of Su Kun had caused him to dream of him as the murderer.
He picked up his phone and saw Su Tai’s missed calls and messages. He replied, “Ge, I took my medicine and I’m better now. Don’t worry.”
Separated by a time difference of over ten hours, Su Tai didn’t reply to the message.
He felt his legs could move now. Sleep had vanished. He got up and walked to the window. When he opened it, a cool breeze carrying rain mist blew in. Xie Qiao quickly closed the window and sat barefoot on the cashmere carpet.
Through the treetops, he could see the surveillance cameras in the garden downstairs. The Su Family Ancestral Home’s monitoring room had a dedicated place to store surveillance records, but after so many years, who knew if they still existed, especially since the cameras were supposedly under maintenance back then.
He leaned his head against the wall, a plaster covering the needle prick on his hand. He hugged his knees, his body colder than the rain-soaked glass. He missed Su Tai.