I knew Jerome was doing this on purpose. He hated that I had given in to jealousy and liked Jessica's social media post, making her upset.
But Jerome still came to see me. When he found that aside from being a bit pale, I had no other alarming symptoms, he grew irritated, "You're fine! Why act all pitiful? You're so lame. Tania, if you keep this up, it'll get old really fast." He tossed a bag at the foot of my bed and left.
When I woke up, I was surprised to find a bowl of millet porridge and some spicy pickles.
Even though I didn't like millet porridge and couldn't eat spicy food, the fact that Jerome had bought them for me made them seem delicious. The spiciness brought tears to my eyes, yet I still felt content.
Halfway through eating, Jessica appeared at the door with a smile, holding a white ceramic bowl that looked exquisite. Her complexion was glowing, far from resembling someone who was sick.
Suddenly, I remembered something and forced a smile. Of course, Jerome had given her 19 tubes of blood. She was bound to recover better than I had.
"Tania, may I come in?" she asked.
Before I could answer, Jerome appeared behind her, frowning. He scooped Jessica into his arms and rushed inside, reprimanding her with concern, "I told you already! Your body hasn't fully recovered. If anything comes up, wait for me to get back. If you don't listen, next time I'll punish you …"
Jessica blushed and buried her face into Jerome's chest. Realizing he had said too much, Jerome hastily changed the subject, "Alright, alright. Jessica, why are you carrying a bowl in here?"
That's when I noticed the ceramic bowl contained some leftover meat porridge. On the glossy white spoon was a noticeable lipstick mark.
Jessica spoke slowly, unhurriedly, "I wanted to share the meat porridge Jerome bought with Tania. It's truly delicious."
Jerome suddenly understood and pushed the bowl toward me, gesturing for me to eat it.
I turned my head away, refusing to look at them, "Thank you, but I've already eaten and can't eat anymore."
Those few words unexpectedly brought tears to Jessica's eyes. She plopped down onto my arm, which was attached to the IV. My hand instantly swelled into a large bump and the blood started to flow backward into the IV bottle.