Chapter 35 An airport appears at 10,000 feet, accompanying her on her flight…

After a two-week vacation, at the boarding gate of San Jose Airport, Xu Aida, wearing Bluetooth headphones and listening to light music, buried himself in checking his "flight relaxation kit".

Mint-flavored chewing gum, super sour lemon hard candy, fir essential oil, silk eye mask, palm-sized plush toy.

The silver iPod Classic has wired headphones to ensure the music never stops, and an old-fashioned handheld console for playing Tetris.

"Okay, everything's ready." She closed her bag.

Strange, why is someone standing here for five or six seconds without leaving?

Her heart pounded when she caught sight of the slightly worn brown boat shoes. Oh my god, no way.

She looked up like a clumsy robot, and it really was him.

Liang Siyu was initially worried that she would find him making a mountain out of a molehill and being too clingy.

But seeing her blank expression for the first time, he immediately relaxed and was in the mood to joke: "What's wrong? Another fright? Isn't this a nice surprise?"

Xu Aida threw her bag on the ground and threw herself into his arms. The familiar woody scent, like a pine forest, enveloped her.

He actually came all the way here to accompany her; he's crazy.

A six-hour flight, crossing the entire country. This is unnecessary; it's completely irrational. Two weeks ago, she flew back alone.

However, the thought had barely surfaced in his mind when it was baked away by the heat in his chest, turning into steam that vanished without a trace.

Liang Siyu tightened his arms and pressed against her back, his nose feeling a little sore.

Her reaction made him feel that his impulsiveness last night was well worth it; a six-hour flight was nothing at all.

She was dazed as he pulled her to an emergency upgrade, and even when she sat down on the plane, it felt a little unreal.

Her gaze only refocused after he snapped a photo.

He put away his phone and touched her neck: "Ada, you look like you've been robbed."

She glared back, and after three or four seconds she retorted, "No, this is clearly a kidnapping."

"Shh, you can't say that on the plane, it'll get me into trouble."

She couldn't hold back any longer and laughed so hard she almost fell over. He pulled her into his arms and said, "Don't be too happy yet, your summer vacation is coming to an end."

"It's better than you." He didn't even get a day off, and he foolishly flew over to pick her up.

Before takeoff, Liang Siyu would usually look at the printed paper, but this time, he didn't take anything out and just silently watched her pack her things.

She put a piece of candy in her mouth and made a distorted expression.

He held out his hand: "Can I have one?"

"Wait, I still have some mints." She continued rummaging through her bag.

“No, I want to eat this, just like you.” He took her hand, picked up the candy box, and poured out a candy.

Sure enough, it was extremely, extremely, extremely sour.

Clear and strong sensory stimuli are a common intervention technique for combating panic.

He guessed that she had consulted a doctor, which made him feel a little relieved, but the next moment, a sour feeling welled up in his heart, like a chewed lemon candy.

Nightmares, fear, solitary counseling, rumors, injury, calming down on my own.

When she is sober, she is her own umbrella and never allows herself to "need" another person.

The engine roared, and she gripped the handrail tightly, her thin lips pursed. He gently covered her hand, slowly closing it and enveloping it, feeling the slightly cool back of her hand gradually warm up.

During the cruising phase, she seemed perfectly normal. She drank water, ate her airplane meal, left half a piece of overly sweet cake, and then took out her iPad to read papers for two or three hours.

He almost felt he might be worrying too much, but when she pulled out her eye mask and suddenly ordered a glass of wine, his heart sank slightly.

Alcohol consumption is not conducive to falling asleep, and he wanted to remind her of that, but then he thought that it might help her relax, so he didn't mention it.

After finishing her drink, she reclined her chair, put on an eye mask, and lay down. But he knew she wasn't asleep; her hand, tucked under the blanket, would occasionally press the Click Wheel to change the music.

Half an hour later, she tore off her blindfold, took out the Fugu handheld game console, and Tetris blocks fell rapidly, eliminating layer by layer.

She froze when the cabin announcement came over the loudspeaker that the plane would be landing in twenty minutes.

Soon, beep beep beep, a line of text appeared on the screen: Game Over.

She tossed the handheld console back into her bag, started rummaging through her things again, popped two lemon candies into her mouth, held a small toy in her left hand and an iPod in her right, and sat up straight.

Liang Siyu gently took out the iPod, held her right hand, and she glanced at him, then accidentally looked out the window. Her breath caught in her throat, and she quickly looked away.

He patted her right arm: "It's okay, I'm here, Ada, I'm here."

They could already feel a slight sense of weightlessness during the descent.

Her body began to tremble uncontrollably. No, no, why is the feeling of weightlessness so strong?

The plane is shaking? There's smoke? Is it on fire? Is there a lack of oxygen in the cabin? Why can't she breathe?

Amidst the chaos, the counselor's calm voice echoed: "This is a flashback, Ada. Find your anchor point; you're not on that plane. Come on, breathe with me."

Anchor point? She gasped for breath, biting into a lemon candy. The intense sourness brought her to her senses for a moment, and she began to try counting one, two, three.

Seeing that she was breathing rapidly and about to sob, Liang Siyu put his arm around her shoulder and took off her right earphone: "Ada, listen to my voice."

She stared blankly ahead, as if frozen, her palms covered in cold sweat.

He could only tighten his grip, even at the cost of hurting her: "Ada, feel my hand, I'm here, hold on tight, okay? I'm holding on tight to you too, you're safe, we're both safe."

She gently squeezed his hand back, and his heart barely settled back into his chest.

Thump, the plane touched down.

