章節 78: 1.2.41: Gone

Fifteen minutes after Xiao Yunhua left the hospital, she was sitting at the nearby park, contemplating on her next move. She didn't expect to receive a phone call, but without looking at the name, she picked up.

"Yunhua—"

"Ling Qiu, if this is another one of your stunts, I will block your number." Xiao Yunhua was in no mood to deal with Ling Qiu's antics. She was already angry due to the old man's shamelessness in denying his faults, but Ling Qiu's voice carried a sense of legitimate urgency.

"Yunhua, he's gone!"

"Huh?"

"Qiang Yue's father..." she choked, like she was sobbing too hard. "He's gone!"

"You're lying." Xiao Yunhua scoffed, no longer willing to allow herself to be manipulated by Ling Qiu. She had caused her to blurt out her real identity in the heat, so Xiao Yunhua didn't want to deal with her any longer.

"You... You will see if I am lying or not!" Ling Qiu hung up, not letting Xiao Yunhua retort.

Xiao Yunhua was sure that it was another plot, but the curiosity was beginning to nag away in her mind. She really wanted to go and see if Ling Qiu had the dignity to say the truth, but there was also a fifty percent possibility that the nurse was lying again.

In the end, she decided to go. Not to fuel Ling Qiu's ploys, but to check up on Qiang Yue. And to bring him the food that she couldn't bring earlier.

The poor man had probably decided to skip out on lunch from being so busy.

So with more orders, from the same restaurant earlier, she walked in the direction of the hospital with haste.

When she arrived at Qiang Yue's office, she was shocked to find it empty. Qiang Yue wanted to ask a nurse there if they had seen Qiang Yue, but it seemed like everyone was too busy.

She finally decided to check in Qiang Luo's private room to see if Qiang Yue was there after looking everywhere.

When she finally arrived, she was shocked to see many nurses and doctors gathered. What caught her eye was that Ling Qiu was actually crying.

She had thought that Ling Qiu was merely pretending to get her to go to the hospital, but seeing the nurse actually sobbing, she felt anxiety and dread fill her.

Xiao Yunhua quickly rushed inside of the hospital room despite the people telling her to not go in there.

She slammed the door shut, locking it.

She saw a lifeless Qiang Luo on the bed, breathless and his electrocardiogram monitor indicating nothing.

Her eyes turned to a man sitting next to the bed, his arms on his knees and his hands covering his face. His shoulders were slumped and an air of sadness loomed above him.

The more she edged closer, the more that she could see who the man was with his white coat.

"Qiang Yue?" She softly called out, trying to get his attention. The man didn't answer nor move, so she walked closer and closer until she stood in front of his hunched self.

Gently, she called out again, "Qiang Yue?"

The man finally responded as he looked up.

Xiao Yunhua was frozen to find that his face was abnormally pale and around his eyes were dark circles, while his actual eyes were red from crying. What really shocked her were the emotions that his eyes seemed to carry: dull and lifeless, like he couldn't see or feel anything.

Slowly raising her hands, she cupped his face and brought her face down. Their foreheads touched and his dark eyes met with her honey colored ones.

"Qiang Yue?"

"He's gone..." Qiang Yue whispered hoarsely. "He's really gone." Tears streamed down the sides of his face as he uttered those heartbreaking words. He hadn't cried when he found out that his mother was dead, but as his father had raised him, he couldn't endure the tears.

Silence followed his words and Xiao Yunhua could only use her thumbs to softly wipe his tears.

Suddenly, Qiang Yue's arms wrapped around her waist, causing her to almost fall. She balanced herself, but was startled when she heard him say his next eight words: "You're the only one I have left now..."

And then she heard the same noise that she hadn't heard in a while:

<<Ding! Second target achieved!>>