Reluctant to leave

Wen Xi hadn't realised that the cloth she had picked up to wipe the phone with was a pair of underwear. She was dumbfounded for a moment, and wanted to try to explain herself, but she was too embarrassed that she found it difficult to come up with an excuse.

He Yan's eyes sent a conflicting message; it looked as if he were smiling, but was also trying to be serious, but also looked to be frowning as if he were slightly confused. Maybe he was actually grinning underneath his mask, and this was just all too funny.

"Listen, I can explain!"

"Don't be so nervous, I don't bite." He spoke warmly, and it sounded like he was laughing.

Wen Xi, red-faced, stuttered her explanation as she pointed to the luggage. "Some mice jumped off of your clothes just now. My hands moved before I could even think. I just wanted to scare them away. I didn't realise that it was the phone..."

"Wen Xi, like I said, no need to be so nervous." He interrupted her, and this time he was smiling with his eyes too.

Him calling her by name slightly startled Wen Xi. She couldn't describe the feeling it gave her. It felt as if, just by calling her name, they had become closer in an instant.

"I'll buy you another one when I go back." She offered, clutching her pants.

"Just the phone?"

Wen Xi took a moment to think before replying.

"If you don't mind, I can compensate for your underwear as well." Wen Xi glanced at him briefly, then quickly looked away.

A brief silence fell over them.

"When did they say they were coming to pick you up?" Ending his teasing, he changed the subject.

Wen Xi's face fell slightly as she answered, "After the ZH virus is wiped out."

Underneath her mask, the corners of her lips upturned, into a bittersweet smile.

Sensing her sadness, and seeing her small gestures she was trying to hide, He Yan averted his gaze quietly.

"Someone will bring you some food later, and you'll have to stay here for tonight, but someone will pick you up tomorrow."

"Who?"

"Uncle Soldier."

That was the nickname for a certain group of soldiers, who were both kind, and handsome. Hearing the nickname was amusing to Wen Xi and made her smile.

"Can I please see patients healed before Uncle Soldier comes?" She asked.

What she really asking for was for him to try her prescription. After all, she knew she didn't have any real evidence at the moment, which meant that He Yan had no reason to believe in her vaccine.

He Yan looked down at her, and said something that surprised her.

"If you did find a cure on your own, then you must have been born to be a doctor."

It sounded like he was approving her plan. Wen Xi felt relieved, and overjoyed for the patients who would receive the vaccine. The sooner the vaccine was administered, the more people it would be able to save.

As overjoyed as she was for the patients, she could tell that He Yan didn't beleive she developed the vaccine on her own. To dispel his suspicions, she decided to make up a story.

"It was developed by my teacher."

Which, in fact, was true. A medical team had developed the vaccine nine months after the virus broke out in her past life, and in this life, they would have been conducting experiments now.

Although it was wrong to steal the product of someone else's work, she had no other choice, if she wanted to save as many people as she could.

"Do you mind telling me the name of your teacher?"

In a moment of panic, Wen Xi recalled a line from a TV series she had seen.

"He is quite an eccentric man, and prefers to be left alone. Sorry."

He Yan nodded. Having no questions left to ask, he says, "Someone will bring you food soon. If you get bored in the meantime, you can read the books over there."

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"I'm eating with everyone else."

"I can go with you." She smiled at him.

Without another reply, He Yan simply turned around and began to leave. Wen Xi followed after him. Even for a girl of her her stature, at five foot five, she became tiny beside him.

Wen Xi felt something she could vaguely describe as feeling secure, which was new to her. No one had made her feel this way before.

Wen Xi had suggested eating with him only to satisfy her curiosity - she wanted to see him up close.

Unfortunately, as soon as he stepped foot out the door, a nurse arrived to deliver a boxed lunch.

"Since it is already here, you can just eat it inside. It'll be safer, too."

Wen Xi was a little disappointed, but she didn't have any reason to argue. It would make him question her what motives were if she insisted on going with him.

Later that night, whilst Wen Xi was asleep in his bed, he continued to attend to patients.

The blankets smelled clean - new, even. Wen Xi thought it might have been because there little time for He Yan to actually lie down and get a good night's rest.

Every now and again, she could hear busy footsteps and the hoarse voices of patients shouting, along with the voices of doctors and nurses fighting death.

Wen Xi was deeply disturbed by the noise. She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything to help because of her injuries.

A short while later, when she was half-asleep, she heard steady footsteps entering the room. She heard the person close the door softly, lay a mattress out on the floor, and lie down.

The sounds he made were all very soft, which Wen Xi took as a reflection of his thoughtfulness as a doctor, or perhaps it was just one of his many merits that made him a brilliant man. The sounds were strangely mesmerizing, that it eased the nervousness Wen Xi's felt. Slowly, she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Waking up the next day, Wen Xi found that He Yan had already left. The mattress he used had been packed away in its original place, almost as if it hadn't been used at all. 

She needed to get ready to leave soon, she remembered.

He Yan returned after breakfast.

"Already?" She smiled at him through her mask.

"Yes. Can you walk by yourself?"

"No problem." She walked around the room to prove her point.

"No more hugs, then."

Wen Xi blushed. It wasn't as if she'd asked for one in the first place.

It didn't seem like he was flirting, though. The way he looked at her seemed to be the same as how he looked at any of his other patients.

As they stepped outside, there were a few soldiers there to greet them. The leader of their group greeted them with a military salute, and He Yan returned this action with a small nod.

He turned to Wen Xi and said, "Wait on the truck."

After Wen Xi getting into the back of the truck, she looked through the window to see He Yan and the leader talking. The leader, from what she could see, obviously respected He Yan a great deal, especially as a doctor.

She felt similarly about their profession too; soldiers and doctors were always two groups of people who deserved respect.

The soldier gave a standard salute as a farewell, and got in the truck to drive Wen Xi away. As she watched He Yan's soldier-like figure getting farther and farther away, she felt a little reluctant to leave.

It was strange. It had only been a day.

Wen Xi decided it would be for the best to let go of this feeling, as she smiled at the scenery passing by outside the window.