Yueyao's lashes fluttered as her cheek rested against his shoulder, her breathing uneven but no longer strained. The long silence between them felt heavier than words, pressing into the quiet hum of the machines that still lingered around them.
Fang Lin watched from the side, torn between relief and worry. Yueyao was awake, but the fragility of her voice, the way her body seemed to shrink back from the sterile world around her, unsettled her deeply.
"Uncle," Fang Lin's voice broke the stillness, low and careful. "Shouldn't we let the doctors take another look? Just to be sure...."
"No." Yueyao's hoarse murmur cut across her, surprising them both. Her fingers tightened in Jin Shuren's sleeve as if afraid he might let go. Her eyes, still clouded with weakness, glinted with an old fear. "No more doctors. No more tests. I don't want them touching me. I don't want to be here...."
Her words trembled, but the firmness in them was unmistakable.
