During Lin Que's free time, he checked Lily's emergency contact information and made a call to her mother.
Toby: "Hello?"
Lin Que: "Hello, this is Doctor Lin Que from Lin Hospital. May I confirm whom I am speaking to?"
Toby: "Lily's mother. Is everything alright?"
Lin Que: "Everything is fine right now, but Miss. Jiang had a sudden fever outbreak last night. The fever was around one hundred and three degrees. Fortunately, the medicine took effect, and the fever has gone down now."
Toby: "Sigh, this child. Thank you for calling to tell me this. Can I still visit her today?"
Lin Que: "Yes. I also want to reconsider Miss. Jiang's discharge date because of the sudden fever. There were no prior symptoms, so it would be best to have her stay until Wednesday of next week."
Toby: "Ahh..Lily would probably disagree to that. I'll try talking to her. Thank you Doctor Lin. I will see you later."
- Call ends -
Ginny and Toby visited Lily during the afternoon. Toby could finally breathe properly when she saw her healthy complexion while drinking her hot chocolate. "I heard you had a fever yesterday night. Dear, how are you feeling now?"
"I'm feeling fine." Lily smiled and did a weight lifting pose to express her fully charged energy.
Ginny frowned, "You! You love giving me heart attacks, don't you? Almost every year, at this time, you get a strikingly high fever! If you knew you had this condition, then you should have told the nurse or Doctor Lin about it. What if the fever reaches above a hundred- and three-degrees Fahrenheit? Do you know your brain would fry at that point?"
"I know. I know. Relax, aren't I fine now? I can even discharge on Sunday!" Lily tried to help calm Ginny's ignited anger.
"Hold it right there, Missy. You need to listen to Doctor Lin and stay until Wednesday." Toby's palms shaped either side of her hips as she stared at Lily with strictness.
"Mom, I'm really fine." She muttered and lowered her head to finish the hot chocolate.
"If you're fine, then you wouldn't be burdening yourself all these years. Your grandmother's death was a misfortune; an accident. It's not your fault. You don't have to keep yourself under such stressful burdens. And don't say you understand, okay?" Toby sat down by the side of the bed and held onto Lily's hand tightly.
Looking straight into her eyes, she repeated the words that she always said to Lily every year. As if a large rock was stuck midway in her throat, it felt suffocating. The heaviness in her chest only allowed her burden to grow heavier over the past years.
"Lily.." Toby stopped after calling her name as Ginny tugged her elbow and shook her head. Ginny said, "Lily, you must feel hungry and thirsty after fighting that fever. I'll go get some snacks for you." She took her wallet and left for the vending machine.
Standing in front of the vending machine, Ginny lifted her head to let her tears sink back in. Since the hallway was empty, she took her time and exhaled deeply until the tightness disappeared from her chest. Hearing a familiar voice coming from the end of the hall, her body turned towards that direction.
Lin Que was walking with Alan behind him. Early this morning, Lin Que woke him up and told him what had happened. Feeling embarrassed with what he said to her, he sought advice from Alan on what he should do. Alan literally rolled off his bed when he heard Lin Que talk about his first confession being more like a joke than a sincere one.
Therefore, Alan told him to let her out on Monday, but set a certain time for her to come back. Following his advice, Lin Que had the discharge papers all signed with specific indications on the comment section for her to return by eight on Monday night.
Gathering her emotions together, Ginny smiled as she greeted, "We meet again, Doctor Lin."
"Ah, Miss. Ginny." Lin Que remembered something crucial during their last meeting. She made him think about how they've met, but he totally threw that question out of the window.
Hearing the familiar voice, Alan peeked from Lin Que's left side, "Ah! You're the ring girl!"
Lin Que smirked, "You cosplayed as the Ring girl for the convention?"
Ginny burst out in laughter, "Ahahahaha, who would go as the Ring girl at an Anime Convention?! Doctor Lin, did you really take my question seriously? Your friend helped me find my lost ring the other day. So, that was what he meant by ring girl."
Shooting cold glares at Alan, Lin Que suddenly recalled how Alan had failed to flirt with the girl he had helped. 'Could that girl be Ginny? If so..hehe..'
Whispering to his ears, Lin Que said, "Help me figure out what character she played during the Convention."
Ginny didn't forget to greet Alan and thank him once again. They exchanged a handshake where they introduced their names to each other. She turned towards Lin Que and said, "Well? I'll give you one more chance."
Alan felt a sense of familiarity, but it was different from that person's aura. Rubbing his chin for a while with no close guesses other than the one he had in mind, he texted Lin Que, "Try Tuxedo Mask."
Reading the message from his friend, his lips twitched and trusted him once. "Tuxedo Mask?"
Her eyes widened in shock! Applauding on his answer, she confirmed it was indeed correct.
"You're right. I was playing Tuxedo Mask that day."
"Yes!!" The two high fived each other.
Alan then asked, "But why did you choose Tuxedo Mask?"
Ginny hesitated before answering, "Actually, I didn't plan on going that day. A jerk ditched Lily last second, and I was free, so I ended up playing as her lover."
Curving her smile into a teasing one, she said, "Doctor Lin, you must be relieved to know that I was Tuxedo Mask, huh? I heard that soft sigh just now. Hehe!"
'What are her ears made of? I literally sighed the same way I breathe. There was no puff or sound at all.'
Pointing at the vending machine, she grinned, "Doctor Lin! As a reward for you guessing correctly, I'll give you a chance to chase my Lily. Coincidentally, I only have bills in my wallet. Lily wants some snacks." She winked playfully before skipping away happily.
Alan patted Lin Que's back as he giggled, "She's definitely Lily's best friend for sure. Both are shamelessly cute."
"Heh, then you should catch up to her. You literally had a regular conversation without flirting to her just now. This heart of yours, I wonder how many beats is it hopping?" Lin Que pointed at Alan's chest, where his heart felt like it would jump out of his chest any time.
Alan sighed, "Doomed. I'm hooked."