CHAPTER 222

Chapter 222 Matthew’s Infected Wound

As soon as Matthew mentioned that, the previously unaware Veronica instantly realized that he had a necktie wrapped around his hand while his wound was bandaged half-heartedly.

“What happened to your hand?”

She was full of doubt as she headed to stand in front of him and pulled his hand toward her to take a closer look. “Did I bite on your hand earlier?”

“I’m alright.”

He withdrew his hand to prevent her from further worrying and he did not want her to feel guilty or blame herself either. However, he seemed to have been presumptuous.

“You deserve it!” she snorted coldly. “This is just a minor bite wound. In the past, I was forced to the point of mis…”

The incident of her miscarriage popped into her mind and she could not help feeling annoyed all of a sudden.

Veronica experienced a bad hemorrhage during that miscarriage and nearly lost her life. If it was not for her luck, she would quite likely have died ages ago at this point. Nonetheless, this was all in the past, so she no longer wanted to bring up unnecessary matters.

She looked at the two bowls of water tinged with blood and suggested, “Let’s make a mark here and once we leave this place, get someone to analyze it to figure out what’s exactly inside.”

“I was just about to do that.” Matthew’s voice sounded exceptionally tender.

Perhaps it was because there were some feelings of guilt and self-blame that arose within him after hearing Veronica’s unfinished sentence.

“Let’s go.” She turned around and walked out of the study room while Matthew trailed closely behind her.

They made their way around the massive chamber. In fact, it was better described as a maze than a chamber.

There were many rooms inside; there was a huge clubhouse, a study room, a bedroom and a room for producing pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, after exploring the place further, they found an armory too.

However, the weapons stored inside the armory were mostly from the ancient days. They seemed meaningful but due to their age, it was pretty much worthless even if they were auctioned.

They continued to explore the place for quite some time until Veronica finally ended up exhausted. She waved before she could proceed further. “I can’t keep going. I’m knackered! I need a rest.”

As they did not have any water to drink or food to eat and she had also used up a lot of her energy, she was quite exhausted and stumbled weakly before sitting on the ground. She lay down to rest without a care of the dusty ground.

“This place is too dirty. I’ll find you a room to take a rest instead.” Matthew squatted by her side and spoke tenderly.

“No, I’m tired. I don’t want to move.”

She shut her eyes and waved her hands at him. Right now, all she wanted was to take a long nap.

When Matthew saw her in such a weak and worn-out state, he patted her shoulders out of empathy. “Come on, get up. I’ll give you a piggyback ride.” He had his back facing her when he turned around to

invite her.

The exhausted Veronica finally opened her eyes lazily and asked with anticipation, “Are you really going to give me a piggyback?”

“Yeah.”

He then signaled to her to hop on by using his eyes.

She looked at his wide shoulders and a cunning look flashed across her eyes just then. She sat up and immediately clung to his back. “Since you’re keen on giving me a piggyback, then I’ll be nice and give you the chance to do so. I have to remind you, though. You’re the one who offered, so don’t blame me if you end up hurt.”

Regardless of whether Matthew’s kindness was genuine or half-hearted, Veronica would never let go of the chance to take a break.

Although they could not contact the outside world with their cell phones at the moment, their watches were functioning normally.

It was now 3.00AM and they had been walking around in the chamber for twelve hours straight. They were in a dehydrated state and could no longer find the energy in them to continue moving.

Veronica clung to his back as he slowly rose to his feet. Not only did he not find her heavy, he actually felt that she could gain more weight. He found that she was gaunt and reckoned that she really needed some nourishment.

Matthew supported her body by placing his hands on her backside as she clung to him like a koala with one hand around his neck while she used the other hand to hold the lamp.

Inside the chamber, which was now a maze, they searched the place carefully several times and finally found some candles that came with a candle holder. As such, the candlelight would not easily be extinguished due to the slight breeze produced by their movements.

Veronica leaned on his strong back and shut her eyes comfortably. “I really don’t know when we’ll be able to leave this place. If we get out of here, I swear that I’ll live a decent life from now on and maintain doing good deeds.” This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

“Villains live on forever, remember? That’s the perfect description of you, so you don’t have to worry about dying anytime soon.”

“Hahaha! I guess so. I agree with that.” Her spirits were lifted as she heard his banter.

However, it did not take too long for her to fall asleep on Matthews’ back as they had been walking for the past ten hours!

She hung the lamp on her hand, causing the lamp shade to bump against his body and he could somehow still make do with the dim surroundings and move along ahead.

The woman on his back nodded off as her head bobbed up and down; at times, she nearly fell off his back too.

At last, Matthew found a bedroom with a bare stone bed which he could use to gently lay Veronica down. He gingerly supported her to prevent her from bumping into anything.

The stone bed was full of dust; as bad as the condition there was, they were still faced with a dire situation right now, so they had to make do with what they had. He quickly placed the coat he was wearing over her to ensure that she was comfortably resting.

As Matthew looked at Veronica deep asleep, he left the lamp by her bedside before lighting another lamp to search for a source of water and the way out.

He was worried that she would wake up lost without his presence, so he clicked into the note function on his phone and wrote, ‘I’ve gone to look for a water source. Don’t leave this place when you’ve woken up.’

After that, he changed his phone settings to remove the password option. Subsequently, he opened the page to his note function, so that she could easily see the note given.

She remained in deep sleep for eight hours in total.

During this period, Matthew attempted to wake Veronica up but despite his efforts, she remained deep asleep. He was worried that something would go wrong with her health, so he felt her forehead from time to time and checked her breathing regularly. He was distressed that things might suddenly go south.

They were located underground and it was late at night, so the temperature dropped significantly.

He searched around the area and finally found a water source, after which he took some containers to fill it with some water before bringing it back into the room. Once that was done, he placed it by her bedside.

As time passed, Matthew waited for Veronica to wake up, but she remained asleep. He noticed her curling into a fetal position due to the cold, so he lay by her side and took her into his arms.

……

…

The next time she woke up, it was about 12.00PM the following day.

She opened her eyes to instantly see Matthew’s enlarged face by her side. However, his previously handsome looks were now slightly pale.

He held her in his arms and she could clearly sense the heat radiating from his body.

“Matthew?” she called out his name, but he did not respond.

At that moment, her heart skipped a beat, knowing that something did not feel right.

She reached out to feel his forehead and indeed, he was running a fever.

Veronica swiftly checked the injury on his palm from the bite that she had given him and noticed that the area was still bleeding. There was no sign of blood clots being formed or the wound recovering.

“Darn it.”

She realized that Matthews’ wound had likely been infected, hence his fever.

She sat up on the stone bed and looked at the unconscious Matthew while her heart thudded frantically; she was anxious.

He would not be able to survive for more than a few days if they remained stuck here. If his infection persisted, then it would be a nightmare.

Then, Veronica reached out to clutch her hair anxiously as helplessness and despair washed across her.

They had already explored the place for such a long time and yet, they had not managed to find the way out.

Perhaps it was likely that they had already found the spot to get out, but a specific mechanism was needed to be unlocked first. Therefore, even if they were standing right next to the entrance, there was no way that they could get out.