Chapter 26 Fever In The Quiet
I lay on the ground a long time before I came back.
I ignored Ji Yanli. I had Tang Xiaomang help me upstairs.
Once we were back, Tang Xiaomang insisted I take the bed.
I was tired. I let him have his way.
Early the next morning, my head felt thick and dull.
My whole body felt like it had been taken apart and put back wrong. Everything hurt.
Especially the place Ji Yanli had hit on my abdomen. A shocking bruise. The lightest touch made me suck in air.
Tang Xiaomang's eyes were red. He would not let me go to work no matter what. He pressed me down on the bed.
"Brother Ye, you have to rest today. I'll go tell Lao Zhang."
His tone was rarely this hard. He tucked the blanket over me.
Then he ran to the kitchen and busied himself for a long time. He brought a steaming bowl of vegetable and minced-meat congee, and two boiled eggs.
I had no appetite, but I looked at how wound up he was and forced down a little.
He stayed by the bed until he saw me lie down again. Then he left for work himself, looking back every other step.
The room went quiet. Only my heavy breathing was left.
Cold and pain twisted together. My mind went fuzzy.
I did not know when I fell asleep.
I did not know how long I slept.
I only felt colder and colder, like I had dropped into an ice pit.
My body burned in waves. My throat was dry enough to smoke.
I had a fever.
In that haze I heard the lock move.
I thought Tang Xiaomang had come back early because he could not rest easy. I tried to push myself up, but my whole body was soft, no strength at all.
Footsteps came toward the bedroom. Steady. Not Tang Xiaomang's slightly hurried step.
A tall shape appeared in the bedroom doorway, backlit, the outline somehow familiar.
It was Ji Yanli.