Chapter 76: Chapter 76: The Only Cure

Throughout the journey, Ethan Caldwell urged the bodyguards to drive faster no fewer than a dozen times. After what felt like an eternity of torment, Ethan’s car finally pulled into a high-end, modern apartment complex situated right in the heart of Saint Lawrence City.

The vehicle drove straight into the garage, where Ethan scooped Julian Sterling up into his arms. His long legs carried him in swift strides toward the private elevator. As the lift hummed its way up to the tenth floor, he stepped out immediately, headed straight for the last room at the end of the hall, and knocked.

Though technically classified as an apartment, it was effectively a top-tier medical complex. The entire row of suites on the right side of the tenth floor had been interconnected, sporting signage and grandiose decor.

Seeing that their boss had knocked with no response from inside, the bodyguard rapped on the door several more times. It took over five minutes before the door finally swung open. A young man, barely twenty years old and clad in a white lab coat, poked his head out. The moment he saw Ethan Caldwell, the kid immediately threw the door wide open to let him carry the patient inside, while he ran behind them shouting: “Kieran! Ethan is here!”

The shouting had barely ceased when an indistinct grumble responded. Moments later, a man appeared with a sleep-swollen face and a bird’s nest of hair. His voice was hoarse with sleep: “Did you run out of things to do? Why show up so late at night? Is the illness that severe?”

He cut himself off mid-sentence the moment he spotted the young man cradled in Ethan’s arms. Kieran Talbot took one look at his friend’s expression and immediately understood the gravity of the situation. Without a word, Kieran gestured for Ethan to carry the patient into the room on the left, while turning to instruct his younger brother to fetch the medical instruments.

Helen Lloyd and the bodyguards remained in the living room to wait.

Ethan gently laid Julian onto the hospital bed. He pulled open the jacket, Julian’s face was flushed a deep crimson, and sweat had completely soaked his hair. He seemed to have lost consciousness, yet even as Ethan set him down, Julian instinctively clung to the man’s hand.

Seeing this, Ethan felt a fresh wave of heartache wash over him. He lowered his voice, coaxing gently: “Be a good boy, darling. Just hold on a little longer.”

Having said that, he turned to Kieran: “He’s been drugged. I haven’t identified the substance yet, but it appears to be an aphrodisiac. I don’t know if it was ingested, injected, or administered some other way.”

Kieran nodded. He didn’t ask who this person was to his friend. Instead, he stepped forward and placed a hand on Julian’s forehead.

It was scorching hot.

Kieran used his fingers to gently part Julian’s eyelids, checking the pupils within. His expression shed its previous lethargy, becoming far more serious. Frowning, he barked an order: “Kyle, draw blood for a rapid test.”

Upon hearing his brother’s command, the boy named Kyle hurriedly pulled out a tray of instruments. After carefully sterilizing the area, he drew a small vial of blood and rushed out, heading straight for the laboratory located at the far end of the suite. Meanwhile, Kieran retrieved a small IV bag from the supply cabinet and hooked Julian up to the drip, aiming to both lower his body temperature and dilute the fluids in his bloodstream. Without a specific toxicology report, he didn’t dare take drastic measures. He could only try to stabilize the body’s vital functions.

Julian mumbled in discomfort, though he didn’t thrash around as much as before. However, his hand remained clamped around Ethan’s, while the latter continued to offer gentle, whispering comfort.

“This is a small bag, it’ll take about thirty minutes to drain. It won’t work miracles, but he’s overheating badly. We need to stabilize his system, prevent dehydration and exhaustion, and help dilute the concentration of the drug circulating in his body.” Kieran finished his explanation and turned his head toward the door: “I need the test results to analyze the drug’s composition. But usually, once it’s dissolved in the blood, it’s hard to resolve. I mostly need a urine sample.”

But in Julian’s current state, obtaining a urine sample was next to impossible.

Ethan looked at Julian lying on the bed. His face was burning red, yet his lips were deathly pale. The more he looked, the more it pained him. After taking several deep breaths, Ethan called out loudly for Helen to enter.

“Contact our team. Gather full evidence. I will deal with this later. You go back and rest.”

Helen glanced at the person on the bed, nodded, and walked out. After closing the door to the sickroom, she immediately took out her phone to make calls, gesturing for the bodyguards to clear the area as she walked.

This time, they had truly infuriated the CEO. It seemed… the status of this young masterwas far from low.

Not long after Helen left, Kieran returned holding a thin sheet of test results. The extraction time had been too short to analyze much in depth, but the component results were not optimistic. Kieran walked in holding the paper, looked at Ethan, and asked: “Lover?”

“Legal spouse.”

Hearing this, Kieran raised an eyebrow. He suddenly recalled that some time ago, Ethan had mentioned he was getting married and had even invited him. But back then, Kieran had been busy attending seminars and conducting research abroad for several months. He had only been back for two days. He had slept through those two days straight, and if Kyle hadn’t announced Ethan’s arrival, he wouldn’t have dragged himself out of bed.

This, presumably, was the other protagonist of that wedding.

“Well, then there’s no need to be shy about it.” Kieran clicked his tongue, disconnecting the IV line from Julian’s arm. He pointed toward the back. “Go straight, turn left. The room on the right is mine, the room opposite is empty. I’ll yield it to you two.”

Ethan frowned at him.

“Just do it. I can’t synthesize a counter-agent at this hour. By the time I managed to create one, he’d already be greeting his ancestors.” Kieran tutted: “The dosage is quite high. I’ll tell Kyle to buy some stamina boosters for you later. You two just… make yourselves comfortable. When you’re done playing, carry him back down so I can put him back on the drip. I’m going to go do some research.”

Having said his piece, Kieran leisurely strolled back toward the equipment room. Ethan glanced at him, then looked down at Julian, who was twisting and turning in distress on the bed. He took a deep breath, bent down, and scooped the young man up.

Julian leaned into his embrace, whimpering softly: “I feel so awful…”

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