Chapter 41#

Chapter 41 Side Story — Sixteen

The door to the adjacent ward suddenly opened, and a doctor wearing a mask walked out. Another group of family members sitting near Mo Xi immediately ran over and surrounded him. Soon, a sharp cry erupted from the crowd. A woman in her thirties was crying uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. People around her supported her, their expressions heavy.

The doctor said helplessly: “Please accept my condolences.”

Tears gushed from the woman’s eyes like a spring. She knelt on the ground, grabbing the doctor’s hand, and begged tearfully: “Please save him again, please!”

The doctor felt deeply powerless and could only bow deeply to the family members, saying: “I’m sorry, we have done our best.”

The woman curled her legs and sat on the ground, covering her face and crying loudly. Someone tried to help her up, but after several attempts, the woman weakly collapsed back onto the ground.

Pei Hao and Mo Xi sat quietly in front of the ward and watched all this happen. Mo Xi seemed calm, but his heart was in turmoil. He had clenched his fists since hearing the woman’s cry, trembling all over without realizing it. He was really afraid. What if the doctor came out later and simply told him to accept his condolences? What should he do?

His mother had left less than three years ago. How could he face the departure of another close relative now?

Mo Xi rubbed his thumb hard into his flesh, a layer of fine sweat already on his face, but his eyes couldn’t leave the grief-stricken family member sitting on the ground.

“Don’t look,” Pei Hao immediately sensed his nervousness and helplessness. He reached out a palm to block his line of sight, and with the other hand, turned his head to face him, saying softly, “That’s not your sister, don’t think nonsense.”

Mo Xi was still immersed in his thoughts, mechanically letting him turn his head, without making a sound.

Meeting Mo Xi’s wet and helpless eyes, looking as if he was about to cry in the next second, Pei Hao felt his heart being squeezed. He pressed Mo Xi’s head firmly onto his shoulder, wrapped one arm around Mo Xi’s slender waist, and whispered like coaxing a child: “It’s okay, your sister will definitely be healthy in the future.”

Soon, the body in the ward was pushed out by the doctors, and the family members followed, leaving only the woman’s crying echoing in the corridor.

Pei Hao let go of him only after everyone had left. Mo Xi sat back on the chair, staring at the ward door, wondering when his sister would come out, and why Pei Hao still hugged him like that even though they had broken up. For a moment, thousands of thoughts were in his mind, too many and too chaotic.

“Click!” The ward door was pushed open. Mo Xi stood up abruptly. Because he was too anxious, his center of gravity was unstable when he got up, and he almost fell. Fortunately, Pei Hao was quick-eyed and quick-handed to pull him.

A doctor walked out of the ward and scanned the surroundings. He originally wanted to find Xiao Jun but couldn’t find him. Seeing Pei Hao looked familiar, he asked: “Are you Mo Zi’s family?”

“Yes, yes, I am her brother.” Mo Xi rushed in front of Pei Hao.

The doctor was wearing a mask, and the dark circles under his eyes were very obvious, but at this moment, there was a hint of a smile in the corners of his eyes: “The patient is stable now.” After speaking, he took off his mask, took a breath of fresh air, and sighed heavily, “We snatched her back from the hands of the Grim Reaper.”

Just as he finished speaking, several doctors and nurses inside also walked out one after another. A surge of emotion welled up in Mo Xi’s chest, and the corners of his eyes suddenly became moist. He kept bowing to the doctors and nurses, so excited that he couldn’t even say words of thanks.

The doctors stood inside for as long as they waited outside. Speaking of hard work, they couldn’t compare to one-tenth of these medical workers.

“But the patient hasn’t woken up yet, and there is still an observation period,” the doctor adjusted his sleeves and pointed to the ward, saying, “You can’t go in to visit yet.”

“Then when can we go in?” Pei Hao asked.

“After the patient wakes up,” the doctor tapped his watch with a finger and said, “Hopefully she will wake up within 24 hours.”

