Shine on Me

Breakfast was brought by Yin Jie and Yu Hua.

“We ran into Vice President Lin standing downstairs when we arrived. He asked us to bring the porridge up... seems like his housekeeper made it and delivered it,” Yu Hua said while opening the thermal container.

Meanwhile, Yin Jie was bustling around the hospital room.

Having quickly realized I was fine, she had already shaken off her earlier guilt and was now excitedly inspecting every corner.

“Wow, Xiguang, you got a private room! Vice President Lin is really generous.”

Yu Hua, much more domestic and caring, sat by my bedside watching me eat the porridge while worrying about the medical expenses. “I don’t think our insurance covers private rooms like this, does it?”

“Oh, what’s there to worry about? Vice President Lin already paid for everything yesterday,” Yin Jie said dismissively. “If it weren’t for that female friend of his screaming, Xiguang wouldn’t have been startled and fallen. But hey, Xiguang, don’t blame Vice President Lin, okay?”

Yu Hua asked curiously, “How do you know she’s just a female friend and not his girlfriend?”

Yin Jie scoffed. “You didn’t see it yesterday. Vice President Lin was so stern and scary. Honestly, that woman was probably just as shocked when Xiguang fell. If she were his girlfriend, he would’ve comforted her, right? But he didn’t at all. Sounded like they were just former classmates or something.”

Leaning over my bed, Yin Jie said earnestly, “Xiguang, don’t ever say Vice President Lin isn’t good to you again. Yesterday, he handled everything alone when getting you to the hospital. And wow, his medical skills are no joke—before the ambulance arrived, he gave you first aid and checked you over. It was seriously impressive. Later, he even scolded a clumsy intern at the hospital, telling him to switch careers early so he wouldn’t end up harming others and himself. Geez, I’ve never seen him so fierce. I was stunned.”

I was stunned too.

“Oh, right. You also threw up all over him.”

……

This time, I was outright dumbfounded.

A vague memory resurfaced—was there a moment when he woke me up, and I immediately leaned over and vomited on him?

“He even had to hold you steady so you could puke on him, otherwise you would’ve fallen. Oh, and his hand might be injured—he caught you with just one arm... Xiguang, when he rushed over, he even fell to his knees…”

After breakfast, I shooed Yin Jie and Yu Hua back to work. I was already fine—just some scratches on my foot that made walking a little uncomfortable, but nothing serious. No need for them to skip work just to keep me company.

I thought of Lin Yusen.

If it weren’t for his friend’s scream, I wouldn’t have fallen in the first place. But afterward, he was the one who took care of everything, even if his attitude was... unfriendly and strange. Still, I probably ought to thank him?

After some hesitation, I dug out his phone number.

I’d always had his contact for work purposes, but never actually used it. I agonized over the text for a while before sending a short message:

“Thank you for yesterday.”

No reply for a long time.

I wondered if he even knew whose number this was. Just as I was about to send a follow-up to clarify, his response came through—polite and distant:

“You’re welcome.”

With that exchange complete, I set my phone aside. Seeing that it wasn’t even 8 a.m. yet, I settled in for a peaceful nap.Waking up from a short nap, I noticed my phone blinking incessantly by my pillow. Picking it up, I saw an unread message—it was actually from Lin Yusen.

"How are you feeling now?"

I checked the time—it had been sent over half an hour ago. I quickly replied, "I feel fine now."

A response came almost immediately. "I’ll come see you in a bit."

Huh?

I clutched my phone, hesitating over how to reply, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Before I could react, Lin Yusen pushed it open and walked in.

I stared at him dumbfounded.

"I happened to be downstairs," he said, standing at the doorway.

"Oh."

He paused briefly before stepping inside. I tried to sit up, but he stopped me. "Stay lying down. You should rest as much as possible."

"I really feel fine," I insisted, propping myself up slightly and hugging the blanket. "Um… I’m sorry. Yin Jie told me I threw up all over you yesterday."

"Doctors get used to things like that."

