Seth hit the brakes with a SCREECH. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, he saw Clara push open the car door and say, "Wait here a second."
She got out of the car and dashed toward a pharmacy on the side of the road. When Seth saw clearly that it was a pharmacy, his heart skipped a beat. ’A bold thought ford in his mind, but he didn’t quite dare to dwell on it.’
As Clara ran into the pharmacy, she stopped in front of the counter, suddenly stunned. ’Did I really run in here just to buy cold dicine for Seth?!’
’Wasn’t I supposed to not care about him at all? So why did I make a special trip to buy dicine?’
She didn’t snap out of it until the clerk had asked her what she needed several tis. Biting her lip, she finally told the clerk she wanted to buy cold dicine.
The clerk glanced at her and asked, "Do you have a fever?"
’Uh, I’m not sure.’
"He probably doesn’t."
"A runny nose?"
"...I don’t think so."
The clerk seed a little surprised, and also a bit annoyed. Glancing at her, she grumbled, "You don’t even know your own symptoms?"
"No, no, it’s not for . It’s for my husb—"
Clara cut herself off just in ti. ’Oh, for heaven’s sake. I almost blurted out the two words, ’my husband’.’
’I must have been influenced by hearing "your husband, your husband" so much these past two days.’
Though she hadn’t finished, the clerk seed to guess what she was going to say. "It’s for your husband, right? I have no idea how you take care of him if you don’t even know his symptoms when he’s sick."
Clara felt she was being treated unfairly, but she just pursed her lips and said nothing.
"Is he coughing?" the clerk asked when Clara remained silent.
The clerk had finally asked about a symptom she was sure of. Clara nodded eagerly. "Yes, he has a slight cough."
The clerk grabbed a box of dicine from the counter behind her and tossed it to her. "You don’t need dicine for a slight cough, just have him drink plenty of warm water. If he has other symptoms, take this. If he develops a fever, and it’s a high one, go to the hospital."
Clara nodded quickly and pulled money from her dress pocket. Luckily, she’d pocketed the change from when they bought Cherie’s gift and had forgotten to give it back to Seth; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to pay.
Just as she was about to pay, she paused, then asked the clerk for a box of digestive aids as well.
’Coming into a pharmacy was obvious enough. If I only bought cold dicine for him, wouldn’t that just give him more reason to think I was worried about him?’
’Who knows how he’d tease about it then.’
’But there was nothing wrong with . Anyway, I did eat a bit too much at dinner, so I’ll just buy a box of digestive aids to keep up appearances.’
When Clara got back in the car, Seth’s eyes landed on the bag in her hand, and he felt an unexpected flicker of nervousness.
And when Clara handed him the cold dicine, a surge of joy went through him. ’So she really did go to buy cold dicine! This ans she actually cares about !’
But before he could even enjoy the feeling, he saw Clara gesture toward him. "I went to buy digestive aids and just grabbed the cold dicine for you while I was there. I’ll pay you back for the digestive aids and the money for Cherie’s gift later. But the cold dicine is for you, so I won’t pay you back for that."
The joy in Seth’s heart evaporated. ’This wasn’t her caring about him. This was her deliberately trying to make things difficult!’
’He’d told her they were a married couple—his money was her money. Did she really have to quibble over such a small amount? Did she have to draw such a clear line between them?’
"Suit yourself!"
He clipped out the two words, trying his best to look unconcerned. Then he casually tossed the box of cold dicine into the glove compartnt, started the car, and drove off.
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