Chapter 99 Daydreaming "My shoulder... my shoulder blade is a little itchy too."...

For Zhu Liushuang, "fearing that cutting in line would have a bad influence" was merely an excuse to refuse Yue Lin. She knew perfectly well that accepting Yue Lin's help would mean owing him a favor. And favors, after all, must be repaid. She didn't want to have too much involvement with him, especially after she had clearly rejected his confession.

But the words of the person beside her just now put her in a difficult position.

Zhu Liushuang looked up in surprise, her eyes meeting He Ming's cold profile. Forced to accept someone's kindness, she was actually a little annoyed. But remembering that He Ming was unaware of her relationship with Yue Lin, she forcefully suppressed her irritation.

Ultimately, he was just worried about her safety.

This realization warmed Zhu Liushuang's heart. She smiled and said to Yue Lin through her overcoat, which was blocking her view, "Thank you for your help, Dr. Yue."

A man's intuition is often just as sharp as a woman's. Yue Lin clearly sensed He Ming's hostility. With a subtle, condescending gaze, He Ming erected a barrier between Yue Lin and Zhu Liushuang, issuing a silent warning.

He hadn't expected He Ming to agree so readily, even thanking him before Zhu Liushuang did. He paused for a moment before nodding and saying, "Come with me."

The dim light of the corridor flickered in Zhu Liushuang's eyes, casting several slanted shadows on the marble floor. Yue Lin walked in front, followed by Zhu Liushuang and He Ming. The three seemed to have reached a tacit understanding; none of them spoke.

Walking through the long corridor, the light became bright and dazzling. Warm air poured out from the vents, and perhaps due to the heat, the brief itch returned. Zhu Liushuang scratched her neck in frustration, stopping in front of consultation room number 01.

"Wait a moment," Yue Lin said, gripping the doorknob. "Let me talk to the teacher first." With that, he opened the door and went inside, leaving the two of them alone outside.

The more she scratched her neck, the itchier it became. Zhu Liushuang knew she couldn't keep scratching, but she couldn't resist. So she used a lot of force until she felt obvious pain before she stopped.

"Don't move."

A familiar scent drew near, and suddenly someone grabbed my arm.

Zhu Liushuang blinked, meeting He Ming's gaze. She tried to smile but found she couldn't manage it. Her physical discomfort overwhelmed her. She sniffled pitifully and said, "It's so hot, and the rash is so itchy, I can't control it."

"Take off your coat, I'll hold it for you." The man slowly loosened his grip on her elbow, turned his face away, and said in a low voice.

Her down jacket was thick, so she was only wearing a thin fleece crewneck sweatshirt underneath. As the jacket was removed, the mottled marks on her neck were instantly revealed. Zhu Liushuang herself couldn't see them, of course, but through He Ming's dark and deep eyes, she could guess that her neck had probably been scratched horribly!

Otherwise, he wouldn't have furrowed his brow so deeply.

The door to the consultation room suddenly opened, and Yue Lin came out wearing a medical surgical mask.

"Alright, come in." His gaze lingered on Zhu Liushuang's neck, and the smile in his eyes vanished instantly.

He Ming was holding Zhu Liushuang's down jacket. He wanted to go in with her, but Yue Lin blocked him at the door with a single sentence.

"Family members, please wait. I'm sorry, but we are using the consultation room and there are other patients seeing patients inside."

Zhu Liushuang turned around and gave He Ming a deep look, a weak smile appearing on her face. Without waiting for his response, she followed Yue Lin into the consultation room.

The wooden door closed, shutting out all the noise from the waiting hall.

A female doctor with gray hair sat in the consultation room, head down, prescribing medicine for a patient. Hearing the noise, she glanced at Zhu Liushuang, then turned to Yue Lin and instructed, "Remember to close the curtain."

With a "whoosh," the curtain was pulled up. Although there were people outside, Zhu Liushuang still felt nervous.

