My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Chapter 8 - What Was He? A Rabid Dog?

He arrived in front of the psychotherapy room in a blink of an eye.

Not even a hint of uneven breathing was seen. Xu Binchen's eyes were dark as he heard the faint commotion from the room. The door was partially open and because of it, he could see Doctor Chun with his back facing him.

He stopped on his tracks and the conversation entered his ears.

"Heartbeat."

"It is dropping to 155." The nurse sighed in relief. "Finally, it returned to normal."

Doctor Chun stepped aside, presumably looking for Psychiatrist Yu, and finally Xu Binchen could see Shi Nian. She was lying weakly on the treatment chair, her face devoid of any color with an oxygen mask covering it. Her breaths were harsh and she was currently wheezing, causing the mask to be foggy.

Her eyes were tightly shut and there was a deep frown on her forehead as if she was immersed in a nightmare with no way out. Her hair was slightly disheveled and it stuck to her face because of sweat.

Overall, she looked like a dying patient that had just been brought over from the gate of death.

Where was the serene girl with calm eyes who said that she wasn't afraid?

Xu Binchen's gaze deepened, and he met Doctor Chun's eyes across the room.

His lips pursed, and the elderly doctor beckoned him to come over. The three of them—Doctor Chun, Psychiatrist Yu, and Xu Binchen—entered Psychiatrist Yu's office and sat down on the sofa. Doctor Chun and Psychiatrist Yu's face lightened up a lot compared to a moment ago. Only Xu Binchen's face was unreadable, after all he had always been putting such a sour face that everyone thought that his bad mood was eternal.

Psychiatrist Yu wiped the sweat on her forehead and sighed. "Fortunately, it's a false alarm."

"We are lucky." Doctor Chun nodded. "You stopped the hypnotherapy on time and we gave her emergency treatment quickly. Or else it won't be just a false alarm."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Psychiatrist Yu had just wanted to open her mouth and report the progress of the therapy when the man opposite her suddenly muttered. "I apologize."

She was stunned and didn't know how to react for a moment. Then, she could only throw Doctor Chun confused glances.

Doctor Chun recovered quickly and turned back to the image of an amicable and kind-hearted old man. "It's okay. No one knows what will happen and it's not your fault at all." The fact that Xu Binchen knew how to apologize gave him a pleasant surprise. Not that he blamed the detective, after all Doctor Chun knew that he was bound by tight time and urgency to catch the criminal. "The girl is currently fine, but I suggest that we will not do hypnotherapy for the time being."

Xu Binchen's mouth which had always been spouting words which made people want to bash his head, unexpectedly shut tight at that moment. He only nodded expressionlessly.

Doctor Chun's face became kinder and softer.

"So, what happened during the hypnotherapy?"

***

Shi Nian's eyes fluttered open, and she was faced with the familiar white ceiling and bright glaring light. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remember what happened to her. That's right, the hypnotherapy.

She was receiving hypnotherapy but suddenly, everything went out of control.

Helplessness flashed through her eyebrows and she shifted her body.

"…are you okay?"

The sudden deep voice almost startled her out of her soul and her eyes snapped open.

On the couch beside her bed, there sat the sour-faced detective who looked sourer than usual, as if he had just eaten a jar of pickled vinegar.

Shi Nian subconsciously shuddered, and she opened her mouth, trying to speak before closing it again. Her eyes blinked at the man.

Xu Binchen rose to his height and approached her.

The window behind the couch was closed, but the curtain had been drawn so that she could clearly see the outside scenery, the brilliant color of sunset that complemented the blossoming pink hue of cherry blossom flowers.

"Don't move." The man commanded. "You are currently stabilized but Doctor Chun said that they need to observe you for a while before making sure."

Shi Nian pointed at the oxygen mask covering her face.

"You can't take it off either."

She could only helplessly nod, and inquired with her eyes.

But Xu Binchen had lowered his eyes. His long eyelashes covering the dark pupils beneath. The sunset behind him illuminated his figure so that his hair seemed like they were glowing golden. It was quite a beautiful sight, she thought.

She was full of questions, but to her frustration, he didn't even look at her.

In the end, she could only move her fingertips and poked his arm twice.

"What?" He snapped out of his reverie and only then remembered to press the nurse button. "Are you thirsty? Hungry? Do you want to go to the toilet?"

Shi Nian: "…"

What's wrong with him? Why did he suddenly become so kind?

The sour-faced uncle suddenly became a kind-hearted uncle next door. The change was abrupt and she found that she couldn't follow at all. Thus she could only stare at his face blankly, trying to discern his thoughts. But sadly, Shi Nian couldn't read him at all.

His eyes stared at her face.

Shi Nian pursed her lips and awkwardly averted her gaze. That kind of stare again. She realized that uncle detective often stared at her with eyes so deep as if he was trying to see through her flesh and bones and dissected her into pieces. It made her a little uncomfortable, and her eyes seek around for her board.

The door to her room slid open and Nurse Zhang came in.

Shi Nian breathed in relief at the familiar woman.

"Shi Nian." She smiled widely. "Are you awake now? How are you feeling?"

Shi Nian nodded. Except for the slight discomfort on her chest, she didn't feel anything wrong. Fortunately, Nurse Zhang answered the question she had been asking since she woke up. "You scared me! In the middle of the hypnotherapy, your body was triggered by the stimulation and you almost got a cardiac arrest! Fortunately, nothing happened and everything is fine."

She then proceeded to help her sit up, arranging pillows behind her back and took off her oxygen mask gently. In the middle of that, Shi Nian was stunned. Cardiac arrest? So serious?

There was a knock and the door slid open once again and this time, it was Doctor Chun. "Shi Nian." He smiled brightly and strode forward. "How do you feel? Anywhere uncomfortable?"

Shi Nian was helpless with all the similar questions but she still shook her head gently and smiled.

Doctor Chun laughed while checking her stats. "Good, good. Everything is fine. Just make sure to rest more and don't think about what happened earlier okay?"

Shi Nian nodded. Since she had woken up and nothing was wrong, the IV drip on her hand was taken off, so did the oxygen mask and heartbeat monitoring. It was near dinner time soon and Nurse Zhang once again sent a bowl of warm bland porridge. This time, however, there was an additional banana laying nicely beside it.

Honestly, Shi Nian wasn't a picky eater, but during the time of more than a week she was hospitalized, she had almost developed psychological resistance toward porridge but she forced herself to endure and swallowed her complaints.

Doctor Chun and Nurse Zhang went out after making sure that everything was fine, leaving Shi Nian with the ever silent Xu Binchen, as well as the porridge in front of her which she had almost stirred into a mass of pulp.

She grabbed the board that Nurse Zhang put beside her and wrote. After that, she poked Xu Binchen's arm again and raised the board up to his eyes.

[Uncle, what's wrong?]

Xu Binchen had to lean back and squint his eyes to read that messy scrawl that appeared out of nowhere and almost shoved right to his nose. After reading for a few seconds, he pushed the board down and answered. "Nothing's wrong."

[You have been so silent…and docile.]

Xu Binchen: "…" What was he? A rabid dog?