Chapter 429: Chapter 429: Cold Air 4
Evelyn Ford touched Wendy’s forehead. It was burning hot—she had a high fever. Evelyn had checked; the heated platform wasn’t too hot, and it was covered with a straw mat, so it wouldn’t have burned her.
"She has a fever. Let’s give her a fever reducer first."
Ronan Kendrick checked on the others. Only Wendy had a fever; everyone else was unresponsive.
"This might not be a bad thing. Her sudden fever shows that her body has its own defense mechanism, like it’s detoxing. Once the fever breaks, she might just wake up."
Hearing Ronan Kendrick’s words, Evelyn Ford’s eyes filled with joy. She quickly took a fever reducer from her dimensional space, gave it to Wendy, and used a cool compress to help bring her temperature down.
A few hours later, the fever had broken.
Seeing the color return to Wendy’s face, Evelyn Ford breathed a sigh of relief.
In the middle of the night, while Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick were both asleep, Wendy’s eyelids twitched over on the communal sleeping platform. A few minutes later, she struggled to open her eyes.
A kerosene lamp hung near the entrance to the platform area. Wendy propped herself up on the straw mat with both hands, laboriously sitting up.
Looking at Claudia Schultz and Wyatt Vaughn sleeping beside her, she gave them both a push, but neither responded. Wendy’s right hand trembled as she held it under Wyatt Vaughn’s nose. When she felt Wyatt’s breath, she let out a sigh of relief.
The communal platform on the other side was also full of people. Wendy spotted Officer Graham. She couldn’t find her shoes when she got off the platform. She went over to Officer Graham’s side and called his name softly several times.
Officer Graham didn’t wake up. Wendy frowned, wanting to go outside, but her head was throbbing, and she felt a little dizzy. Just then, the door to the platform area opened, and someone walked in with a flashlight. Terrified, Wendy held her breath and shrank into a corner.
"Wendy?"
Wendy looked up. The moment she saw Evelyn Ford, she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.
"Miss Ford, I thought you were someone else! You scared me to death."
Evelyn Ford was surprised too. Ronan Kendrick had woken her up, saying there was a noise from the communal platform, but she hadn’t believed him. When she opened the door and came in, she hadn’t seen Wendy in the corner. It was only when she saw that Wendy’s spot was empty that she finally believed Wendy had woken up.
Evelyn Ford hugged Wendy, both of them emotional.
"Miss Ford, why haven’t my dad and Uncle Quincy woken up? I called them several times, but they didn’t move."
Evelyn Ford led her away from the communal platform. "Let’s go outside to talk."
Ronan Kendrick was boiling water. When Wendy saw him, she excitedly greeted him at once.
"Mr. Ronan Kendrick, Miss Ford, please tell me, why isn’t anyone else responding?"
"After the cold air hit, we all passed out. I was the first to wake up; I was unconscious for an hour. Ronan Kendrick was the second; he was out for half a day. You’re the third. You were unconscious for nine days."
Wendy’s eyes widened. "How could that happen? How long until they wake up?"
"We don’t know for sure. It’s possible we woke up faster because we were all wearing helmets at the time. The others might take longer."
"My dad... will my dad wake up?" As Wendy spoke, her eyes suddenly turned red.
"He definitely will. Let me make you something to eat first. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"My head hurts a little, and my ears are ringing." Wendy patted her head, her expression pained.
"I had the same symptoms. I’ll give you some acupuncture later. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine." Evelyn Ford patted Wendy’s shoulder.
Evelyn Ford found it incredible that Wendy had woken up so quickly. In terms of physical constitution, Ethan Dawson, Nathan Xavier, Drako, and Peter Owens were all stronger than Wendy. So, it seemed the recovery time wasn’t determined by one’s constitution.
Evelyn Ford suddenly remembered something. ’Years ago at Wyrmrest Base, I gave Wendy some of my blood. Could it be related to that?’
Wendy tried to help, but Evelyn Ford stopped her. "You should sit and rest for a bit. Do you need to use the restroom?"
Wendy’s face turned bright red. "Do we have to leave the cave?"
"Yes, there’s no toilet in the cave. I’ll take you outside. It’s very cold out, so dress warmly." ’Actually, she and Ronan Kendrick had been using the one in the wooden cabin inside her dimensional space all this time.’
Evelyn Ford carried a small stove and opened the cave door. A gust of cold wind swept through, knocking Wendy right over.
"The wind is a bit strong out here. Be careful."
Once outside, Wendy’s eyes widened at the scene before her.
"Miss Ford, how did it get like this outside?"
"I know. After the severe cold air hit, all the plants froze over. The ground did too. It’s very slippery."
There was a ledge next to the cave. Evelyn Ford handed the stove to Wendy and told her to go over there while she stood guard nearby.
When Wendy returned, she was shivering from the cold.
The two of them went back into the cave, where Ronan Kendrick had already set out a meal.
"Wendy, go ahead and eat."
It was three in the morning, and the sky was still dark. The temperature outside the cave was minus six degrees Celsius. This wasn’t actually extremely cold; the real chill came from the biting wind and the cold spell.
"Thank you, Miss Ford. Thank you, Mr. Ronan Kendrick. You should eat with me."
"We’re not hungry. You eat first. Where are you going to sleep later?"
Wendy pointed to the communal sleeping platform. "I’ll sleep there. That way, if they wake up, I’ll know immediately."
Evelyn Ford had been worried Wendy would be scared, but she hadn’t expected her to be so brave.
"My dad’s right there, and so are Uncle Quincy, Miss Wyatt, Zoe... I’m not scared at all."
After the meal, Evelyn Ford performed acupuncture on Wendy to help relieve her headache and tinnitus.
"Miss Ford, how long are we going to stay here?"
"Probably until the sun comes out and your father and the others all wake up. Only then can we leave."
"You and Mr. Ronan Kendrick have worked so hard during this time, taking care of us and even setting up this place. I’ll help. I’ll start cooking tomorrow."
’If she wasn’t allowed to do some work, she would only feel more uneasy,’ Evelyn thought.
Evelyn Ford didn’t refuse. "Alright, we’ll cook together. There isn’t much to do in the cave, so you can get plenty of rest. You don’t have to get up too early."
To make it easier for Wendy to get in and out, Evelyn Ford moved her sleeping spot to the outer edge and hung a curtain in the middle to separate the two communal platforms.
Back in the small wooden cabin, Evelyn Ford’s face was all smiles. "This is great. Wendy’s awake. The others should wake up soon."
It was a good thing Evelyn Ford had put away some of the kerosene lamps in the past two days, leaving only three for light. She had also stored the generator and electric blankets.
It wasn’t that she was trying to hide them from Wendy, but things like that were hard to explain. To be safe, it was better to keep them in her dimensional space.
Ronan Kendrick reached out and touched her hand. "Your hands are freezing."
"I just took Wendy outside. I must have gotten chilled. It’s fine, they’ll warm up soon."
After lying down, however, Evelyn Ford found she couldn’t sleep. "Ronan, your guess was right. Wendy suddenly got a fever during the day, and once it broke, she woke up. So, maybe the others will also get fevers before they wake up."
"Then who do you think will wake up next?"
Evelyn Ford considered it carefully. "I think it’ll be Zoe."
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