In the evening, I cook beef and tomato soup and prepare dinner for two to take to the hospital. Before entering, I carefully look inside.
Ye Zhengchen is reading a professional textbook on the hospital bed, occasionally checking his watch. His mental state has improved since this morning, likely due to the pork ribs and winter melon soup. I check from every angle, confirming that Yu Yin is nowhere to be seen.
I pushed open the door and walked in, enduring the pain in my foot. As soon as Ye Zhengchen saw me, his face lit up.
I had just sat down when Ye Zhengchen leaned in and sniffed me, then looked me up and down, finally stopping on my swollen ankle. “Did you hurt your foot?”
I’m an idiot for forgetting that he’s a doctor. I shouldn’t have used red flower oil or worn a skirt.
I replied nonchalantly, “It’s just a sprained ankle.”
He shifted to the side, pulled back the blanket, and patted the empty spot. “Sit here, let me take a look.”
Seeing him in a patient’s gown but looking like a chief physician, I sat on the edge of his bed, took off my shoes, and placed my injured leg on his bed. He pressed the swollen area gently, causing a sharp pain that made my leg tremble.
He looked up at me, brow furrowed. “How did you get hurt?”
“I climbed onto the balcony this morning and accidentally sprained it.” I left out that I had also kicked a wall at noon.
He wrapped his palms around my ankle, and a warm current surrounded the throbbing pain.
Through his pale face and self-reproachful gaze, I could feel his care and love.
I believe his feelings for me are real. Even if this trust feels fragile, I continue to reinforce it.
“Don’t come tomorrow. Rest in the apartment. You can’t walk for at least three days or ride a bicycle for a month,” he said while massaging me.
“Then who will bring you food?”
He ruffled my hair, whispering, “Silly girl.”
I’d rather be a silly girl, guarding my happiness, knowing nothing.
He took my seagull watch from under the pillow and fastened it around my wrist.
I stared blankly at the moving watch hands, feeling an emptiness in my chest.
