A few days had passed since Susu had been admitted to the hospital. Under everyone's strict supervision and their perfect teamwork in switching shifts to look after Susu, her condition has greatly improved. She could now swing her arms and function like she used to. The only thing she couldn't do was carry anything heavy with that arm.
As instructed by Zi Yan, everyone became more cautious and would always be on guard wherever they went. Susu was not left alone for even a minute ever since the drug incident. Although she felt relieved, she also felt like she became everyone's burden.
Her heart ached when she saw the eye bags under their eyes. She tried persuading them to sleep for more hours, but they insist on staying awake as she rested. Even though her arm has gotten better, her worries did not reduce. Instead, as each day passes, her fear increased.
She was afraid of death and leaving her loved ones alone; especially Chen Mu. She didn't dare share her thoughts with anyone yet. One afternoon, while Chen Mu, Chen Nan and Lin Que worked in the laboratory for a new medicine to treat her cancer, she made a request to the girls.
"We can't let you out of the hospital." Ariana repeatedly shook her head.
"But I want to get something really important to me." Susu clapped her palms together in a pleading manner.
"Then we can get it for you." Lily's hands stayed put on either side of her hips as she suggested a different solution.
"You guys can only get the key for me from my condo. The rest is between Chen Mu and me. Nobody else can interfere." She pursed her bottom lip forward and stubbornly fought their reasonings.
"Dear, with your condition, you shouldn't run around like that. We don't know who else might be planning a scheme to harm you. So, before that-" Lily tried to persuade her once again by sitting beside her and tucking her in.
Susu stretched her hands out to touch theirs and said, "my life is at a limit. I don't know what might happen tomorrow and when my sleep could be my last. There are too many complications to explain, so I'll keep it short. In this arm, I still have half of the drug injection flowing through it. Currently, it is under control with some procedure, but there is an expiration date to that."
She turned her head from Lily's direction to Ariana as she spoke in the simplest terms about her condition. "I don't know how much time I have left and my mother didn't mention it for a reason. I know my own body better than the diagnosis. Even though I could move my fingers, I can't hold a pencil properly nor sketch like I used to. Yes, I can move my arm, but the hope of us finding the doctor to get rid of the rest of the drug is quite difficult."
"Which doctor is your mom looking for? Maybe we could help you. Lin Que knows many famous doctors." Lily frowned at her negative words.
Susu shook her head and revealed a straight hopeless smile. "She isn't someone anyone could easily look for. I am only calling her a doctor because I'm not sure what else I can address her as. Anyways, once the procedure that is holding the drug back expires, the drug will enter my system. Not sure of the survival rate once hell breaks loose."
"But you're all healthy now. How could it be possible for this drug to be that toxic? I'm sure there is a cure somewhere!" Lily refused to accept such possibility.
"I don't think anyone could accept it even though that's the truth. Even I can't process some of the things, but what else can I say? I'm stuck in this situation, and either the cancer beats me first or the drug comes to me. So, before that day comes, I really want to do what my heart is telling me to. There's something I must show Chen Mu personally."
Susu pulled their hands to the center where she squeezed them while smiling. Suddenly, the girls realized that this same smile, that she's been showing them had hid all her negative thoughts. They looked at each other and nodded, "Let me know where you put the key in your condo and I'll go fetch it."
"Thank you. I also have another favor I want to ask." She relaxed her body.
"Anything you want. Just name it." Ariana agreed immediately.
"Can you two help me pick out a cute outfit and give me a makeover? I only want him to remember the most beautiful me when I bring him to that place."
"No problem. We'll prepare everything for you. But hun, have you told Chen Mu yet?" Lily asked with a soft tone as if she was afraid that she would wake a child up from a nap.
"I'm...planning to tell him when I show him that place. I just never thought that I would bring him there already." Her eyes swelled up slightly as she curved the corner of her lips to a smile.
The tears that Lily held back lost its control as droplets slid out of her eyes. It was too late to turn around and look up at the ceiling. Instead, Lily and Ariana wrapped Susu in their embrace as they formed a group hug. Ariana had her eyes closed the entire time to trap her tears. Still, trails of tear stains were evident on her delicate face.
Lily took care of everything from fetching the key from the condo to picking up the cosmetic sets that she asked her makeup artists to prepare within the hour. Meanwhile, Ariana showed Susu different outfits and chose a few decent looking dresses with matching jackets and shoes. Soon, supplies were delivered to the room and the girls began their makeover session.
By the time the guys had finished their research and wrapped up for the day, Susu was already ready. Lily whispered, "they're coming."
Ariana nodded and walked out of the room with Lily to block Lin Que and Chen Nan's way.
"Don't let the beauty wait too long, or we'll eat her up." Lily winked and pushed the clueless Chen Mu inside the room.
The guys shrugged as they watched Chen Mu enter the room.
"Darling!" Susu smiled energetically with her arms spread as she dashed towards his direction and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her soft, warm body and kissed her forehead, "Aiggooo, out family's goddess sure is feeling much better today. You even dressed up so beautifully~"
He praised at her long-sleeved off shoulder V neck white dress that reached midway of her thighs with trimmed layers with embroidered flowers. Pale pink laced flowers freshened up the edges of her dress and around her slim waist line. The tip of her hair was slightly curled with a small updo; exactly the way she loved it.
Her porcelain skin glowed naturally after she applied moisturizer. The shimmery pink eyeshadow with extended brown eyeliner made her eyes look rounder and softer than usual. Ariana was a professional when it comes to bringing out a girl's feminine features with cosmetics, so Susu's makeover looked natural. Minimal products were used, and a few touchups brought out her beauty.
"So you're saying that I'm not pretty other days? Hmmm?" She pinched his cheeks and teased his word choices.
"Ayeee, no noo, you aree the most bootifull." She giggled at his response and squished his cheeks together to massage the pinched area. Like usual, they kept their arms around each other and made a few jokes.
With his index finger and thumb, he lightly clipped her nose and let go, "So, what's the occasion today? Is it a candlelit dinner in this room? A special date with just us?"
She smiled sweetly while hugging him, "I'll bring you somewhere special. It's still too early for dinner. I already asked my mom and she told me that I could go out for a little bit as long as we're careful. The whole group is coming with us too, but they won't be following us all the way."
"Oh? ~ A mini date with you. I'll go across the globe if I had to. Shall we go?" He loosened his arms around her and grabbed the jacket on the bed.
"Mmm.. let's go." She watched him spread the jacket open and walk towards her. With a small smile, she slid her arms into the jacket, and he helped her bundle up.
"Okay! We're all set to go!" He announced and grabbed her hand in his as they exited the room to meet familiar faces with sneaky smiles.
Although they had guilty expressions on their faces from trying to eavesdrop, Chen Mu decided to let them off. "Let's go on a small trip then." He walked away from the crowd with Susu.
"Pheww, lucky he didn't notice," Lily whispered to Lin Que.
"Yeah, lucky he is slow to realize that we had our ears against the door," said Lin Que.
Ariana's lips twitched, "he will probably do something super mushy to play us later. We better watch out. We were way too obvious. Our cover was definitely blown."
Chen Nan hugged her close, "Then baby, shall we head after them and beat their mushiness? Your hubby, me, is pretty good at saying the most shameless lines. Heh. Let's mush Lily and Lin Que to death."
"Hah! You think you can achieve your goal? We are unbeatable!" Lin Que said proudly with his hands on his hips.
Lily and Ariana exchanged glances and nodded. They stretched their arms out and pinched their man's ear. "Let's go." Just like that, the guys were dragged to the parking lot.