Give Me Another Smile

6-8 minutes 01.01.2023

Tang Yu was a light sleeper. Partway through the night, her eyes snapped open when she heard a gasp coming from nearby.

Yin Zhao-an, in contrast, had always been a restless sleeper. Only when she was in a comatose state did she remain in bed like a log.

Meanwhile, amidst her daze, Yin Zhao-an had forgotten her status as a patient and accidentally tried to sleep on her side. As soon as she tried to turn her body, though, she immediately felt as if several cars had run over her upper body, the excruciating pain causing her to lose her breath for a moment.

After Yin Zhao-an caught her breath and saw that she had awoken Tang Yu, she beamed a guilty smile at the other party.

Tang Yu instantly realized what had happened when she saw Yin Zhao-an’s partially turned upper body, and the fact that a certain someone could still smile left her exasperated. Feeling a little peeved, Tang Yu got out of bed and walked over to Wang Zhen, who was sound asleep on the sofa. 4887

Wang Zhen quickly woke up when she felt someone nudging her. Then, when she opened her eyes and saw Tang Yu, she dazedly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Auntie, An-An accidentally moved just now,” Tang Yu said as she pointed at Yin Zhao-an, who still wore a look of agony.

“What?” Wang Zhen instantly shot up from the sofa and strode to her daughter’s side. “How did you move?”

“Huh?” Yin Zhao-an wore a confused look, her mind failing to understand her mother’s question.

Feeling a little exasperated, Wang Zhen clarified herself, “In what way did you move your body?”

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“I tried to sleep on my side… But I stopped before I could use much force…” Yin Zhao-an weakly said.

“That’s fine, then,” Wang Zhen said, waving her hand. Then, pulling the quilt to cover her daughter, she continued, “Just take note not to forcibly try to move your body.”

“Okay.”

After letting out a yawn, Wang Zhen returned to the sofa. Before she went back to sleep, though, she added, “Remember not to move around too much in bed. Also, don’t be embarrassed to ask if you need help taking care of business.”

Yin Zhao-an understood what her mother was hinting at, her face heating up a little in embarrassment.

Silence returned to the ward, but Yin Zhao-an did not go back to sleep right away. Instead, she stared at the ceiling with her back straight.

Meanwhile, Tang Yu sat on her bed instead of lying down, her eyes filled with worry as she stared at Yin Zhao-an. However, she did not say anything, keeping silent for a long time.

The silence lasted so long that Yin Zhao-an’s eyelids had already started a brawl before she heard Tang Yu softly asking:

“Does it hurt?”

The brawling eyelids instantly separated, and the fatigue in Yin Zhao-an’s eyes vanished without a trace. Then, in a joyful tone, she asked, “What if I say it hurts?”

The corners of Tang Yu’s mouth twitched. She felt like she was a fool for asking such a silly question.

“Why don’t you give me a kiss, Tang-Tang? The pain will go away once you kiss me.”

“Can’t you behave seriously for once?” Tang Yu cursed under her breath before turning away and laying back on her bed.

Having expected such a reaction from Tang Yu, Yin Zhao-an faintly smiled. In doing so, though, she accidentally moved her injured facial muscles, which caused her to experience another bout of pain.

As the sound of breathing gradually stabilized in the ward, Yin Zhao-an suddenly felt a gentle kiss falling on her gauze-wrapped forehead. Then, the shadow covering her face vanished, and rustling sounds came from the bed next to hers.

Yin Zhao-an, who was only resting with her eyes closed, was shocked by this pleasant surprise. At the same time, countless fireworks went off in her mind, and her heartbeat grew so chaotic that she could even hear it through her ears.

…

When Yu Wanrou came by with three sets of breakfast, the two girls had yet to wake up. So, after quietly placing the breakfast on the bedside table, she hunched over to help rearrange her sleeping daughter’s quilt.

Before Yu Wanrou could let go of the quilt, Tang Yu woke up from her slumber. Meanwhile, the first thing she did after waking up was to subconsciously look at the neighboring bed.

“Good morning, Mommy,” Tang Yu greeted her mother as she sat up on the bed and blinked her slightly dry eyes. When she spoke, she made sure to keep her voice as low as possible.

Wang Zhen just so happened to have come out of the bathroom. Seeing this, Yu Wanrou handed a breakfast set to Wang Zhen and said, “I brought breakfast for you all. Eat it while it’s hot.” After saying so, she looked at the still-slumbering Yin Zhao-an and asked, “Should we wake her?”

After drying her face with a tissue, Wang Zhen shook her head and said, “Nevermind. She probably didn’t sleep well last night, so let her sleep a little longer. I’ll warm up her breakfast when she wakes up later.”

“That works too.”

After Tang Yu washed up in Yin Zhao-an’s ward, she followed her mother back to her original ward. Then, she sat in the corridor outside, eating her breakfast while her mother helped her pack her belongings.

Quite a number of patients had already woken up at this point and were walking along the corridor accompanied by their family members. Some looked like they were making their way to the courtyard outside to bask in the sun, while some were just stretching their muscles in the corridor.

“Yo, good morning,” a young doctor with messy hair and a face full of vitality greeted Tang Yu.

“Good morning, Doctor Gao,” Tang Yu responded, nodding her head.

“I remember that you can be discharged today, right?” Gao Rang asked as he reached out to brush the hair on the side of Tang Yu’s right ear, only for Tang Yu to avoid his hand before he could do so.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just trying to take a look at your wound,” Gao Rang hurriedly apologized and explained himself when he realized the inappropriateness of his actions. He subconsciously regarded Tang Yu as a child, forgetting that she was already a big girl with her own thoughts.

“The wound on your ear might scar. If you are concerned about appearances, you can use your hair to block it, but…” Gao Rang stroked his chin as he looked at the short hair around Tang Yu’s right ear. What he meant to say was that it was a pity that Tang Yu’s hair was trimmed when she was undergoing surgery for her ear and that it would take some time before Tang Yu could carry out his suggestion.

“Doctor Gao.”

“Hm?”

“It’s going to be eight o’clock soon.”