Chapter 28 Turkey (11) Honey Mille-feuille. ...
Chichi was resting with her eyes closed when 1221 woke her up: "Look, Zelin and the others are back from the hospital."
The kitten jolted awake and instinctively looked out the window. Sure enough, it saw a familiar figure getting out of the nanny van.
She was wrapped in a thick wool shawl, which made her look even thinner, and her eyelashes were slightly closed, as if even opening her eyes was difficult.
She was even weaker than before she left.
Chichi hurriedly ran to the market to find Aisha, who probably didn't know that Zelin had returned from the hospital.
Arriving at Aisha's shop, the little girl was still busy at the stall, packing cinnamon into small paper bags. She then hopped up the steps, grabbed the other person's trouser leg with her mouth, and dragged them out of the shop.
Aisha was startled when she was suddenly pulled by a small force.
She looked down and saw the familiar kitten struggling to tug at her trouser leg, its eyes filled with anxiety.
Aisha took a step back, puzzled. "What's wrong?"
Chichi meowed, "Zelin is back, let's go see her together."
The kitten let go of the other person's trouser leg, went out of the store, ran forward a bit, then stopped and turned back to meow at Aisha, signaling her to follow.
Aisha then understood what she meant and called out into the store, "Dad, I'm going out for a bit!"
She took off her apron and threw it aside, then quickly followed. When she saw that the other woman had caught up with her, she immediately started running towards Hussein Street, checking as she ran to make sure the other woman was following.
Before Aisha entered Zelin's room, she could already smell a lingering disinfectant odor from outside, which she had brought back from the hospital.
She pushed open the door and went in. After not seeing him for a few days, it seemed that most of his vitality had been consumed by illness.
“She said she was bored and uncomfortable in the hospital and wanted to go home,” Zelin’s mother said to Aisha with a worried expression. “We had no choice but to discharge her.”
For Zelin, returning to her familiar home did not mean the end of her illness; it simply meant a more familiar and peaceful environment.
The bed had been rearranged and covered with the softest fleece blanket. Zelin's head was half-buried in the pillow, like a fragile piece of porcelain.
Hearing the voice, Zelin turned her head slightly to look at the doorway: "Hi, Aisha."
Her voice was weak and a little hoarse.
In the huge house, the warm air seemed to solidify, making it hard to breathe.
Aisha stepped forward and held Zelin's hand tightly: "Why don't you receive proper treatment at the hospital? You don't have access to the advanced medical equipment found in hospitals at home."
"Even if it's more advanced, it won't be of any use to me." Zelin felt pain in her joints just from having her hand held, and her eyebrows furrowed in pain, but she endured it for fear of worrying the other person.
What are you talking about?
Aisha got angry and raised her voice: "What do you mean it's useless? The doctor definitely has a way. There are so many medicines and so many machines, it's bound to work!"
She became emotional, and the hand she was holding tightened unconsciously.
Zelin gasped softly in pain, her pale lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she comforted Aisha, patting her gently: "The hospital conditions are very good, and the doctors have done their best, but enduring those treatments every day is too unbearable..."
She paused, noticing the other person's eyes suddenly reddening, and continued, "Every day in the hospital, listening to the sounds of the machines, smelling the disinfectant, and surrounded by four white walls, I feel really bad and want to go home."
"I really don't want to be hospitalized again."
Zelin looked out the window and saw the kitten's fluffy tail through the gap in the curtains.
A slight smile played on her lips, dispelling some of her sickly air: "The kitten came to see me too? Aisha, could you please open the window for her?"
“Ah, yes.” Aisha pried open the window lock, creating a small gap just big enough for a kitten to squeeze through.
A cool breeze blew in, easing the stuffiness, but fearing that Zelin would catch a cold, Aisha quickly closed the window after she had been slow to come in.
"Meow."
He called out softly, both as a greeting and to check on Zelin's condition.
The person on the bed looked too fragile, and hesitated to jump to the other person's side for a while, only pacing back and forth by the bed.
Zelin looked at the somewhat reserved kitten, a hint of a smile in her eyes: "Come here."
She spoke softly, her finger twitching slightly towards Chichi.
Chichi then jumped onto the bedside table, raised his head, and touched the other's forehead with his wet nose—a cat's caring greeting to a human.
Zelin felt the cool, damp touch, smiled with her eyes closed. The shadow of illness was still heavy, but the arrival of Aisha and the kitten brought a bit more life.
“It’s good that you’re back. The hospital is too far away, and I can’t visit you every day. Now that you’re on holiday, I can come over every day,” Aisha said.
Zelin shook her head: "You don't need to come every day. Go do your thing and have fun during your vacation."
"I want to come over and play with you."
Aisha said, "It's no fun running around outside with them all day. We might as well read books together or do some crafts."
“But I don’t want you to waste your rest time to come and spend time with me,” Zelin said. “You told me before that you would sleep in every day during your vacation and then go to the market to help your dad with his stall to earn some pocket money.”
"Coming to accompany me will waste a lot of my time, and I won't be as energetic as before."
"If I won't stay with you, then you can stay with me." Aisha finally understood what the other person meant and realized what they were worried about. "Do you really think I came to you because I pity you?"
"I--"
“I came to you because I genuinely enjoy playing with you,” Aisha said. “No one can force me to do things I don’t like, not even myself.”
Zelin was shut down by Aisha's straightforward and firm words.
She was indeed worried that Aisha was only forcing herself to come out of compassion and a sense of responsibility, and that she was afraid of becoming a burden to her friend and ruining what should have been a relaxing holiday.
