Chapter 40#

Chapter 40 Side Story — Fifteen

The elevator doors opened, and Mo Xi looked up to see the bold characters “Intensive Care Unit” written on the door frame. He pushed the door open and walked in. It was much quieter here than in the bustling obstetrics and gynecology department. Patients in the ICU were all halfway to death’s door. Family members sat on chairs with heavy expressions, heads bowed in silence, the air so quiet it seemed solidified. In the innermost seats, two people sat with their heads down. One of them must be Xiao Jun, and the other looked extremely like Pei Hao.

“Brother-in-law,” Mo Xi called out.

The two people on the chairs turned their heads and looked at him.

The person next to Xiao Jun was really Pei Hao!

Mo Xi’s heart skipped a beat, feeling as if something was blocking his chest, making it uncomfortable. Even though they had been broken up for more than two years, he still couldn’t completely erase this person from his heart. Seeing him now, it was inevitable that he would feel emotional turmoil.

Xiao Jun’s face was dark, his eyes sunken deep in their sockets, while Pei Hao looked solemn, his eyes only flashing with light when he saw him.

He didn’t care to ask why Pei Hao was here; nothing was more important than his sister right now.

“Why are you here?” Xiao Jun was a bit surprised. Mo Xi didn’t say he was coming back on the phone yesterday.

Mo Xi didn’t answer Xiao Jun’s question but walked straight to him and Pei Hao, pursing his lips tightly, and asked anxiously, “How is my sister?”

“Resuscitated all night, currently still in a coma.” Xiao Jun had no confidence, his eyes full of anxiety.

He didn’t know how to explain to Mo Xi. Should he say his sister went into shock from blood loss yesterday, or that two critical illness notices were issued last night? He felt Mo Xi wouldn’t be able to accept either.

From the moment Mo Xi entered, Pei Hao’s eyes hadn’t left him. Having not seen him for half a year, Mo Xi was much thinner than before, the baby fat on his cheeks gone, probably from the exhaustion of working and studying at the same time. Pei Hao felt an itch and pain in his heart as if gnawed by small insects; he wanted to pull the person into his arms.

He pulled Mo Xi to sit on the seat next to him and said, “You haven’t eaten, right? I’ll order some lunch.”

Xiao Jun shook his head: “I’m not hungry, don’t worry about me.”

Mo Xi turned his head and looked at Pei Hao for a while before remembering to ask why he was here. Pei Hao leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Your brother-in-law called me to borrow money, so I came.”

Mo Xi looked at him skeptically, then at Xiao Jun, and finally lowered his head without saying anything. If what Pei Hao said was true, then questioning him now would embarrass Xiao Jun. When his sister had the accident, neither he nor his dad were around, and they couldn’t come up with much money. Mo Xi knew about Xiao Jun’s family; both elderly parents were ordinary laborers, and their life savings had gone into the down payment for Xiao Jun’s house. He must have been truly desperate to think of borrowing money from Pei Hao.

Moreover, looking again, both Pei Hao and Xiao Jun had bloodshot eyes, probably having not slept all night. Asking so many questions now wouldn’t solve anything; it was better to wait quietly.

Not long after sitting down, the ICU door suddenly opened, and a nurse ran out quickly. Before they could go up to ask anything, the nurse went into another room, then ran back into the ward with some medicine. Mo Xi vaguely heard the doctor’s urgent voice inside: “Blood, more blood!”

Mo Xi’s heart pounded, his hands clenched tight, palms sweaty. Pei Hao gently patted his hand with his palm, as if comforting him.

A few minutes later, a nurse trotted over to them, panting, “This is Mo Zi’s critical illness notice. Family members, please sign.” Xiao Jun was stunned at first, then picked up the paper with trembling hands, signing while crying. This was already the third one today. He wasn’t a person who cried easily, maybe once every few years, but since yesterday, he had almost shed a lifetime’s worth of tears.

Mo Xi had been holding it in on the plane for over ten hours. The moment he saw the lines on the critical illness notice, he suddenly couldn’t hold it anymore, and tears gushed out. He couldn’t understand how someone who was chatting happily with him on the phone just a few days ago could suddenly be critically ill.

Afraid of affecting Xiao Jun’s emotions, he didn’t dare cry too loudly, only sobbing silently, his shoulders trembling slightly, tears falling onto the ground. His world turned gray. If his sister was gone, what was the meaning of him living alone?

His mind was in chaos, his heart aching with spasms. Suddenly, a pair of warm arms embraced him, a familiar scent surrounding him. Every cell in his body seemed to wake up suddenly, opening their mouths to inhale this person’s breath—those feelings of attachment he thought had long faded all awakened in this instant.

