Run

Ms. Yun's peculiar activities continued for the remainder of the afternoon, from calligraphy practice to incense lighting. As the sun began to wane, the students gathered on the terrace to have their dinner, finally having a chance to rest after the packed itinerary Ms. Yun had promised.

Lu Xi Xi turned her calligraphy scroll upside down, looking at the blotchy characters from all angles. "'Patience,'" Lu Xi Xi pondered aloud. "This surely did test my patience."

Chen An laughed, eating her rice with a spoon, careful not to touch her injured finger. "At least you tried," she said with questioning optimism. "You can gift it to your mother for her birthday next month."

"I'd rather not see her throw my gift in the trash," Lu Xi Xi retorted. "Though maybe she'll feel bad enough to hang it on the wall."

"Lu Xi Xi!" her friends called her from the opposite side of the terrace. "Come make bracelets with us."

She turned to Chen An, about to ask her to join them, when Chen An raised her bandaged finger. "You go ahead, Xi Xi. I'll be fine on my own."

After Chen An reassured her several times, Lu Xi Xi finally made her way over the group, joining their conversation effortlessly like only she could do.

Shen Li Xin sat on the floor beside Chen An. "Mind if I keep you company?"

Chen An smiled, shaking her head lightly.

The faint glow of the hanging lanterns danced across the edges of Shen Li Xin's face, and he looked as if he himself was made of the warm light. It caught in his hair, outlining a halo of amber.

"Oh, let me help you with that." Shen Li Xin picked up the roasted chestnuts on Chen An's tray and peeled the shells carefully before handing them to her.

Chen An didn't know why, but they tasted extra sweet.

Ms. Yun approached the students on the terrace. "Alright, everyone. Off to bed. Tomorrow morning, we will have group meditation at sunrise," she shooed everyone away toward their lodgings.

The students grumbled but picked themselves up off of the floor. The school break was the one opportunity they had to sleep in, but the retreat's busy schedule was quickly making that a distant dream.

"You should go to bed, too, An An," Shen Li Xin said softly. "Good night."

He reached out a hand to smooth her hair and walked away to his room, leaving Chen An to wander back toward her own, dazed.

When she returned, Lu Xi Xi and the other girls giggled mischievously, whispering amongst themselves.

"What's going on?" Chen An asked, confused.

"We found out Ms. Yun is keeping our cellphones in the storage closet and not her room," Lu Xi Xi explained, pulling out a dangling silver key with a flourish. "And we got the key from the security guard outside."

Understanding her suggestion, Chen An looked at her friend worriedly. "Do you think this is a good idea, Xi Xi? Aren't you worried Ms. Yun is going to get angry with you if she finds out?"

"But, she won't find out." Lu Xi Xi held a playful finger to her grinning lips. "If you're worried, shouldn't you come with us, Chen An?"

Though Chen An quickly caught onto her trick, she knew Lu Xi Xi was not one to handle difficult situations well and begrudgingly went with them as they snuck into the darkened hallway.

The girls tiptoed through the halls of their lodgings, trying not to laugh at the snores that emitted through the closed doors of the other rooms. Each creak in the floorboard made Chen An wince, but the group made it to the storage closet without a hitch.

Lu Xi Xi inserted the key into the door cautiously, and it opened with a resounding click. The girls silently celebrated their success before diving into the closet, searching for their phones in Ms. Yun's bucket.

"Here's yours, Chen An." Lu Xi Xi handed her the familiar cellphone.

Though Chen An had scolded them for their delinquent behavior, she couldn't help but peek at her phone. When the screen lit up, two missed calls from Li Jun Jie and a message from Mrs. Li displayed themselves on the screen.

Swiping open her text chats, Chen An scanned the message anxiously.

"An An, sorry to bother you over the break. Li Jun Jie wasn't feeling well and was rushed to the hospital. His father and I are overseas for a few days on business and can't go visit him. If you have time, could you check on him in the hospital?"

Chen An's heart raced, and her mind ran frantically trying to think of what to do.

The intense beam of a flashlight suddenly filled her vision.

