After Su Yao left the hospital room, Lin Qing was like a fish out of water.

He gasped for air. His lungs hurt with every breath, but he couldn't stop.

The aftereffects of the fear-induced calm were surfacing now, bringing some nasty side effects with them.

Luckily, they weren't too serious. He didn't need to call a doctor for emergency treatment.

He could recover on his own.

“Kid, you’ve got it good! A girlfriend that pretty? Back when I was in school, girls like her were the stuff of legend… And you went and got one for yourself.”

But just as Lin Qing was trying to get his rapid breathing under control, Wu Gang, in the next bed, couldn’t help speaking up.

The curtain between them was still drawn, so Lin Qing couldn’t see Wu Gang’s expression. But from the envy in his voice, he could imagine Wu Gang looking like he’d just eaten several truckloads of lemons.

Wu Gang talked as noisily as a market auntie haggling over prices, but somehow, his chatter calmed the fear in Lin Qing’s heart.

It reminded him that someone was there with him. He wasn’t all alone anymore.

With that in mind, Lin Qing gradually calmed down and stopped gasping for breath.

“Ah, to be young again. If I were ten years younger, I’d be the heartthrob of the school, with women falling all over themselves to get to me~”

As Wu Gang went on, he suddenly chuckled, as if he really could turn back into a kid.

Lin Qing couldn’t help smiling helplessly as he listened. If he could, he’d tell Su Yao to go bother whoever she wanted.

Just take her away already.

And stop letting her wander around in front of him.

And stop scaring him.

“By the way, what did your girlfriend mean by that last thing she said? Why should I be careful around Nurse Li?”

But as soon as Wu Gang remembered what Su Yao had said, he immediately raised a hand and pulled the curtain aside, leaving nothing between them.

No secrets, either.

“Huh? Why are you sweating so much? Tsk, are young guys these days all having kidney problems?”

When Wu Gang suddenly saw Lin Qing drenched in sweat, even his hair damp, he was startled. Then he thought of one possible explanation and looked at Lin Qing with immediate sympathy.

So having a girlfriend who’s too pretty isn’t always a good thing!

A man has to know when to hold back!

“I’m fine, Uncle.”

The moment Lin Qing spoke, Wu Gang perked right up.

He’d thought the kid couldn’t talk!

And he didn’t even stutter. He was polite, too. So he must’ve just not wanted to talk before.

“It’s just you and me in this room. It’s better to talk than sit there brooding by yourself.”

Wu Gang immediately seized the opportunity. He didn’t want Lin Qing to fall silent again and leave him stuck watching TV by himself.

Besides, the kid was young. He couldn’t go around being so withdrawn.

It was better to talk to people more. That way, he might get over what happened sooner and return to a normal life.

“Mm.”

It was Wu Gang’s kindness that gave Lin Qing the courage to speak up.

But when Lin Qing heard what Wu Gang said, he glanced toward the bed by the window.

“That old man might not make it. It’s been so many days, and he’s only been conscious for a little while at a time. The way we’d put it back home, he doesn’t have many days left… It’s a shame. His wife won’t leave his side and comes to look after him every day. At their age, it can’t be easy.”

When he saw Lin Qing looking toward the bed by the window, Wu Gang shook his head. There was so much heartbreak in the world; just hearing about it was enough to make you feel sorry for them.

But feeling sorry wouldn’t help. The end was still cold and merciless.

When Lin Qing looked away from the bed, he saw Wu Gang’s expression. He hesitated, then finally spoke.

“Uncle, you should stay away from that nurse, too.”

Lin Qing knew that, to protect himself, he shouldn’t say something like this to anyone. He should keep pretending he knew nothing, like he had at first.

But Wu Gang’s warmth made Lin Qing feel less alone. He couldn’t just treat him like a stranger and leave him to his fate.

He rarely felt anyone care about him… and when someone was kind to Lin Qing, he wanted to be kind to them in return.

“Huh?”

When Wu Gang heard Lin Qing say the same thing, he froze for a moment. Then he caught on and burst out laughing.

“Haha, you’ve got a sharp eye, kid! I may be getting on in years, but I’ve got a very clingy girlfriend~ She’s been busy with work, but she’ll come visit me in a couple of days… Come to think of it, Nurse Li is pretty. It’d be bad if my girlfriend got the wrong idea.”

Wu Gang put on a thoughtful expression, but there was a boastful edge to his words. He wanted Lin Qing to know that he had a girlfriend too—he wasn’t some poor, lonely single guy!

He only chatted with Nurse Li to pass the time.

Still, even if it was just to avoid misunderstandings, he should keep his distance.

“Ah… ah! Ah…”

While Wu Gang and Lin Qing were talking, the old man in the bed by the window suddenly opened his eyes and cried out incoherently. His hoarse, feeble voice was powerless, as if death were closing in.

Lin Qing’s hand trembled. Wu Gang hurriedly pressed the call button, asking the doctors to come take a look.

“Someone, quick! The patient in bed one has suddenly started shouting!”

The doctors arrived quickly, and a group of them crowded around the patient to examine him.

Lin Qing felt awful. He couldn’t bring himself to look toward the bed by the window.

The hospital room seemed to have become a place with all the oxygen sucked out of it. If he stayed there any longer, he’d go crazy…

He quickly climbed out of bed and put on his shoes. Still wearing his half-damp hospital gown, Lin Qing staggered out of the room.

The moment he stepped outside, he finally escaped the oppressive atmosphere.

“Oh my god, that’s wonderful! Are you getting married?”

Lin Qing wandered slowly along the hospital ward corridor. He didn’t want to go back to his room, so he walked without any particular destination and somehow ended up near the nurses’ station.

At the sudden voice, Lin Qing looked up.

“He only proposed. I haven’t said yes yet~”

“Come on, don’t keep stringing him along. You like each other anyway, so just get married already!”

“Aww, I have to play hard to get a little!”

“Keep playing around, then. What if you end up like Li Mei, with your boyfriend running off with another woman? You won’t have anywhere to cry about it!”

As the two nurses whispered and chattered, Lin Qing froze when he heard a familiar name.

“Li Mei has terrible taste in men. I told her ages ago that her boyfriend was a good-for-nothing… My boyfriend’s nothing like that. He treats me really well, and he’s never hit me!”

“Shh, Li Mei might be coming back. We’d better stop talking about it.”

When Lin Qing heard that Li Mei might show up, he didn’t stay where he was. He quickly turned and walked away from the nurses’ station, planning to take a stroll somewhere else.

“Patient Lin Qing, why are you out of your room?”

But the moment he turned around, Li Mei suddenly appeared.

Her pretty, delicate face wore a smile, and her white nurse’s uniform lent her an almost saintly air. She looked completely harmless.

But Lin Qing glanced above her head. Three black skulls.