The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 16.2 - Life's Tender Dependence (2)

She felt her entire body grow hot once more. She did not even know how her temperature had been taken, or how she had finished her breakfast and taken her medication.

When Jì Chengyang went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, she lay on her side with her head on the pillow that his head had lain on, her eyes closed. She could still vividly recall the sensation from earlier on when their lips and tongues had met. The medication he gave her had a sedating component to it. Her heart felt as if it was being seared, but she could not distinguish whether it was a result of retrospective bashfulness and embarrassment or because of her high fever that would not break. In this state, she slowly slipped into a deep slumber.

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That night, her fever subsided.

The following morning, she finally was granted Jì Chengyang's permission to take a hot shower. Since last night, she had not been able to stand the odour on her body after the fever broke. There was a strong scent of sweat that truly was not pleasant to smell. After she had thoroughly cleansed and rinsed herself, she put on her clothing, a light pink tracksuit that she had temporarily stored in his wardrobe. Then, wearing her slippers, she walked to the other room.

Jì Chengyang was lying on the couch inside, resting with his eyes closed. He heard the sounds of her stepping into the room, but he was so drained he could not even be bothered to lift his eyelids. In a voice that required the least energy, a mild one that contained no rises and falls in intonation, he quietly told her that the breakfast that had already been prepared yesterday was in the kitchen and she could heat it up in the microwave before eating it.

"Even if you have no appetite, still eat some." This was what he said.

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Jì Chengyang had already showered around three or four in the morning, during that time when he had been feeling exhausted. He wore a black, long-sleeved t-shirt from his university days, its sleeves rolled up slightly. He had set his left arm on the armrest of the couch and pillowed his head on that arm, but he seemed to feel that this position was not very comfortable and wanted to turn over to switch arms and continue sleeping for a little longer.

In the space of a breath, the warmth that was characteristic of a young girl, intermixed with the scent of the bodywash that he was most familiar with, could already be felt.

"Are you really tired?" Slowly crouching down beside the couch, Jǐ Yi quietly asked him this.

Jì Chengyang's eyelashes fluttered, but still feeling very fatigued, he did not open his eyes.

Jǐ Yi's lips were pursed together. She was smiling.

Not everyone could have this type of experience: During the height of a potentially fatal infectious disease, her symptoms coincidentally had been identical to those of the disease. The hopelessness in that moment had been engulfing. And then, what followed was similar to receiving a true, correct diagnosis report after being given an earlier incorrect diagnosis... Right now, she felt that everything she laid eyes on was beautiful. She even felt that being able to crouch here and simply watch him was the greatest blessing in the world.

"Yes." He somewhat teasingly answered her, "You exhausted me."

"... I shouldn't be that much work and exhausting on people when I'm fevering, right?" Jǐ Yi felt a little guilty, but still she argued, "Apart from taking the medicine, all I did was sleep..."