Chapter 1880


    "What? Hertha dumped you?" Ethan eximed, feeling ric''s forehead again. "Whoa, you''re burning up. That''s one nasty fever." ric swatted Ethan''s hand away with force, visibly annoyed. "I''m lying here dying, and you''re still in the mood to make fun of me?"


    "I''m not making fun of you, man. I''m worried about you," Ethan said, struggling to keep a straight face.


    ric gave him a sidelong nce. "Since when are you so kind-hearted?"


    "You''re doing me dirty, man," Ethan protested. Then, leaning closer to ric, he whispered, "Bet you never saw thising. You, the heartbreaker, getting your heart shattered. Well, what goes aroundes around, huh?"


    Ethan couldn''t help butugh, his chest heaving with each chuckle. Only a true friend could joke about something like this.


    "You wouldn''t understand love if it hit you in the face," ric muttered, turning his head away.


    "True, I don''t get love. But I do know that if you keep this up, you''re gonna end up dead. Not from this fever, but from starvation," Ethan said with augh.


    "Just leave if you can''t help me," ric grumbled, pulling the nket over himself.


    "Fine, I''ll go talk to Hertha. She lives next door to you, right?" Ethan got up, ready to leave.


    At that, ric suddenly grabbed Ethan''s hand, his earlier humor gone, reced by a look of sincere distress. "Don''t go to her," he said, his voice tinged with a sadness that wasn''t there before. "She made it clear yesterday that she won''t stop me from seeing the kids. If I bother her now, she might not even let me do that."


    Ethan was about to crack another joke but stopped short at the sight of ric''s genuine sorrow.


    "So, I really shouldn''t go?" Ethan asked, his tone now serious.Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.


    ric shook his head. "Don''t."


    He couldn''t shake off the memory of theirst meeting, Hertha''s irritated and disdainful voice echoing in his head.


    She had made it clear,paring


    him to something dirty and


    unwee: ric knew that his


    connection to Georgia was a


    deal-breaker for Hertha. Pushi


    n


    further would only make things worse.


    For the first time, ric felt truly low.


    S


    any


    Seeing ric in this state, Ethan decided to drop the subject. "Alright then, get up. Let''s head to the hospital."


    ric stubbornly replied like a sulking child, "I don''t wanna. I don''t want to get out of bed."


    "I don''t wanna move," ric insisted.


    Ethan was speechless. He couldn''t believe that a simple girl like Hertha could bring ric to this point.


    Love, it seemed, was indeed a dangerous game.


    Understanding ric''s stubbornness, Ethan conceded, "Alright, if you won''t get up, I guess I''ll have to bring the doctor here."