"So, at the brink of death, you can truly see the one you love the most..." Zhu Yu stared blankly at Lu Qing’s face in front of her, murmuring softly.
"Don’t talk nonsense!" Lu Qing frowned, reaching out to cover Zhu Yu’s mouth, "You’re alive and well, and you’ll live to a ripe old age."
"I know..." Zhu Yu tried to smile, but her whole body was in so much pain that it inexplicably brought forth a deep sense of grievance. She had barely spoken before tears started streaming down her face, "When I first saw your face appear in the pile of rats, I thought I was about to die, so I must have been hallucinating..."
"What’s wrong? Is the pain too severe? I’ll go get Yan Daoxin right away to find so painkillers for you..." Seeing her tears rolling down, Lu Qing’s brows furrowed as he hurriedly attempted to leave without even offering comforting words. Before he could straighten up, Zhu Yu’s hand caught him.
Right now, Zhu Yu had no strength at all. Her hand felt as if the sinews had been pulled out, and her so-called grip was just her fingers weakly hooking onto Lu Qing’s fingers. She wouldn’t have to pull away at all; a slight shake and Lu Qing could easily dislodge her hand.
But Lu Qing stood still, as if held firmly in place by Zhu Yu, unable to move.
"Don’t go..." Zhu Yu’s tears flowed even more, the pain throughout her body was not enough to make her cry, but looking at Lu Qing now, she realized she was finally safe. A sense of relief, combined with the lingering fear of having escaped death, transford into an indescribable sense of grievance.
In her previous life, she heard from colleagues with kids that young children have a peculiar reaction. Even if they fall and hurt themselves, without their usual caretakers around, no matter how much it hurts, they’d silently get up, holding back tears.
But once the caretaker arrives, even if the pain from the fall has subsided, the child would imdiately burst into tears, feeling very wronged.
Zhu Yu felt that although she was not young anymore, at this mont, she finally understood the mindset of a little child.
It was that sense of security and reassurance that makes soone unable to hold back their grievances, that makes them want to cry and seek comfort.
After all, in front of this person, there is no hardship that one must stubbornly bear alone.
"Alright, I won’t leave. I’m not going anywhere." Lu Qing used a gentle tone that no one had ever heard before, soothing Zhu Yu like coaxing a child, and continued, "You’ve been unconscious for ten days. The first five days you had a high fever, and it only subsided on the sixth day.
Apart from occasionally feeding you so supplents, we’ve only been able to moisten your lips with a damp cloth.
I want to get you a cup of water and help you moisten your throat."
Zhu Yu indeed felt that her throat was dry and burning painfully. Upon hearing Lu Qing’s words that he wasn’t leaving the room and was just going to the table to pour so water, she stopped insisting.
While Lu Qing went to pour the water, Zhu Yu’s eyes followed his every move, like a child afraid of being left behind by an adult.
Since their marriage, the relationship between Lu Qing and Zhu Yu had progressed from tentative initial stages to a mutual understanding of each other’s feelings.
Despite this, it was the first ti Lu Qing had seen Zhu Yu look at him with such a dependent gaze.
On a regular day, Lu Qing might have quietly savored the feeling.
But Zhu Yu had barely escaped death.
All Lu Qing felt was an indescribable heartache.
He brought the cup over, sat down by the bed, and carefully supported Zhu Yu’s head. As she had many unhealed wounds, she couldn’t make large movents, only slightly lifting her head and upper body to drink without choking.
The mont the water reached her lips, Zhu Yu felt parched, desperate to gulp down the whole cup at once.
But she knew very well that she mustn’t drink eagerly now, so without needing Lu Qing’s reminder, she restrained herself, sipping slowly, spending a considerable amount of ti finishing that small cup of water.
Lu Qing supported her head and neck with one hand and held the cup with the other. Once Zhu Yu finished drinking, he carefully laid her back down.
"Is my head heavy?" Zhu Yu asked sowhat embarrassed. She wanted to lift her head a bit with her own strength, but there wasn’t an ounce of strength in her body, leaving all her weight pressing down on Lu Qing’s arm.
"It’s the perfect weight to reassure my heart." Lu Qing put the cup aside, returned to the bedside, and naturally took Zhu Yu’s hand, "You’ll have to lie quietly like this for the next few days. Once your wounds heal a bit and you regain strength, you can get up."
Zhu Yu replied with a hum from her throat, having just woken up not long ago, and the only thing she did was drink a cup of water, yet it felt like it had drained all of her energy, making her eyelids heavy.
"Sleep." Lu Qing noticed her reaction and softly spoke, "I’ll be right here with you, making sure that when you wake up, I’ll be the first thing you see."
Hearing this, Zhu Yu felt a comforting warmth inside, finally allowing her heavy eyelids to close and slipping back into a deep, soothing sleep.
This ti, she felt much more at ease, as if even the pain throughout her body had been montarily forgotten.
When she woke up again, Zhu Yu felt very light. Before even opening her eyes, she faintly heard birds chirping, suggesting soone had opened the window to let in fresh air, along with the birds’ singing.
Besides the birds, she could also faintly hear voices, one of them belonging to Lu Qing, and another male voice, deeper than Yan Daoxin’s tenor. It sounded familiar, yet she couldn’t imdiately place it.
The voices were distant, seemingly coming from outside the room.
Struggling to open her eyes, she realized the curtains were drawn. Light leaked through, indicating it was likely around midday.
What was the hour when I last woke up...? Zhu Yu’s mind was still a bit fuzzy, unable to recall.
As she idly gazed at the curtains, the voices outside stopped, followed by the creak of the door being pushed open, then gently closed.
A quick succession of footsteps followed, and the curtains were gently parted. Lu Qing peered in, his face brightening with a smile upon seeing Zhu Yu awake: "Did you sleep well?"
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