Chapter 779: 778 sleeps quietly
Words tumbled on his tongue, but Li Wei found that language at this mont was so pale and powerless, so ridiculously absurd, that it helped none.
He mulled them over again and again, then ultimately swallowed them down, letting out a gentle breath. The right hand that he had barely lifted, intending to pat Jeff on the shoulder for comfort, eventually missed its mark. He just waved it slightly from a distance, brushing away invisible dust, hoping to alleviate so of the burden.
Then, he awkwardly stepped forward into the hospital room.
Standing at the door, Li Wei paused, subconsciously looking at his own attire. He straightened his clothes before walking towards the head of the bed.
Annie Galas lay there in tranquil peace, her face calm, showing no signs of pain or struggle. It seed as if she had drifted into a dreamless sleep, content to wait for the sun to rise again. A lingering blush still graced her pale cheeks, not yet fully faded, and her serene, natural appearance betrayed no anomaly.
It was as if she were just asleep.
And then, waiting patiently, waiting for Li Wei to draw near, waiting for that instant when he let his guard down, the next second, Annie would open her eyes, make a fierce, threatening face on purpose, and suddenly pounce on him with a “bang!”
Watching Li Wei’s startled confusion and panic, Annie would triumphantly roar with laughter.
“Hahaha, you really should see your face right now!”
However, nothing happened.
No scare, no prank, no laughter, no whimsical antics.
Nothing at all.
Peace prevailed, and Annie still lay here, quietly, as if mocking Li Wei’s rich imagination by deliberately refusing to cooperate with the performance.
Ti stretched in the quiet air, further and further.
Disappointnt dragged Li Wei’s heart down slowly.
Li Wei took a deep breath, forcing calmness and retrieving his smile.
“Hey, Annie, it’s Li Wei, your favorite number 23 player.”
Li Wei couldn’t help but scrutinize the face before him closely. It lacked a sense of reality. Just a few days ago, they had been discussing the upcoming divisional ga, attending Felix’s pre-funeral together.
Yet, with a turn, they were now on opposite sides of life and death.
All of it, without any warning, not even a slender chance for ntal preparation.
“Dear little one, you didn’t miss our divisional ga, did you? Look, we’re just that aweso now, Indianapolis Colts got a good taste of the upgraded Kansas City Chiefs.”
“Impressive.”
“What about it, did you see my touchdown? Those touchdowns were for you.”
“Haha, did you like them?”
Li Wei longed for that Annie, bright-eyed and beaming with smiles, Annie who never forgot to face challenges with a laugh even in difficult tis.
Even knowing that she was fighting a battle with no chance of victory, Annie never relented, standing tall and proud, fighting to the end.
“This weekend, we’ll be facing the New England Patriots again, but sadly, you’ll miss it.”
“You know it will be an exciting ga, I’m all set. Do you think I can score a touchdown? What do you predict for the final score?”
“Haha, we’ll win, I know it. No matter what the score, we may lack confidence but we will win, it’s that simple.”
Blah blah blah, blah blah blah—
Yet it’s only uninteresting.
Li Wei, who was always articulate, even holding his own against journalists, suddenly found himself at a loss for words. The silence in front of him taunted his helplessness and insignificance without restraint.
So what if he had traveled through ti? So what if he had won a second chance at life? So what if he had won the Super Bowl?
Standing in the face of life and death, he remained as powerless as a newborn.
Then, a surge of anger sprouted instantly, sweeping across his brain in an uncontrollable frenzy, throwing everything off course.
“Hey!”
“Hey, Annie, wake up!”
“Our renowned Annie Galas wouldn’t easily break a promise, right?”
“Didn’t we agree to head to Arrowhead Stadium for our ga against the New England Patriots? Didn’t you agree that, in the next ga, you would be there in person to see score a touchdown?”
“How could you just give up?”
“Didn’t we agree to fight to the end? Didn’t we say that the Chieftain would never easily surrender? Didn’t we agree…”
However.
There was no response, nothing at all.
Li Wei suddenly realized that the hospital ward was terrifyingly quiet, not a single sound, this wasn’t like Annie, Annie was always full of smiles, always chattering away, always brimming with energy, a space where she resided was always overflowing with noise and laughter.
Not like now, exceptionally quiet.
He didn’t like this kind of silence.
This realization, in an instant, seized Li Wei’s heart; his strength deflated abruptly.
Words got stuck in his throat, unable to continue any further.
All that anger, that sadness, that pain, just made him feel all the more insignificant.
So wretched.
He still rembered Annie’s bright and splendid smile, he still rembered how Annie faced the Grim Reaper with humor and grace, he still rembered how Annie’s small stature harbored an unbelievably strong spirit fearlessly facing life and death.
If Annie were watching this scene right now, she would probably be laughing incredibly brightly, the kind that makes you roll back and forth, even unable to help but pound the bed.
That was Annie, like a little sun, laughing in the face of life and death, exposing the weaknesses of those of us who lose control in the face of mortality.
Perhaps, life has an endpoint; everyone’s long journey ultimately must confront the sa destination, but each life is different from the next.
So people live their entire lives but never find true happiness and joy, just going through the motions numbly, drifting aimlessly, reaching the end of their lives without ever finding the aning of their existence.
So people, in just a short span of ten years, continue to shine and warm the world, firmly seizing every mont of life to freely bloom and burn recklessly, inspiring others not just for their sake, but to not let themselves down.
So people are alive, but they are already dead; so are dead, but they continue to live, the aning and value of life are never that simple.
Annie was the latter, a short ten-year life, yet she possessed a century’s worth of grandeur and brilliance.
Involuntarily, he clenched his fist, silently feeling the beating of his heart within his chest, listening to the rhythm and sound of life’s pulse like never before.
Li Wei took a deep breath and finally, the anger within him settled down.
“Heh.”
Li Wei chuckled awkwardly, unable to help but marvel.
“Shoot, the perfect image has a flaw.”
“Shh, keep it a secret, just between you and , okay?”
“Turns out, we’re even now, because I already know your fear, and now, in exchange, you also know my vulnerability, fair trade.”
Quietly, quietly, he gazed at the face before him, inside that fragile and breakable body resided a strong and resilient soul.
“You’re afraid of being rembered, aren’t you?”
Li Wei still rembered, rembered clearly, that youthful face lit with the wisdom of life.
“You’re afraid we’ll get trapped in the mories, unable to move forward, so you’d rather be forgotten. The departed have indeed passed away, but the living must still go on, right?”
“But, Annie, you were wrong…”
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