Ji Fanghuai’s physical condition was simply too poor. Aside from asking to be allowed to handle her own biological needs, she didn’t dare to take any risks with her body regarding anything else.
She obediently did whatever the doctor told her, taking medicine and getting IV drips without fail. Jiang Zhi’s words had become gospel.
Washing her body once a day was a necessary task for Jiang Zhi, and Ji Fanghuai wished she could just sleep through it.
Unfortunately, as soon as the warm towel touched her skin, she couldn’t pretend to sleep anymore. Moreover, Jiang Zhi would also remind her, “I need to turn you over now.”
Ji Fanghuai answered with a muffled “Mm.”
In other people’s homes, caregivers would become tired of looking after the patient, but Jiang Zhi seemed to willingly take on the caregiving role, insisting on doing everything herself—eating, drinking, and using the bathroom—making the hired nurse virtually a prop.
How could she have forgotten such a wonderful fiancée?
Because she had forgotten, whenever she faced Jiang Zhi, besides feeling guilty for not remembering her, she felt at a loss, unsure of how to interact.
And she constantly felt that everything was unreal.
Her body was carefully turned 180 degrees. Ji Fanghuai lay on her stomach, eyes closed, trying hard not to think about where Jiang Zhi was wiping. Sadly, her mind was like a movie screen, projecting every image of Jiang Zhi cleaning her body.
Ji Fanghuai told herself inwardly that they were fiancées, so what did it matter if she saw? Maybe Jiang Zhi had already seen and touched her everywhere.
Even so, when the towel wiped her private areas, Ji Fanghuai felt so mortified that her toes curled up.
“Can you clean my hair too?” Ji Fanghuai negotiated with Jiang Zhi. “Just a quick wipe is fine.”
Everywhere else had been cleaned, and only the top of her head remained undone.
Although Jiang Zhi indulged and spoiled her, she was never vague about serious matters. She shook her head and said, “The stitches were just removed not long ago. You can’t get it wet; be careful of infection.”
“But it smells bad,” Ji Fanghuai didn’t want to trouble Jiang Zhi, but she truly couldn’t stand it. She wrinkled her nose and sniffed, saying, “I don’t believe you haven’t noticed?”
Jiang Zhi cooperatively sniffed. She genuinely didn’t smell any peculiar odor, but still shook her head, “It still can’t touch water.”
“Can’t we even wipe it with alcohol?”
Due to a psychological effect, Ji Fanghuai always felt the top of her head was dirty and itchy. She couldn’t endure it and blurted out a fabricated reason: “Isn’t dirty hair more likely to cause infection? There are bacteria all around the wound, and my hair is short, so it’s easy to clean.”
Jiang Zhi thought for a moment and said, “I’ll have to ask the doctor first.”
The doctor’s advice was naturally that if it wasn’t too much trouble, they could wipe it with alcohol, but absolutely must be careful.
Jiang Zhi put on medical gloves, dipped a small amount of alcohol with a cotton swab, and meticulously cleaned the hair and scalp around Ji Fanghuai’s wound bit by bit.
After the alcohol evaporated, the roots of her hair felt cool, and coupled with Jiang Zhi’s extremely careful movements, Ji Fanghuai barely felt any pain, only comfort.
While she was marveling at how gentle Jiang Zhi’s hands were, she noticed Jiang Zhi’s expression was calm, yet her eyes were slightly red.
Perhaps she was frightened by her injuries.
Even Ji Fanghuai herself found the wound horrifying.
Ji Fanghuai didn’t dare to speak and distract Jiang Zhi. When she felt the cool area on her head being moved back onto the pillow, confirming the cleaning was complete, she offered comfort, “My injury is fine. Great misfortune is bound to be followed by good fortune, right?”
Jiang Zhi was undoubtedly a perfect fiancée: beautiful, kind-hearted, with a good figure, attentive, considerate, and gentle. Despite appearing cold as ice, she would actually tear up because of her injury.
It was a pity that she had forgotten her, forgotten their past.
Jiang Zhi didn’t respond. She just tidied up the cotton swabs and threw them into the trash can. When she returned to the bedside, there was no longer any sign of distress.
Ji Fanghuai considerately shifted the topic instead of continuing the previous one: “How did I get hurt?”
Ji Fanghuai was very curious. Now that the situation was gradually improving, she could face how she was injured with composure.
“A falling object from a height. A flowerpot from the eleventh floor fell and landed right on your head.” Jiang Zhi still felt lingering fear when she talked about this, and her gaze was chilly.
Ji Fanghuai looked up at the ceiling, calculating how high eleven floors were. She asked, “Was it an accident?”
“It was intentional,” Jiang Zhi explained. “The perpetrator was a habitual alcoholic. While arguing with his wife, he threw and smashed things around the house in anger, and you happened to be struck by the flowerpot thrown out the window.”
Ji Fanghuai’s skull immediately began to ache. She didn’t dare to recall the scene. A falling object from the eleventh floor was truly comparable to smashing a watermelon with a heavy hammer.
“I must have incredible luck,” Ji Fanghuai tried to lighten the mood, but Jiang Zhi didn’t answer.
