Don't Dare Me

Liling walked briskly down the hospital hallways with Li Hao easily keeping up by her side

He had been adamant about following her up to her brother's room despite her obvious displeasure with the idea, so she wore a sour expression, with not an attempt to conceal her annoyance towards the inconvenience of her newly attached limb.

However, considering that he was her benefactor, the thought nagged at her mind and she softened her icy demeanour.

They soon arrived at the wards and Xu Ming's private room,

He had generously arranged the accommodation and despite her reluctance to take advantage of his benevolence, he had insisted.

Xu Ming had been moved from the ICU the day before as he had been making good progress in his recovery and was now being given immunosuppressants to prevent the new heart from getting rejected.

She hesitantly turned towards his door, her hand trembling as it reached for the doorknob. Inhaling deeply, she collected her thoughts before mustering the courage to push the door open and step inside alone.

Xu Ming was sitting propped up on a pillow facing the entrance while reading a novel.

She could feel her eyes well up with tears as she felt like a load on her chest had been taken off.

The surgery had been successful, paid for, and she hadn't been plunged deeper into the quicksand of debt, there were so many reasons she was grateful.

She walked over slowly, a sense of disbelief reflected in her hesitant steps, her eyes fixed on him. 

She could see the relief in his eyes, and even despite his blatant refusal to admit his happiness anytime she visited, she knew he was profoundly happy.

Engulfing him in her gentle embrace, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead, expressing her affection for him.

No words were exchanged between them, but they could see the years' worth of suppressed emotions in each other's eyes.

"You look okay", he started first, softly breaking the wall of silence between them,

She chuckled warmly as she took a sit at the edge of his bed, she was affectionately tousling his hair as she spoke, "I should be the one telling you that"

"Nah, I don't, but I'm glad you don't look exhausted this time"

Realization dawned on her. It had been more than a week since the organization had contacted her. News of her failure would have surely spread to her boss, so why hadn't he responded yet?

She forced down the feeling of dread threatening to invade her chest, she would worry about Zhang Wei later.

"So….. how do you feel? Do your stitches still hurt?"

His answer was a "no, not really" waving his hand dismissively.

This led Liling to continue with her questioning, she asked if he felt any different with his new heart, and if he had any new likes or dislikes which were known to happen after surgery

To this, he answered "no"

A round of playful banter ensued between them and everything fell back to normal, as if they were kids again under the love and warmth of their parents

"The doctor said you can get discharged by next week, you'll be clear to go home and we can live together again"

The smile on his face faltered and so did Liling's excitement

"Do you not want us to live together ?"

He turned the other way to avoid seeing the hurt look in her eyes. With a slight pause, he softly replied, "Not exactly."

Her happiness morphed into disbelief, "What do you mean not exactly, What if something happens to you?"

"Nothing's gonna happen" His voice was dismissive and held a note of frustration, why couldn't his sister stop acting so dramatic?

"How are you so sure?" Her voice went higher as well, 

It's my body, I feel fine and I don't feel the need to be babied"

The tension in the air was so palpable she could practically see it, they had never raised their voices at each other before, and she didn't like how it felt

She swallowed calming herself still trying and failing to understand her brother's infuriating way of thinking.

"Xu Christopher Ming, what exactly is going on, is there something you need to tell me?"

He avoided her piercing gaze, "No"

"I have known you for every single second you have existed. I know when you're lying, where do you expect to stay if not with me ?"

Her frigid voice was met with no response, so she continued, "If you don't start speaking, be rest assured, you will regret the day you were born, don't dare me"