The moment the impact hit her, she let out a barely suppressed gasp, and tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.

“Ada, look at me, we’ve landed. Look out the window, we’re on the ground. We’re safe.” He tried to guide her gaze and vision.

She hummed in response, her voice trembling with tears, and gripped his hand tightly with her right, while frantically reaching for tissues in her pocket with her left, trying to wipe away her tears.

In the taxi, her face was deathly pale and her palms were ice-cold, just like six months ago.

He handed her a bottle of mineral water, and she took a couple of small sips before leaning wearily on his shoulder.

How did she get home two weeks ago? Did she rest at the airport for a while, drink a sports drink, and then rely entirely on willpower to get through it, right?

He couldn't help but ask, "Is it like this when you go home too?"

A moment of silence.

He touched her hair and said nothing more.

A very soft voice drifted over: "It's not that bad, really."

He shook his head. This stubborn girl.

Xu Aida seriously felt that she wasn't just being stubborn; when she flew home, she seemed to be in better condition and not so weak.

This is so strange. Business class is obviously more comfortable, and I feel more at ease with him by my side. So why do I feel so exhausted now? My whole body feels weak.

He tightened his grip on her arm: "Take a nap, there'll be traffic. I brought motion sickness pills, do you want to take one?"

She thought for a moment, ate a piece, adjusted her posture, leaned into his arms, smelled the familiar and refreshing scent of pine and cypress, and closed her eyes.

The air conditioning in the car was very strong. He took out one of his Oxford shirts from his bag and draped it over her shoulders.

After the PTSD attack, she was noticeably weak in the muscles, and with the cold sweat still lingering, she looked like a slightly melted little snowman, soft and damp.

His movements became lighter and lighter, and then he heard her long, even breaths.

When they arrived home, she was fast asleep. He quietly asked the taxi driver to put the luggage in the front yard, and then picked her up in his arms.

Instead of taking the long brown stone staircase leading upstairs, he went down a few steps and entered through the garden level.

He carried her steadily through the open kitchen, only to be surprised to encounter the housekeepers who hadn't left yet, restocking the refrigerator.

He subconsciously shifted his body slightly, uttered a simple "Pardon us," and strode quickly toward the elevator at the back of the villa without pausing.

She didn't tell her parents that she had flown back and forth, nor did she ask the family driver to pick her up, because she didn't want her family to find out that she had a fear of flying.

When Xu Aida woke up, her mouth was dry and her head was spinning, but a voice in her mind reminded her that it was time to get off the bus, and even if there was a traffic jam, they should have arrived by now.

She barely opened her eyes. Huh? What's this? A little flustered, she instinctively called out, "Ned?"

"I'm here, I'm here." He hurried out, wearing a bathrobe, sat on the edge of the bed, and took her hand.

He never expected that she would wake up in less than two hours. Logically, after experiencing stress and taking motion sickness medication containing sedatives, she should have been able to sleep soundly for four to six hours.

"I'm here, don't be afraid, we're home, this is my bedroom." He opened a bottle of juice for her to drink, to replenish her fluids and sugar.

"Go back to sleep, okay? You need to get a good night's sleep. There are no experiments scheduled for tomorrow, so don't think about anything, just relax and get some sleep, okay?"

He simply got into bed and held her in his arms.

She had intended to get up, but she felt fine. Two weeks ago, on the day she returned home, she took a nap for more than an hour before getting up to eat dinner.

But when he held her in his arms, she actually fell asleep again.

Xu Aida woke up around 5 a.m. the next day, feeling disoriented.

This bedroom felt both strange and familiar, even though she had only stayed there for a very short time—in her previous life, they had spent much more of their holidays on Long Island.

But by the French windows, on that single sofa, they used to squeeze together, she drank the hot chocolate he made, and he held her as he read sonnets.

When it snowed at Christmas, she impulsively went to the terrace and drew a small heart. He chased after her with a blanket and draped it over her, kissing her frostbitten fingers and the first snowflakes in her hair.

For the first time, she discovered that the images were so clear and bright, without fading at all.

In the years that followed, she tried to stop thinking about those moments. She thought she had successfully tamed her hippocampus and put those memories away.

She couldn't help but sniffle, suppressing the rising sourness.

A hand reached out to him, and his sleepy voice rang out: "Ada, I'm here."

Large tears instantly welled up in her eyes. She bit her lip, forcing herself to breathe slowly, not daring to make a sound, but her trembling back betrayed her. Liang Siyu instantly came to her senses.

"Having another nightmare?" He leaned down and gently patted her. "Babe, those weren't real. We've gotten off the plane safely. Look, this is the bedroom, right? I'm here, I'm here, don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Those things were real, they were definitely real.

She just didn't dare to let herself go, didn't dare to believe that her beautiful dream could be rekindled, and was afraid that in this life, the sweetness would shatter into pieces again.

She finally couldn't hold back any longer and said in a low voice, "You don't know, you don't understand..."

She wouldn't turn around, so he simply stepped over her, knelt down beside the bed, and cupped her face in his hands: "Tell me, Ada, I can understand."

His thumb gently touched her bitten lips. "You know, I'll understand, I promise."

She closed her eyes and began to hate herself for saying those words; she shouldn't have said them.

She tried to take a deep breath, but all she could think of was his pained and worried look in his eyes, which broke her heart.

She pressed her hand to her chest, wishing her wildly beating heart could stop for a moment, so that she wouldn't feel pain or be torn apart by love and hate.

She misses the young girl from ten years ago, who was fearless and unreserved, yet she is afraid of becoming her again.