Pei Hao let out a long sigh of relief after hearing this. He had stayed here all night. Every time the doctor came out, he said “critical condition” or “uncertain”. This was the first time today the doctor relented and said “condition stabilized” and “patient will wake up”. The heart that had been hanging for a long time finally settled down.

After thanking the doctors and nurses, Pei Hao quickly ran downstairs to pay another deposit. When he came back, he slumped onto the chair, panting. Having not slept all night, he felt tired now. His eyes were extremely dry and stung a little when he closed them.

Xiao Jun and his parents had also returned by this time. Hearing that Mo Zi’s condition had stabilized, a hint of joy of becoming a father finally appeared on his face. Seeing the exhausted faces of Pei Hao and Mo Xi, Xiao Jun felt guilty and persuaded: “You guys go back and rest early. Pei Hao stayed up with me all night, and Xiao Xi sat on the plane for more than ten hours. You are all tired. Go back and rest quickly.”

Mo Xi stared at Xiao Jun’s eyes, which were swollen from crying, shook his head, and whispered: “I slept on the plane. You guys go back and rest, I’ll keep watch.”

In fact, he had been worried about Mo Zi on the plane and couldn’t sleep at all. Counting it up, he hadn’t closed his eyes for more than 20 hours.

“Stop arguing, all of you go back to rest,” Auntie Xiao stood up and walked into the middle of them, her eyes sweeping over their faces one by one, her words carrying a bit of heartache and blame, “Look at how haggard the three of you are. Your eyes are swollen from crying, full of bloodshot veins. Go back and rest quickly. Your dad and I will keep watch here.”

“But…” Xiao Jun was still worried. What if the two elderly people encountered something and didn’t know how to handle it?

“No buts. Your mom and I will keep watch here. If anything happens, we’ll call you immediately.” Uncle Xiao was imposing and allowed no argument.

Finally, it was decided that Xiao Jun’s parents would keep watch in the hospital, and the others would go home to rest first. At the same time, the confinement nanny hired by Pei Hao also arrived, and Xiao Jun led them to see the baby.

In the small sterile glass room, there were more than ten newborn babies. Some were sleeping soundly with their eyes closed, and some were awake, waving their chubby little hands.

The nurse quickly brought Mo Zi’s baby out. Mo Xi held her carefully in his arms, not daring to breathe loudly, for fear of startling her. The baby in the swaddling clothes observed the world curiously with bright eyes, her little face pink, making people want to pinch it.

“Too cute.” Mo Xi couldn’t help but marvel at the wonder of the Creator. The strange feeling of holding a fresh life filled him with awe for life at this moment.

The corners of Xiao Jun’s mouth rarely turned up. He took the baby gently, touched her forehead lightly with his lips, and said to the baby with a certain devout meaning: “Baby, bless mom to survive healthily, okay?”

The baby in his arms squinted and giggled at him. A spot of light through the curtains outside the window fell on her face, illuminating her watery skin, as if water would come out with a pinch.

Pei Hao didn’t like children, but thinking that the baby in front of him was related to Mo Xi by blood, he inexplicably felt she was cute. He looked at the baby with a smile and asked: “Does she have a name?”

“Her mom said to call her Xiao… The specific reason…” Xiao Jun paused, “Ask her when she wakes up.”

“Mm.” Pei Hao nodded.

At this moment, they all firmly believed that Mo Zi would definitely wake up.

The place where Mo Xi used to live in City X was rented out by Mo Zi to pay for his tuition, so strictly speaking, he had no home in City X. Xiao Jun invited Mo Xi to stay at their house, but he didn’t agree. Because the house Xiao Jun and his sister bought was a three-bedroom apartment. He could stay in the guest room during the New Year before, but now Xiao Jun’s parents were here, and there were also the baby and the confinement nanny. Plus, he really couldn’t squeeze in. If he went, it was likely that Xiao Jun would give up the master bedroom to him and sleep on the sofa himself.

