The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 101

As the fire raged, there was noise everywhere — cries, screams and sirens. Everyone was frightened. The flames of the fire in the dark night looked like the call of death.

Andy had just arrived after finishing his work and saw the fire. He wasted no time to speak with Autumn and rushed into the hotel.

Autumn immediately followed Andy, but Sam grabbed her arm tightly. Sam didn't want Autumn to be in danger.

"What are you doing?" Sam had always been soft to Autumn, but this time he was stern.

"Let go of me! Cindy is in the hotel." Autumn had met Cindy for only one day, but cared a lot about her.

Sam held Autumn's shoulders with both his hands, fixed his eyes upon her and said, "Listen to me, stay here. I will safely bring Cindy out. Got it?"

"Sam! Sam!" Sam smashed his way into the sea of flames. Autumn's heart hammered in her throat.

Heavy smoke billowed from the top of the high-rise, and even blotted out the sky. Some people hurried outside with disheveled hair and dirty faces. Some people were even injured. Hardly breathing, Autumn stared at the burning building. She didn't want to see anyone get hurt in the fire.

The clock ticked with every second seeming like a century to Autumn.

Autumn knew the longer anyone stayed in the building, the greater the danger they were in.

The firemen blocked Autumn from the cordon, her eyes fixed at the entrance of the hotel. Some people came out. But not Sam, Cindy nor Andy. Some more people came out. Still not them...

Autumn was feeling like a roller coaster. Then dark clouds gathered and a heavy rain showered down upon the burning building. The leaping flames were extinguished in the downpour. The gods seemed to have heard Autumn's prayer.

Autumn's legs were so weak that she could hardly stand. Andy suddenly appeared at the entrance, holding Abby. Sam followed right behind Andy with Cindy in his arms. The moment Autumn saw the little girl, she felt a sense of relief then fainted.

Autumn wanted only to have a good rest and put aside all troubles.

The people around, the screams, the disaster... These had nothing to do with her now.

When Autumn woke up, it was the next morning. The head of the hotel had wasted no time apologizing for the previous night's accident, rearranging the accommodations and making compensations.

The hotel manager also apologized to the guests who were injured in the fire and promised to pay for the medical expenses.

Autumn slowly opened her eyes and saw the white ceiling of the ward. She swallowed to moisten her sore throat and moved a bit.

Autumn didn't get hurt in the fire, but she had developed a high fever because of the rain. Her fever had gone down a bit during the night.

She stretched out her hand, trying to reach for the glass of water on the nearby table. But a big hand picked it up first.

Autumn raised her head with difficulty and saw Charles's straight face. She was both thrilled and panicked. "Why are you here?"

"If I were not here, you wouldn't tell me that there was an accident, right?" Charles was both angry and anxious. Last night, he was on a video call with Autumn, but it was suddenly cut off. He called her back many times, but she didn't answer. He was out of his wits, and immediately searched for the local news about Z City. He became all dizzy when finding out that there was a big fire at the hotel where Autumn was staying.

As it was very late then, Charles was unable to buy a plane ticket right away so he drove to Z City without telling his family. Not until he saw Autumn safe and sound was Charles's mind set to rest.

"I'm sorry." Autumn stared at Charles who looked terrible after a restless night. He had red eyes, messy hair and a stubble — totally different from the graceful gentleman that he was in normal circumstances. She was deeply touched as she realized how much Charles cared about her.

As soon as Autumn apologized, Charles held her in his arms. Words couldn't express what he felt at that moment. They were at ease when they felt each other's body, breathing and heartbeats.

Charles had worried about Autumn for the whole night and was finally reassured.

Tears streamed down Autumn's cheeks. Except for worrying about Sam and others, she also thought about Charles when she was in the fire.

If she died in the accident, would Charles be sad?

Now, she had the answer.

"It's okay." Charles patted Autumn's back to comfort her as he thought that Autumn was frightened by the fire. Seeing her crying, he didn't have the heart to scold her anymore. "Don't be afraid. Everything is OK now."

Autumn cried even more.

After going through the misfortune, Autumn finally realized that she had deeply fallen in love with Charles.

"Stop crying, babe." Charles consoled her in a soft voice and thought, 'Everything is fine now. Why doesn't she stop crying?'

At this moment, Charles's cell phone rang. It was from Gary. After Gary woke up in the morning, he saw the news of the big fire in Z City. He almost fainted and immediately called Charles. Gary now knew that Charles was in Z City, and asked, "How is Yvonne? Is she okay?"

"She didn't get hurt, but now has a fever." Charles reassured Gary before he hung up. Then he turned to Autumn and said, "Gary and Chris are very worried about you. "

"I'm fine." Autumn snorted in embarrassment. It's so good to have a family.

"Cindy..." Suddenly, Autumn remembered Cindy and Abby and immediately got off the bed. She didn't know what happened to them when she passed out last night.

"What are you doing? You are still weak." Charles held Autumn's arm and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Lie down!" Sam's voice came from the door. He walked into the ward as Autumn was about to leave.

He had been waiting outside Autumn's ward the whole night and went to buy some food for her in the morning. When he came back with the food, he saw Charles holding Autumn in his arms.

Charles must love Autumn so much that he rushed to Z City that very night. Sam stood outside the ward and didn't dare interrupt their moment.

When Autumn got up to check on Cindy and her parents, Sam finally felt strong enough to walk in. "I just came back from visiting them. They were not injured in the fire, but they inhaled the smoke and had dry throats. They are sleeping now."