Or, are they blaming her for her misplaced hope of returning to a home that wasn’t hers?
Suddenly, everything became unbearably agonizing. It felt as if her boat capsized and she was thrown into the sea, all alone. The ruthless seawater invaded her body through her mouth and nose, choking her to a point where she barely could breathe. She opened her mouth wide, trying to gasp for a bit of air, only to swallow the freezing seawater, gulp by gulp.
When Chen Xiting came back to the dorm, her face showed nothing but urgency. The military doctor was off for the weekend, and the school’s infirmary was locked. She waited at the infirmary’s door for quite a while but nobody showed up. Not only had she wasted her time, but she also ended up achieving nothing.
Glancing at the person lying in bed, Chen Xiting was on the verge of tears. She noticed that the cup of water she had poured before she went out was now empty, indicating that He Zhilan had woken up in the meantime.
"Zhilan, can you get up? I’ll take you to the hospital!" Chen Xiting lightly pushed He Zhilan’s shoulder. To her surprise, He Zhilan’s pyjama top was damp. She wasn’t sure if it was from spilling the water or from Zhilan’s cold sweat.
Chen Xiting called He Zhilan several times, but she remained unresponsive. On a hunch, she went over to He Zhilan’s desk and fetched the handwritten contact list. She scanned through it and saw He Teng’s number. She initially thought of calling him, but then remembered how far away he was. It would be of little use to call him. So, she continued scanning and noticed Lin Chan’s number on the next line. Chen Xiting muttered, "It’s up to you now!"
After memorising Lin Chan’s number, she immediately ran over and dialled it.
It’s a small world indeed. Just as Lin Chan was parking his car under the dorm building, planning to call He Zhilan down, his phone rang. Seeing the incoming call was from He Zhilan’s dorm number, he assumed it was He Zhilan. "Sweetheart, are we telepathic or what? I’m down at your dorm. Hurry down," he chuckled.
Just as Lin Chan was about to hang up, Chen Xiting hurriedly shouted, "Zhilan is seriously sick! It’s great that you’re here. Quickly come up and help take her to the hospital! Speak to the dorm supervisor, and she will guide you up!"
Learning that He Zhilan was sick, Lin Chan didn’t even bother to park his car properly. He jumped out of the car and dashed straight into the girls’ dormitory. The dorm supervisor was left behind angrily chasing him shouting. If it weren’t for the fact that she knew Lin Chan, she would probably have called the campus security.
Thanks to his long legs and quick sprint, Lin Chan made it to He Zhilan’s room before the dorm supervisor did. Seeing Lin, Chen Xiting finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Quickly, we need to get her to the hospital. When I tried to wake her earlier, she was responsive. But now, she won’t respond, no matter how much I push or call her. It’s like she’s dead. It scared me to death!"
"How did she fall so seriously ill all of a sudden?" Lin Chan was alarmed by Chen Xiting’s words. He went over to He Zhilan and gave her a hard push. To his surprise, she was completely unresponsive, just as Chen Xiting had said.
"Did she take some fever medicine and fall into a deep sleep as a result?" Lin Chan asked.
"Where would I find medicine for her? My trip to the infirmary was in vain; it was deserted! Even if she had taken medicine to lower her fever, she wouldn’t be sleeping so deeply!" Chen Xiting quickly shook her head.
Lin Chan frowned as his gaze fell on He Zhilan’s desk. Seeing the untouched, packed porridge sitting there, he realised that He Zhilan had once again skipped her breakfast in the morning.