The caretaker answered with restrained politeness, quietly taking a seat on their own attendant bed, leaving the few people sitting silently in their respective corners, creating a silence in the ward so profound, one could hear a pin drop.
By midnight, the caretaker couldn't resist sleep any longer.
Zuo Xingyun asked Alan to fetch some hot water and handed a cup to Xiang Wan: "Have some water."
Without looking, and with her gaze fixed on her mother's face, Xiang Wan replied, "I'm not thirsty, thank you."
"You haven't had a drop of water since dinner," Zuo Xingyun forcefully placed the cup in her hand. "If you continue like this, I'll take you back home."
Xiang Wan glanced at him, faintly afraid of him getting angry, took a small sip from the cup, then refused a second one.
Knowing that Zuo Xingyun was usually busy and tired, she didn't want to burden him: "I'm fine here by myself, you go back and rest. You don't need to stay with me."
