DASFAM_97

Consciousness in chaos.

Bai Xu only felt his entire body wracked with unbearable sharp pain, his five organs and six bowels as if violently compressed together, even breathing became difficult.

This intense pain persisted to a certain degree before gradually becoming numb.

Suddenly, a glaring bright light pierced through the darkness before his eyes, and gradually wrapped him gently in its embrace. He didn't know how long had passed before Bai Xu could see everything around him clearly—

All that met his eyes was a vast expanse of white, endless and without boundary. He looked around in bewilderment, completely uncertain of where he was.

"Did I dream again?"

"Or... have I already died?"

Bai Xu murmured to himself when he suddenly heard a sound coming through.

Beep—beep—beep—

Like the sound of some kind of instrument.

Bai Xu carefully discerned the source of the sound, and with uncertain steps began to explore. Gradually, the scenery around him became clearer.

It was in a hospital corridor, with only the ward at the end lit up.

Bai Xu drew near and looked through the round glass window on the door, seeing clearly the scene inside the ward—

The high-spec ward was filled with many medical devices, and the 'patient' lying on the bed was sleeping soundly, just lying alone on the bed like that.

Beep—beep—beep—

The instrument continued to emit slight detection signals, becoming the only movement in this ward.

Bai Xu instinctively wanted to push the door open, but discovered that his right hand was as if filled with cement, so heavy that he couldn't lift it at all. Fortunately, his left hand could still move freely.

He opened the door and walked into the ward. His vision came to an abrupt stop upon seeing clearly the appearance of the 'patient'.

"……"

Is it myself?

Bai Xu's breathing stopped along with it. He looked incredulously at the patient information card on the hospital bed, which clearly marked—

Bai Xu, twenty-seven.

"……"

It was him.

It was the him from before.

Bai Xu stood in place in bewilderment, staring blankly at the unconscious 'himself' on the bed. He wanted to reach out and touch his former self, when suddenly other thoughts emerged in his mind—

Would he return to the real world?

What about Shang Yanxiao? What would happen to Shang Yanxiao?

Bai Xu's hand froze in midair, his chaotic mind unable to distinguish whether this was a dream or something else.

He had never experienced such a helpless and confused moment, like a child who couldn't find the way home, having no idea what he should do next.

"Shang Yanxiao, I…"

"A' Xu!" A sudden call struck his ears, "A' Xu, don't leave me."

Bai Xu's dim eyes suddenly brightened. He hesitated for barely a moment before turning and rushing out of the ward.

Click!

The moment he opened the ward door, the sight of the hospital corridor was once again covered by a dazzling light.

Beep—beep—beep—

The same sound of an instrument, only this time it became much clearer. Bai Xu exerted all his strength to open his eyes, and the blur in his field of vision gradually scattered away.

"……"

He moved his lips, but his throat felt like it was sealed shut, and he couldn't even produce a broken syllable.

Shang Yanxiao, who was standing by the bedside, immediately reacted, confirming in disbelief, "A' Xu? A' Xu, you're awake?"

"……"

Bai Xu really didn't have the strength to speak, just stared blankly at Shang Yanxiao before his eyes.

His lover had lost the usual radiance and composure, his face covered with indescribable exhaustion. The dark circles under his eyes and the red bloodshot in his eye sockets were remarkably heavy, and even his usually well-maintained jawline had stubble.

Shang Yanxiao immediately pressed the nurse call button by the bedside, then leaned in close and said urgently, "It's alright, you can hear me clearly, can't you?"

Bai Xu moved his left hand fingers slightly.

Shang Yanxiao caught his small movement with sharp eyes, and immediately carefully held his wrist, treating him with the absolute cherishing of something lost and regained, "It's good that you're awake. I'll have the doctor and nurses come over to check on you first."

Bai Xu's eyelids still felt heavy. No matter how hard he tried to support himself, he fell into another deep sleep.

Time passed second by second.

This time, Bai Xu didn't dream of any images. When he woke again, the layout around the ward had changed, but the figure standing by the bedside remained the same.

Shang Yanxiao was sitting in the reclining chair by the bedside, resting with his eyes closed, but his hand was still tightly gripping Bai Xu's wrist, as if afraid he would disappear from his sight.

With each breath Bai Xu took, he really couldn't open his mouth. He could only try hard to move his wrist slightly.

No matter how small the movement was, Shang Yanxiao woke up at the first moment, instinctively straightening his body, "A' Xu!"

The tension in his expression softened the moment his eyes met Bai Xu's. Shang Yanxiao leaned in close to his lover, "A' Xu?"

He, who had never been nervous or flustered in the business world, was now somewhat incoherent, "You're awake, does your head still hurt? Don't, don't sleep anymore, I'll call someone right away."

Bai Xu opened his mouth, but the low syllables were all swallowed by the respirator.

Shang Yanxiao called the night shift medical staff over once more, and they performed a simple examination and assessment for him.

"Mr. Shang, you can put your heart back at ease. The patient has already passed the critical period. From now on, he just needs appropriate rest, nutrition, and recovery."

"……"

Bai Xu let out a weak sound of acknowledgment.

He had originally thought the medical staff by the bed wouldn't understand or figure it out, but Shang Yanxiao grasped his meaning with perfect understanding.

"Dr. Song, can the respirator be removed? He doesn't like it."

The attending doctor confirmed Bai Xu's condition, "As long as the patient is conscious and can breathe on his own, it doesn't matter. Remove it if he doesn't like it, it won't make much difference."

With the doctor's indication, the nurse gently removed the mask from Bai Xu's mouth and nose.

The attending doctor continued, "Once this nutritional fluid is finished, that's all. I see his consciousness is quite clear now. You can appropriately feed him a little water to stimulate the swallowing reflex. Tomorrow morning I'll have Dr. Zhang arrange a brain recheck for you both."