His first reaction was to break free from this embrace—how could he tolerate the emotions he had suppressed for over two years suddenly reviving like this? But the person sensed his intention and held him tighter, resting his chin on the top of his head, deeply inhaling his scent. Mo Xi struggled to no avail, so he let him be. His mind was in a mess right now; he had no mood to care about this.

“Cry it out if it hurts,” Pei Hao held him with one hand and gently patted his back with the other, whispering in his ear, “You’ll feel better if you cry it out.”

Maybe he had held it in for too long, or maybe he was encouraged by Pei Hao’s words, Mo Xi bit into Pei Hao’s shoulder and began to whimper softly, the irritability and uneasiness in his heart pouring out with his tears.

With this bite, Mo Xi felt that Pei Hao was much thinner than before. He happened to be wearing the clothes Mo Xi bought for him back then. They fit perfectly then, but now they were quite loose. What had Pei Hao experienced during the days he was abroad?

When the person in his arms calmed down, Pei Hao released his hands. He looked down at Mo Xi’s tear-stained face, his chest feeling heavy with heartache. He knew how important his sister was to Xiao Xi; she was his deepest concern in this world. If Mo Zi wasn’t okay, Xiao Xi definitely wouldn’t be either. That was why he rushed to the hospital without stopping to help with all his might.

He never wanted to see that look of utter despair and listlessness Xiao Xi had when his mother passed away ever again in his life.

Pei Hao lifted his chin, gently wiped away the tear stains on his face, his gaze steady: “Pull yourself together. Your sister’s child is born, and your sister still has hope of survival. Now is not the time to break down.”

“Child?” Mo Xi’s bewildered eyes finally had some focus, “The child is born?”

“Yes, very healthy and cute,” Pei Hao gave him an affirmative look, “I’ll take you to see your niece later.”

“Okay.” Mo Xi nodded vigorously while wiping his tears.

Just then, the takeout arrived. Pei Hao opened the lunch boxes and set them out, calling the two to eat.

“I have no appetite,” Mo Xi and Xiao Jun answered in unison.

Of course, he knew they had no appetite, but keeping vigil was also physical work. Seeing that Mo Zi’s situation wouldn’t be resolved in a few hours, if they didn’t eat something, their bodies would soon collapse.

“Brother-in-law, eat a little,” Pei Hao handed the lunch box to Xiao Jun, saying solemnly, “In case Sis needs your help later, you need to have strength.”

Xiao Jun thought it made sense, took the lunch box, and started shoveling food as if completing a task.

“You,” Pei Hao looked at Mo Xi with gentle eyes, “I’ll feed you.”

Anyway, when Mo Xi’s mother passed away that year, he coaxed him to eat spoonful by spoonful like this. He was used to it.

Pei Hao took a spoonful and brought it to Mo Xi’s mouth. Mo Xi was distracted, suddenly having the illusion that the time from that year and today overlapped, and Pei Hao was playing the role of his boyfriend, trying his best to make him eat something.

He almost opened his mouth in a trance to let him feed, but a voice suddenly popped up in his heart: You have already broken up. Mo Xi then awkwardly turned his head, took the spoon himself, and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

Pei Hao didn’t argue with him. The goal was to make him eat; it didn’t matter who fed him.

After much persuasion, Xiao Jun and Mo Xi finally ate two-thirds of the ordered food, and Pei Hao felt slightly relieved.

At noon, Xiao Jun’s parents arrived. The two elderly people had planned to spend the day at the farm, but unexpectedly heard last night that their daughter-in-law had a massive hemorrhage during childbirth. They took several buses from the county early this morning to rush here. Auntie Xiao held a basket of eggs and some fresh ingredients, originally planning to make soup for Mo Zi when she woke up. After seeing three critical illness notices, she walked in the hospital corridor sighing worriedly: “Xiao Zi is such a good girl, why does she have to suffer like this?”

Uncle Xiao frowned deeply and replied coldly: “Don’t nag at a time like this, it’s annoying everyone.”

Auntie Xiao was unconvinced: “I’m worried about Xiao Zi. You don’t know how hard childbirth is for a woman…”

Seeing his parents about to quarrel, Xiao Jun quickly interrupted them: “Stop arguing, it needs to be quiet here. I’ll take you to see the baby.”

From the time the baby was born until now, he only took a hurried look at the beginning, and then stayed at the door of the ward without leaving.

Pei Hao also nodded to them and said, “Xiao Xi and I will be here, you go ahead.”