15 LATE IN THE NIGHT

Xue Guangxi went back and forth in front of his dog, Lala's doghouse. He sought for his company when being along in his flat did not seem appealing to him.

Perturbed, he turned toward the dog, "Hey, Lala, do you think I had crossed boundaries today? Maybe I had gone overboard? What do you think?"

The dog studied him with curious eyes and tilted its head, "Woof!"

"Is it a yes or a no?" Xue Guangxi slumped on the ground beside Lala. He stroked his furry head as he stared at the starry night sky.

"It's complicated, Lala."

He couldn't make up his mind whether he'll apologize to her or not.

He lied down, crossed both arms below his head as a makeshift pillow, and stared at the sky. "She's beside me but seems so far. Unreachable. Incomprehensible. Magnificent. Simple yet majestic. On her own, fabulous. Yet, still unreachable." He sighed in exasperation.

"Like light-years away. Like those stars. Like they should be left to be adored only from a distance." He lifted his right hand and traced with his index the silhouette of random stars forming his version of a constellation.

"I cannot understand her…"

"She's emotionally distant, always keeping everyone at arm's length without any strings attached, yet she's accommodating as well. She's a paradox."

"I made her angry today, Lala. I lost my cool, too."

"Should I just apologize?" He folded his right arm behind his head again.

"Why should I?" Scowling, he berated himself for even thinking about the morally popular choice. "She's the one in the wrong. She should be the one apologizing."

"She shouldn't be that accommodating to anyone. The world isn't a safe place. Plus the kids were there too. What if. What if!"

"But."

"I shouldn't have treated her harshly, though. Whatever the circumstance, I should have been kinder to her."

"Even if at some point it's simply too irresistible to tease her. Haha." He shook his head in amusement.

"Nah!!!"

The white fluffy dog whimpered beside him, then lied down on its front paws. It yawned.

"Ahh!!!" He sat up as he leaned forward towards his knees and pulled his hair in vexation. The dog lifted its head and its ears perked up in surprise.

The thinking made him more tired and eventually decided to resolve the matter right then. He went to the car and drove towards the Chen house.

He used his key to enter the house. There was no need to wake up the sleeping household just to let him in.

When he passed through the stairs, he thought he heard something.

"Nnnnn…"

He approached with all the caution and courage he could muster.

As he turned to check it out, he almost could not believe his eyes on what he saw. "Sola!" He breathed in concern and shock.

"Sola! Are you okay? Oh, God!"

All his sleepiness went away as he saw a ghost-like body sprawled onto the stairs, headfirst. Her limbs and her long hair fell way below her body.

It looked like a ghost from a horror movie crawling its way down the stairs towards its next victim like how ghosts don't know how to use their feet the right way, the way humans do.

But she wasn't a ghost.

If he had not been more awake before, the sight would have woken every cell in his body out of sheer fright. He nearly jumped out for mistaking her as indeed a ghost.

"G-Guangxi… Nhnnn…" The frighteningly unmoving body on the stairs mumbled.

Xue Guangxi rushed to her side. He hovered his hands around her. He did not know where to touch since he's afraid to worsen the pain she's feeling. "Where are you hurt? Should I carry you?"

'But HOW???!!!'

'How am I going to turn her right side up? Where is she hurt exactly?'

He looked around and thought of waking up the Chen master and madame. However, before he could start for their bedroom, Kang Sola grabbed his arm with all the feeble energy left in her tiny aching body. "Don't wake them up, please. Let's not make a big deal out of it."

"!!!"

"But it IS a big deal!" Xue Guangxi protested. His face scrunched in conflict.

"Just help me stand up, please. Put some strength under my forearms. Yank me up."

And that he did.

Though he did not stop there. He lifted her and carried her in his arms. He wasted no time and shoved her feeble body on the passenger seat of his car, buckled her up, and drove to the nearest hospital.

"Emergency!!!"

He caused such a scene. Sweat on his forehead, he cried out loud, "Please, I'm with a patient here! It's an emergency!"

"How humiliating." Sola weakly mumbled under her breath. She clutched Xue Guangxi's shirt across his chest in her feeble hand.

Energy fled her tiny body but she wasn't unconscious.

"Guangxi, relax. It's nothing serious." She whispered.

"What is it, Sola?" Xue Guangxi halted from frantically turning listlessly in the middle of the corridor as he figured out where to go.

"Don't overreact." She gasped. Her face had lost its usual color, but she certainly did not have fever since she's soaking wet from her sweat. She's sweating profusely on her forehead and back.

"It's nothing, I swear." She whispered, but she curled her body even more in pain. Her hand clutching Xue Guangxi's shirt tightened.

Finally, a group of nurses and doctors attended to them. They made the patient lie on the bed and she got examined and interrogated while Xue Guangxi took care of the paperwork.

Few minutes elapsed.

The heightened energy had died down, and Xue Guangxi gained his composure. His ears turned red from the embarrassment of his actions just a few minutes ago.

The doctor examined Kang Sola and met with them in her ward. She was given anti-inflammatory medicine.

The doctor said there's not much need for her to be admitted to the hospital but Xue Guangxi did not heed his advice. He insisted that she be admitted even just for the night.

Horizontal lines brought by anxiety never left his forehead.

The medicine worked its wonders as color returned to her face. She stopped sweating hard and she succumbed into a restful slumber.