Chapter 125 Chapter 125

Lia woke up a day later. The first thing she felt was a dull pain spreading from deep in her throat. It wasn't an illusion. The rough tube had left a burning sensation all the way from her esophagus to her stomach.

Every swallow and breath brought a sharp pain. Her unfocused vision gradually focused, and she saw a familiar figure lying beside the bed. "Xia Qing..." She opened her mouth, trying to make a sound.

Only a hoarse, vague syllable came from her throat, accompanied by a sharp pain, which made her shut up immediately. Xia Qing heard the movement and jumped up from the bed.

She received a call from Quan Zhilong a little after six o'clock. She was so startled she woke up instantly. She quickly changed her clothes and rushed to the hospital. Her eyes were red, obviously from crying. As she answered the call, she frantically pressed the call button by her bedside.

"...How do you feel?" There was a suppressed tremor in her voice. Lia moved her lips and squeezed out a few words with difficulty: "What's wrong with me?" The pain in her throat made her frown. Xia Qing bit her lower lip,

Tears were about to well up again, and she hesitated for a moment before speaking: "...drug poisoning. The doctor said that you were sent here in time, so...nothing serious happened." Lia's breathing stagnated, and broken fragments emerged in her mind.

Drug poisoning? Perhaps it was an aftereffect, her thinking became very slow, but after a few seconds of recollection, a dull pain came from deep in her brain.

Soon, the door to the ward was pushed open. The doctor walked in first, followed by Bao Heng and two police officers. The doctor quickly performed a routine examination, confirming that she was in good health, and then turned to the police officers and said, "The patient has just woken up.

"Don't irritate her. Her throat is temporarily silent due to the tube inserted, so it's best for her to talk less and rest more." The police officers exchanged glances and nodded. Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that she was fine.

Seeing that the police seemed to want to ask something, she glanced at Bao Heng, took a step forward, gently touched Lia's head and said, "I'll go out first. Feel free to contact me if you have anything."

As she spoke, she shook her phone until Lia nodded slowly, then followed the doctor out of the ward.

There was no one else in the room. The leading officer took out his notebook and said to Bao Heng, "The patient is awake. We need to make some basic checks."

Bao Heng nodded, helped Lia half lean on the pillow, took out a pen and paper from his bag and handed it to her: "This is Officer Zheng, they need to do some investigation, just answer truthfully." Lia nodded. "Lia

Xi, we need to confirm a few things. First, do you have a history of taking psychiatric medications? Lia shook her head slowly. "Do you know the source of these sedatives? Was it an accidental ingestion, or..."

Lia was silent for a moment, then shook her head. Her reaction had become very slow, and it would take her several minutes to understand simple words before she could respond. Bao Heng obviously realized this and patted her shoulder gently: "It's okay, take your time."

The two officers exchanged a glance, seemingly unsatisfied with her response. "We've discovered that a month ago, you filed a report at the Mapo Police Station, alleging you received a threatening card. Do you believe this drug poisoning is related to that incident?"

Lia pondered for a few seconds, then subconsciously looked up at Bao Heng. It was an instinctive action. She couldn't even react to why she did it. But Bao Heng did. She politely interrupted:

"Officer Zheng, we understand the police's responsibilities and will fully cooperate with the investigation." "But no matter what the outcome of this incident, please keep it strictly confidential. If the news leaks, it will cause secondary damage to her and the company's image."

Officer Zheng was silent for a moment. "We'll follow the procedures, but we'll be careful about what's public." Baoheng nodded to Lia. She'd already sent someone to the police station to take care of things, so this was just a way to reassure her.

Lia hesitated for a moment, then wrote on a piece of paper: "Not sure. The neighborhood has surveillance." It had been so long since that incident, and she hadn't received a similar card since then. It was hard to connect the two events.

Subconsciously, she didn't want to involve the card. But other than that, she hadn't had any conflicts with anyone, and she couldn't think of any other possibilities. The residential complex where she lived had 24-hour surveillance with no blind spots.

If we could find out who entered the house before she returned, the problem might be easily solved. Officer Zheng nodded, stood up, and exchanged a glance with his companion. "That's all for today. We'll contact you again after we retrieve the surveillance footage. Please make sure to get some rest."

"If you think of anything during this time, feel free to let us know." Lia nodded. After the police officer left, the ward fell silent again, with only the ticking of the monitor as the only sound.

Lia then turned to look at Baoheng. The pen paused on the paper for a long time before she wrote: "Where's Oppa?" She still remembered that she was talking to him when the accident happened.

"He stayed in the car all night, waiting until you were transferred to a regular ward." Bao Heng was helpless. Even the strongest body wasn't built that way. Seeing him like that, he couldn't bring himself to persuade her, so he just let him go.

