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Ever since she regained consciousness, from initially only being able to move her fingers and writing on the bedsheet, to finally being able to speak aloud.
Song Yuhang would ask every day, “Where is Lin Yan?”
Ji Jingxing forced a smile, passing her the warm soup in her hand: “Drink this up, get your strength back, and then you can go see her.”
Song Yuhang’s hand, wrapped in gauze, trembled as she lifted the bowl and gulped down the soup. Because she drank too hastily, it stained her lips and she kept coughing.
Ji Jingxing patted her back, taking the soup bowl from her hand: “Get some sleep, the doctor said you need to rest more.”
Song Yuhang lay down and subconsciously reached under her pillow for her mobile phone, only to grasp at air. It was then that she realized her phone was gone.
“Sister, may I use your phone?”
She wanted to call Lin Yan.
Ji Jingxing understood what she wanted to do. Her heart ached, but she still had to feign composure.
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“You forgot, Lin Yan is also hospitalized. Mobile phones are not allowed in the ICU.”
Isn’t that just like her current situation?
Song Yuhang nodded with effort, and then, thinking of the ICU, she couldn’t help but worry a bit more anxiously.
“How is she… how is she doing?”
“Very… very well,” Ji Jingxing turned her head away, busying herself with tidying up the bowls and utensils.
“Don’t worry, if she can walk, she’ll definitely come to see you.”
Song Yuhang nodded with a trace of determination in her eyes.
“I have to get better faster and go see her. Sister, you don’t know, she… she hates staying in hospitals the most, and what she detests most is getting injections and taking medicine.”
Ji Jingxing dared not continue the conversation, her eyes already slightly moist.
“Well then, visiting hours are almost up, I should go back now. I’ll come to see you again in the afternoon.”
“Okay, thanks for your hard work, sister-in-law. Oh and, Xiaowei—” She had also heard about Xiaowei’s illness, which worried her somewhat.
Mentioning the child, Ji Jingxing’s eyes felt warm; she was comforting Song Yuhang and also consoling herself.
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. The doctor said that with gradual care, patience, and companionship, things will get better.”
Song Yuhang clenched her fists, thinking to herself that she must recover quickly. She wanted to see Lin Yan, to be with her, to hug her, kiss her, and, to propose to her again.
As for Xiaowei, she also had to catch the criminal suspect still on the run, to bring him to justice and give Xiaowei the closure she deserved.
And then there was the matter of that USB drive.
As the thoughts blurred in her mind, the doctor came in again to change her IV drip. Her body had not yet recovered, and under the influence of the medication, she finally couldn’t resist the drowsiness and fell asleep once more.
The ring box was still tightly gripped in her hand, not leaving it for a moment.
During the days of recovery, Song Yuhang diligently followed the doctor’s orders, cooperated with the treatment, tried hard to eat, and actively participated in rehabilitation. It was a month later that she was transferred from the ICU to a regular ward.
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Even the doctors marveled at the speed of her recovery.
Only Song Yuhang knew how much she longed to see that person, almost to the point of going mad with longing.
Ji Jingxing made the bed for her and helped her down from the wheelchair.
“Come, be careful.”
Song Yuhang waved her hand, shifting herself and sitting down on the bed in two steps.
“Sis, I want to see her.”
“There’s no rush, wait until you’re discharged from the hospital.”
“But—” Song Yuhang started to argue, but she was interrupted midway as Mother Song walked in with Xiaowei, carrying a lunch box in her hand.
“Come, Yuhang, it’s time to eat, chestnut braised chicken, your favorite.”
The topic was thus deftly and seamlessly changed.
During the meal, she noticed that the bracelet was missing from Mother Song’s right wrist and asked, “Mom, where’s your bracelet? The one Grandma gave you.”
Mother Song touched her bare wrist and paused, exchanging a silent look with Ji Jingxing. They decided to keep the truth from her for the moment and responded with a smile.
“I intended to save it for your wedding day to give it to you, but now it seems I will have to give it to Yanyan.”
Song Yuhang’s eyes brightened as she smiled and held onto the lunch box, “Mom, have you seen her?”
One lie begets countless others to keep it whole.
Mother Song nodded: “Yes, I’ve seen her. She isn’t recovering as quickly as you, but she’s much better now.”
The person immersed in excitement didn’t notice how forced her mother and sister-in-law’s smiles were.
Song Yuhang stuffed food into her mouth, her eyes slightly damp: “Mom, is there more? I want another bowl.”
“Yes, there is plenty more, eat up.”
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Mother Song turned her back to serve her more rice, quietly wiping away a tear.
While Song Yuhang was eating, Xiaowei’s gaze drifted to the television set nearby. She reached out to grab the remote control to turn on the TV but was quickly stopped as Ji Jingxing snatched it away from her.
