CHAPTER 288: CHAPTER 288: I’LL GO CALL THE DOCTOR

"Little Baby..." The hoarse voice was so weak that it was hard to discern, but the next moment, Song Yuanhuan struggled to open his deep and somber eyes, gazing at his straight-backed daughter calling out to him, and then his gaze settled on Xu Xiuxiu.

"He’s awake!" Xu Xiuxiu was somewhat excited and choked up.

"Daddy." Little Baby seemed very happy too, showing off her two little front teeth and then joyfully clapping her small hands, forcefully kicking her little feet to make her presence felt in front of her father.

"..." Song Yuanhuan’s consciousness began to clear, and as he looked at everyone in the hospital room, all tensely watching him, and then at his little daughter in Xu Xiuxiu’s arms, he tried to lift the corners of his mouth into a smile as if to comfort them, but it wasn’t very effective, and those with discerning eyes could almost see the strain in his expression.

"I’ll go call the doctor." Song Yuan Yao immediately rushed out of the room.

Song Yuanhuan’s period of consciousness was extremely short, lasting just a moment, and by the time Song Yuan Yao had brought back the chief physician from the Military District Hospital, Song Yuanhuan had already fallen back into an exhausted rest.

But when the chief physician from the Military District learned that Song Yuanhuan had awakened, he conducted a thorough examination of his overall condition and found that, apart from his right leg’s disappointing recovery, all other areas were impressively improved. Everyone was quite happy to hear this news.

After Song Yuanhuan woke up once, it was another three to four hours before he regained consciousness again, but this time his overall mental state was much better, and he even spoke to soothe Xu Xiuxiu’s emotions.

Xu Xiuxiu ignored his attempts to comfort her, rolling her eyes at him—it was infuriating that Song Yuanhuan, in his current condition, was still persistently trying to soothe her to keep her from worrying.

It seemed that Song Yuanhuan guessed that his right leg might not recover, and after removing the ventilator, his mental state was good, but he never mentioned a word about his leg’s recovery. The pretense of indifference was too obvious, and as his bedside partner, it was hard for Xu Xiuxiu to pretend she didn’t notice.

Of course, since Song Yuanhuan acted this way, Xu Xiuxiu didn’t specifically engage him on the topic; instead, she quietly brewed soup for him with the Space Spring Water and daily mixed in the pink fruit into his nourishing soup. Although she wasn’t certain if it could ultimately restore Song Yuanhuan’s leg, which was shattered to bits, she was willing to try, and currently, there weren’t better alternatives. Moreover, even if the Space Spring Water and the pink fruit had no other uses, at the very least, they should strengthen and invigorate him! With this thought in mind, Xu Xiuxiu found new ways every day to make Song Yuanhuan drink his bone broth.

Today, just like usual, Xu Xiuxiu walked into the hospital room, one hand carrying the big bone broth and the other pushing the stroller with the boy and girl twins, carefully settled Little Moon and Little Baby and then attended to the bone broth and meals for Song Yuanhuan.

Several days had passed, and Song Yuanhuan’s mood seemed to have improved nicely. Sitting on the hospital bed, his arms encircling Little Baby, his gaze, however, was fixed on Xu Xiuxiu who had clearly lost weight, and then he teased her.

"Xiuxiu, look at our daughter, isn’t she adorable?" Little Baby really liked to stick close to Song Yuanhuan, even just sitting with him on the hospital bed made her happy. But perhaps out of curiosity, the little one stared intently at the movements of Xu Xiuxiu’s hands, then began drooling over the large bone soup.

Xu Xiuxiu watched as Song Yuanhuan had abandoned his usual cold demeanor and was making all sorts of overtures to please her, or saying nice things, which only added to the complexity of her already surprised feelings, casting a dark cloud over her mood. She really didn’t like his pretense of strength while actually avoiding the issue.

"My parents took the train this morning to Z city, and I need to pick them up from the train station this evening," Xu Xiuxiu said slowly, her words tearing through Song Yuanhuan’s facade of calmness.

"Did you tell my parents about my injury?" Song Yuanhuan frowned, clearly disapproving of her decision.

He naturally knew of Xu Xiuxiu’s tendency to share only good news while withholding worries. He assumed she would not have told his parents about his injury, so he had not asked. But now she informed him that they were arriving in Z city today, which certainly meant she had mentioned his injury.

"..." Xu Xiuxiu didn’t admit to anything. With deft hands, she moved a small table designed for patients’ meals in the military hospital ward to the center of his bed, before setting his meal and the large bone soup in front of him.

Not hearing Xu Xiuxiu’s response, Song Yuanhuan took it as an affirmation. After a while, he said with a tinge of unhappiness, "Why tell them? It just makes them worry. How can you be so thoughtless?"

"It was Yuanming who called and told them," Xu Xiuxiu glared at him, annoyed, then stormed out of the hospital room and leaned against the wall outside, sulking.

These past few days had been filled with efforts to suppress her emotions due to his injury, even as a heap of matters waited for her attention in Soup City. She had prioritized him above all else. Even as Sichuan Pavilion struggled financially, having recently offered free meals to soldiers in such large numbers that it caused a cash flow problem. Even as Father Song and Mrs. Song, upon hearing the comforting call from Song Yuanming and learning about Song Yuanhuan’s serious injury, had bought train tickets to Z city today against Xu Xiuxiu’s dissuasion, claiming they were coming to see their son and, incidentally, to take care of their grandson and attend to their son, she could bear it all. With so many matters to manage, she didn’t mind the presence of the elderly Songs. Perhaps their arrival in Z city could even alleviate some of her problems, at least she could rest assured having Mrs. Song take care of Song Yuanhuan and the three children. But what she couldn’t endure was Song Yuanhuan’s tone of disappointment.

It made her feel as if all her concerns and worries over the past few days were a joke. Yet she was reminded that Song Yuanhuan was now a patient and his right leg might be permanently impaired, potentially leading to his discharge from the military. Instantly, Xu Xiuxiu felt her own stress was nothing compared to his.

He so loved the military; he must find the truth of leaving it hard to accept, right?

Taking a deep breath, Xu Xiuxiu silently cursed herself for not being able to withstand even this much pressure. Shaking her head, she adjusted her emotions, then turned around and pushed the door to the hospital room open again.

Inside the room, Song Yuanhuan sat on the hospital bed, one arm cradling Little Baby, the other hand having lunch, while also keeping busy talking to Little Moon in the infant carriage. Little Moon was the kind who would get upset if you ignored him. So when he saw Xu Xiuxiu return, Song Yuanhuan’s mood lightened somewhat, as if seeing a savior.