Ethan tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and a wave of fatigue washed over him, pinning him down like a ghostly weight. He wanted to open them, but his body seemed to no longer obey his brain.
The voices around him were faint and required all his effort to make out clearly.
"His heart condition has caused further deterioration of his bodily functions,he likely won't make it through the night..."
Ethan vaguely remembered that the voice belonged to his primary doctor.
"Why... why? He was fine just this afternoon," his aunt's voice came through, trembling with a mix of complex emotions. "Will he... wake up again?"
"I can't guarantee that," the doctor's voice wavered, sometimes sounding far away, sometimes close. "It depends on the patient's will to live, but usually, this condition is painful... I suggest we stop treatment."
"Stop treatment?!" Ethan's foggy consciousness suddenly focused, like waking abruptly from a deep sleep, and he forced his eyes open. "Don't stop! I can still be saved!!"
He saw the familiar ceiling, an oxygen mask strapped over his mouth, unable to move.
"Ah?!" Dr. David stepped back in shock at Ethan's sudden wide-eyed stare, his face filled with disbelief.
"Ethan?!" Scarlett immediately rushed over, grabbing his hand. "Ethan, can you hear me?"
"Ah..." Ethan tried to speak, but he couldn't make a sound or perform any movement. It was as if everything was filtered through a narrow, blurry lens.
His mind was exceptionally sluggish.
Ethan knew he was really dying.
"System."
"Name: Ethan Jones"
"Age: 18"
"Strength: 1"
"Stamina: 1"
"Agility: 0"
"Dying Wish: I really want to touch my aunt's sheer black stockings! Task Reward Points: 1000."
"I... I don't want to die." Ethan looked at the system's task, tears welling up in his half-closed eyes.
"Ethan..." Scarlett, seeing his lack of response and the tears at the corners of his eyes, realized it was a fleeting rally before the end. Her eyes reddened as she looked at Ethan. "I will fulfill your wish, to become a teacher, so..."
Ethan wanted to smile bitterly, but he couldn't. His eyes were misty as he looked at his aunt, still beautiful and captivating.
At that moment, the image of his aunt caring for him overlapped with the one before him.
I really like Aunt so much.
I really want to marry her.
If this is the end, then her remembering my last wish for her to become a teacher isn't so bad.
Ethan's memories rewound like an old movie reel in his mind.
Finally stopping on his aunt's smile.
His thoughts slowed down to a crawl.
Scarlett felt his hand slip weakly from her grasp.
"Whimper..." She knew it was the end, and tears streamed down her face.
Dr. David turned away, unable to bear watching this moment of parting between life and death.
Ethan's memories were gradually replaced by darkness, slowly fading away.
Just then, the old movie reel of his memories rewound to when he was 10 years old.
That was the first time he remembered seeing his aunt in black stockings. The sheer black fabric clung to her long, white, shapely legs, and the toes peeking out from beneath were round and alluring.
He walked over, reaching out, wanting to touch.
"No! I can't accept this! I haven't even touched the stockings yet! I can't die!" Ethan roared in the darkness of his memories:
"I can't let any other man touch Aunt's stockings!"
His gradually slowing thoughts seemed to break through the gloom with a tremendous force.
Ethan's hand, which had been limply hanging off the hospital bed, suddenly twitched, his fingers moving slightly.
"!" Scarlett noticed his unusual movement, turned her head sharply, and said to Dr. David, "Doctor, what's happening to him?"
Dr. David, lost in his emotions, was startled and turned back to see Ethan's eyes wide open beneath the oxygen mask.
"?"
...
Outside the hospital room
Blair and Emily hurried over.
Upon hearing that Ethan was being resuscitated, they rushed to the scene and saw Dr. David and Scarlett standing in the hallway.
"His will to live is strong,he probably has some unfulfilled wishes," Dr. David answered after a moment of silence. "We once had a father in this hospital who held on until his son arrived at his bedside before he passed away."
Scarlett's brow furrowed tightly. "His wish is for me to become a teacher, but the next exam isn't for another three months."
After hearing the conversation, Blair turned away indifferently and walked into the hospital room.
Emily stood behind her, first smiling at Scarlett, "May I go in?"
"Yes, go ahead," Scarlett nodded with a complex expression.
Ethan lay on the hospital bed, in a bad state, breathing oxygen, purely sustained by his willpower.
Everything he saw was hazy.
Just the thought of his aunt being with another man if he died spurred a strong desire to survive.
He had to hold on, waiting for a miracle.
Suddenly, a tall figure approached the bedside: "You like my mom, don't you?"
"?" Ethan was startled, his brain slow to react. He could only vaguely see the tall figure—it was Blair—but his consciousness was too muddled to respond.
A long silence.
"That magazine, it's because she looks like Mom, right?" Blair spoke again, but she received no response.
Ethan didn't even know when she had left.
Time slowly passed, whether it was hours or days, he couldn't tell.
His sense of time was also fading.
The world was gradually darkening.
It was probably night.
Ethan couldn't be sure.
Suddenly, there was a noise by his ear, and a tall figure approached his bedside.
Ethan struggled to look, seeing wine-red curly hair, a black uniform, a pencil skirt.
"Au... Aunt."
...
"He likes my mom," Blair took a deep drag of her cigarette, exhaling a ring of smoke, her face calm as she looked up at the sky.
Emily stood by, her lips curled in a gentle smile. "Aunt Scarlett is so beautiful, it's natural for boys to like her."
She looked at Blair. "What does he mean to Blair, then?"
Blair was silent, snuffed out her cigarette, and tossed it into the trash. "Someone important."
"I also wrote a letter to the agency of Abigaile Johnson," Emily chuckled. "It seems I did something unnecessary, but..."
Her eyes twinkled mischievously for a moment before she masked it. "If he likes Aunt Scarlett, maybe we can help him fulfill his wish."
Blair looked puzzled at her words.
"Given his current state, he can't really tell who is who," Emily's gaze swept over Blair. "His 'Pecker' has always been so eager,wanting to sleep with Aunt Scarlett is probably his real wish."
Blair remained silent.
"This is his last wish," Emily gathered her long hair. "I've heard that some women in special professions can make men feel as if it really happened, just by putting on Aunt Scarlett's uniform."