Her Worst Nightmare

"Stop overworking yourself. You don't need to pay for my surgery"

She could feel her heart instantly drop to to her stomach, a look of confusion etching onto her face, he didn't lift his head to see it, he didn't want to see her reaction so he just continued talking,

"I don't want you to have to work yourself to death just for me, plus, there's no assurance that I'll survive anyway, it'll probably end up usel.."

"No!", He could tell it was supposed to be a scream, but it came out as some sort of broken whisper, There was an obvious shakiness in her voice as she continued, "Don't ever repeat those words"

"You're the only family I have left, who else would I overwork myself for if not you, you're not planning to leave me now, are you?", she couldn't understand how she could even try making jokes at a time like this, but she did, it didn't exactly improve anything though, the fear in her voice could be sensed

He lifted his head and watched her dumfounded, he had never seen her afraid before. During their childhood, he had never seen her cry, she would always face obstacles without complaints, she was strong, so much so that even he sometimes forgot she was human.

He summoned a chuckle, it was fake, but it would do, "Why would I leave now, it would be too much hassle, plus there's still so much free food to be eaten, I can't possibly leave food behind"

"Tch", she scoffed, "You're only staying for food, betrayal much"

He gave a small laugh in response, 

"Oh, that reminds me,", she continued, " I talked to Dr Cheng, he said you're well enough to be taken out, so I'm planning on taking you out tomorrow, we can go anywhere you want so long as you don't get too worked up"

"Wait, then can we go to the restaurant on the seafront?"

"Sure, if you want"

The atmosphere in the room had lifted and so had Liling's worry, the nurse came in a little later informing Liling that she would soon have to leave

After packing her stuff up, she wished him "good night" and left.

*************************

-Liling's apartment

Liling's eyes abruptly shot open, her breathing was disoriented and her back was drenched in sweat.

Realizing it was nothing but a bad dream, she took slow deep breaths to calm her nerves, and then turning to the clock on her bedside showing 6:01', she slowly sat up.

She stared down letting her long black hair cover most of her face, she recalled bits and pieces of her dream, and she could feel her breathing once again quickening.

She shook her head trying to clear her mind, and reminded herself again that it was only a dream.

Getting up calmly and taking a quick shower, she put on something casual for her outing with Xu Ming.

She put on a pair of black flare pants, a white turtleneck sweater and a pair of white sneakers, she brushed her hair and tied it into a ponytail, letting her short bangs and tendrils, frame her face

Getting to the kitchen for breakfast, she simply warmed up some of the stir-fried noodles left over from the day before and sat down at her wooden dining table to eat.

Only a few minutes into breakfast, her phone began ringing. She got up and retrieved it from the kitchen counter while checking the caller profile

Initially thinking it was Shen Rong calling to complain about her not getting a day off, she was planning on not taking it, but seeing it was only a string of numbers, she answered it

"Hello"

"Hello, is this Miss Xu Liling?"

With a bad feeling taking shape in her stomach, she responded, "Yes, it is"

"I'm a nurse from City Y-hospital, your brother's condition worsened early this morning and he is now life-threatening, the surgery will need to be brought forward, so we will need a deposit and consent forms signed. You..."

Liling could no longer process the information from the nurse. 

Her worst nightmare was finally coming true.

The sound of beeping from her phone brought her back to reality and she fought to keep the burning sensation in her throat down. She willed herself to keep it together -crying wouldn't solve anything

Without a further thought, she got her keys, got in her car and drove off to the hospital.