Chapter 38: You Are the Only Way to Wake Him
An unknown amount of time passed before Shen Yunheng finally fell silent. But his overwhelming love and heartache wouldn’t allow him to watch Jian An sleep on like this.
He had to find Ji Songting.
“Xiao An, wait here for me. I won’t let you sleep too long. I’ll go find him. If he comes and you hear his voice through your blurred consciousness, maybe youâll wake up.”
Hurriedly leaving these words, Shen Yunheng stood up. Certain emotions flickered in his eyes. He looked back at Jian An one last time before finally forcing himself to look away.
The ward door was gently closed. The surroundings grew dim, leaving only the flickering lights of the machines and the faint neon glow from the window. Loneliness spread through the room.
Jian Anâs finger, clipped with the pulse oximeter, suddenly gave two very, very slight twitches before returning to stillness.
His complete unconsciousness began to drift into a blur. An intense sense of impending death and suffocation made it impossible for him to open his eyes.
He wanted to wake up, but he just couldn’t.
Every word Shen Yunheng had whispered by the bed seemed to drift into his ears. In the pitch-black space, they became ethereal, echoing incessantly.
After a short while, a single tear slowly trickled from the corner of the person on the bed’s eye. It slid past his temple, dampening the pillowcase.
He could hear everything; he just couldn’t speak.
How could someone cherish him to this extent…?
It wasn’t worth it.
…
Shen Yunheng stood before Shen Chuyanâs ward. He raised a hand to knock but hesitated and lowered it.
Why did it have to be Ji Songting?
To have to beg the man who had hurt Jian An the most to come and stay in the ICU…
He truly had no other choice. He hadn’t worked hard enough to replace Ji Songting in Jian An’s heart. And that night, he hadn’t been able to protect him. He would give up anything, no matter how important, to change that.
Just as he was about to knock again, a cold, deep male voice rang out behind him:
“What are you doing here again?”
Shen Yunheng froze. His fists clenched and then powerlessly loosened. He took a deep breath to suppress his rage and turned around. His previous look of disgust had turned into one of grim solemnity.
He tried his best to hide the tremor in his voice, speaking in a pleading tone:
“The surgery is over, but Xiao An is in a vegetative state. The doctor said that if the person he cares about stays by his bed and talks to him, there might be hope of him waking up.”
Hearing this, Ji Songtingâs heart jolted. A flash of confusion and disbelief crossed his eyes. His lips parted slightly, but he said nothing.
A vegetative state?!
Why was it so severe…? He had thought Jian An would be in a coma for two days at most. Now he was being told the man was no different from being dead?!
Seeing him remain silent for so long with that unreadable expression, Shen Yunheng felt his temples throbbing. He said urgently:
“The person he cares about most in this life is you. Even if you don’t love him, can’t you save him for the sake of your marriage? Besides, if you hadn’t refused to give him the plasma, he wouldn’t be like this due to blood loss!”
Time stood still for several seconds. Ji Songting suddenly grabbed him by the collar, his gaze sharp enough to kill. “Why didn’t you say earlier that his hemorrhage was so severe?!”
The other man shoved him back violently, shouting in a rage:
“I stood right in front of you and told you it was an emergency! But your eyes were only on your lover who wasn’t even going to die. You didn’t give a damn about Xiao An!”
Ji Songting steadied his footing. In the depths of his eyes, as dark as a cold pool, complex emotions swirledâa bit of guilt, a trace of anxiety, a sliver of feeling that was hard to decipher.
He then strode quickly toward the ICU.
This intense reaction caught Shen Yunheng off guard. The man hadn’t even tried to refuse. Had he actually been shocked into his senses by the scolding? Without thinking further, Shen Yunheng followed.
ICU Ward.
Jian An was covered in tubes of all sizesâoxygen, heart and lung monitors, and IV lines for emergency medication. He relied entirely on these to stay alive.
His face was so pale it was almost transparent. His eyelashes trembled slightly, looking like a butterfly that could vanish at any moment.
Ji Songting instinctively lightened his steps as he entered. Looking at the youth lying motionless on the bed, the sight of so many machinesâthe kind only used in life-or-death situationsâstung his eyes.
He still couldn’t believe that this battered person was the same Jian An who was supposed to be greedy, weak, and useless.
He couldn’t describe what he was feeling right now.
It was a strange feelingâlike snow falling into his palm in the dead of winter. Blown by the wind, it left no trace, yet it left a bone-chilling ache in his heart.
“What can I do?”
Ji Songting stood at the foot of the bed. His cold eyes slowly scanned the room. His usually indifferent tone held a rare softness at this moment.
Shen Yunheng walked over and leaned down slightly to smooth a lock of messy hair on Jian Anâs forehead. His gaze was as gentle as water, filled with deep affection and love. He said softly:
“Talk to him. Then take care of him. I know you’re probably not capable of that, but you are the only way to make him wake up. I… can’t do anything.”