“I’m really fine,” Ji Fanghuai desperately wanted to express that she was much better. Although she had forgotten her, she instinctively didn’t want Jiang Zhi to be sad or upset.
Jiang Zhi merely said, “You’ve been awake for a bit too long today. It’s easy to strain yourself. Close your eyes and sleep for a while.”
“Alright,” Ji Fanghuai closed her eyes to rest.
Jiang Zhi moved her laptop and lay down on the sofa next to the hospital bed to start working, but she noticed Ji Fanghuai’s gaze constantly wandering over her.
Jiang Zhi turned her head and saw Ji Fanghuai squinting at her. She couldn’t help but ask worriedly, “Are you uncomfortable somewhere? I have some company matters to resolve recently. If you think it’s noisy, tell me, and I’ll go to the living room.”
The luxurious VIP ward had a living room, a companion bedroom, and a bathroom, all fully equipped, but Jiang Zhi preferred to stay by the bedside with Ji Fanghuai.
“I’m not uncomfortable, and I don’t mind the noise,” Ji Fanghuai wished the room had more life.
Actually, there was a question she had always wanted to ask Jiang Zhi, but she didn’t know how to voice it.
Why was Jiang Zhi the only one taking care of her?
Didn’t she have any relatives or friends?
She had such a serious incident, yet her parents hadn’t appeared.
Jiang Zhi, however, said, “Then you must have something you want to ask me.”
As expected of her fiancée, Ji Fanghuai seized the moment and asked, “Where are my parents? I haven’t seen them since I woke up. Did I just happen to be asleep when they came?”
Although being cared for by one’s fiancée seemed natural, she would feel more at ease if her parents were taking care of her.
Jiang Zhi pondered for a moment and said, “Your parents are gone.”
“What does ‘gone’ mean?” Ji Fanghuai stared blankly at Jiang Zhi, trying to find an explanation in her eyes, then realized belatedly, “Do you mean they have both passed away?”
This time, Jiang Zhi directly said, “Yes.”
Ji Fanghuai’s head began to hurt again. Although she had forgotten who her parents were or what they looked like, she was still in disbelief when she heard the news.
No wonder no one came to see her.
Because she had no parents.
No parents.
No parents. The words cycled infinitely like a curse in her mind. Ji Fanghuai felt as if the wound on the top of her head would split open at any moment. Her hand involuntarily reached for the wounds, and her expression contorted, “My head hurts so much.”
“Fanghuai,” Jiang Zhi quickly stopped her and pressed the call button by the bed.
After the doctor administered a painkiller injection, Ji Fanghuai slowly stabilized. Her face was covered in cold sweat, and she looked exhausted as she gazed at the doctor and nurse in the ward, and at Jiang Zhi, who was anxiously watching her.
Her parents were gone.
Did she not even have friends?
How much of a failure had she been to not have a single relative or friend willing to visit her in the hospital?
She only had a fiancée by her side.
Ji Fanghuai heard herself say to Jiang Zhi in a trembling voice, “Do I only have you now?”
Jiang Zhi took her hand, gently gathered her into her embrace, and comforted her, “You still have me. I will always be here.”
Jiang Zhi’s embrace carried a faint, sweet fragrance. Ji Fanghuai’s emotions were effectively soothed, and she found the scent very pleasant. Coupled with the effects of the medication, she gradually fell asleep in Jiang Zhi’s arms.
“The painkiller just administered is enough to let her sleep for a while. We will arrange a time to check the condition of her head wound later. For her condition to stabilize, she must not be stimulated again in the future,” the attending doctor reminded.
“Alright,” Jiang Zhi gently and cautiously laid Ji Fanghuai flat, covered her with the blanket, and silently watched over her by the bedside.
She was always incredibly gentle in front of Ji Fanghuai, but when she wasn’t speaking, she was like a newly frozen ice beauty, radiating an aura that kept people away.
The ward was quiet. The screen of the phone on the table suddenly lit up. Jiang Zhi glanced at it, took the phone, and went to the hallway to answer the call.
“President Jiang, the planning department and the R&D department have a disagreement over the new game’s design. They have presented three proposals and are awaiting your decision,” reported Assistant Zhang Long.
Jiang Zhi wearily rubbed her temple and said, “We already held a meeting before. The planning department’s needs are paramount, and the R&D personnel must cooperate with the planning department’s proposal for development. If there are any other objections, tell them to see Xin Ling.”
The assistant said awkwardly, “President Xin’s three-month round-the-world trip hasn’t ended yet. She probably won’t be back for a while.”
Jiang Zhi thought of Ji Fanghuai still in the hospital bed, and her tone involuntarily grew colder.
“Just say the company has an urgent matter. Also, send me the proposals. Don’t call me at this time again.”
The assistant was startled by the severe tone and dared not reply.
After giving the instructions, Jiang Zhi hung up the phone, composed herself, and when she returned to the ward, she had put on her most gentle expression again.
She stared at Ji Fanghuai by the bed for a long time, then suddenly bent down and stroked Ji Fanghuai’s face, murmuring, “Isn’t just me enough?”
Unfortunately, Ji Fanghuai couldn’t hear her.
Jiang Zhi leaned down and kissed her forehead, silently opened her laptop, and continued to review the proposal.