“Xiaowei, your aunt is still eating. She needs to rest more and shouldn’t be disturbed. If you want to watch TV, we can do it at home.”
She was afraid that the news about Lin Yan might be on.
The child, not understanding the situation, only knew that her desire had not been fulfilled. Her lips pouted, and she burst into tears.
Ji Jingxing quickly went to soothe her.
Due to her illness, Xiaowei’s emotions were always tumultuous, swinging from good to bad without notice. She did not speak but just kept crying, throwing and pounding her cloth doll she held in her hands.
Song Yuhang put down her bowl and attempted to embrace her, “Xiaowei—”
Before she could finish, she was abruptly pushed down onto the bed. The push struck right on her wound. Even though it was an unintentional mistake, Song Yuhang’s forehead still broke out in large beads of sweat from the pain.
Seeing her injured, the pressure of the past few days suddenly surged into Ji Jingxing’s heart, anxious and angry. For the first time, she slapped Xiaowei across the face, her eyes reddening as she shouted, “Ji Weiyi, behave yourself! How could you hit your aunt? Do you even know who saved your life? To save you, Lin—”
A silence so profound ensued that the drop of a needle could be heard.
Song Yuhang was also looking at her.
Ji Jingxing, gasping for breath, found herself unable to continue.
Tears swirled in Xiaowei’s eyes as she threw the cloth doll onto her, then turned and ran away.
Seeing the child cry, Ji Jingxing’s heart was equally torn, as if lacerated by a thousand knives.
“Xiaowei!” She lifted her foot and chased after her immediately.
Mother Song also sighed deeply, her face streaked with tears.
Song Yuhang held her mother’s hand, feeling extremely upset: “Mom, has Xiaowei been like this ever since she came back?”
Mother Song wiped away her tears: “This is actually better. In the first few days after she returned, she wouldn’t eat or drink, and she would cry at the slightest touch. It’s as if… she’s become a completely different person.”
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Song Yuhang’s heart ached unbearably, and she pulled her mother into an embrace: “Mom, you and sister-in-law have had a hard time these days. Don’t worry, Xiaowei will definitely get better.”
“Yuhang, right now the greatest hope for Mom is that you can live well, no matter what happens.”
Hearing these words, Song Yuhang felt a pang in her heart, but seeing her mother’s tear-stained face, she still tenderly handed over a tissue.
“I will, Mom.”
“Alright, I won’t disturb your rest any longer. I’m going to see how Jingxing and Xiaowei are doing.”
Song Yuhang nodded, watching as her mother tidied up the bowls and chopsticks and walked out with a shaky gait.
In the afternoon, when the nurse came in to change the dressings, Song Yuhang was still preoccupied with the morning’s scene where Ji Jingxing snatched the remote control from Xiaowei’s hands, as well as her mother’s ambiguous words.
Ji Jingxing was not one to hit children; what could have made her lose control?
And her mother, why did she speak so? And each time Lin Yan was brought up, the topic was always quickly covered up with something else.
Song Yuhang was not obtuse; it was just that she instinctively trusted them. Moreover, having spent days unconscious in the ICU, she hadn’t had the chance to think too much.
Now that she thought about it, the more frightened she became, feeling a chill rising instantly from the soles of her feet.
Unconsciously fiddling with the ring box in her palm, she looked towards the nurse who was changing her dressings.
“Excuse me, may I use your phone to call my family? I need to ask them to bring me some things.”
Having been in the hospital for over two months, all the faces were familiar. The nurse readily lent her phone.
“Thank you,” Song Yuhang nodded in gratitude, quickly dialing a long string of numbers.
She knew them by heart.
However, after the lengthy dial tone, what followed was the cold system prompt.
“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service.”
Not in service, not in service, what does that mean? Was it discontinued?
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Song Yuhang felt her heart sinking, her eyes reddening almost instantly.
“Miss, miss…”
Still lost in her thoughts, the nurse gently urged her.
Song Yuhang came back to her senses and handed the smartphone back.
“Are you okay?”
Seeing her look so forlorn, the nurse was worried: “Are you feeling unwell somewhere? I’ll go call the doctor…”
Song Yuhang lifted her head, her eyes red, and managed a bitter smile: “No, I’d like to watch some TV.”
The nurse went over to the bedside table, feeling around for the remote control: “Huh, where’s the remote? It was still here yesterday when we cleaned the ward.”
“Never mind then,” Song Yuhang lay back down, turned over, burying her head in the pillow, quietly wiping away tears.
Lin Yan, each time we recover in the past, we would lose touch temporarily, and this time will be the same as before. You’ll reappear before me, right?
LP: XIAOWEI!!!! ( ;´ – `;)
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