Chapter 3 Hanging On

Wu Xuelan arrived quickly because she had been in the corridor all along and had not left.

She was restless in the corridor, worried both about the young mistress's health and her temper. Both of them were ill—what if something happened at this moment? What then?

However, no sound came from the young master's ward... then, a bodyguard who was passing by came and said the young master requested her to enter.

She entered the room nervously—

As soon as she entered, she saw Han Jiaojiao curled up at the foot of the bed. Wu Xuelan was startled, her heartbeat skipping a beat. What had happened? Had they argued again? Why would the young mistress pass out all of a sudden?

She hurried forward, intending to help the young mistress up. But as she was about to lift Han Jiaojiao, she realized something was wrong. Looking up, she noticed that Han Jiaojiao was tightly grasping the railing of the hospital bed stowed under the next—This kind of hospital bed usually had several movable parts, and the railing was for patients who had difficulty getting up. Normally, it wasn't needed and was stashed under the bed on either side.

Han Yi was also taken aback. He bent down and reached out with his usable hand, attempting to separate them, but Han Jiaojiao clutched the rail tightly, murmuring dreamily—

"... brother... brother..."

Han Yi's body instantly stiffened.

Wu Xuelan, half-embracing Jiaojiao, worriedly said, "Young Master, what should we do..." She couldn't let the young mistress sleep on the floor, after all.

Han Yi was silent for a while before saying, "Bring over another bed." The hospital beds all had wheels.

Wu Xuelan hurried off.

...

Zhou Yan was brought in just after four o'clock. The driver had been instructed to drive extremely fast, causing Zhou Yan to still have a greenish tinge to his face when he arrived at the hospital, his stomach churning.

Just as Zhou Yan was about to enter, a colleague who was on duty came out. Seeing Zhou Yan, the colleague revealed a knowing expression and quickly reassured, "Miss Han is fine." He then hinted with his eyes, "But you might want to console the other one inside."

"Appreciate it," Zhou Yan smiled wryly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. He was Han Jiaojiao's attending physician, and these past days he had not taken lightly the mood of Han Yi; even now, being woken up in the middle of the night, he couldn't show the slightest impatience, especially since the Han Family was one of the hospital's major sponsors.

The ward now had an additional bed. The bodyguard Aheng greeted him with a smile by the side, while housekeeper Wu and others surrounded the Han Family's young mistress. Of course, there was also a grim-faced man beside them.

Zhou Yan walked over, doing his best to appear calm.

Han Jiaojiao's bed was placed next to Han Yi's. She lay on her side, her hand still grasping the railing of Han Yi's bed, which had been raised so she could hold on to it even while lying down. Zhou Yan briefly checked and found she was breathing evenly, truly unharmed.

"It should be a brief fainting spell caused by low blood sugar. Miss Han has been sleeping for a few days, and it's hard to keep up with nutritional needs. If she exhibits any sort of drastic behavior upon waking, it can easily lead to fainting."

Upon hearing this, Han Yi looked toward Wu Xuelan.

Wu Xuelan appeared guilt-ridden, her eyes slightly red, "I heard some noises in the middle of the night and when I checked, I found the young mistress crying... She wanted to go find the young master, and I should have stopped her... But she was crying so pitifully, I just..."

Aheng added, "Young Master, you can't blame Wu for this. How could she stop the young mistress? You know her temperament..."

Han Yi gave him a cold glance, causing Aheng to touch his nose and give an embarrassed laugh.

Zhou Yan carefully gauged Han Yi's mood, carefully choosing his words, "Mr. Han, if you're really concerned, we could use some injections, but personally, I believe it's better to let her recover gradually."

Housekeeper Wu, with teary eyes, turned to Zhou Yan, "An injection? Is it really that serious? The young mistress hasn't had a single injection for years..."

Wu Xuelan was old-fashioned, believing that all medicines are inherently toxic to some degree. Hearing about the injection, she felt it was a very serious matter. Over the years, whenever Han Jiaojiao felt slightly unwell, Wu would prepare medicinal meals for minor symptoms and brew traditional Chinese medicine for more severe cases. Han Jiaojiao had been well cared for by her, rarely even taking Western medicines, let alone getting an injection.

Han Family's issues were somewhat known to Zhou Yan, so he wasn't surprised.

Han Yi pondered for a moment and looked up at him, "Hypoglycemia, will it happen again?"

"Mr. Han, rest assured, this is just a temporary symptom, due to Miss Han having been unconscious for too long. As long as she pays attention to nutrition and exercise, she will recover quickly."

Upon hearing this, Han Yi's body relaxed a bit, and he lay back, leaning on the hospital bed, lost in thought.

Zhou Yan wondered what Han Yi meant by this. Was he going to administer the injection or not? Then he saw Aheng walking towards him, politely saying, "Dr. Zhou, thanks for making the trip, I'll see you out."

Wu Xuelan also stood up, saying, "Miss might wake up any moment now, I'll go make some easily digestible sweet porridge."

With Han Jiaojiao's fainting incident, none of them felt like sleeping and went about their tasks.

...

In the dark, damp sewer, Han Jiaojiao was being dragged along as she ran, her arm aching from the pull, her face wet with cold tears.

As she ran, she tried to wipe away the tears and strained her eyes to see the face of the person in front. She knew it was Han Yi but suddenly, she felt an intense need to see his face clearly as if, if she didn't look now, she would never see him again.

"Brother," Han Jiaojiao managed to control her breathing and spoke to the man ahead, "Brother, I'm sorry..."

The stern man said nothing, only focusing on the darkness ahead, driving away lurking monsters with psychic waves and leading her around obstacles at their feet.

Han Jiaojiao felt that she was reaching her limit, her initial fear turning into a deathly calm. She was no longer afraid, only deeply regretful, because she had so much more to say to him, so many words left unsaid.

"...Brother, actually, I stopped blaming you a long time ago, I just deliberately didn't say it..."

Han Yi pursed his lips tightly, offering no response.

"You must find it funny, right? Do you think I'm being hypocritical? Happy on the inside, yet pretending to be aloof... heh..."

Her tightly clenched hands trembled, then gripped even tighter. Han Yi's voice was hoarse: "Jiaojiao, stop talking."

Han Jiaojiao felt the skin near the injection site beginning to change, and she hurriedly spoke faster, "Brother, don't be mad at me... I still really dislike you, dislike how after being so mean to me, you become even nicer to me. How can you be like that? Always frowning at me, fussing over everything, not letting me eat ice cream, not letting me wear shorts, ah... how can you be so annoying..."

As her words trailed off, Han Jiaojiao seemed to recall something, and a relaxed smile appeared on her face.

Suddenly, the grip of his hand pulled tight, and Han Jiaojiao was lifted into Han Yi's arms.

"Don't be afraid, we'll be out soon." His complexion was as pale as a ghost, but his eyes blazed red like a mad lion's.

Han Jiaojiao pressed her face against his chest and smiled bitterly, "They were worried you'd sense me, so they injected me with the Alien Species virus."

Han Yi's hand tightened fiercely!

"Brother, I'm not afraid, I just really regret... I should have been nicer to you. Brother, kill me, don't let me turn into one of those monsters... Brother..."

"...Brother, I'm so cold... Brother... It's so dark here, I want to see you..."

"I'm sorry, brother... Brother..."