The warmth left behind by Shui's birthday celebration didn't disappear all at once. It lingered in the gaps of their everyday busy lives. Life continued as ti slipped forward. And sowhere along the way, without ceremony or warning, the days grew heavier.
No one said it had been four weeks, but it felt as if four whole years had passed. Ti simply stretched itself into hospital corridors as it beca Hou Luli's world. So days she was lucid enough to smile, to speak a few sentences before exhaustion would seize her again. On other days, she slept through visiting hours, her breathing shallow and face drained of color.
Lin had almost been visiting her everyday by that point - sotis alone, sotis with Shui. But one day Hou Luli got a surprise. A familiar face greeted her which looked like Lin but wasn't. Tears wetted her lashes and her lips quivered.
"Cai…It's Cai, aren't you?"
Cai didn't respond to her call but only observed her weakened state and the all kinds of monitors attached to his mother beeping faintly. Even speaking looked like it took a toll on her health.
He pulled a chair and quietly took a seat. Watching her gaze fixed at his with a misty gleam convulsed his heart with an annoying ache he didn't want to experience.
"...Hey," he whispered.
"You ca," she smiled.
"Yeah."
"You look so handso now, just like Lin…You two have grown up so well."
Her countenance took a slow drop, her body trembling. "I wish…I was there to see you two boys grow up…"
Through the small, round glass window, Lin peered inside, watching their conversation. He couldn't hear what was being said, but he could tell that his brother was shaken up. The faint tremble passing through his shoulders expressed the emotions he would be struggling with.
A pair of hurried footsteps approached the ward and Hou Fa reached, breathless. "Cai is here?"
Shui, who had been beside Lin the entire ti, nodded. "Yes. He just went in."
"No, no. He cannot et her! Tell him to leave…!" His chest heaved breathlessly. "I know how much he hates us. I-I wouldn't let him speak rudely to Luli."
Lin's gaze held a hint of ice. "You think he will co all the way here to humiliate her? He could have done that long back if he wanted to."
Shui quickly intervened to ease the tension. "Lin is right, Uncle. It was Cai's decision to visit her. He didn't co here to dump all his buried grievances onto her."
Shui's consolation eased his worries and he could breathe. He peeked through the window too and saw Luli chuckling and talking to Cai, albeit lacking any strength.
"...I see," he trembled, and he pinched his lips together. "That's good then."
Soti in between, Lin had also stepped inside, accompanying his brother. Shui and Hou Fa waited outside.
"You don't have to stay here, dear. It must feel too…gloomy for you," his fingers tapped against the bench.
Shui faintly smiled. "I'm fine, Uncle. I need to be here with Lin. I know he would have been there for too. Should I bring you so tea or coffee?"
"No, no, don't take the trouble," his eyes widened.
She frowned. "You asked to address you Uncle and Aunt, yet you keep distancing like this when the ti cos."
He hesitated. "I'm not…"
"Please wait here. I will be back in a jiffy!"
Shui walked down the corridor and noticed a figure peeking in the distance.
"Alix?"
Alix, who had half-turned to leave, stiffened.
Damn it.
"What are you doing here? Oh, must be for your checkup."
She gave up and faced her again, her belly slightly showing through her loose clothes.
"What did the doctor say? All okay?"
"No."
"Why not?" She looked concerned. "What's wrong?"
"I an the brats are fine. I am not."
Shui heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God."
She sneered. "So good friend you are."
"No, no," she cleared her throat. "I didn't an I don't care about you. How are you doing?"
"Always happy and always positive and always thinking well about others," she grimaced. "I am disgusted with myself."
Her brow twitched. "That's a good thing, Alix."
Though I admit your enlightened mode scares the hell out of .
But Shui kept those thoughts to herself.
"Anyway, where is Jin?"
"Still with the doctor.."
She stared at Hou Fa standing far away, waiting outside the ward, her expression not changing much.
"I just ca down to see how Lin is doing since his mother is hospitalized here," she quietly said.
"Just to see Lin?"
"And Cai. I don't have anything to do with the couple called their parents. I never cared if they never liked , but towards Lin and Cai…I guess I will still be a little bitter for so ti."
Shui released a sigh.
"I know what you are thinking. I have no right to hate them, right?"
"Nope, you do. You tethered them together when they needed soone the most in their life. It's alright if forgiveness is difficult. Cai is the sa."
Alix's gaze didn't shift but it was evident that the past had quietly resurfaced.
"Nobody understands Mrs. Hou better than . Realizing your mistakes when you stand at death's door is…simply too late."
It was two hours later that the door opened and Cai and Lin stepped out.
"I will take my leave. She is sleeping now…" Cai said.
He refused to talk about it but traces of sothing red hinted at the corner of his eyes. Despite there not being a single trace of tears on his cheeks, his face nevertheless scread of the fact that he had cried, only to vigorously wipe them away.
Hou Fa didn't say much.
"I will go inside."
The air remained tense and silent.
The three stepped outside and Lin held Cai's shoulder. "I will stay for so more ti."
He only gave a short nod.
Shui thought to cheer up their moods and brightened.
"Oh I t Alix just a few minutes back!"
The two brothers blinked, their expressions finally lifting.
"She was here for a checkup and…"
They continued to talk about her for the next twenty minutes, then the topics gradually shifted to similar lighter subjects.
A pair of footsteps hurried towards them and a nurse breathlessly stopped and said, "Oh, you are still here."
Lin asked, "Yes, is sothing the matter?"
Her expression turned somber and she said in a quiet voice, "I am sorry Mr. Hou. Your mother…has passed away."
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