Lia's fingertips tightened, and the pen stopped in mid-air, not falling for a long time. Her mind was confused, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

The police officer's questioning gave her a vague sense of unease, a feeling that even overshadowed the pain in her body. She was terrified of that possibility.

Bao Heng sighed and reached out to gently press the paper: "Don't think about it. What you need most now is to take care of your health. The company will take care of other things." "If you are worried, give him a call."

I wonder how that guy managed to get through his schedule today. Lia was stunned for a moment, then nodded. She put down the pen and paper in her hand and slowly took the phone that was placed beside the bed. Baoheng tactfully left the ward to give her some space.

The cool touch of the screen cleared her mind a little. She hesitated for a long time before opening the address book and tapping on the familiar name. The beep only sounded once before she was picked up. "...Lia?"

Quan Zhilong's voice was low and tired. It was tinged with a moment of joy, then quickly fell silent again. She opened her mouth, ready to speak, but the other person quickly realized her situation. "Don't say anything. Does it hurt?"

Lia was silent for a moment, then tapped the receiver twice. — It doesn't hurt. There was a pause on the other end of the line. As if trying to control his emotions, he lowered his breath. "I'll see you tonight, okay? Get some rest."

Lia nodded, then, realizing he couldn't see her, tapped the receiver again. —Okay. She didn't want to say she didn't need to come, she was fine. She was not fine. She was upset. She needed to see him immediately.

During the day, people came to see her one after another. Most of her close friends, such as Teddy and Kush, knew the inside story and seemed more angry than sad.

Kush's eyes were red as if he hadn't slept well for three days. Seeing her lying on the hospital bed, he was speechless for a long time. Finally, he could only squeeze out a dry sentence: "...See, I told you to eat more."

Lia was amused by him, but the next second her lungs suddenly hurt, and the smile on her face twisted into a strange expression.

She was already thin, and the baggy hospital gown made her look empty. The weakness left by the gastric lavage made her face even paler, and now she looked really miserable. "But you've gained weight." She wrote on the notebook and handed it to Kush.

Kush jumped up from the bed after reading it. "Who's gained weight?" He was in love. Love involves eating and drinking. "Are you really gaining weight?" he couldn't help but ask. Lia nodded maliciously.

Kush's attention was diverted. She picked up her phone with a resentful look, switching to the front camera to look left and right. The commotion distracted her from her physical discomfort. Of course, there were also people she preferred to be alone with.

For example, Yang Hyun-suk. He sat awkwardly in the ward for a moment, chatting away on a few more topics. Lia couldn't answer, and too lazy to pick up a pen and paper, so she only responded with the slightest nod.

Yang Hyun-seok seemed to realize that he was disturbing the patient's rest, and left with a final word, "Get some rest," before hurriedly leaving. Actually, it wasn't entirely a case of discrimination. Her physical strength had deteriorated.

The residual sedatives and accumulated fatigue all kicked in at once, and she spent most of the time in a coma, with only a handful of moments of wakefulness. Xia Qing had originally planned to stay in the ward with her overnight, but she finally persuaded him to leave.

Baoheng arranged for a 24-hour nurse to accompany her, and there was a call bell at the bedside, so she could call a doctor at any time if anything happened. In this groggy and half-asleep state, in the middle of the night, she suddenly heard a noise at the bedside.

Before she could regain consciousness, a hand gently touched the side of her face. The familiar scent dispelled her newly raised alarm, and she subconsciously clung to it, gently rubbing the cold hand. A soft sigh echoed in her ears.

Quan Zhilong stood there quietly. Moonlight slanted in from the window, casting a pale halo on the headboard, shrouding her face. Her face, resting in his palm, was incredibly thin, as if the blood had been drained away overnight.

The line of her chin was sharper than he remembered, and her skin was pale to the point of being transparent, as fragile as porcelain that could break at any moment. When he got close, he could hardly even feel the warmth beneath her skin.

The emptiness he felt from not being able to see her during the day wasn't filled; instead, it intensified into panic and fear. It was like he was fully realizing for the first time that she would truly disappear from his sight.

He leaned over slowly, his eyes greedily following her subtle expression, not daring to blink. Lia wasn't fully awake. She instinctively moved toward his outstretched hand, seeking his comfort. It hurt.

Her consciousness oscillated between wakefulness and dream. She tried to reach for the notebook on the bedside table, but she couldn't lift her hand. Her eyelids felt heavy, and everything before her seemed like a dream through mist, hazy and unreal.

Without a single word, her consciousness fell back into darkness. Quan Zhilong stared at her, his fingers restrainedly stroking her forehead and landing on her lips. Finally, he placed a light kiss on her lips. "I'm sorry," he said.

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