Love My Friends with Benefits

"What, do you want to see what your vomit looks like?"

Leonard's mocking voice rang in my ears.

He'd caught me. I averted my gaze awkwardly. "No, your cuff links just looked familiar."

Leonard's cuff links were as stuffy as he was. They were made of mother-of-pearl and had some insignia carved on them. I was no expert when it came to accessories like this, but I could tell that they were expensive.

Leonard let out a snort, then poured me a glass of water. "Rinse your mouth."

There was an indescribable odour in my mouth, so I took the water from him.

Who would've known that I'd vomit again the moment the water hit my mouth.

Leonard happened to be standing right by my bed. This time, I vomited all over his trousers.

"Queena Jones!"

He growled my name through gritted teeth.

I didn't have the time to fuss over him. My stomach only stopped roiling after I'd emptied its contents, and I panted heavily while leaning against the bed.

Leonard got up and went to the bathroom. The sound of running water made me feel nauseous again.

After a while, he came out, his trousers dripping. He helped me up.

Oh, so he'd gone to wash his trousers.

I asked dazedly, "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the hospital!" he replied coldly before picking me up.

I could still vaguely smell my vomit on him.

Oh God, it was disgusting.

The only thing I could do was put on a mask.

I wanted to tell him to put me down so that I could walk on my own, but I felt absolutely terrible. I could barely even bring myself to speak with that horrible odour wafting towards me.

It wasn't wise for me to offend Leonard at this juncture. I was better off letting him have his way.

I consoled myself and remained silent.

Leonard drove me to the hospital that Grandma was staying at.

It was already the night shift at the emergency room. Leonard registered me and carried me there.

I could clearly see the nurse at the emergency room's reception let out a soft exclamation.

Needless to say, I knew that she was awed by our ambiguous pose.

I couldn't help thinking maliciously whether she'd still react this way if she were to find out just how bad-tempered Leonard was.

The hospital was filled with the smell of disinfectant. It covered the horrible smell coming from Leonard's clothes.

It made me feel much better.

Leonard carried me into the clinic and put me down on the chair in front of the doctor.

I didn't manage to balance myself and almost fell off the chair. Leonard caught me and made sure I could sit up straight.

This was all his fault. If he hadn't allowed Phoebe to beat me up like this, we wouldn't be in this mess.

The doctor on shift was a woman in her fifties. She had a round face and looked kind.

She pushed her glasses and asked, "Is there anything wrong?"

"I..."

I only managed to get one word out when Leonard cut me off. "She has a high fever and she's been vomiting like crazy."

"I see."

The doctor wrote a few lines on the medical chit, then continued, "When did your fever start?"

"The..."

"The morning before yesterday." Leonard beat me to it again.

She laughed and asked kindly, "Are you a couple? You get along really well."

I was speechless.

Leonard smiled, not saying anything.

I felt my stomach roil a little at his smile. I didn't know whether it was because I was sick or whether I was disgusted by him.

It was getting a little hard for me to

breathe, so I took my mask off. T

gaped at my injuries.

what happened to you?"

Leonard pursed his lips.

my,

I laughed and pointed at Leonard. "His girlfriend beat me up."

His expression turned a little cold, but he didn't deny it. I figured that this was a silent admission.

The doctor looked at him oddly, then handed me a form. "You need to get a CT scan done. I suspect that you have a concussion."

Leonard nodded and picked me up before leaving the room.

Neither of us spoke on the way to the scan.

There weren't many people in the hospital at night. I paid for the CT scan, and it was soon my turn.

"Queena Jones!"

The doctor in charge of doing the scans called out my name.

I quickly removed my keys and accessories, wanting to pass them to Leonard.

He didn't put out a hand for them and just looked at me silently.

"Huh? I didn't call the wrong name, did I?" The doctor scratched his head, then called again, "Queena Jones! Queena Jones!"

"What the h*ll's wrong with you?" I hissed. "You're the one who wanted me to come to the hospital, right? If you don't want me to get the scan done, then let's just go!"

Leonard asked coldly, "Are you that desperate to cut ties with me?"

It took me a while to realise that he was referring to how I'd reacted earlier, while at the clinic.

This time, my tone became frosty. I asked, "Well, did I get anything wrong?"

"No."

He fell silent for a while, then took my things. "Go on."

Something was wrong with him.

I cursed him silently and headed towards the doctor with a hand on the wall for support.

Once the scan was done, I walked out of the room to find Leonard leaning on the wall. He had a cigarette in his hand.

"You're not allowed to smoke in the hospital," I reminded him. After that, I mumbled lowly, "How rude."

Leonard didn't get angry. He showed me the cigarette and said, "It's wet."

"Oh," I said.

Honestly, I couldn't care less about his cigarette.

The results of my CT scan were soon out and Leonard carried me back to the clinic.

The doctor took a look at my scan and said, "She has a slight concussion. It's probably caused by the beating."

I rubbed my head.

Phoebe truly hadn't held back.

Leonard asked, "Does she need to be hospitalised?"

The doctor gave it some thought. "She can be, but it's not necessary. It's up to you two."

"Oh, then I don't..."

"Alright, then," Leonard said at the same time. "How do we arrange for hospitalisation?"

I gaped at him.

When I came back to my senses, he'd already left the room to arrange for me to be hospitalised.

I grabbed the doctor's hand. "Doctor, I don't want to be hospitalised. Is there any way to stop this?"

She was a little conflicted. "It's better for your condition to stay in the hospital..."

I could cry.

God knew that I didn't want to stay

in this

ospital at all. It wasn't just

waste of

time. What would happen if

were to see me?

"There's another thing." The doctor patted my hand. "As a woman, you really should know how to protect yourself."

I didn't understand what she was talking about. "Huh?"☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