Yue Xiaofei took the uniform but did not speak right away.
He first glanced at Chen's Mother in the hospital bed, then at the marks the rope had left on Chen Nian's wrists.
The wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, but dark red stains showed faintly through the gauze.
"Chen Nian, how are you feeling?" Yue Xiaofei asked.
"I'm fine. Mom's all right too. The doctor said she was frightened and her blood pressure's a little high. She just needs to stay for observation for a couple of days."
Chen Nian's voice was hoarse. She kept her eyes on the floor as she spoke.
Yue Xiaofei nodded and sat down in the chair beside the bed.
For a long while, the hospital room was quiet.
Only the heart monitor made its steady beep—beep.
Chen Nian sat down too, her hands on her knees, her fingers twisted together so tightly their tips had gone white.
She was hesitating.
Yue Xiaofei could tell.
At last, after a long struggle, she spoke. "Big brother."
"Yeah."
"My brother... what mission was he on?"
Her voice trembled. Every word took tremendous courage.
"Why hasn't he come to see us? When you called before, you said he was busy with something. What was it?"
She raised her eyes to Yue Xiaofei.
There was hope in them, and fear, and a faint foreboding she did not dare admit even to herself.
Yue Xiaofei opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
He had killed people on the battlefield, taken bullets, jumped from a helicopter, and been thrown by the blast of an artillery shell.
He had not backed down at any of those moments.
But now, he could not bring himself to say it.
Not a single word.
How could he tell the girl before him that