Seeing the other man treat Jian An with such care, Ji Songting felt a surge of unprovoked anger and possessiveness. But it was gone in an instant. He gave a cold, mocking smile and said:
“I don’t need you to teach me. Please leave. Besides, I am the legal husband on his marriage certificate. President Shen has no status or title here. Some people should keep their distance; it’s better for everyone.”
At these words, Shen Yunheng was silenced. His fingers, resting on the table, turned white from the pressure of his anger. Those deep, dark eyes were filled with irrepressible loss and pain.
He was right. What status did he have to justify standing by Jian Anâs side?
A friend? A secret admirer?
It all felt so lowly. He could only watch the man suffer while he remained powerless. In the end, he was always bound by the words “I am married,” which stopped any further care.
The words “legal husband” from Ji Songtingâs mouth, even without any affection, were enough to kill any of his intentions.
Shen Yunhengâs face was filled with sorrow. His thin lips were pressed into a line, and his grip tightened. He said in a warning tone:
“Iâll be waiting outside. Youâd better not agitate Xiao An, or I won’t let you off!”
After the man left, Ji Songting looked at the youth on the bed and remained silent for a long time. A shadow of gloom appeared between his brows.
He then slowly reached out toward Jian An. The half-exposed cheek, wrapped in bandages, was so pale it was jarring, yet it still held a touch of gentle warmth that made one want to pity and cherish it.
The manâs hand suddenly paused in mid-air. His fair, cold fingers twitched slightly. In the end, he didn’t touch him.
“Heh…”
Ji Songting let out a cold, mocking laugh. His eyes grew hot. He took a deep breath and said sarcastically:
“You’ve been playing the victim for so many years, and now youâre playing at sleeping. Jian An, youâre quite something. Do you think you look good being half-dead? Why didn’t you just die? Your lover actually came to beg me to play along with you? How hilarious.”
These words, sharp as blades, mixed with the drip-drip of the machines and echoed in Jian Anâs ears. They were like a thick fog surrounding his battered body, adding insult to injury.
His brows knit slightly, but his eyes remained tightly shut. His shattered soul was hard to pull together, buried in a chaotic consciousness. He just couldn’t wake up.
“But I came anyway. I just wanted to see what the person whoâs so ruthless in secret looks like after being hit by a car. I want to see your wretched state. I want to see you in agony.”
The last few words of that sentence were extremely clear and low, carrying a bone-chilling murderous intent.
Ji Songting tried his best to suppress his pathological emotions, but his long, narrow, demonic eyes were tinged with a faint shimmer of moisture. He slowly closed his eyes, his lashes trembling. A thin layer of sadness filled the air, refusing to dissipate.
The criminal who killed his mother was about to die. He should feel hatred and pleasure. Why was he sad?
The pungent smell of disinfectant and bitter medicine drifted around him, accompanied by a cold draft. The IV line swayed slightly. The pure white sheets contrasted with Jian Anâs paper-pale face; he was unnervingly quiet.
That delicate face looked exceptionally tragic and desolate in such a cold environment.
Ji Songting felt his heart tighten along with that quiet face. An inexplicable weight settled in him. He suddenly grabbed the youthâs shoulder and shook him violently several times, shouting:
“You kept saying you cared about me. Now Iâm standing right by your bedâwhy don’t you wake up?! Stop playing everyone for fools! Iâm not Shen Yunheng; I won’t be led by the nose by your weak, pitiful act!”
“If you want a divorce, then keep sleeping! The Ji family won’t support a cripple, and I won’t pay a single cent for your medical bills! Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me!”
As he said this, Ji Songtingâs body paused. A mocking smile appeared on his lips as he slowly threw out another sentence:
“Oh… I almost forgot. Shen Yunheng is truly devoted to you. Heâd probably lose his entire fortune just to treat you. Why don’t you just go with him? Why play the ‘deep affection’ card with me? It only disgusts me; it doesn’t move me at all.”
In a coma, although a patient has no consciousness, they can react to auditory stimulation. He didn’t believe Jian An couldn’t hear these heart-piercing words.
Didn’t that person kneel and beg not to divorce him? How could he stay so indifferent and keep sleeping?
At the sudden movement, Jian Anâs entire body gave a violent spasm. Then, he lay as stiff as a corpse again, showing no further reaction.
But his breathing seemed to grow rapid. The mist in the oxygen mask grew thick, clouding his face. He looked as though he were enduring an unspeakable, agonizing pain.
After a moment, Jian An grew still again.
Was that a sign of him waking up?
Ji Songting hurriedly pressed the call button on the bedhead. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the motionless Jian An, terrified that the line on the monitor would go flat.
In the next second, the patient, who had only been quiet for a few seconds, suddenly shuddered. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The muscles in his jaw grew stiff and began to twitch visibly.
His pulse and heartbeat grew weaker and weaker. The wound on his shoulder began to seep blood, soaking through the gauze.
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