11……“……But……I won’t agree to the surgery……Sis……no matter what you say……I absolutely……will never……accept the surgery……”………………Perhaps……that would be better……Xiao Cheng won't be alone……Mom won't be alone……Luo Xi won't be alone either……On Ou Chen’s shoulder, Yin Xia Mo fell unconscious again. She kept her eyes tightly shut, her face still pale, the flush on her cheekbones alarmingly pronounced, as if all the life within her was burning right there. When the burning finally ceased, perhaps her life would drift away lightly, like fine ash scattered by the breeze……If only she died too……she could be with them forever……But……what about Ou Chen……him, alone……*The door to the sickroom was gently closed, the sound of footsteps echoing emptily down the hall. Ou Chen walked on in silence, his face devoid of expression, save for his tightly pursed lips and eyes that were deep-set and shadowed with sorrow.

On the bench.

There was a solitary figure.

Yin Cheng stared blankly at the floor, his hands weakly tugging at his own hair.

He didn't know what to do; it was as if Heaven was playing a cruel joke on him, forcing him to choose between his sister’s unrelenting fever and her future happiness. But which choice, truly, was the right one……His footsteps halted before Yin Cheng.

“Please, look after her for a few hours for me.”

Ou Chen said in a low voice.

Yin Cheng was momentarily stunned. He slowly raised his head, not in surprise that Ou Chen was finally leaving after staying by her side day and night, but in shock that Ou Chen would actually entrust his sister to him.

That was his sister; even if Ou Chen hadn't asked, he would have……Suddenly, a bitter taste flooded his heart.

He had forgotten; Ou Chen was now his sister's husband, the person "closest" to her……“Alright.”

Yin Cheng watched him silently, the bitterness in his heart deepening with every moment.

These past few days, Ou Chen had guarded his sister’s room around the clock, rapidly wasting away and looking haggard. Yin Cheng had always known how profoundly and stubbornly Ou Chen felt for his sister, ever since they were very young.

If the kidney transplant hadn’t been bartered for a marriage, he would have blessed Ou Chen and his sister, relieved that Ou Chen’s long-held love for her had finally found a happy resolution.

But……watching Ou Chen’s retreating figure gradually disappear into the far end of the corridor—that desolate, lonely silhouette—made Yin Cheng feel an almost suffocating sense of grief.

In the sickroom.

Yin Xia Mo remained deeply comatose, her high fever causing her to toss and turn fitfully, muttering indistinct words in her delirium.

However, her trembling struggles had lessened considerably, as if she had already surrendered something; faint tear tracks marred her face.

Yin Cheng sat motionless by the bedside.

“Sis……” He slowly wiped away the residual tears from the corner of her eye with his finger, and then, his own tears slid soundlessly down his cheek.

“……What should I do……” The same deep night.

**A drop fell slowly, one by one, from the IV bag.

Luo Xi lay motionless, his pale fingers resting weakly on the stark white sheet, appearing almost lifeless. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest, supported by the ventilator, indicated he was still breathing.

“Your sister’s brother came to see you today……” Shen Qiang gazed down at him. “……He said things you must have heard……So why aren’t you waking up yet……” “He said Yin Xia Mo loves you……” Summer of Bubbles III