“Even if you weren’t around anymore, Yi Ling and I will treat her as our younger sister and take care of her for the rest of our lives. And even if we aren’t around anymore, Little Lei will. If Little Lei dares mistreat her, I will break his legs myself.”
He took another glance at Lu Yi’s black-and-white photo and felt an irrepressible sadness. Yan Huan didn’t seem like she could handle being there for a second longer either.
Before this, Lei Qingyi never thought he would one day feel such suffocating pain.
Once again, he brought Yan Huan back to the hospital. He Yibin put everything aside and rushed over immediately when he learned that she had been found.
He was taken aback when he saw the state of Yan Huan. “My goodness. What happened?”
Lei Qingyi laid her down carefully. “Forget about that. Do something about her. She might have a fever.”
He Yibin went over quickly and felt Yan Huan’s forehead. The situation was much more dire than he had imagined, he knew from the burning temperature. He immediately directed the nurses to change her out of her sodden clothes and administer IV fluids, while he treated her physical wounds and ran several check-ups on her. If her fever went on for too long, it might develop into pneumonia.
Seeing there was nothing he could do, Lei Qingyi walked to the door so as to not block the way. Since he couldn’t help, he didn’t want to make things worse.
That’s when he remembered he should make a call home. The ones at home needed to know about this.
“It’s me, Lingling.”
Head dipped low, Yi Ling’s tears trickled down her face endlessly at realizing it was Lei Qingyi. “How is it? Still no news?”
“No,” said Lei Qingyi drily. “We found her.” He turned to look at the Yan Huan, who had an IV drip above her. “She’s at the hospital now. She’s quite weak now from being under the rain, but don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”
“You mean it?” Yi Ling sat up straight. “You found her? You really found her, right? Thank…” She clamped a hand over her mouth, laughing and crying at the same time.
“I mean it. It’s nothing severe. She’ll be alright.”
“Thank goodness,” finished Yi Ling. She suddenly covered her face with her hands, nearly unable to deal with the rush of happiness and sadness.
“Did you hear that, Shuyun?” asked Lu Jin, putting a hand on Ye Shuyun’s shoulder.
“Huanhuan’s alright! She’s alright. She’s in the hospital now.”
A hint of vitality went back into Ye Shuyun’s dull eyes. “She’s alright now…”
“Yes, she’s alright now,” said Lu Jin as he caressed his wife’s shoulders. “How could anything happen to her? Lu Yi had traded his life for her. How could he let anything happen to her? Lu Yi will watch over her. He will.”
As he spoke, he felt a coolness traveling down his face. When no one was watching, he wiped the tears away.
When Ye Shuyun and the others got to the hospital, Yan Huan was asleep. To be precise, she hadn’t woken up since Lei Qingyi brought her to the hospital.
“Her fever has gone down,” said He Yibin softly, putting a finger to his lips. “Keep your volume down. She’s not in a coma, just asleep. Let her sleep. It will help her recover. Surprises might still occur at this stage.”
They all knew what He Yibin meant by ‘surprise’, so they dared not overstay. Too many people meant noise and bad ventilation.
Everyone—the entire Lei Family except for Little Lei, who was placed under the care of his aunt, the Lu couple, and Ye Xinyu, who came in a rush—was present in He Yibin’s office.
“Where did you find her?” asked Yi Ling. “Is she hurt anywhere?” Every question made her heart skip a beat. She would wail on the spot if Lei Qingyi told her Yan Huan was assaulted.
“She’s fine. Relax,” said Lei Qingyi consolingly.
“What happened to her forehead then? It’s swelling and bleeding,” pressed Yi Ling. “Was it from a fall?”
“She got it from…” Lei Qingyi didn’t know how to tell her when he remembered the state he found Yan Huan in.
“Speak,” said Yi Ling, her voice growing shriller as she tugged hard at his sleeve.
Lei Qingyi closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “The wounds…” he paused. “She did it to herself.”
“Did it to herself? How?”
Yi Ling yanked at Lei Qingyi’s sleeves again, crying as she did so. “Tell me! Where did she go? How did she get these wounds? Was she trying to kill herself?”
“She got it from knocking her head against Lu Yi’s tombstone.”
Lei Qingyi placed his hands on Yi Ling’s shoulders and pressed down. “She went to see Lu Yi. I don’t know how she got the information, but she seemed to know where Lu Yi was buried, so she went to look for him. I found her at Lu Yi’s grave.”
Lu Jin squeezed Ye Shuyun’s hand tightly. A glance was exchanged between them. They saw the irrepressible pain in each other’s eyes. Why would something like this happen? Why were the heavens so cruel to them?
Such a good son. Gone. Such a good couple. Broken.
Yi Ling kept sniffing. She tasted the saltiness of her tears when she raised up her head. “Tell me, Qingyi. How could I return a Lu Yi to Huanhuan? I was the one who killed Lu Yi, and I’m the one who put Huanhuan through so much pain.”
Lei Qingyi patted her shoulders without saying anything as her guilt deepened.
Yet there was nothing he could do to help her. Perhaps the only person that could help her now was Yan Huan. If Yan Huan forgave her, perhaps she wouldn’t blame herself so much. If.
Meanwhile, Yan Huan was lying flatly on the hospital bed, her pitifully skinny arm and bruised fingers outside the sheets. The veins on the back of her hand were showing visibly. A cold liquid flowed from the IV drip into her tiny blood vessels, where it blended with her blood and traveled across her body.
In truth, she had already contacted pneumonia. However, considering that she had been in the rain for an entire night in the weak state she was in, this was as good as things could have gotten. At least she was still alive.