"Girls? What are you doing out here?" Shen Li Xin lowered the glaring flashlight to the ground.

Chen An stumbled over to him, shaking his arm in desperation.

Shen Li Xin looked at her concerned before turning to the other girls. "Go back to your rooms now, quickly."

The girls obliged, relieved to have not gotten into trouble, and scampered away into the dark hallway.

"What's wrong, An An?" Shen Li Xin tried to soothe her, rubbing her heaving back to calm her down.

"Li Jun Jie is sick," she could barely get out her words. "I have to go see him."

Shen Li Xin nodded in understanding. "Okay, it's still early now. There might be a bus back to Nanjing if we hurry."

Chen An could only nod in agreement and run after Shen Li Xin out of the temple.

The bus pulled into the station with a screeching creak just as the two made it there. They clamored onto the near empty bus, waiting anxiously for it to leave.

With a heavy cough of exhaust, the bus began the torturously slow ride back to Nanjing. The other passengers were fast asleep in their seats, but Chen An's rapid heart kept her awake.

Shen Li Xin draped his jacket to cover her. "Try to get some rest, An An. I'll wake you up when we get there."

Chen An nodded, but she could only continue to stare out of the smudged window and watch the blurring landscape through the cloudy glass.

It was dawn when they arrived at the hospital, the brightening violet skies revealing the familiar city through the bus's window. Chen An and Shen Li Xin rushed through the hospital's entrance, nearly crashing into the front desk.

"I'm here to see Li Jun Jie," Chen An explained, the words nearly falling out of her mouth in an incoherent stream.

The woman behind the desk must have sensed their desperation and, with no additional questions asked, tapped a few keys on her computer and responded, "Room 2122 on the second floor."

The hospital's elevator seemed to move much too slow, but when its doors finally opened, Chen An ran down the hallway, narrowly avoiding the nurses making their rounds.

Bursting into the room marked with 2122, Chen An fell to Li Jun Jie's bedside. He was unconscious, the sheen of sweat clinging to his lusterless skin. Only shadows colored its paleness, darkening the space beneath his eyes and in his cheeks.

"Li Jun Jie," Chen An called to him, trying to calm her frantic voice. "Are you okay?"

He opened his cloudy eyes groggily, reaching out a hand covered in tubing to touch Chen An's face as if he wasn't sure if she was real.

"An An," Li Jun Jie called to her in return, but it sounded more like a question than anything else.

Chen An grasped his outstretched hand with both of hers, afraid that he might somehow slip away. "Yes, it's me. Are you feeling okay?" Chen An repeated, her tone growing increasingly worried.

"I'm fine. I was just a little light-headed. It's nothing to worry about," Li Jun Jie assured her with a weak smile.

Chen An let out a breath of relief, the first breath she thought she had taken in hours, though she wasn't sure if Li Jun Jie was telling the whole truth.

Catching sight of Shen Li Xin lingering in the doorway, Li Jun Jie asked almost accusingly, "What are you doing here?"

Shen Li Xin took his words as a sign to enter, much to Li Jun Jie's dismay. "I accompanied Chen An back to Nanjing from the orchestra retreat. Are you alright, Li Jun Jie?"

Li Jun Jie waved Shen Li Xin's concern away with a disinterested hand. As he returned his hand to his side, he touched smooth hair and found Chen An with her head resting beside him on his hospital bed.

"Chen An didn't sleep at all because she was worried about you," Shen Li Xin explained, "Even though she pretended to on the bus ride over. We should let her rest."

Before Li Jun Jie could respond, Shen Li Xin picked up Chen An gently and set her on the couch by the window in the hospital room.

Chen An curled into herself, her breathing finally steady after many hours. Shen Li Xin brushed away the hair that had fallen in front of her face, a small smile gracing his own as she relaxed under his touch.

Li Jun Jie wanted to stop him, but he couldn't do anything but watch Shen Li Xin, feeling helplessly confined by the dripping wires that seemed to tie him to his hospital bed, too weak to help Chen An himself.

The only thing Li Jun Jie could do was keep watch over her as she slept, though the short distance between them felt larger than even the space between their bedroom windows.