Chapter 175 - One-Hundred and Seventv-Five: Hell
Cool, sweet liquid flowed down her parched throat, and Fang Xi swallowed it greedily. It nourished her dehydrated body, and she felt like she’d climbed up from Hell.
“Fang Xi? Fang Xi? Fang Xi? Fang Xi?” The loud and soft cries made Fang Xi struggle to open her eyes. She was greeted by Ye Kun’s anxious face. He had a five o’clock shadow, and his eyes were sunken and filled with anxiety.
“You’re awake!” Ye Kun cried, pleasantly surprised.
“Thank Heavens! If you hadn’t woken up, I would’ve called 911,” Ye Kun told her. He was so relieved that his legs gave out, and he sat heavily on the ground.
“Water,” Fang Xi requested with some difficulty. Her throat hurts badly.
“Okay, water, got it. Water, you should drink more water. Drink more water to recover faster,” Ye Kun babbled as he got up to get some water.
Fang Xi realized she was lying on the sofa with a thin blanket covering her body, and there were two cushions behind her.
‘Didn’t I take Tuan Tuan to bed with me? Just as Fang Xi had that thought, Tuan Tuan jumped onto the sofa and started sniffing from her blanket all the way to her hand. He licked her hand and looked at her pitifully. She reached out to hug Tuan Tuan to her chest and then turned to look at Ye Kun.
Ye Kun poured a third of hot water into the cup, then mixed it with two-thirds of cold water. Then, he scooped in two spoonfuls of honey and quickly stirred the mixture twice. He brought the honey water over, sat on the sofa, then helped her sit up. “Here, drink it. It’s just the right temperature.” Ye Kun was leaning against the two cushions; only then did Fang Xi realize the cushions were for him. ‘Could it be that I slept on his lap last night? she thought.
The warm and sweet honey water tasted divine as it went down her throat. She drank it all in one go, then raised the cup and asked Ye Kun, “What happened to me?” She noticed her voice sounded very hoarse.
Ye Kun took the cup, stood up, and sighed, “You had a fever of almost 40 degrees Celsius. I called my doctor friends. They said there are a lot of patients with the flu in the hospital right now; just to be safe, it’s better to take care of you at home than going to the hospital. I fed you some medicine and then cooled you down physically.”
Ye Kun pointed at the small table at the side. There was a basin of water and two towels on the table. They were the towels from her bathroom. It seemed that Ye Kun had placed them on her forehead to cool her down before.
“I carried you to the sofa so that it’s easier for me to feed you water and medicine and lower your temperature. Your fever was too high, and you kept pushing off the blanket. I had to… I had to hug you to keep the blankets on. The fever medicine will make you sweat. You might catch a cold if you’re not properly covered up,” Ye Kun tentatively explained, afraid that Fang Xi would be unhappy with his actions.
‘Oh! So, the doors Ipushed open in my dream was the blanket! Fang Xi realized. ‘ Then, what about ‘him’? Washe just a figment ofmy imagination? In my dreams, he… was always dismissive ofme.’
Ye Kun carefully reached out to touch her forehead and said worriedly, “You’re still running a little hot. I’ll call a doctor to come take a look at you.”
Ye Kun turned around to get his phone. “Ye Kun,” Fang Xi called out; her hoarse voice sounded unfamiliar even to herself. “Hmm?” Ye Kun held his phone and answered her.
“I’m fine,” Fang Xi uttered.
Ye Kun handed her the digital thermometer. “Take a measure and see what temperature you’re at now. We’ll be fine without a doctor if it’s below 38 degrees Celsius. We’ll just need to continue to lower your temperature physically, take medicine, and drink water,” Ye Kun stated, talking more to himself than her.
Fang Xi accepted the thermometer and smiled at Ye Kun. “I’m fine, really.”
Ye Kun froze. Fang Xi’s smile, while beautiful, seemed fragile.
Fang Xi patted the seat beside her, indicating for him to sit down. However, Ye Kun pulled a small stool over and sat facing Fang Xi—she didn’t need to be taken care of, so he could no longer get so close to her.
Fang Xi lowered her head and chuckled. ‘ Ye Kun is a gentleman. He’s very different from a certain someone’s cold indifference.’
“Ye Kun, I had a dream,” Fang Xi told him. “I dreamed that I was in Hell and was frozen and burned. It was terrible.” With her throat moistened by the honey water, her voice gradually became clear.
“That’s because you have a fever,” Ye Kun said.
Fang Xi shook her head. “No, that was Hell. The hell that is my punishment. I even met my ex-boyfriend there.”
Fang Xi smiled at Ye Kun. Ye Kun was at a loss; he didn’t know how to comfort her.
“After this little trip to Hell, I’m truly over him. Ever since we broke up, I
couldn’t move on until—until yesterday. I’ve really moved on. From now on, my feelings for him will disappear together with the dream from last night. Ye Kun, I’m not sad anymore. This counts as a rebirth of sorts. Thank you! For always taking care of me,” Fang Xi said calmly and coherently..