Mo Xi lied to Xiao Jun that he had already contacted a friend and was going to stay at his friend’s house. Seeing his firm attitude, Xiao Jun didn’t try to persuade him anymore. Plus, Pei Hao promised to send Xiao Xi to his friend’s house, so he left first with the baby and the confinement nanny.

Watching Xiao Jun and the others get into the car, Mo Xi turned to Pei Hao and said: “You go back too… And, thank you for today.”

“I promised your brother-in-law to send you to your friend’s house,” Pei Hao took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at it, then unhurriedly hailed a taxi, “Say it, where does your friend live?”

“No need, I’m an adult, why would I need someone to send me.” Mo Xi said.

Pei Hao grinned. With his understanding of Mo Xi, he must have bought a flight ticket and flew over immediately after getting the news. How could he have time to contact a place to stay here?

Pei Hao wasn’t in a hurry either, playing tai chi with him slowly: “Da Bai is in City Y, and it’s inconvenient for you to go to Jing Ling’s place. So tell me, which friend did you contact?”

“None of your business.” Mo Xi glared at him, wanting to lose his temper but suffering from insufficient reasons.

“Are you guys going or not?” The taxi driver poked his head out and asked impatiently. He had stopped for almost a minute, and these two were still chattering outside without getting in the car.

“Going!” Pei Hao pushed Mo Xi into the car and got in himself, “Go to Zhongshan International Building 2.”

“Zhongshan International? Why?” Mo Xi looked at him in confusion.

“My home.” Pei Hao looked ahead nonchalantly, as if everything should be taken for granted.

“…” Mo Xi frowned, “I want to go to a hotel.”

“Okay,” Pei Hao immediately took out his phone and dialed Xiao Jun’s number without hesitation, “I’ll tell your brother-in-law that you want to go to a hotel.”

Mo Xi quickly snatched his phone and pressed the hang-up button, his face instantly turning dark: “Pei Hao, what exactly do you want to do?”

Pei Hao leaned close to his ear and said two words lightly: “Pursue you.” After speaking, he gently exhaled into his ear. Mo Xi subconsciously shrank back, his ear hot and itchy. The smell of Pei Hao’s aftershave still lingered around him. He blushed slightly, and an ambiguous ripple surged in the air.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mo Xi turned his head away to avoid looking at him, but couldn’t ignore the sound of his heart beating faster and faster.

It was pathetic to think about it. They had been broken up for more than two years, yet he still had no resistance to Pei Hao’s teasing. He couldn’t shake him off, and he would pop up from time to time to make his presence known. This person might be the biggest calamity of his life.

Pei Hao stared at his face, which was red to the roots of his ears, with burning eyes, and smiled. He really wanted to lean over and kiss him, but he suppressed the urge. If he really annoyed the person later, he would probably get out of the car and leave directly.

He had already been kept at a distance by Mo Xi. If he courted death again, he could jump off the cliff directly and never see him again. He didn’t mean to tease Xiao Xi just now, but the person he had been thinking about day and night finally appeared in front of him, and he couldn’t control himself.

Pei Hao forced himself to withdraw his gaze, cleared his throat, and said seriously: “There is some exhibition in City X these days, and hotels have long been fully booked. You go to my house to rest first, we’ll talk about other things in the evening.”

Mo Xi ignored him and took out his phone to call several hotels in a row. Indeed, none of them had vacancies.

“It’s a technology exhibition,” the driver finally interjected seeing that this customer wouldn’t give up, “I’ve already picked up several groups of people this morning. Hotels in the city center were booked out long ago. At this time, probably only the suburbs have vacancies.”

“Mm.” Mo Xi puffed up his cheeks, a hint of unhappiness between his eyebrows. He turned his head to look at the street scene passing by hurriedly and didn’t say anything more.