"Sit here." Yue Lin pointed to the examination bed, his voice devoid of any personal emotion. "Wait for me a moment."

Zhu Liushuang sat silently on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling in the air. There was a rustling sound outside the curtain, and soon Yue Lin appeared in front of her wearing disposable medical gloves.

"Besides your neck, is anywhere else itchy?"

"arm."

"What about other places?"

"there is none left."

Yue Lin leaned forward and carefully examined her rash. The warmth of the man's fingertips seeped through his rubber gloves onto her skin, and Zhu Liushuang couldn't help but clench her fists.

"Pull the collar down a little more," Yue Lin said calmly.

Zhu Liushuang hesitated for a moment, then loosened her clenched fist and grabbed the edge of her collar.

Yue Lin is a doctor; he's a professional! In a doctor's eyes, there are no genders, only patients. She silently repeated this several times to herself, then pulled her collar down a little.

The rash had spread all the way to her collarbone, and the red marks from her scratching stood out starkly against her fair skin. Yue Lin quickly withdrew his hand and took a few steps back, saying, "Red welts, with mild edema. Besides itching, are there any other symptoms?"

"It stings a little," Zhu Liushuang said.

"And on the arm?"

She rolled up her sleeve and showed him the rash on her forearm.

"Open your mouth, let me check your throat." In the meantime, Yue Lin had already taken out a tongue depressor and a flashlight from the instrument tray.

A white light shone, and the person in front of her calmly swept his gaze over her tongue and palate, saying, "Fortunately, it hasn't developed into laryngeal edema."

"Hmm. Do I need an injection or an IV drip?" Zhu Liushuang asked.

Yue Lin did not respond, but instead picked up the stethoscope and placed it against her back: "Don't move, take a deep breath, I'm listening to your lungs."

Zhu Liushuang followed suit, quietly listening to her steady heartbeat. Yue Lin's professionalism eased her nervousness and anxiety.

"Your breathing sounds are clear, and there's no wheezing, so a severe allergic reaction can be ruled out. Hormone treatment isn't necessary for now," Yue Lin said, pulling back the curtain. "I'll prescribe some antihistamines and topical ointment for you. Avoid contact with allergens recently, and try not to scratch it."

"Okay, I understand." Zhu Liushuang got off the examination bed.

The man took off his gloves and threw them into the trash can: "I'll write down all the names of the medicines for you on a piece of paper. You can take the prescription to the pharmacy outside the hospital and buy them; you can use your medical insurance."

"Thank you." Zhu Liushuang gave Yue Lin a grateful look.

"Calamine lotion can relieve itching, but remember to wash it off with water half an hour after applying it. Mometasone furoate cream should be mixed with body lotion in a 1:1 ratio and applied to the rash twice a day, morning and evening. The cetirizine hydrochloride you were just taking might be more helpful for allergic rhinitis, so I'll switch it to loratadine for you. This medicine tends to make you drowsy, so it's better to take it before going to bed at night."

Zhu Liushuang wrote down Yue Lin's words in her memo. Just as her phone screen went dark, the door to the consultation room opened. She turned around and saw He Ming still waiting by the door, maintaining the same posture he had adopted when she entered.

After Yue Lin finished writing the prescription, he looked up and saw Zhu Liushuang staring blankly out the door. His heart ached even more, but he maintained the calm and aloof demeanor that doctors always have.

“Remember not to scratch the affected area. If the condition worsens, seek medical attention promptly. Also… if you have time, you could get an allergy test.” He glanced at her neck, which was covered in red marks, and said casually, “I have some things to attend to here, so I won’t see you out.”

Zhu Liushuang took the prescription and said "thank you" several times. Before leaving, she bowed to the female doctor sitting in the chair and examined her before opening the door and leaving the consultation room.

Outside the door, the person who had been waiting for her for more than ten minutes immediately stepped forward and asked with concern, "How are you?"

