The Only Choice - 57

The corridor outside the operating room was terrifyingly quiet, broken only by the faint, suppressed sound of muffled sobs, trembling with held-back emotion.

Soon after, the light above the door went out.

The doctor emerged, and Zhou Fanfan rushed forward to ask for an update.

The doctor said the surgery had been successful, but due to the patient's age, she would need to remain under close observation.

A wave of relief washed over Zhou Fanfan. Auntie Feng came over and asked if she wanted to rest, but she shook her head, instructing Auntie Feng to go home and fetch some changes of clothes, as she planned to stay at the hospital.

Seeing Guan Yuanbai was still there, Auntie Feng left to gather the things.

Guan Yuanbai steadied Zhou Fanfan, and they walked together towards the patient rooms. However, Zhao Dezhen was currently in a sterile ICU unit; they could only watch her from outside the glass wall.

The moment Zhou Fanfan saw her grandmother, her eyes welled up again. The woman who had seemed so healthy not long ago was now lying pale and still in a hospital bed.

She hated herself for how she'd acted recently, for not even giving her grandmother a proper glance when she'd brought her fruit.

She had taken that unconditional love for granted. She was a terrible person.

Guan Yuanbai stayed with Zhou Fanfan as they watched from behind the glass for a long time. Finally, they sat down on a nearby bench.

Zhou Fanfan's hands were clenched tightly together, her whole body still thrumming with nervous tension.

"Don't worry, she'll be alright," Guan Yuanbai said, covering her hands with his own in a soothing gesture.

She nodded, her voice thick with unshed tears. "How did you know? About… this."

"Auntie Feng called me."

"Were you busy? Did I disturb you?"

"Not at all. Nothing else is important right now."

Zhou Fanfan whispered, "With Grandma like this… I just need to be here. I need to watch over her. You should go back to your work."

"Zhou Fanfan," he said firmly, "you don't need to be afraid of troubling me."

"It's not that… It's just that right now, there's nothing anyone can do." Her words were slow, heavy with helplessness. "Grandma is sick, and I can't do anything. I can't help her at all."

"That's not true. Just you being here is a huge source of strength for her. Don't think like that."

"Really…?"

"Of course. You are the most important person in the world to her."

That entire night, Zhou Fanfan's thoughts were a tangled mess.

Later, Auntie Feng returned. Later still, she was persuaded to go and rest.

In her exhausted, half-asleep state, she was aware only of a deep weariness, a heartache, a crushing guilt… Even in her dreams, she was haunted by memories of her life with her grandmother.

Her parents divorced when she was very young. She had been raised by her grandmother. All these years, her grandmother had never missed a single important event in her life. No matter how busy she was, she had always attended every parent-teacher conference.

It was true, she had sometimes yearned for her parents. But she had never felt a deep void in her heart, because she had her grandmother's love. She had been given so much love, allowed to grow up carefree, happy, and uninhibited.

She was her most important family.

She couldn't lose her.

The next afternoon, her father, Zhou Xuyan, arrived.

On the third day, the doctors said her grandmother's condition had improved enough to be moved to a regular patient room.

Zhao Dezhen woke up on the evening of the third day.

Zhou Fanfan frantically pressed the call button, clutching her grandmother's hand. She barely managed to get the word "Grandma" out before tears began streaming down her face.

Zhao Dezhen couldn't speak yet, but she reached up weakly to pat Zhou Fanfan's head, her own eyes glistening.

The doctors came and ran a series of checks. Before leaving, they instructed that Zhao Dezhen needed continued rest and quiet.

"Fanfan… have you lost weight?" Zhao Dezhen finally managed to whisper, reaching a trembling hand towards her.

Zhou Fanfan leaned closer over the bed, shaking her head.

"You look thinner," her grandmother insisted, her voice frail. "Your cheeks look hollow… What's happened…"

Auntie Feng, dabbing her own eyes nearby, explained, "Madam, you've been unconscious for days. Zhou Fanfan barely ate or slept, refused to leave the hospital, staying by your side the whole time. No one could persuade her otherwise…"

Zhao Dezhen's heart ached. "I was out for days? You silly child…"

"I'm fine."

"You… Ai." Zhao Dezhen's gaze shifted to someone behind Zhou Fanfan. "Xuyan, you came back too?"

Zhou Xuyan stepped forward. "Of course I came back. Why didn't you say anything about your health before?"

"Exactly," Zhou Fanfan choked out. "Grandma, you have no idea how worried I was."

"I didn't want to worry you," Zhao Dezhen murmured.

"This is so much worse!" Zhou Fanfan's grip on her grandmother's hand tightened. "Promise me you won't do that again, never hide things from me…"

Seeing her granddaughter so distraught, Zhao Dezhen's heart broke. "Alright, alright… I won't…"

"Yuanbai is here," Auntie Feng announced softly.

Everyone looked towards the doorway to see Guan Yuanbai standing there, holding an insulated food bag.

"Grandma, you're awake." He walked in, his face brightening with genuine relief.

"Yes, she woke up a little while ago," Auntie Feng confirmed.

"That's wonderful news." Guan Yuanbai smiled.

Auntie Feng said to Zhao Dezhen, "Zhou Fanfan has been here the whole time, and Yuanbai has too, practically living at the hospital. He's been worried Zhou Fanfan wouldn't eat, going out of his way to bring back all sorts of delicious food for every meal."

Zhao Dezhen looked at Guan Yuanbai with deep gratitude. "Yuanbai, thank you for your trouble."

"It's no trouble at all. It's the least I can do." He turned to the others. "Uncle, Auntie Feng, I've brought dinner for everyone. Would you like to eat now?"

