Ashton ran with all he had, with a sole thought dominating his mind, and that was to get back home, and thankfully for him, his drive actually did work.
One after the other, he passed by major points that brought him closer and closer to his house. In the end the distance was covered, and he managed to arrive back home just in time to prevent any accidents or problems from happening.
Though he had lost quite a lot of Willforce, he had made it.
He opened the door and looked down to see if there were any Vines there before actually having the courage to step inside.
It seems like the Vine Stalker realized that things were serious, so he didn’t try to play any games.
Inside his house, Ashton was shocked to not find the plant sprouts in the living room but in the bedroom surrounding Selene.
They had stood there, just staring at her, almost as if they wanted to help, but they didn’t do anything without instructions.
"Can you guys move a little?" Ashton said with urgency in his voice.
He rushed forward and Kneeled just beside Selene and began opening the bag as fast as he could, the rush making him fumble around for a bit, but in the end he managed to get it open.
Bringing out the bottle from the bag, Ashton’s hopeful eyes dimmed by an obvious lot.
The remedy in that bottle was barely one-tenth of what Ashton guessed it was from the other bottles he had earlier.
’Almost everything was lost when it fell,’ Ashton thought to himself.
He looked at the small remedy and immediately fell into a dilemma on what he was supposed to do.
’What if giving her such a small dose can cause her to have to have an even more severe relapse later?’
’But not giving it to her doesn’t solve any problems either.’
He thought about it back and forth for a few more seconds, and then one more notification popped up to seal his decision.
[Willforce -1]
With that, Ashton wasn’t hesitating anymore; he opened Selene’s mouth a little and put one hand behind her head to lift it slightly before bringing the medicine closer to her mouth.
He made especially sure that there wasn’t a single contact with her lips since broken glass can be dangerous; he had also checked earlier for any glass shards in the drug, but thankfully there were none.
From that distance away, he tipped the bottom of the bottle over slightly, and the drug slid straight down into her mouth and into her throat.
He released a sigh of relief; he had delivered the remedy, and now all he had to do was wait and see if it worked.
To Ashton, this step felt much more difficult. He waited patiently to see if he would get another notification about the drain in Willforce that he had been getting consistently ever since the whole ordeal started; he would also place his hands over his head to check her temperature very regularly, and he would look at a face to see if he could catch it turning less green and more human.
By some strange blessing, he didn’t get any notification anymore; her temperature was actually going down, and he could notice her getting less green.
"It seems she is fine for now," he muttered while wiping sweat off his head.
[Task Completed: Successfully Manage your Wife’s Illness]
[Willforce +20]
Selene was now confirmed to be fine, at least for now.
Though he had gotten a little repayment for the lost Willforce, what he had left was still too small to repay all he lost after so long of continuous loss; it will take much more effort for him to fully recover again.
He looked at Selene again and noticed her clothes were already wet from all the sweating, if he was to leave it like that, it was bound to start producing a slightly unpleasant odor.
So he decided to carry her to give her the second bath of the day.
He left to the bathroom to prepare a bath, all while being exposed to the scrutiny of the Plant sprouts.
They watched as he filled the bath and prepped everywhere, returned to the room, undressed Selene and carried her to the bathroom, gave her a bath, and dressed her back up in fresh new clothes.
[Task completed: Hygienic Wife Care]
[Willforce +2]
’Her Laundry is really growing in size; I should wash that soon.’
From running around to find a remedy and now to her bath, Ashton did his best to perform his task as her Husband. His own mental definition of a good husband, at least.
Though he had confirmed she was fine, Ashton still didn’t feel fully assured; he was back to guard duty by her side but for different reasons.
’That Damn Lord Marlus, he absolutely needs to pay for this.’
’Giving the whole Town a disease just so he could make some money. Someone really needs to stand up to him.’
What Ashton was thinking was actually true, and it wasn’t like no one had tried standing up to him in the past, but before the wave could actually gain momentum, it was silently snuffed out.
Time passed with Ashton completely lost in his own thoughts; a past incident was recurring, and he absolutely had no idea until it was too late.
[Willforce -2]
[Willforce -3]
[Willforce -5]
The drain he was feeling this time was massive, and it was just as continuous as the last time.
He turned to look at Selene and couldn’t help but grit his teeth at the sight. Earlier today she was light Green but right now she was almost plant green; the sweating was back, and the intensity was higher.
His thoughts had come to pass.
The Medicine wasn’t close to being enough, and now the illness was back much stronger.
Right now, he couldn’t return to the Nurses house, he would surely not get anything, especially since it was already nighttime.
So he made a pensive decision.
He was heading directly to the source, and he was going to get the Remedy no matter what happened.