"Are you sure you want to leave the hospital, bro?" Although Lu Shiming was full of grievances, he still asked about his brother's health first. "Why do you want to leave? Can your body handle it?"
"I'm fine. I just hate seeing your brother-in-law wear himself out going back and forth." Lu Shiyi was brief and to the point, his low, rich voice pleasant to the ear. "Don't tell him about this, though. I don't want him to worry."
Lu Shiming instantly filled in the blanks and hurried to promise, "Don't worry, bro. I won't breathe a word."
"Mm." Lu Shiyi paused, then his voice softened a little. "I've made you worry all this time, too, Shiming."
At those words, Lu Shiming's eyes instantly stung.
Ever since his brother's accident, not a day had passed without him worrying. He was terrified that his only remaining family would leave him, too. He didn't even dare contemplate the possibility.
"As long as you know!" Like a girl being gaslighted by a scumbag, Lu Shiming easily forgave his brother for threatening him earlier. "Anyway, you need to get better soon. It really hasn't been easy for my brother-in-law, taking care of you all this time."
"I know. Don't worry," Lu Shiyi said with a smile. "I'll explain everything to you later."
"Okay!" Lu Shiming wiped his eyes and hung up.
Only after collecting himself did he leave the break room and return to the office. He happened to meet Yu Qingchuan's concerned gaze and wanted to cry all over again. His brother-in-law's hard days were finally coming to an end. From now on, he would lead a happy life!
The kind of happiness where the "happy" needed heavy emphasis and an underline (/ω＼)
"Shiming, what's wrong?" The way he was looking at Yu Qingchuan made him a little uneasy.
"Nothing!" Lu Shiming flashed a brilliant smile, revealing a row of even teeth. "I just took the wrong meds, brother-in-law. Don't mind me."
Yu Qingchuan: "..."
There weren't many people this honest these days.
At noon that day, Lu Shiming drove Yu Qingchuan back to the hospital. He went straight to the doctor and asked him to examine his brother. Yu Qingchuan didn't quite understand why they suddenly needed an examination.
Lu Shiming explained, "Brother-in-law, I think you've been taking such good care of my brother lately that his body should have recovered by now. He should be able to leave the hospital and recuperate at home!"
Yu Qingchuan's heart sank. Wasn't the timing a little too coincidental?
After transmigrating into the novel, Yu Qingchuan had changed his own fate on the very first day, successfully becoming the male lead's brother-in-law. But he was an outsider, so it made sense that he could change his fate. Lu Shiyi, however, belonged to the novel. Would he be bound by its plot?
According to the original novel, Yu Qingchuan should have been hospitalized with injuries around this time and stopped Lu Shiyi's treatment in a fit of anger.
Yet now, Lu Shiming was talking about taking him home to recuperate.
Would Lu Shiyi still slowly die, just as he had in the original plot?
Yu Qingchuan's heart hurt so fiercely that he could barely breathe. His eyes reddened as he clutched Lu Shiming's clothes and asked in a trembling voice, "Why does he have to go home? Isn't it good here? What if something happens?"
He knew he had no real ties to Lu Shiyi, and their supposed relationship was a lie he had made up. If Lu Shiming insisted on taking him home, he had no grounds to stop him. But he truly didn't want anything to happen to Lu Shiyi.
Although Lu Shiyi was only a character in a novel, Yu Qingchuan had never treated him as someone who existed only on paper. When he had first arrived, frightened, panicked, and unsettled, it was the sleeping Lu Shiyi who had kept him company. Long ago, he had come to see Lu Shiyi as someone to lean on and had grown dependent on him.
That was why he didn't want even the slightest thing to go wrong.
Moved by Yu Qingchuan's reaction, Lu Shiming hurried to reassure him. "Brother-in-law, calm down. My brother will be fine."
He can even threaten me now!
But he had promised his brother not to tell Yu Qingchuan that leaving the hospital was his own request. All he could do was reassure him over and over. "Trust me, brother-in-law. I wouldn't hurt my brother. I know you're worried, but for your sake, he definitely won't let anything happen to himself."
Lu Shiming was very patient, soothing him again and again. Yet Yu Qingchuan remained trapped in his fear of losing Lu Shiyi, unable to pull himself out.
Soon, the examination results came back, too. The doctor said Lu Shiyi's body had indeed recovered very well and was no different from that of a healthy person.
As for why he hadn't woken up, the brain was an incredibly complex organ, and it was difficult to determine how well a brain injury had healed.
Recuperating at home was also an option. After all, most patients in a vegetative state remained unconscious for a considerable time, so many families chose to take them home because they couldn't afford the medical bills. Whether they woke up was entirely in fate's hands.
However, they would have to sign a risk acknowledgment form before he could be discharged.
Lu Shiming signed his name without hesitation.
Yu Qingchuan's face was blank with overwhelming distress, his eyes empty and unfocused. He didn't understand why Lu Shiming would sign it.
Looking at Yu Qingchuan's expression, Lu Shiming nearly blurted out the truth. This is too cruel, far too cruel! How can my brother put him through this?
But he had made a promise to his brother, so he could only harden his heart and say, "Brother-in-law, if anything happens, I'll be buried alongside him."
Yu Qingchuan was still holding Lu Shiyi's hand. He looked calm, but only Lu Shiyi could feel his faint trembling.
Fine threads of pain wound through Lu Shiyi's heart, filling him with guilt.
He hadn't expected Yu Qingchuan to care about him so deeply.
Lu Shiyi thought, Qingchuan, I'll make it up to you properly in the future. I'm sorry.
With the acknowledgment form signed, the doctor began arranging his discharge according to Lu Shiming's wishes. The hospital would also send staff to take Lu Shiyi home.
Yu Qingchuan trailed behind in a daze until they reached the master bedroom on the second floor. Lu Shiyi was transferred onto the large, comfortable bed. On the bedside table sat the heart rate monitor they had brought from the hospital. It showed that his heartbeat was steady; his condition hadn't worsened because of the discharge.
Lu Shiming had bought a month's supply of nutritional solution in one go. It had a shelf life of about three months and only needed to be kept refrigerated. While Yu Qingchuan stayed upstairs with Lu Shiyi, Lu Shiming opened the fridge to put away the box of nutritional solution, only to spot bags of brown herbal medicine inside.
Whose medicine is this? Lu Shiming didn't touch it. It hadn't been there the last time he had bought groceries. Could it be my brother-in-law's?
Is he sick, too?
Lu Shiming decided to ask Yu Qingchuan in a little while. His brother-in-law absolutely couldn't fall ill, or his brother would skin him alive!
Lu Shiming had taken the afternoon off, and neither of them had eaten yet. His cooking skills extended only to boiling noodles, so he took out two tomatoes and some eggs and made a pot of tomato and egg noodles. He served a portion on a small plate and brought it upstairs to Yu Qingchuan.
Yu Qingchuan was still sitting on the bed. Hearing the door open, he turned his head. Lu Shiming instinctively smiled. "Brother-in-law, have something to eat first. My brother is fine."
Things had already come to this, and Yu Qingchuan couldn't change them. He could only try to calm himself down. He took the noodles and ate, but they tasted like cardboard.
He had little appetite and ate only a few mouthfuls. Lu Shiming, on the other hand, was starving. Holding his plate, he shoveled the noodles into his mouth, his cheeks bulging as he chewed. After swallowing, he asked, "Brother-in-law, I found some prepared herbal medicine in the fridge just now. Is it yours?"
Yu Qingchuan froze. He hadn't expected Lu Shiming to find it.
Before you continue