He had changed into fresh clothes, looking as clean and composed as usual. It was hard to imagine him being "used to" patients vomiting on him… Then I remembered his hand. "And your hand—Yin Jie said you got hurt…"

"It’s nothing," he replied curtly.

Silence settled over the room.

He looked at me and suddenly asked, "Nie Xiguang, if I forget everything that happened before, what about you? Will you let go of how I treated you?"

Was this… a truce?

I quickly ran through the events in my head. He’d made me work overtime constantly, but I might have (?) caused his car accident with my psychic powers (?)… Then his friend made me fall down the stairs, and I threw up on him… Maybe we were even?

After carefully calculating twice, I generously said, "I never hold grudges."

He gave me a deep look and nodded. "Good."

But…

"Why suddenly…?" I trailed off. Why the sudden truce?

"I’m afraid of… I’m most afraid of sick people crying," he abruptly changed course mid-sentence.

I stared at him blankly, wondering if the first half of his sentence was going to be "I’m afraid of you crying." Even though he stopped himself… The memory of me sobbing uncontrollably yesterday made my face burn with embarrassment. I instantly regretted asking.

Luckily, a group of doctors in white coats entered the room just then.

It was time for rounds.

Leading them was a young doctor in his early thirties, who smiled the moment he stepped in.

"Oh, Dr. Lin, you’re still here? Didn’t sleep all night, yet still full of energy—truly the top beast of our medical school back in the day!"

"Come, let me introduce everyone," he said to the doctors behind him. "My junior from both university and abroad—Dr. Lin Yusen."

"I know Dr. Lin! I’ve read your paper on brainstem tumors," a female doctor behind him exclaimed excitedly, extending her hand. "But when I went to your hospital for training, I heard you’d resigned. Where are you working now?"

Lin Yusen shook her hand, though his demeanor was far more reserved compared to her enthusiasm. "I’ve left the medical field."

The female doctor was stunned. "H-how could that be?"

Lin Yusen replied simply, "To each their own.""OK, OK! You can catch up later." The young doctor interrupted them and turned to me. "So you're Dr. Lin's girlfriend, right? How are you feeling today? Any discomfort?"

"My colleague," Lin Yusen said calmly before I could react.

"Oh, hahaha, my mistake. Let me introduce myself. Nie Xiguang, right? I'm Dr. Fang, your attending physician." Dr. Fang asked me a few questions, flipped through my medical records and scans, and said, "Looks good, very lucky, nothing serious..."

"She had vomiting and brief loss of consciousness earlier. Although the scans show no issues, it's best to keep her under observation for 48 hours and do a follow-up CT," Lin Yusen interjected, taking the scans from Dr. Fang and glancing at them.

"Oh, of course, that would be best." The attending physician smiled at me. "After all, falling from such a height—it's safer to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days."

I nodded and asked the seemingly unreliable doctor, "So how long do I need to stay?"

"Two weeks," he answered effortlessly, then turned to Lin Yusen. "What do you think?"

Lin Yusen handed the scans back expressionlessly. "You're the attending physician."

"Oh, right? Then..."

"Don't waste resources."

"Don't worry, this ward is often empty."

Dr. Fang scribbled a few notes on my chart, then looked up and winked at me.

...Something feels off here.

The doctors left as swiftly as they had arrived, and the ward fell quiet again. I shot a puzzled look at Lin Yusen, who immediately nodded and said, "I'll come by another day."

Then, hands in his pockets, he walked out too.

Leaving me deep in thought—why on earth do I need to stay for two weeks when I'm practically fine?

I thought Lin Yusen's "another day" was just politeness, so when I saw him the next morning, I was genuinely startled. My surprise must have been obvious because for a split second, he looked slightly awkward.

But he quickly regained his composure. "Your attending physician is an old classmate of mine. They have a surgery coming up in a field I'm more familiar with, so they invited me to discuss the surgical plan... and I thought I'd drop by to see you."

"Oh... I see. But don't you have work?"

"I worked overtime until 3 a.m. yesterday."

"Huh?"

"And then I took annual leave."