"Did I scare you?" Lin Baohe said to his wife, who was sitting at the head of the bed, holding his hand with a worried look on her face. He smiled weakly, "Don’t worry, I just got a bit worked up, it’ll pass soon."
"Stop talking now, get some more sleep." Zhao Yulan wiped the tears from the corner of her eye, forcing a smile that was almost a cry.
Lin Baohe then fell asleep again.
At that time, Luo Gangshun had fetched Doctor Chaeng.
"Doctor..." Zhao Yulan quickly stood up, "He just woke up, and now he’s fallen asleep again, his temperature is 39.8℃."
Doctor Chaeng nodded, examined Lin Baohe’s complexion closely, then placed his stethoscope on his chest to listen carefully for a while, exhaling softly: "The patient’s condition has improved, the fever will gradually subside. Once he wakes up, the family should reassure him more, medicine cures the body, not the spirit."
"Thank you, doctor." Zhao Yulan expressed her gratitude sincerely, "I’m sorry to trouble you with back-and-forth visits in the middle of the night."
"It’s my duty, it’s what I should do." Doctor Chaeng then turned towards several men standing aside, "If the patient shows any distress, call me immediately."
"Yes." The men quickly responded and escorted Doctor Chaeng out of the ward.
Seeing it was nearly three in the morning, Zhao Yulan turned to the few quietly seated individuals: "Big brother, second brother-in-law, Gangshun, Cha Xiang, Baojuan, you all should go home, Baohe is fine with just me looking after him."
"I’ll stay and keep Yulan company, you guys go back." Fat Auntie looked at the others, "Baohe’s illness just needs rest, Yulan and I can handle it. If you all stay here, and Baohe wakes up, he will surely become anxious..." Seeing Lin Baojuan about to say something hastily, she quickly added, "Baojuan, you go back too, there are elderly and children at home, you should go and see to them, then come back later, alright?"
After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Baojuan nodded, "Alright."
Zhao Yulan smiled gratefully at Fat Auntie, who really treated her and Lin Baohe as if they were family, to voluntarily make such arrangements—a true friend, indeed.
If she had made the arrangements, others might think she didn’t want to impose, making it awkward for them to leave, but with Fat Auntie stepping forward, it was much better than her doing it herself.
Once everyone else had left, only the two women remained in the room with Lin Baohe.
The ward had five beds, but currently, Lin Baohe was the only patient. Zhao Yulan nudged Fat Auntie, "Cha Xiang, feel free to lie down on any bed for a while, I’ll keep an eye on him."
"No, I won’t be able to sleep anyway, not to mention, this is a hospital bed, all sterilized, I dare not just lie down on it." Fat Auntie said in a low voice, "One year my mother was admitted to the town health clinic, wasn’t she? My sister-in-law stayed with her, got too sleepy one night, and lay down on an empty bed. A nurse happened to see her, forced her to wash the sheets, and even scolded her, it was so embarrassing... ah!"
"Then you’ll just have to stay up with me." Zhao Yulan sighed, "In this life, you really never know when something’s going to happen, ah!"
"Looking on the bright side, it’s also a good thing..." Pausing a moment, Fat Auntie added, "You saw Gangshun’s face when he left, how gloomy he looked? Ah, those old folks, usually they just sit inside the house, right? This time they finally agreed to come out, sat on a little stool outside your door, not making a sound, if anyone walked by and asked, they would say they were worried you wouldn’t recognize them any more, wanting to see as much as they could.
Is that the way to do things? Are they cursing themselves or you? If not for Gangshun seeing them and finding a few people to drag them back, they would have probably still been sitting there when we brought Baohe to the hospital.
I’m telling you this to give you a heads up, those old folks are really shameless, and when you have time, you should really talk to Baohe, make sure he doesn’t take it to heart.
Getting upset over people like that, how is it worth it, right? Just think about it, completely cutting ties with them is actually for the best, it’s easier for you, and Chuxia will be relieved too."
"Yeah." Zhao Yulan held Fat Auntie’s hand, "Cha Xiang, you’ve been better to me than my own sister. Being friends with you all in this life is a blessing for me and Baohe.
There’s something I’ve held in my heart for a long time. I didn’t say it before, fearing you and Gangshun might overthink it, but now, you know I’m not just making empty talk.
It’s about what happened back then, I really don’t blame you and Gangshun, nor can I blame Dagang’s Grandpa. You guys should stop carrying that burden."