Yang Xinyu went to the kitchen to get an ice pack, while dialing the family physician. He came back and sat next to her, pressing the ice pack against her lips. She winced yet again, and turned her face away in pain. Worried, he scooped her into his arms and on to his lap, gently pressing the ice pack against her cheek once more.
He stroked her back softly and murmured, "I'm so sorry. How do you feel?"
Wu Lina gave in and, resting her face on his shoulders, started sobbing uncontrollably. "Yang Xinyu, is it really so… so… difficult for the world to… to… accept me?" she asked tearfully. Her shoulders shook with her cries.
"I think when it comes to filial relationships, I'm a building that everybody abandoned. Like the Titanic as it sunk."
"Shh… don't talk," he said.
He laid her on the bed, her tusseled braid resting against the white pillow.