January 18th.
Ellie, dressed in a loose patient gown, looked out the window.
The tree she used to see often had suddenly withered away for some reason.
Only the top branches were still green and growing.
She felt like an ancient death row inmate, waiting for the verdict of death.
She would undergo chemotherapy soon.
In her first year of high school, she lay in a ward with a layout similar to this one, where many thoughts had sprouted in her heart.
Sometimes she thought, it seemed there were no regrets.
It would be fine to leave like this.
Rather than living in pain, it would be better to die peacefully.
That period was when her mental state was at its worst.
She also felt reluctant to part with SuSan and Chloe.
She tried to numb herself, not allowing herself to be idle.
Perhaps because she hid it too well, no one discovered her thoughts during that time.
But what she didn't know was that SuSan, seeing her staring at the broken glass, couldn't help but cry. Before coming in, she wiped away her tears, carried the food in, and acted as if nothing had happened.
Ellie put away the things in her hand and subtly stuffed them under the pillow.
SuSan watched her eat and suddenly talked a lot that day.
She spoke of things from a very long time ago, how she didn't have a good life in her early years, and her family despised her for not bearing a son, saying they would send her back to her natal home.
At that time, Ellie was only in the third grade, and she said, "Divorce him, I have money, I will support you in the future."
The childish words made SuSan cry uncontrollably.
Later, she divorced that man.
The man, for the sake of face, later claimed that he didn't want SuSan and tarnished her reputation in the village, saying she was unchaste.
At that time, Ellie was already in the first year of junior high. Usually, Ellie was well-behaved, quiet, and couldn't even say a dirty word. When bullied, the most she could say was that she hated you.
But that day, Ellie chased the man and scolded him through half the village, with every word sharp and every sentence eloquent, leaving the man speechless. She used all her knowledge on that man.
SuSan had long regarded her as her own daughter in her heart.
In fact, Ellie had long regarded her as her own family member, depending on her a lot.
SuSan hardly dared to sleep, secretly coming to see her at night, looking at her peaceful sleeping face, SuSan couldn't help but cry again.
Actually, Ellie wasn't asleep. She heard SuSan's low sobbing, and after SuSan left, she secretly discarded the broken glass.
...
The seat next to William was empty, and he placed Ellie's photo by his books, where he could see it as soon as he lowered his head, as if Ellie was still there, supervising him.
He would occasionally stare at the photo in a daze and then continue to work on his problems.
Ellie told him that she was busy these two days and couldn't often check her phone.
William would tell her a lot of things from the class.
Not for a response, but to share anything interesting he saw with her.
...
January 19th.
Ellie dozed off for another day.
Her condition was getting worse and worse.
SuSan cooked for her in various ways, but she could only eat a little bit.
She looked at the messages William sent on her phone and scrolled to the top.
[A bit cute little William]: Little teacher, today's sunset is quite beautiful.
[A bit cute little William]: Picture.
[A bit cute little William]: Another day tormented by physics problems.
[A bit cute little William]: Why don't you hate physics, little teacher?
[A bit cute little William]: I did an extra set of papers today, wanting praise from little teacher.
[A bit cute little William]: I know you're busy, just take a look when you have time.
...
The more Ellie scrolled down, the sadder she felt.
She started replying to William from the beginning.
[Ellie]: The sunset is beautiful, but unfortunately, I didn't see it.
Just as she sent the first sentence, William's message came in.
[A bit cute little William]: You don't have to reply to each of my messages one by one, just seeing them is fine.
[Ellie]: You did great today.
This was a reply to the previous message asking for praise.
It was a tone used to coax a child, but it worked well for William.
[A bit cute little William]: Can we video chat today? I want to see little teacher.
Ellie looked around at the white walls and then replied to him.
[Ellie]: The lights are already off, we can video chat, and I'll watch you do your homework.
She watched William in the camera, saw him adjust the position of the phone, and then he smiled at her.
She couldn't help but smile along with him.
"Little teacher, I'm going to start my homework."
"Okay."
William kept his head down and worked on his problems.
Ellie could only hear the rustling sound of writing.
"William."
"I'm here, are you sleepy, little teacher?"
"No, I just wanted to call your name."
William looked up from his book and said, "You should go to sleep later, and I'll continue with the papers."
"I'll watch you write."
"It's not easy not to have to do problems every day now, don't stay up late, it's not good for your health."
Ellie said, "Okay."
William still kept his old habit, occasionally looking up while writing, even though he couldn't see Ellie on the other end.
But hearing her voice made him feel at ease.
Around eleven o'clock, William picked up his phone and said to Ellie, "Rest soon, little teacher."
"Okay." Ellie looked at the young man on the phone, a little distracted.
"Good night, little teacher."
"Good night."
After hanging up, William put a mint candy in his mouth and continued to work on his problems.
Unconsciously, it got late into the night.
William picked up his phone, looked at the time, and it was already past midnight.
These days were almost always like this; he worked on problems until late at night.
He always believed that there was no such thing as an overnight success, whether in learning or anything else.
Ellie couldn't sleep at all, she was in so much pain that she was covered in cold sweat, almost curled up on the bed, her pale fingers clutching the bedsheet until it was wrinkled.
She grabbed the painkillers from the table, but before she could unscrew the cap, the medicine fell to the floor.
SuSan was staying in the bed next to her, and she hurriedly got up to pour water for Ellie. She picked up the medicine from the floor, poured it into her palm, and then fed it to her mouth, saying, "Ellie, are you feeling unwell?"
Ellie was already too painful to speak and closed her eyes after swallowing the medicine.
SuSan gently patted her hand, lulling her to sleep as she did when she was a child.
She tried to smooth the furrows on her brow with her hand, but she found that they wouldn't smooth out.
It wasn't until the latter half of the night that Ellie's furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Her internal organs had already begun to fail, and she didn't need to listen to the doctors to know that she didn't have much time left, at most just a few months.
She didn't know what dream she had, but there was no sickness or pain in the dream.
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly.