Chapter 176 - Alone
As soon as the room was emptied, the room was filled with a long silence. Left on her own devices, Xiu Mei’s eyes lingered on the door for a short moment before roaming her eyes around the room.
She took Doctor Lee’s advice to heart. Maybe if she was left alone, she could speak. But right now, she was too tense and pressured to speak. So Doctor Lee left her alone inside the room to see if she’s calmed down, then maybe she could speak. So Xiu Mei did what he proposed and tried to gather her thoughts first.
She saw a couple of fruits and some familiar workbooks on the nearby table. There were even some blankets and a handful of clothes laying around messily on the sofa.
Seeing those, she knew that Lu Qiang must have been staying with her again just like what he did before.
She lowered her eyes and noticed her hands. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at her hands closely. She slightly pulled down her sleeves and affirmed her thoughts.
She... visibly thinned down a lot.
Xiu Mei never dieted at all when she started working. Because she was prone to skipping her meals when she was too busy, she would unconsciously consume a lot of food once she finally remembers that she has to eat. She would sometimes lose some small weight because of this but it was never as drastic as right now.
Her skin was sickly pale, but what surprised her was her fingers strangely slimmed down. Even her wrist seemed to turn thinner than she remembered.
Xiu Mei felt a slight panic rose within her but she immediately suppressed it.
No. She was doing the opposite of what she really had to do. She had to calm down, not to fuel her panic even more.
So Xiu Mei hid her hands underneath the blankets instead.
Out of sight, out of mind.
She repeated inside her head. She closed her eyes and took steady patterned breaths. Since it wasn’t a panic attack, she didn’t have a difficult time concentrating. She opened her eyes and stared at the sole object in front of her which was the television.
She kept her eyes on the black rectangular screen to keep her focus. She didn’t know if it was because it was too quiet, she could almost hear the steady heartbeat of her heart. In resounded in her ears like a drum.
1...2...3...4...
Xiu Mei cleared her mind. All the stuff she was worrying about was thrown at the back of her head.
After staying like that for who knows how long, Xiu Mei turned her head to the window a few meters away from her bed. She recognized the window style and knew that she was currently in the military hospital at the moment.
But she didn’t let that fact faze her. Instead, the bright sunlight that could be seen even through the beige curtains bewitched her. She shifted on her bed, her feet dangling on the floor.
Slowly, she climbed down from her bed, and with her two feet, she tried to keep her balance yet she immediately failed. As soon as she tried to stand up, her feet that were stuck on the ground wobbled. Her knees felt weak, causing her to almost fall on the floor if it weren’t for her reflexes to hold onto the bed immediately.
She paused for a moment. Why did she become so weak ah...
But she immediately shrugged off that thought and steeled herself. She wanted to reach the windowsill.
With great effort, she pushed herself up again and supported her weight by holding onto the bed. And then it was the table, and then the wall. She could feel her legs shaking with every step, but she never gave up. She was already panting heavily when she placed her hand on the windowsill.
Pushing the annoying curtains away, she finally saw the world on the opposite side. She placed her palm on the glass and felt the cool temperature seep into her skin.
Xiu Mei looked at her hand and fell into a trance.
It was so...cold.
She slid her finger slightly across the glass and saw that the area where she placed her hand previously turned clearer before it slowly condensed.
"Is it... winter?" She stammered.
When she realized what she did, she was stunned in shock. She held her neck again and as her eyes and hands trembled in nervousness and excitement.
She opened her mouth again.
"I can s-speak?"
Xiu Mei took a sharp breath. She gasped and with her eyes wide open, she looked at her blurry reflection on the glass window.
Even though the sound was very light and her voice sounded very hoarse, Xiu Mei was able to make a sound.
Gone was her feeling to suddenly freeze up when she tried to speak with Doctor Lee a while ago. She didn’t feel stuffy nor uncomfortable at all.
Xiu Mei felt like she just discovered something incredible. A smile appeared on her face as she felt like tearing up from happiness.
Thank goodness.
My god. So she wasn’t completely mute at all.
She could still speak. Thank god.
Xiu Mei stayed like that for the rest of the time until she heard a knock on her door. She spun her head and saw Lu Chen and Doctor Lee standing outside the room as soon as it opened.
Both men didn’t immediately enter her room, instead, Doctor Lee asked her first.
"How are you?"
Xiu Mei didn’t hide her thoughts and smiled brightly at the two. She nodded excitedly. Xiu Mei really felt like crying.
She unconsciously opened her mouth again to say that she could still speak but that unknown pressure in her throat returned.
Hearing no sound, Xiu Mei paused again as she fell into confusion.
Why can’t she speak again?
This time, Doctor Lee and Lu Chen entered her room. Lu Chen directly walked towards her and embraced her shoulders while his other hand held her palm. His posture was letting her body lean her weight on Lu Chen’s instead of using her own energy to support her weight.
"Let’s sit down first." Doctor Lee said.
Lu Chen didn’t princess carry Xiu Mei but instead, he allowed her to walk towards the bed by supporting her. Even though it took her a bit longer to reach her bed, Lu Chen patiently walked small steps to keep up with her pace and helper settle back on the bed. He even inclined the bed to her liking and smoothened the blanket that was covering half of her body.
"So at least we can cross out the possibility that you completely can’t talk anymore. How did you feel when you were able to speak? Any pain?" Doctor Lee asked. Xiu Mei reached out to the paper and pen he handed over to her and wrote down.
’Comfortable. No pain.’ She wrote and held up in front of him. Doctor Lee hummed in response and nodded.
"How do you feel if you try to speak right now?"
Xiu Mei paused to think and started writing again.
’Stuffy.’
Doctor Lee nodded again and wrote something down on his tablet.
’Do you feel nervous or pressured if you try?"
Xiu Mei fell silent. Her hands stopped midair before she wrote her response.
’I think so?’
They finished after Doctor Lee asked a couple more questions. He stood up and looked both to Lu Chen and Xiu Mei.
"I’ll meet with you again for the radiology exams but I’ll give you the final diagnoses once all the results come out. Right now, I advise you not to worry and put pressure on yourself too much Little Princess. Since you are still able to speak if you’re alone, that is a significant factor that tells us that you can still recover from this, okay?"
Xiu Mei nodded awkwardly. Doctor Lee left the room shortly after finishing their conversation.
Lu Chen walked over and stroked her head. He looked at her tenderly and spoke.
"It’s going to be fine." He uttered. As if like magic, Xiu Mei’s chaotic feelings slowly calmed down. Her heart and mind completely believing his words.
Lu Chen let her side for a second to grab a glass of water. Then he held it next to her mouth. Seeing the water, her throat felt drier and she suddenly craved for the liquid in front of her. She opened her mouth obediently.
"Slowly." Lu Chen reminded.
She slowly sipped from the cup until she finally emptied its contents. And then he put the glass back on the table beside him and pulled the seat underneath the bed. He touched her arm and coaxed her to rest again.
But Xiu Mei, who suspiciously felt that she slept longer than what she thought, was too awake to rest. Instead, she wrote something down and asked him the question that had been bugging her for quite a while.
’How long was I asleep?’
This was the question that she originally wanted to ask as soon as she woke up. Just like what she did in the past every time she wakes up after blacking out.