"Why don't you two stay here with her for a bit," Zhao Dezhen suggested. "Yuanbai, take Zhou Fanfan out to eat first."

Zhou Fanfan protested, "I want to stay here with you."

"Fanfan, go eat first. You can come right back. Look how thin you've gotten," her grandmother insisted.

"But, Grandma—"

"Be good. Your father and Auntie Feng are here with me."

Seeing her grandmother's determination, Zhou Fanfan finally relented and followed Guan Yuanbai out to the sitting area.

The VIP suite was separated into a bedroom and a living area. Guan Yuanbai set the food out on the coffee table and gestured for Zhou Fanfan to eat.

They had shared meals here over the past few days, though Zhou Fanfan had barely picked at her food.

Now that her grandmother was awake, the constant, frantic tension had finally eased, and her appetite seemed to be returning.

"Eat more. Even your grandmother said you've lost weight."

Zhou Fanfan nodded, then glanced up at Guan Yuanbai. Auntie Feng was right; he had been here constantly, but she had been so focused on her grandmother she had barely exchanged more than a few words with him.

She was exhausted, and he must be too.

"I've really put you through a lot these past few days."

Guan Yuanbai's hand, holding his chopsticks, stilled. "I told you, you don't need to be so formal with me."

"But you've been working so hard…"

"I haven't. Besides—" He looked directly at her. "Didn't you say we should get married? If that's our relationship, then we're in this together."

Zhou Fanfan froze, her eyes darting towards the closed bedroom door. Thankfully, it was shut and the room was well-insulated.

Over the past few days, she had been terrified of remembering, yet unable to forget, the words she had blurted out to Guan Yuanbai in her panicked state the day of the surgery.

That's right. She had begged him, asking if they could get married once Grandma was better.

She couldn't even remember his exact reaction now, only that she had been crying too hard to see clearly, and had vaguely heard him say "Okay."

"That day… I was too frantic…"

Guan Yuanbai's lips pressed together. "Do you regret it?"

She shook her head quickly. "I mean, I said it too suddenly. I was just desperate. It's such a big decision… I shouldn't have brought it up like that."

"So, you do regret it?" His voice was quiet.

Zhou Fanfan met his gaze, her own serious. "No… It's just… back then, my only thought was to fulfill Grandma's wish. I was so afraid she would leave… that's the only reason I said it…"

She knew her mindset at that moment had been completely unfair to him.

"Do you still feel that way now?"

Zhou Fanfan tightened her grip on her chopsticks, falling silent.

Guan Yuanbai watched her intently, then said slowly, "If you do, we can get married."

—

After she woke up, Zhao Dezhen needed absolute quiet to recuperate. Zhou Fanfan had taken leave from university and stayed at the hospital, guarding against any unnecessary visitors.

It was now late June.

Her grandmother had finished her breakfast and was resting in bed.

Zhou Fanfan, having woken very early, had dozed off with her head resting on the edge of the bed.

She was roused by a nurse coming in for checks and moved aside sleepily.

After the nurse left, she sat back down. "The nurse said you might be able to go home in a couple of days. Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I am. Lying here like this is miserable. And it's been so hard on you." Zhao Dezhen reached out and touched her granddaughter's cheek. "You haven't slept properly in days."

Zhou Fanfan leaned into her grandmother's touch. Just having her here, able to speak, felt better than anything in the world.

She felt tears threatening again and sniffed them back. "Don't worry about me. You just focus on getting better. And from now on, you have to come for regular check-ups. No skipping them."

"Ah, it is what it is. I'm old, after all. I know how my body is."

"You're not old! Not at all!"

Seeing her granddaughter's desperate expression, Zhao Dezhen sighed. "Fanfan, I know you were scared. But one day, I will have to go. I can't be with you forever."

"Grandma! You just got better! Why would you say that?!"

"Alright, alright, I won't. I just worry about you, that's all. But when I think about it, it's okay. Yuanbai is here. I can rest a little easier knowing he'll be there to take care of you when I'm gone."

"You have to be here too! You have to take care of yourself, to stay with me longer…" Zhou Fanfan's eyes reddened again.

Seeing her like this, Zhao Dezhen's heart softened completely. "Okay, okay, I promise I'll stay with you as long as I can, I'll try my hardest to live many more years. Oh, you child, when did you become such a crybaby?"

"You're the one who scared me!"

Even as she said it, Zhou Fanfan knew in her heart that her grandmother wasn't just trying to scare her.

It was only after this incident that she was truly jolted awake to the reality: her grandmother was genuinely old, and would one day really leave her…

"Grandma," she began hesitantly, "if I… if I married Guan Yuanbai now… would you… would that be good?"

Zhao Dezhen's eyes lit up for a second, then clouded with concern. "Is it because I got sick? Are you just trying to go along with my wishes?"

"It is your wish," Zhou Fanfan mumbled. "And Guan Yuanbai said… he's willing to get married."

Zhao Dezhen was silent for a long moment. "Fanfan, the reason I pushed you before was because I truly believed you liked each other and were a good match, so marriage made sense. But I've thought about what you said, and you're right. The timing of marriage should be up to you and Yuanbai, not decided by anyone else. So please, don't think about marriage just because I got sick. It has to be because you both like each other and both genuinely want it."

"...But we do like each other."

"And what does Yuanbai think?" Zhao Dezhen pressed gently. "If you bring it up under these circumstances, what will he feel? Fanfan, some things are better proposed at the right time."

Zhou Fanfan bit her lip. She knew, of course she knew, that bringing this up now introduced a strange, pressured dynamic to their relationship.

But her mind had been in utter chaos lately. Seeing her grandmother like this, her guilt desperately sought a way to make amends…

---

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