"No need for injections or IV drips, just some ointment and some medicine will do," Zhu Liushuang said casually, holding up the prescription.

Inside the room, the young doctor who had just finished examining her took off his mask and stared blankly at the corner of the table without a smile.

"You little rascal, you're interested in that girl, aren't you?" The gray-haired female doctor teased her student while performing a palpation on a patient.

"No... just ordinary friends."

"They came back to work overtime even after everyone had left..." the female doctor asked suspiciously, "Is this what you call ordinary friends?"

Seeing his unrequited love exposed by his teacher, Yue Lin had no choice but to admit, "Sigh, I met her at the wrong time. She already has someone else in her heart... I was too late."

The female doctor stopped teasing him and smiled as she comforted him, saying, "There are plenty of good girls out there. I'll introduce you to one someday."

The young doctor standing in the consultation room looked dejected. His usually charming eyes had lost their sparkle. He forced a smile and said, "No, thirty is the age to focus on my career..."

————

Zhu Liushuang bought medicine at a pharmacy outside the hospital, intending to apply the ointment after returning home. However, the rash on her body was so unbearable that she had no choice but to apply calamine lotion to herself in the car.

She dipped a cotton swab in the pinkish-white liquid and applied it to the rash. The cool sensation did indeed relieve the itching and pain. The vanity mirror on the sun visor in front of her seat was small, and the dim lighting in the carriage made applying the liquid difficult. In some places, she just haphazardly smeared a little on, relying solely on her sense of smell.

She had to work harder when she got to the back of her neck. Because she couldn't see, she could only smear it haphazardly.

The man who had been feigning sleep in the driver's seat opened his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Do you need any help?"

It's certainly a good thing that someone is offering to help. But... if I ask him for help, wouldn't it be a bit too intimate to ask someone to help me with something like the back of my neck?

Zhu Liushuang hesitated for two seconds before her mind immediately turned away: "Oh... okay, then thank you for your trouble, senior."

"Turn around."

He Ming turned slightly to the side, took the medicine bottle and cotton swabs from her hand, and looked down at the woman's fair and slender neck. She held up her black hair with both hands, leaving only a few short and soft tufts of downy hair, like raven feathers accidentally dropped on a snow blanket, tugging at his nerves.

A subtle, slightly bitter herbal scent wafted from behind her, not strong or overpowering, yet deeply soothing. He gently applied the lotion to her from behind, and with each application, Zhu Liushuang felt her heart flutter.

The small makeup mirror outlined the two figures, and soft, tender music flowed from the car radio. She listened to their intertwined breaths, her neck pressing down so low it was almost buried in their chests.

"Thump thump thump—thump thump thump—" The intense beating in her chest made her eardrums vibrate, as if the "trapped beast" that was rampaging between her ribs would break free of its shackles and leap out at any moment.

"My shoulder... my shoulder blade is also a little itchy."

Her heartbeat was so loud that it drowned out the sound muffled in her throat.

The hand holding the cotton swab behind him paused, and the liquid accidentally dripped, staining the light-colored sweatshirt with an irregular little flower pattern. He Ming immediately wiped it with his hand, and the base of his palm was instantly stained pinkish-white.

"Okay—" His voice suddenly tightened, his gaze moving down the graceful curve of the woman's nape, "Left or right?"

"Right...right side," Zhu Liushuang stammered.

The fabric of her hoodie was pulled, and the man's pale left hand hooked around her collar and pressed it down, then folded it outwards.

She secretly lifted her head from her chest, her eyes glancing unnoticed at the high-hanging vanity mirror.

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Author's Note: [Milk Tea] My darling Shuangshuang: When Dr. Yue is seeing patients, she hesitates and struggles internally even when he slightly pulls on her collar! (He's a doctor; he doesn't see gender.) [Shrug] Senior helps apply medicine: Great! My shoulder blades are itchy too. [Chin Rest]