A heartbeat, a lifetime

Chapter 18 Maze (4)
I turned my head to the side, but the doubts in my heart surfaced layer by layer.

Am I concussed?

If not, why do so many strangers suddenly appear in the dream—even though they have never had contact in life, but they are so familiar... like "relatives"?
Relatives... what are relatives?

Obviously I am alone in this world.

I closed my eyes with some nostalgia, and the pictures still emerged layer by layer...

It was an old man with a vague face, holding a rice bowl, bending over in front of me with a sad face, holding up a spoon, and carefully asked: "Would you like to have a bite of rice?"

There was also a five or six-year-old boy, holding a big candy in his hand, "Here, I'll eat it for you, don't cry..."

……

I opened my eyes suddenly, and there was actually someone in the ward!
He bent down, frowned and observed my expression, covering the barren land under the window, his facial features were soft and fuzzy.I maintained my side-lying posture without moving, looked at him, and murmured, "Why are you here?"

He took a step back, perhaps because he turned his body sideways, a beam of light fell into my eyes unobstructed, so bright that it was almost burning.I subconsciously stretched out my hand to cover it up, but I also missed his expression at the moment. I just felt a little unnatural in his usual indifferent voice, "The middle-level meeting of the group will be held at Yedong's resort this year."

"What a coincidence, Qin Mou went back two days ago." I laughed dryly, "Thank you for coming to see me."

He was silent and didn't answer.

I adjusted to the light and opened my eyes again, "I was so careless, I'm so sorry."

He dragged a chair and sat down beside my bed, crossed his fingertips, and repeated with an indistinguishable expression: "Why did you say sorry?"

I was stunned, yes, why did you say sorry?

"Ah? I've troubled so many people." My voice became weaker and weaker, from guilt at the beginning to sourness.

It is a favor for my colleagues and friends to come to see me, and one day, I have to repay it.But if I have parents, they must be rushing over here, right?In this world, parents are the ones who can play willfully and take without scruples without feeling guilty.

But I didn't.

……

Perhaps it was during the illness that the nerves that were usually as thick as steel bars became very fragile, as if they were easily broken when touched. I turned over to prevent him from seeing the moist eyes at this moment, and buried my head in the bed. in the pillow.

"Bai Xi, it's alright, your injury is not serious." He lightly touched my shoulder, and comforted me in a low voice, with a bit of tenderness in his tone, "Don't cry."

The tears stopped instantly, I remembered the little boy who was trying to coax me, and blurted out: "Shen Qinjun, I have a grandfather and an older brother!"

His voice was a little anxious, and he forced me back to face him: "Bai Xi, are you alright?"

"I have a grandfather and an older brother." The feeling in my heart became more and more real, with tears still in the corners of my eyes, but I smiled and said, "Really! I'm not an orphan!"

He looked at me in amazement, under the long and curly eyelashes, the pupils were a very beautiful and warm dark amber color, but there was a little bit of turmoil inside, "Did you break your head?"

I shook my head desperately, knowing that I looked like a lunatic now, but suffering from no proof, I could only say: "I saw them, and they were real!"

He stared at me for a while, and said word by word: "What's your grandfather's name? Where's your brother?"

I opened my mouth slightly, and after a while, said dejectedly, "I don't know yet."

"You must be dreaming." He spoke slowly and steadily - if it weren't for the strong feeling I had at the moment, I would have been convinced.

I shook my head in denial, "No. My brother...he once advised me not to cry—it wasn't a dream, I must have experienced it before it was so, so real."

Shen Qinjun smiled, that smile made me feel a little confused, as if relieved, "I'll ask someone to arrange an inspection for you when I go back to Feihai?"

"I'm not kidding." I had to explain again, feeling so lacking in language for the first time, "I'm fine in my head."

He stared for a moment, then stood up, probably unwilling to argue with me anymore, his tone became perfunctory, as if coaxing a child, "Okay, you have a brother and a grandfather. I have a meeting in the evening, you can rest ,I go first."

