The hospital was right behind the commercial street where Zhuang Zhong had treated them earlier. Zhou Ran hailed a taxi and, taking advantage of the lull, called Lao Lu to close the shop.
Xia Mian was groggy, and it wasn't until they reached a well-lit area that Zhou Ran saw the red rash had already spread to her face.
Zhou Ran didn't dare let her sleep. Whenever he saw her nodding off, he would pinch her cheek to remind her, "Don't sleep."
"I'm not sleeping," Xia Mian finally couldn't help but say when Zhou Ran pinched her for the eighth time. "Are you addicted to pinching me?"
Xia Mian's voice was muffled, weak, and listless.
"It's alright," Zhou Ran said. "We're almost there."
Xia Mian paused, then suddenly added, "Thank you."
"Don't just thank me with words."
Xia Mian turned her head to look at him. "Then what should I thank you with?"
Zhou Ran turned back. The car was dim, and the red rash on the girl's face looked like two patches of blush. She was struggling to keep her eyes open to look at him, her eye sockets moist.
He was stunned, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily.
"Give me something practical," Zhou Ran said, turning his head to look out the car window. "Who wants to hear you say thank you?"
It wasn't a large hospital nearby, and there weren't many doctors on duty at night. Zhou Ran rushed to register and took Xia Mian to the emergency room.
The doctor handed the form to Zhou Ran: "These are the results of the allergen test. After getting the medicine, take it orally. Observe the allergic reaction for the night, and we'll see if the fever has gone down after the IV drip is finished. Go downstairs to pay."
Zhou Ran looked at the results on the form and was stunned, almost laughing in frustration.
Xia Mian sat in the infusion room, leaning to one side with an IV needle in her hand, her head drooping from time to time.
Zhou Ran pressed the water bottle in his hand against the flush on Xia Mian's cheek. The cold sensation transferred over, still carrying the moisture of water droplets.
Xia Mian opened her eyes in a daze: "Hmm?"
She lifted her head. The white light of the infusion room was blinding, and she could only squint.
"You're back? What did the doctor say?"
Zhou Ran handed the form to Xia Mian. "You're allergic to the allergy medicine. If I hadn't called you downstairs to take your temperature, you'd be lying in the ICU right now."
Xia Mian took the form and squinted at it briefly. The words "Chlorpheniramine" were particularly conspicuous.
"I didn't know."
Zhou Ran unscrewed the water bottle and handed it to Xia Mian. "Take your medicine. The nurse will be here in a while. You can't leave tonight; you have to stay here for observation."
He sat on the chair next to Xia Mian, pulled out a thin blanket from somewhere, wrapped it around her shoulders, and draped it over her.
"You had such a strong reaction to the allergy, didn't you feel anything at all?" Zhou Ran asked.
"No," Xia Mian said, lowering her head in a daze. "I was just sleepy and had difficulty with my breath. I thought I was being smothered by the pillow."
"You were already having difficulty with your breath, sister."
"I've never had an allergy before," Xia Mian muttered softly. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
Zhou Ran paused and turned his head away.
"Then try to be less of a worry next time."
There weren't many people in the infusion room, and when it occasionally went quiet, you couldn't hear a sound.
Zhou Ran sat quietly for a while, and when he looked back, Xia Mian had already fallen asleep with her neck tilted.
Zhou Ran found it a bit unbelievable and also wanted to laugh.
This girl was truly carefree; she hadn't met him many times in total, yet she had fallen asleep in front of him three times.
An elderly man sitting to the side with an IV drip watched Xia Mian's sleeping posture and called out.
"Young man."
The few people nearby were all drawn by the old man's voice.
Zhou Ran looked up, and the old man tilted his chin at him.
"Are you just going to let your girlfriend sleep in that position? Won't she wake up with a stiff neck later?"
An older woman nearby took a look and chimed in, "Oh my, isn't that right? You should support the girl, don't let her pull a muscle."
Zhou Ran was stunned: "Huh?"
"Huh what?" the old man pointed at him. "I'm telling you to support the girl's head. You don't look that young, why don't you know how to take care of people?"
"If you don't know how to cherish someone, how are you going to date?"
Zhou Ran leaned back in his chair and looked at the sleeping Xia Mian. She was fast asleep and hadn't heard a word of what they were saying.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"Even if she isn't your girlfriend, you can't let a girl sleep with her head drooping like that. With an attitude like yours, when will you ever be able to win her over?"
Zhou Ran was bewildered: "No, sir, wait a minute..."
"Wait for what? Support her!"
The old man was impatient, and his voice grew louder.
The older woman waved her hand: "Keep your voice down, don't wake the girl up, she's already asleep."
Zhou Ran glanced at Xia Mian and saw her sleeping comfortably with her neck tilted. For a moment, he didn't know how to proceed.
He wrapped his arm around the other side of Xia Mian, gently pushed her head, and moved his shoulder over.
Xia Mian, still asleep, slid into his embrace following his movement and rested steadily on his shoulder.
"Th-this way?" Zhou Ran was uncharacteristically at a loss.
"Hey, that's it!"
The old man nodded with satisfaction and turned to chat with the older woman.
"Young people these days are really no good. Back when I was courting my wife, there wasn't a guy within fifty miles more thoughtful than me. Why did my wife choose me? Because I knew how to cherish people!"
Zhou Ran sat there, feeling a moment of awkwardness.
He frowned, trying to relax his stiff back. Half of his shoulder was held rigid, and the area from his collarbone down was aching, yet he didn't dare to relax.
The lights in the infusion room were bright.
Zhou Ran swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, and he turned his head slightly to look at Xia Mian's face.
He lowered his eyes. From this angle, he could only see the tip of her nose and her lips, with her snow-white chin exposed. He could even hear Xia Mian's steady breath by his ear.
He watched for a long time, wondering if the two red rashes on her face had faded.
Zhou Ran looked down twice but couldn't tell. After pondering for a moment, he raised his hand and gently touched Xia Mian's cheek twice.
His movements were light, as if he didn't dare to touch Xia Mian. His fingertips slowly brushed across her cheek and then pressed down, wanting to feel if there were still small bumps under the skin.
The breath by his ear paused, and Xia Mian let out a muffled groan and opened her eyes.
Zhou Ran was startled and quickly pulled his hand back.
Xia Mian opened her eyes and took a few seconds to recover, then suddenly reacted and looked at Zhou Ran.
She was actually sleeping on Zhou Ran's shoulder!
Xia Mian's body stiffened, thinking of pretending she hadn't noticed anything and sitting up as if nothing had happened.
Before she could move, the old man's booming voice sounded like a thunderclap on flat ground.
"And you say you aren't dating! I saw you touching her face!"
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