Aisha remained earnest: "I can still sleep in, and I can still help out at the stall on weekends when there are more customers, just like when I was in school. Besides, I want to earn some pocket money so that I can go out and play with you in the future."
She hooked her little finger with his and said, word by word, "It's not me accompanying you, nor is it you accompanying me."
"We spent time together, so it's not a waste of time, understand?"
Chi Chi meowed softly, "I understand."
She looked at the stunned Zelin and placed her little hand on their intertwined little fingers.
Her usually vibrant eyes now clearly reflected her frail and sickly appearance. Zelin lowered her eyes and playfully hooked her little finger back at the other person.
"Understood."
Her voice was very soft, with a hint of relief in it.
“What’s this called? Sensitive people need a friend they can’t get rid of.” 1212 floated in Chichi’s ears.
“They both think of each other, that’s what true friendship is.” Chi Chi noticed the leather cord around Zelin’s neck. “Look, Zelin is wearing that demon eye pendant around her neck.”
The next second after she saw it, Aisha also noticed the rope that was faintly visible around the other person's neck.
"You're wearing it around your neck." She leaned closer to examine it. "Won't the rope rub against your skin?"
The leather rope had already rubbed the other person's fair skin red. Aisha reached out and helped the other person untie the rope: "I'll get you a rope that won't rub."
She skillfully rummaged through the other person's handmade box, took out different types of hanging ropes, tried them on her neck again and again, and found the softest and least chafing red rope, replacing the original leather rope.
"Don't wear it around your neck."
Aisha helped the other person cut the rope shorter, measured the right length, and tied it around their wrist: "Isn't this more comfortable?"
Zelin hummed in agreement, looking at the red string on her wrist: "I like this color."
She had talked too much today, and her face showed signs of fatigue, but out of consideration for Aisha, she still forced herself to stay energetic.
Chichi licked Aisha's hand, gesturing for her to look at Zelin's slightly squinting eyes.
Aisha said, still wanting more, "Then you rest first, I'll come again tomorrow."
Before the other person could speak, she said, "Don't say anything else that tells me I don't need to come."
Zelin had no choice but to shut her mouth and obediently nod.
In the days that followed, Chichi came with Aisha every day, but even with their constant companionship, Zelin's health continued to deteriorate.
It seems that no miracle has befallen this poor little girl.
They had been hoping for spring to arrive and for the temperature to rise so that their partner wouldn't be in so much pain all the time, but bad news came like a winter cold front, suddenly engulfing them.
A bacterial infection caused by a weakened immune system led to a severe high fever in Zelin.
Instead of getting better after taking the medicine, he became more and more drowsy and his consciousness began to blur.
She was terrified of being sent back to the cold, impersonal hospital. Even though she was not fully conscious, she kept muttering something.
Zelin's mother silently shed tears and whispered a prayer in the living room, while her father stood by the window, a deep sense of helplessness on his face.
Aisha stayed by his bedside, while Chichi paced anxiously on the windowsill.
Aisha touched Zelin's frighteningly hot forehead, trying to use her own warmth to drive away the terrible fever. She kept talking, her voice trembling slightly.
"Zelin, let's go to the hospital. The doctors there will definitely have a way to bring down your fever. I'll go with you."
"I don't want to go to the hospital."
Zelin's lips were dry as she murmured, "I'm not going to the hospital, I want to stay home..."
"I don't want to go to the hospital, don't take me to the hospital."
As the other person spoke, they became agitated and suddenly turned their head away, coughing violently.
The adults rushed in to comfort her. The doctor they had called was the best in town, but even he could only shake his head: "Now it all depends on whether she can pull through. As long as the fever goes down and the inflammation subsides, there's still hope. But if the inflammation doesn't go down..."
"Spend more time talking to her while you can."
A low sob began, and Zelin's mother covered her mouth tightly so as not to disturb her daughter on the bed.
However, as if she had vaguely heard the doctor's words, tears welled up in the eyes of the person on the bed.
This was the first time Chichi had ever seen the other person shed such large tears, flowing continuously like a stream, as if trying to bring back all the water she had just fed.
Aisha choked up: "Do you remember the first time we spoke by the window?"
"You had just transferred to the school not long ago, and I swore I would hate you because of what happened at school. But you called me from the window, asked me about my homework, praised me, re-braided my messy braids, and even invited me in to eat lots of chocolate..."
"I was really angry at the time, angry at myself for being so weak, because I couldn't bring myself to hate you at all."
"But after we spent more time together, I felt very lucky. I'm so glad you stopped me that day, otherwise we wouldn't be good friends now."
Even after so much time has passed, every detail remains vivid in my memory.
Aisha held the other person's hand as if holding onto precious moments: "We'll be best friends for a long time to come, eat delicious food together, go to school together, go to the Grand Bazaar together, take a cruise, travel abroad, and go to the same university..."
She was somewhat incoherent, yet she continued tirelessly recounting the past and the future.
"Don't you want to be a pastry chef in the future? I'll take you to eat all the desserts in the world. If you have any other wishes, just tell me, and I'll definitely make them all come true for you."
The person on the bed finally stopped crying, calmed down, and opened their eyes, which were still somewhat red and swollen.
Zelin moved her lips, making an almost inaudible whisper. Aisha immediately held her breath and brought her ear close: "What did you say?"
"I want to eat..."
Zelin's voice was muffled.
"What do you want to eat?" Aisha asked eagerly.
"Kardcoy's... honey mille-feuille."
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