I looked at his figure about to leave, but finally stopped him.

"Shen Qinjun, have you come to see me? I mean, when I was still in a coma before."

He hesitated for a moment, "No. It's my first time here."

So...it was really a dream.

In the dream there was a person holding my hand, gently trying to smooth the scar on the back of my hand.

"Don't work so hard in the future." He paused, "It's because you are alone in this world that you should cherish yourself better."

Although he said it coldly, he was right.

I turned my gaze away, and said in a calm voice as much as possible: "I see. By the way, I haven't congratulated you on your engagement yet. Finally, what you want has come true, and you will live up to the previous toss."

He stood at the door, looking at me calmly, as if he was weighing the sincerity of what I said, and finally raised the corners of his lips, smiling distantly and politely, "Thank you."

In the evening, the report came out, and all indicators showed that my body was fine.According to the doctor, I will be discharged tomorrow.My colleague ordered a meal for me, and I urged her to go back to the hotel early to rest, and I booked a return ticket by the way.

"Are you okay if you stay alone?" She hesitated at the door of the ward and turned her head.

"Go, go, I'm going to bed right away." I said with a smile.

"Okay, then I'm leaving."

"Oh, wait—" I stopped her inadvertently, "how did you find such a good single room for me?"

"I don't know." Speaking of this, the colleague also looked puzzled, "The first night was originally a four-person ward, but it was changed later. But it would be great to have a single-person ward, so you can rest well."

I watched my colleague's back leave thoughtfully, recalling Shen Qinjun's sudden appearance, I couldn't help smelling a hint of conspiracy theory—not to mention his behavior just now really surprised me.

From what I know about Shen Qinjun, he has always been a person who keeps pace with every step.In other words, even if he is very sure about one thing, he still shows [-]% humility.I've never seen him so vehemently vetoing a matter that, in fact, has nothing to do with him.

I always feel that this incident is a bit weird, but I can't tell where it is. My forehead is bulging, sore and painful. I suddenly start to miss tobacco and the awakening smell that tobacco can bring. I didn't even think about it. He took off his clothes, put a wallet in his pocket, avoided the nurse's station, and hurried downstairs.

The night has spread out silently, even though I am wearing a coat and I am in a southern city, I still feel a slight chill.The downstairs of the hospital is very lively, fruit stands are set up in a row, fruit baskets, daily necessities, cigarette stands come one after another, there is a kind of smoke and fire in the world of mortals, although it is disordered, it makes people feel happy.

I walked into a small supermarket and started looking for cigarettes. The proprietress was very talkative. As soon as she saw me, she asked, "Girl, what's wrong with your forehead?"

"I was hit." I said vaguely, "Boss, I want that pack of cigarettes and a lighter."

I walked out onto the street with cigarettes and a lighter in my pocket. I couldn't wait, and I opened the cigarette case. With the cigarettes in my fingertips, I pressed the pulley of the lighter with my other hand and slid it down.

With a chirp, flames sprang up at the fingertips, like a faint flower blooming, with light heat and warmth.

One end of the cigarette is gradually burning, exuding a bitter aroma, which is irresistibly attractive.I was about to lean over when suddenly someone snatched the cigarette from my hand and threw it on the ground.

"You—" I raised my eyebrows and was about to start a fight, but when I saw the man's stern expression, I swallowed my words, "...what are you doing here?"

Shen Qinjun snatched the whole pack of cigarettes from my hand, looked at his expression, as if he was going to grab my ears in the next second, he pursed his thin lips, "What are you doing?"

The offensive and defensive momentum was easily reversed, and I murmured, "I'll come down and turn around."

"How many times have I told you not to smoke?!" He looked at me calmly—but I saw with my own eyes that his knuckles protruded and squeezed the pack of cigarette casings so hard that they were dented.

My new cigarettes... I miss that bitter sober taste like crazy.

(End of this chapter)