Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
She nodded lightly.
After a moment of silence, she finally asked the question she had been afraid to ask but had always wanted to know, "What about the baby?"
When she asked this question, it felt as if she had suddenly crossed from one world into another, returning from a dream to reality, or perhaps more accurately, from reality back into a dream.
Yes, since the day she confirmed her pregnancy, although on the surface it seemed she had firmly decided not to have an abortion and appeared strong and resolute in the eyes of others, only she knew that it was because she had placed herself in a dream, unwilling to wake up and face reality. That was why she seemed so unafraid and so strong, wasn't it? Only someone living in a dream could do what they dared not do in reality.
Indeed, since the day she became pregnant, she had been living in a fantasy.
Life is but a dream within a dream.
Now, it was even more of a dream, wasn't it?
Her reality should have been staying on campus, sitting in class studying, working on her graduation project in the lab, lying in her dorm room chatting with her roommates.
Instead, here she was, lying in a hospital bed as a girl just over twenty years old, an unmarried college student who hadn't yet graduated, asking, "What about the baby? Where is my baby?"
Could an unmarried mother really be in reality and not in a dream?
She anxiously opened her mouth waiting for Xu Wen's response. She was afraid to hear his answer, no matter what it might be.
She didn't know what kind of answer she hoped for.
If something were wrong with the baby, perhaps others would think that would be a relief for her. But she knew that if something were wrong with the baby, it would mean irreparable damage to her life. Yes, irreparable damage; that was a child she had exchanged for her beautiful life and future. How could anything be wrong?
If the baby were fine, then perhaps others would look at her with sympathetic eyes, thinking she was foolish and that her life had fallen into irreparable ruin. Yet for him, although it felt like a dream and left her—a young unmarried student—unsure how to face or accept it, at least the dream was a beautiful one.
"The baby is doing well! The nurse took him to bathe!" Xu Wen said gently as he stood up and tucked her blanket.
"Mm." She replied softly, her voice surprisingly calm. But after a moment of daze, she seemed to suddenly come to her senses, throwing off the covers and preparing to jump out of bed.
Xu Wen quickly stopped her and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I want to see the baby, my baby..." she exclaimed excitedly.
"You’re still on an IV, the needle is in your hand. How can you go see? Besides, the baby is taking a bath; you won't be able to see her anyway." Xu Wen pressed her down, urging her to lie back down.
She sat up again, "But I want to see her now..." Tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"The nurse will bring her back soon." Xu Wen comforted her as if soothing a baby, "Don't cry; everything is fine."
She nodded and lay back down, staring wide-eyed like a well-behaved infant, remaining still for quite a while before remembering to ask, "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl, just as beautiful as you." Xu Wen smiled, intending to lighten the mood, but this only made her cry harder, touching on her sadness. She turned away from him, resting her non-IV hand under her head, facing away as tears streamed down silently.
But he knew she was crying. From behind, he said, "A new mother shouldn't cry during the postpartum period." Saying this, he handed her a tissue from behind. "If you keep this up, you won't be able to take care of yourself; how will you care for the baby in the future?" His voice was soft yet firm and stern; it was the first time he spoke to her in such a serious tone.
She wiped her tears and stopped crying, turning back over to lie quietly on her back.
At that moment, her emotions were complex; she waited silently.
Her feelings were complicated and anxious as she waited.
After a while, a beautiful nurse in a white uniform entered carrying a fluffy bundle. One hand cradled the little one while she playfully teased it with her chin. "Baby oh, all clean and ready for sleep," she said with a smile while looking at Xu Wen who had already stood up.
Xu Wen walked over and reached out to take the bundle from her. The nurse carefully passed it into his hands and helped him adjust his hold before following him closely as he placed the little one into a small crib beside Qinglan's bed.
"She just had a bath; you'll need to feed her some milk in a little while," the nurse said with a smile to Xu Wen.
Xu Wen replied, "Okay." The nurse turned and left, casually leaving the door of the ward half-open.
From the moment the nurse entered, Qinglan's gaze followed the fluffy object in her hands, her expression complex—surprised, happy, excited, melancholic, and filled with an indescribable sense of illusion.
Yes, it was an illusion. At that moment, she felt uncertain whether she was in reality or still trapped in the buzzing illusions that had surrounded her moments before.
Just as they had left the room, she thought she had returned to reality from the unwilling memories of the past. However, at this moment, as she looked around, she realized she had not returned from an illusion to reality but had instead stepped from reality into another illusion.
Although she knew she was pregnant—a fact she had long accepted—and understood that she had already decided to give birth to this child, having even fantasized about various aspects of the baby—would it be a boy or a girl? What would it look like? Would its skin be fair or rosy?—she thought she could face it calmly.
Yet, when she truly lay beside her, Qinglan felt as if she were in a dream.
She had been sitting up for a while, dazed. Her gaze shifted from the nurse to Xu Wen and then back to the fluffy object; she could see nothing clearly. The impulse to see the child seemed to have suddenly vanished.
Xu Wen was facing away from her, preparing to feed the baby with a bottle.
After a long time, suddenly, Qinglan threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. Startled, Xu Wen quickly set down what she was holding and rushed over, exclaiming, "Qinglan, what are you doing?" She hurriedly went to support the IV hanging at the head of the bed.
"I... I want to see the baby..." Wearing slippers, Qinglan stood by the bed in a daze, slightly leaning forward with her hand half-extended but hesitant to reach out.
Xu Wen carefully picked up the small bundle from the crib—a tiny thing with closed eyes and rosy cheeks—and gently placed it in Qinglan's outstretched hand. "It looks like you; it's quite beautiful. Don't worry; it's very healthy."
Comment 0 Comment Count