"Mom." Dannie immediately got up to greet her upon seeing that Shirley had returned.
"Good boy." Shirley ruffled his hair and turned to introduce me to the child. "This is Madam Reid. Say hello, Neal."
"Do you still remember me, Dannie?" The adults' grievances had nothing to do with the children. I took the initiative to express my goodwill and asked him with a smile.
He shook his head and stared at me blankly for a while without saying anything.
It was said that little kids knew nothing, but in fact, they intuitively knew that the appearance of some would make their parents uncomfortable, so they would intentionally or unintentionally resist and fight back.
Perhaps Dannie himself didn't know that, but he was, in his own way, trying to protect Shirley.
I didn't mind as I kept smiling at him.
Shirley patted Neal's back and casted a sideways glance at the door next to her. "He's inside. Go on in. I'll be here."
There wasn't a single woman who could stand firm in the wake of her beloved man reuniting with the woman he'd loved for a long time.
I understood how she felt and didn't force her into it. I took a deep breath and got ready before I silently pressed the doorknob and entered the ward.
The disinfectant in the room smelled stronger than it did in the corridor. The first thing I saw was a pair of dry feet, which were bare and exposed outside the quilt. They were so thin that bones were what was left.
As I walked further in, I saw Irvin, who was wearing a gauze cap on the hospital bed.
If possible, I wanted to take back all those silent curses I had sent his way.
Someone gently nudged my arm, and a tissue came to my sight along with a pair of well-defined hands. "Wipe your tears."
She was the one who loved Irvin the most. To remain this calm, she must have had her fair share of breakdowns.
"Thank you." I knew I did not have the right to be weak in front of her, so I tried to calm myself down for fear of waking Irvin up. I wiped my tears and asked, "How could this be? Can we still save him? Perhaps we could look into treatment abroad?"
"It's no use. The attending doctor said that treatment will do him no good. All we can do now is to stick to him and let him live for as long as he can." With that in mind, Shirley walked to the door and looked into the ward through the glass that was as thick as a brick. She put a hand on the glass as if she could touch Irvin by doing so. "You know, now is the only time when he doesn't have the strength to push me away. He has no choice but to accept my care and be with me all day long. I know that he doesn't want to take his last breath for you, but it doesn't matter. I'm happy just by staying by his side."
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