When Chi Yan woke up, he was no longer at home. The streetlight streaming brightened up the room enough for him to check his surroundings. It was a fairly small room with two beds. IV drip stands were placed beside the beds. It was obvious that he was at the hospital, though it was strangely quiet.
Chi Yan's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and he realised that there was a person sitting on the other bed. Still groggy, he softly called out to that person, 'Yingzhi? Is that you?'
That person slowly turned around at his voice. Belated, Chi Yan noticed that the figure was skinnier than Yingzhi… Was Yingzhi this short…? And most importantly, Yingzhi didn't have long, black hair…
Chi Yan closed his eyes in fright, not wanting to look at that thing's face. Uncaring that he was at the hospital, and that it was in the wee hours, Chi Yan shouted out loudly, 'Ye Yingzhi!' At the same time, his hand unconsciously grabbed hold of the little bottle on his chest.
At the back of his head, he wondered about the bottle. Where did it come from? Why wasn't he wearing his grandma's jade pendant?
Just then, the door was flung open, knocking against the wall with a small thud. Almost in the next instant, Chi Yan found himself in a familiar embrace.
He heard Ye Yingzhi's voice, 'Ah Yan, what's wrong? Open your eyes and look at me.'
Chi Yan finally regained the courage to open his eyes. He pointed at the bed beside his, and with a trembling voice, said, 'There…there was a 'person' sitting there just now…'
He looked at Ye Yingzhi uneasily, the meaning between his words – he was hinting that it was not a 'person'.
Ye Yingzhi stroked Chi Yan's hair that was now damp with sweat, and his eyes darkened. 'It's ok, everything's ok,' he said gently.
'Where did you go? Why weren't you here with me?' Chi Yan whined pitifully. He knew he was acting like a 10-year-old kid, unreasonably throwing a tantrum.
However Ye Yingzhi laughed and gathered Chi Yan tighter in his arms, 'I went to register you for hospitalisation, and call for a doctor as well.'
His hand slid down from Chi Yan's head to his chest, seemingly unconsciously pressing on the bottle around his neck, 'Why would I leave? Aren't I always by your side?'
Chi Yan was still thinking of his earlier words, 'I need to be hospitalised? What am I down with? Is it serious?'
'Don't worry,' Ye Yingzhi gently pushed Chi Yan to lie down. 'It's acute gastritis. You just need to stay overnight to finish the IV infusion, and we can go home in the morning.'
Chi Yan looked uneasily at the bed beside his, '…can I move to another room?'
'You can't as this is the last available room. Don't worry, I'll not take one step from your side and will stay where you can see me from now on, ok?' Ye Yingzhi said.
While it was common to hear of ghost encounters in hospitals, it was the first time Chi Yan recalled having a personal experience. Yet, he instinctively trusted Ye Yingzhi, as if those ghosts become unfrightening with Yingzhi around.
Chi Yan nodded at Ye Yingzhi, but held on to his left hand, as if afraid he might leave. He looked up at Yingzhi with a guileless and innocent gaze, as if he wasn't the one who had stole someone's hand.
Ye Yingzhi warmly held his hand, and whispered, 'Rest, the nurse will come in with the IV soon.'
Chi Yan thought of something again. 'Yingzhi, do you remember when did I start wearing this?' he asked, holding up the glass bottle around his neck. 'Where did the jade pendant my grandma gave me go?"
His eyes curved into crescents, Ye Yingzhi smiled, 'How can you forget, I gave that bottle to you when we first met last year. Didn't you keep your grandma's jade pendant in a drawer beside the bed?'
'Oh,' Chi Yan wondered why he had no memory of Ye Yingzhi giving him the glass bottle, but pushed it out of his mind and obediently closed his eyes to rest.
Indeed soon, Chi Yan groggily felt the lights coming on in the room, and a nurse pushing the IV stand came in. Ye Yingzhi nudged at Chi Yan, 'Ah Yan, put your arm out.'
Chi Yan drowsily followed his instructions and the nurse efficiently stuck the IV into his arm, not saying a single word in the process. Chi Yan looked at to see her flat and expressionless face, as if she was a puppet with its strings being pulled, and got a shock at first, but relaxed as he thought about how he would look the same working an overnight shift and having to care for patients.
Once she was done, she left and closed the door with a bang, and the room descended into darkness again.
While the bed beside was empty, Chi Yan was afraid to be alone. He leaned to the side where the IV stand stood and patted at the empty part of the bed. 'Yingzhi, come and sleep here, we can squeeze together.'
Ye Yingzhi clasped his hand, 'Be careful about the needle.' However he didn't reject, and climbed into the bed beside Chi Yan, and wrapped an arm around his waist.
'Go to sleep, I'll watch the IV drip.'
Chi Yan wanted to reply to his lover, but a wave of drowsiness overtook him and he fell into sweet dreams.
By the time he woke up, the sun was in the middle of the sky and he was back in his own bed. The faint smell of porridge wafted into the room. After a torturous night, the first thought he had was that he was hungry.
As if on cue, Ye Yingzhi came in with a bowl of millet porridge. He set it down and helped Chi Yan sit up. 'Only porridge for you for the next two days as you recover.'
Chi Yan ate the mouthful that Ye Yingzhi fed to him, and suddenly had a thought, 'Yingzhi, when did we come back last night? How did we get back?'
Ye Yingzhi replied, 'We cabbed back immediately you finished your IV drip to free up bed space.'
Hmm, this doesn't sound right? Chi Yan thought.
'Why didn't you wake me up?'
He had fainted from pain last night, thus it was normal that Yingzhi had to carry him to get him to the hospital. However after the IV, he should have recovered, and was only sleeping, not unconscious, so why didn't Yingzhi just wake him up?
Looking down, Ye Yingzhi scooped another mouthful of porridge and fed it to Chi Yan. 'Yesterday, there was a painkiller in the IV with a sedative effect and the doctor said it was best not to wake you. Besides, it was also no trouble for me to carry you.'
Having no medical knowledge, Chi Yan believed all of that.
Chi Yan was fed only porridge for the next few days, and on Monday, Ye Yingzhi almost stopped him from going to work.
Chi Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, 'Yingzhi, it was just gastritis. Never mind that you are not letting me eat proper food, but now you want to chain me to bed to rest?'
Ye Yingzhi let him go, but thought privately that Chi Yan's suggestion was quite good.
After two weeks, Chi Yan finally got back the rights to eat normal food, after much coaxing and bribery. However the menu remained light, and dishes that were too spicy, cold or oily were not allowed.
Chi Yan helplessly poked at the steamed cabbage dish in front of him, 'Ye Yingzhi, are you feeding me like a rabbit?'
He's the one out slogging to earn money for the family! But yet he still had to live under the thumb of someone else!
Ye Yingzhi smiled and rubbed his ear, 'That's not a bad idea, to do nothing but take care of a big, white, delicate rabbit like you.'