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墨書 Inktalez
**Chapter Thirteen**
"Recently, during the follow-up examinations, we found that your wife's immune cells are extremely low, and her organs are beginning to fail. You... need to be mentally prepared," Professor Liang's words hit me like a bomb, shattering my consciousness.
All hope was crushed once again.
I couldn't accept it. I clutched Professor Liang's sleeve, pleading with him to think of another way. But he merely sighed.
"Mr. Qiao, I'm truly sorry. The only method available to delay the situation is chemotherapy, but your wife's immunity has reached its limit and cannot withstand it any longer."
My hands instantly lost their strength.
I had exhausted all my connections, sought out renowned doctors across the country, but the answers were all the same.
Xiao Jie’s condition was deteriorating rapidly; her life flickered like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.
Her periods of unconsciousness grew longer, sometimes making it difficult for even a drop of water to enter her lips.
Watching her lie on the hospital bed, looking like a withered flower, each labored breath felt like a knife cutting through my heart.
...
I kept vigil by her side day and night until she finally woke up.
This time... she had been asleep for three days, but when she opened her eyes, there was a sudden spark of vitality in them.
Her gaze shimmered with desire, expectation, reluctance, and sorrow... finally merging into a single crystalline tear.
Then... a hint of relief spread across her face as she smiled, pulling me back to that chaotic market from years ago... my eyes burned with unshed tears.
" Hua," she called out with great effort.
I grasped her hand tightly, struggling to control my trembling voice. "I'm here, Xiao Jie. I've always been here."
"Don't be sad..."
"I... had a long dream... I dreamed of all our moments together. I... feel so content."
I could only nod and try to hold back my emotions.
She broke into a smile. " Hua... we... still have so many places to go."
I nodded, "I know, I'll take you there. We'll travel through every place on the map of China."
She continued, "And... the children at the village school... I miss them so much..."
"Also..." Before she could finish her sentence, she broke into a violent cough.
I quickly patted her chest to help her breathe easier.
She struggled to place her hand over mine, shaking her head to signal me to stop.
"You need to control your temper when you're out, it's not good for your health... Drive slowly... smoke less... drink less... you're not young anymore."
I nodded heavily, "I'll do whatever you say. Just get better soon; I'll listen to everything you say."
She smiled, " Hua, I just saw that wonton stall again... You look so young when you smile, so silly and cute, but..."
"But... foolishly adorable..."
I laughed through my tears.
As I looked into her gradually hazy eyes, the mist around me grew thicker.
"It's cold..."
I wrapped my arms around her tightly, tears streaming down my face.
" Hua, where are we? There's such a vast glow in the sky... Can you see it?"
"It seems like... it seems like we're at the ends of the earth..."
"It's so warm... I want to go into that glow..."
" Hua..."
Her voice grew softer until the room was silent, leaving only the long, continuous beeping of the heart monitor.
I held her tightly, feeling as if my soul was being pulled from my body; there was only me and her in this world...
Then I felt everything around us shattering and collapsing, and I fell into a vortex with her.
A powerful sense of suffocation engulfed me; I opened my mouth wide, but my throat felt blocked and no sound came out—only hot liquid poured from my eyes without stopping.
Chapter Fourteen
I don't remember how I ended up outside the hospital room, nor do I recall how she was carried away. Cao Feng reminisced that he and three doctors spent a long time pulling me out of the ward.
With the help of friends and family, I hazily managed to arrange the funeral. Sitting in the empty room, surrounded by everything we had shared day and night, I felt as if she would come back. Every time I closed my eyes at night, she would appear, so I didn't want to wake up, leading to endless days and nights of slumber. When I could no longer sleep, I would repeatedly organize her belongings, then drown myself in alcohol before falling asleep again.
When I woke up, there was only one thought in my mind: if I went with her, would we never be apart again? Cao Feng, worried that I might do something reckless, took leave to watch over me. He dragged me out for runs, soccer games, swimming, and hiking, trying to release my sorrow through physical activity. But longing always found its way into the gaps of my heart and mind, amplifying itself endlessly.
As I stood on the mountaintop, taking steps toward the edge of the cliff, Cao Feng shouted. " Hua, don't go crazy..." I turned back and seemed to see her smile materialize before me: " Hua, there are still so many places we haven't been; you have to take me." " Hua, let's go see the kids at the village school; can we?"
Humans are born alone, but when we encounter another person and two lives intertwine, we are no longer just ourselves. Loss is painful, but only by bearing this pain can we be worthy of the love we once had.
I packed her favorite clothes, jewelry, and our photos into a bag and opened a map. I would go in her stead to visit every place she loved and to love those she cherished. I would carry with me every memory of us as I set out to witness the changes in the world yet unseen, to understand life's impermanence, and to walk the paths she wanted to explore and see me traverse.
The End
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