Warm Moments

Morning sunlight spilled like scattered gold through the gauze curtains, casting mottled patterns across the floor.

Li Stark lay on the soft bed and habitually tried to turn over, only for a faint soreness and numbness in his shoulder to make him pause. He cautiously moved his shoulder. Though there was still some discomfort, he could already sit up easily. Helen Cho, who entered carrying breakfast, keenly noticed this subtle change.

"Looks like you're recovering well." Helen Cho smiled with satisfaction as she gently set the tray on the bedside table. On it sat a steaming bowl of oatmeal, several plates of freshly cut berries, and a cup of honey lemon water sending up wisps of white steam.

"But don't rush it. You still need to take things step by step." She wore a light blue apron, the gray at her temples appearing and disappearing in the morning light. Her tone was full of an elder's concern for a younger one.

Li smiled and nodded, taking the spoon from her. "I feel much better. I can support myself and sit up with one hand now. Maybe in a couple of days, I'll be able to go out for a jog."

He scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal, but his gaze drifted out the window. Pedestrians hurried along the street, while children with backpacks laughed and played on their way to school. The school bus horn sounded from time to time. The lively scene made his heart itch, and his longing for campus life grew stronger.

Over the following days, the rhythm of life quietly changed. Helen Cho no longer stayed by his side every moment, and the frequency of his dressing changes gradually dropped from three times a day to once. His meals also shifted from bland nutritional food to include American-style grilled chicken breast and pan-seared salmon, which Li had been talking about for ages. In Li's room, he voluntarily put away his game console and comics, replacing them with open textbooks and a schedule of club activities.

Once, Li was flipping through his physics textbook when a difficult problem on electromagnetic induction stumped him. He could not help frowning and scratching his head. His pencil scribbled over the scratch paper, leaving behind a mess of disorganized formulas.

Helen Cho happened to enter the room. Seeing his troubled expression, she sat beside the bed and gently picked up the textbook to look over the question. Adjusting her glasses, she patiently began explaining it to him. From the basic principles to the approach for solving the problem, she made the complicated formulas and theories easy to understand. Li listened intently, occasionally raising his own questions, and the two even launched into a heated discussion. With Helen Cho's help, Li finally solved the problem. Excited like a child, he pulled Helen Cho over to share his reasoning. As they went back and forth, the room filled with laughter.

Another time, Li wanted to try some simple rehabilitation exercises himself, so he slowly stretched his body in the room. He carefully raised his injured arm, but the stiffness in his muscles made every movement slow and difficult. Each extra inch he lifted it required him to grit his teeth and endure. Helen Cho felt both worried and gratified when she saw him. She quickly walked over, her eyes full of concern. "Don't push yourself too hard." Then she personally demonstrated the proper exercises, explaining the key points while doing them alongside Li. During the training, Li was left gasping for breath, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead, yet he continued to persist through gritted teeth. Helen Cho kept encouraging him from the side, cheering him on and occasionally handing him a towel and water.

As time passed, the atmosphere during dressing changes became much more relaxed as well. When Helen Cho removed the bandage for the last time and carefully examined the fully healed wound, she nodded in satisfaction. "You've recovered very well, but you still need to be careful. Don't do anything too strenuous." Li immediately stood up and paced back and forth across the room, savoring his long-missed freedom. "I can finally go out! I was starting to forget what a classroom smells like!"

On the night before he returned to campus, moonlight poured into the room like water. Li lay in bed tossing and turning, staring at the ceiling with countless thoughts running through his mind. Dangerous scenes from his battle with MODOK flashed through his head from time to time—the clang of metal striking metal, the bursts of energy light—all of it seemed right before his eyes.

Then came the warm memories of Helen Cho's attentive care. He remembered the night he had suddenly developed a fever, his temperature soaring as he lay groggy and weak. Helen Cho had stayed awake all night by his side, repeatedly cooling him with a damp towel and taking his temperature at regular intervals, her eyes filled with worry and heartache. He remembered how, when he got irritable from the boredom of recovering, Helen Cho would always put aside whatever she was doing to patiently comfort him and tell him all kinds of interesting stories, from strange tales from the hospital to her experiences when she was younger.

Helen Cho was like an older sister to him, and she even made him feel a mother's warmth.

The next day, the sunlight was especially bright. Li stood before the mirror, carefully straightening his school uniform and adjusting his tie to the perfect angle. The fabric brushed lightly against his shoulder, but it no longer caused him pain. He took a deep breath and opened the door. Fresh air rushed over him, carrying the faint scent of grass. Walking down the familiar streets and looking at the shops by the roadside and the benches in the park, he felt a deep sense of familiarity. His excitement grew stronger along the way, and his pace unconsciously quickened.

The moment he entered the school gates, he heard familiar voices calling out. "Li!" Gwen waved her arm and jogged over with Wanda. Gwen looked him up and down, her eyes teasing. "It's been so long, I thought aliens had abducted you!" Wanda simply smiled, her eyes full of concern. "Your injury's healed, right? We were worried sick about you."

The three walked side by side along the tree-lined path through campus, the leaves rustling as if welcoming Li back. Li told them about all the "rules" Helen Cho had imposed while taking care of him, such as strictly limiting his game time and making him go to bed early and wake up early. Gwen and Wanda burst into laughter. When they passed the club activity room, Gwen excitedly pushed open the door. It was filled with her new inventions from the past few weeks. "Check this out!" Gwen picked up a small mechanical spider, pride shining in her eyes. "I improved its power system. It's twice as fast as before!" Not to be outdone, Wanda made scarlet light glow at her fingertips, tracing a brilliant magical flower in the air. Its petals slowly bloomed, radiating a soft glow.

Just then, a group of younger students passed by. When they saw Wanda's magical flower, they crowded around, their faces full of amazement. One little girl with twin ponytails tilted her head back, her eyes wide. "Big sister, how did you do that? It's like magic from a fairy tale!" Wanda smiled and crouched down, gently patting the girl's head as she patiently explained the mysteries of magic to them. Watching the children's admiring gazes, Li, Gwen, and Wanda exchanged smiles, their hearts filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Afterward, they went to the classroom. When their classmates saw Li had returned, they gathered around to ask how he was doing. Some handed him the class notes from the past few weeks, while others shared amusing things that had happened at school. Everyone's concern made Li feel deeply warmed, and his eyes could not help growing slightly moist. After the bell rang, Li sat in his seat, watching the familiar teacher walk to the podium, listening to the chalk scratch across the blackboard, and smelling the faint scent of ink in the classroom. His heart was filled with emotion.