Chapter 3: Poisoned by Love for Leaves

The director, just arriving to visit, was so startled he nearly leapt out of his shoes.

“Mallory didn’t make it?”

Carter just shrugged, deadpan.

The director’s hands shook as he set a bouquet at my bedside.

Half-awake, I caught a whiff of eucalyptus.

Eucalyptus, also called silver dollar leaf, is a common floral filler.

I hadn’t eaten in almost two days.

I tossed off the covers and shot upright like a pop-up toy.

The director’s eyes went huge, and he staggered back, collapsing onto the floor.

Carter said calmly, “She’s fine. Just sleeping.”

He always speaks a half-beat late, just to keep everyone on their toes.

I yanked the eucalyptus out of the bouquet and stuffed it in my mouth.

The room instantly erupted in chaos.

Several people rushed over to snatch the leaves from me.

Carter grabbed my chin, while a nurse pried the unchewed leaves from my mouth.

Never thought my first close moment with Hollywood royalty would be him holding my chin, making me spit out leaves. What a meet-cute.

I smacked my lips, savoring the lingering taste of eucalyptus.

Wanted to cry.

So hungry.

Fans’ bouquets lined the hospital room.

My assistant and all the well-wishers sat in a row, picking the eucalyptus out of the arrangements.

When Carter left with an armful of eucalyptus, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I sat up, rolled over, jumped out of bed, and chased after him in one smooth move.

Even the patient in the next room marveled at my recovery speed.

Carter ran; I chased. Honestly, I didn’t know I had it in me.

We ended up doing parkour in the stairwell.

Carter had longer legs and easily outran me.

When I got downstairs, I watched him dump that huge armful of eucalyptus right into the trash.

I clung to the edge of the bin, peering in.

Just as I was about to fall in, Carter grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me out—like he’d been wrangling koalas his whole life. Even a passing nurse did a double-take.

“It’s poisonous,” he said, blunt as ever.

A koala without eucalyptus is like a fish out of water.

But a koala without eucalyptus… starves.