Shang Yanxiao quietly let out a breath of relief, "Thank you."

Click.

The ward door closed once more, restoring the space for just the two of them.

Shang Yanxiao leaned closer to Bai Xu, took a cotton swab with the warm water from the table, and gradually moistened Bai Xu's cracked lips bit by bit.

Bai Xu let out a reluctant hum.

Shang Yanxiao's voice was tired and hoarse, yet he coaxed him with extreme patience, "You just woke up, we're in no rush. A' Xu, do you know? You've been in a coma for exactly nine days."

And from the first time he woke to this time, nearly a day had passed again.

"……"

Bai Xu was somewhat surprised.

He only felt he had a very brief dream, and it seemed like not long before he woke up. Yet reality was not like that—

Shang Qi had rushed toward them with a suicidal attitude, and Bai Xu's push happened to push Shang Yanxiao out of the threat. Instead, he himself had an accident during the brief scuffle with Shang Qi.

The factory staircase railing had long since become just decoration, with no weight-bearing capacity whatsoever.

Bai Xu and Shang Qi fell from the second floor at a height of four or five meters at the same time, both losing consciousness almost simultaneously.

By the time Shang Yanxiao rushed downstairs, he couldn't tell whose body the glaring red blood was coming from. The police who arrived immediately rushed in and swiftly launched a rescue.

"Your right hand is fractured, your legs and body have bruises of varying degrees, and there's a sutured wound on your head. You've already had surgery, but you haven't woken up since the operation, and your body temperature has been fluctuating."

Because of Bai Xu's condition, the neurosurgery department where Dr. Zhang worked had coordinated with other departments, holding two meetings to discuss the case within a week.

"……"

Bai Xu got the general idea and blinked his eyes at Shang Yanxiao.

To ordinary people this wouldn't be any kind of indication at all, but Shang Yanxiao understood perfectly.

"Don't worry, Queyan is fine too. The wound on his leg needs time to heal and scar over. Once it's healed, he'll still be able to maintain normal walking with a prosthetic."

"Grandmother and Little Aunt have come to see you every other day, and they'll probably come again tomorrow. It's good that you're awake, they can be at ease."

"……"

What about that bastard Shang Qishun?

Bai Xu continued to blink. This time he deliberately hummed twice through his nose.

Shang Yanxiao's expression shifted slightly, his hoarse voice carrying barely restrained ferocity, "He's not dead yet, he's hanging on by a thread in the intensive care unit, with police guards posted there."

Out of humanitarian considerations, the police had likewise undertaken rescue efforts for Shang Qi. If he managed to wake up successfully, he would still need to face legal judgment.

"However, even if he wakes up, his days ahead won't be any better."

Because at the critical moment of the fall, Bai Xu and Shang Qishun had exchanged positions, one higher, one lower.

Shang Qishun, positioned below, had especially severe injuries. Not only was his brain impacted, but his right leg was completely pierced through by the steel reinforcement rebar left on the ground!

After being sent to the hospital, the doctor who operated on him made an immediate decision, and in order to save his life was forced to amputate. Not only that, but both his left and right hands had similarly festered due to lack of timely treatment after the injury.

Mangled hands and severed legs, abandoned by all, a life at stake, guilt inescapable.

If he couldn't endure and died, then Shang Qishun deserved his fate, even heaven couldn't bear to watch!

Even if his life was hard and he woke up, from now on it would only be worse than death!

"The third and the others were also arrested by the police. Don't worry about the rest, just focus on recovering your body."

Shang Yanxiao added a casual remark, and poured warm water for Bai Xu, "Do you want to drink a little water?"

Bai Xu's throat had already felt uncomfortably tight and dry, so he quickly hummed in agreement.

Shang Yanxiao, afraid of choking him, first adjusted the angle of the bed back, then carefully fed it to his mouth with a shallow spoon, bit by bit.

After a long drought comes sweet rain.

Bai Xu's throat finally eased quite a bit. He moved his mouth, and after confirming he seemed able to produce sound, he stared unblinkingly at his busy lover.

Shang Yanxiao put down the water cup and spoon, turned around and met Bai Xu's clearly more alert gaze, "What's wrong? Is there somewhere you're uncomfortable?"

"……"

Bai Xu gave Shang Yanxiao a careful look over, "Shang Yanxiao."

His voice was very soft, hoarse and gentle.

Shang Yanxiao thought there might be something wrong with his body and tensed up, "Hm?"

Bai Xu slightly furrowed his brows with some disdain, and slowly and carefully expressed, "This is the ugliest day I've known you."

"……"

Shang Yanxiao froze.

Bai Xu continued to murmur, "You, how long has it been since you cleaned yourself up? You're ugly."

The tension in Shang Yanxiao's expression completely cleared, a blend of doting and helplessness, "Young Master Bai, little ancestor, these days I was nearly frightened to death by you. Every day I stood guard and didn't dare leave your side for a moment, and you—"

The first sentence after waking up was actually complaining that he was ugly?

Such an ungrateful little thing!

Shang Yanxiao watched and watched, then inevitably let out a laugh of helplessness.

He pinched the thin cheek of Bai Xu, which had barely any flesh left, "Do you think you look any better right now?"

"Your head is broken, your hair is messy and knotted, your right hand is in a cast, there's not a bit of color in your face, hm?"

Bai Xu let out a small laugh but didn't answer back, his heart finally overflowing with that bit of gratitude and happiness from having survived a disaster, "You're ugly."

"Fine, I'm ugly."

Shang Yanxiao leaned in and gently touched his forehead, "Bear with it for now, we're both ugly together."

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