The cold wind crept in through the small window gap, making the blue curtains sway.

The surrounding temperature was getting lower. With the sound of the wind blowing from outside, the corridor seemed even quieter and suffocating.

Su Nan was getting tired after all that crying. She left some wet spots on Xi Xiaye's shirt with her tears, and her voice turned hoarse as well.

Mu Lingshi grabbed Ah Mo's arm as her eyes were transfixed on the doors of the operating theatre. In return, he held her hand tightly.

It was as if several centuries had passed. Su Nan was on the verge of breaking down when the light on top of the operating theatre was switched off. People came streaming out of the room and the group quickly rushed forward.

Su Nan leaped forward and looked at the bed frantically as she asked in her hoarse voice, "How is it? How's my husband? How is he?"

Xi Xiaye and Ah Mo were watching the doctor nervously as well.

The doctor stopped before them and slowly removed his mask. He looked at them with a grim expression. After a while, he said, "The situation is bad. The patient suffered multiple fractures. Whether he can survive this or not depends entirely on him. Even if he can get through this, he might not have any senses anymore, which means he'll stay in a vegetative state. I recommend you to be mentally prepared."

That was a heavy message for them to take in.

Su Nan's face turned pale. In the next moment, she fainted.

"Nannan!"

"Su Nan!"

Xi Xiaye and Mu Lingshi freaked out. Fortunately, Ah Mo was quick enough to grab Su Nan's arms before she fell down.

Since Su Nan had lost consciousness, the doctor took a look at her as well.

"She passed out due to overwhelming sorrow," announced the doctor as he looked at Xi Xiaye and the others. "You all need to be mentally prepared. Going through something like this, she might..."

Xi Xiaye left Su Nan to Ah Mo. Her face was extremely pale while she tried her best to suppress the pain in her heart. She then took a deep breath and asked the doctor, "Is there no other way? As long as it can help, we'll do anything! He just became a father recently... He has a cute daughter, and he still has parents to take care of... Doctor, please do something to wake him up, please!"

The doctor nodded. "Don't worry. I'll do my best. Now, it depends on his own will. Waking up after sustaining such a heavy injury is difficult, especially when there's heavy damage to his head. However, it's not impossible. There are many cases like this where the patients regained consciousness, so you guys need to be mentally prepared and be positive. This can affect the patient as well."

Xi Xiaye nodded.

"Send the patient back to the intensive care unit room now. The upcoming 32 hours will be critical." The doctor then signaled the nurse to send Ruan Heng away.

Because Su Nan was unconscious, Xi Xiaye asked Ah Mo to bring her to rest in the ward while Ruan Heng was sent into the intensive care unit room.

Outside the corridor, Xi Xiaye was looking at Ruan Heng's lifeless body through the window. Her heart was strained as she turned to look at Su Nan who had fallen comatose on the big sofa beside her.

After some time, she sighed and turned towards Ah Mo and Lingshi. "Ah Mo, I'll leave the investigations up to you. Lingshi, you haven't taken any breaks for several days. Get some rest at home. I'll stay here with Nannan. Tell Zitong to come to the hospital tomorrow. I'll give Ruan Heng's mother a call later."

"No, I should stay here. You should go back and rest. It's 4 a.m. in the morning. Think about this child in your womb. You look exhausted. Brother definitely won't let us get away with it if he found out we haven't been taking good care of you! I'm young and energetic, so it's fine," Mu Lingshi rejected Xi Xiaye's idea instantly.

Xi Xiaye shook her head stubbornly. "I'm fine, I'll wait until the morning and see how Ruan Heng is doing. No matter what, I should be here for Su Nan. Ah Mo, delay the meeting for tomorrow. Contact the doctors from Hospital T and see if they can come up with the best recovery plan for Ruan Heng."

Ah Mo nodded. "Yes, leave it to me, Missus."

Xi Xiaye did not say anything more. She closed her eyes and sat down beside Su Nan.

Ah Mo traded glances with Mu Lingshi. They nodded at each other before he instructed two bodyguards to come up. Then, he then with Mu Lingshi.

Half an hour later, Mu Lingshi came back with two thick, clean blankets while the bodyguard behind her had some food boxes with him.

"Sis-in-law, put these on. It's still pretty cold in here even with the air-conditioning turned off. You must be hungry now. Eat something. The little baby inside you might complain soon."

Mu Lingshi took Su Nan's bloody coat off and put a blanket over her. She then prepared a bowl of porridge for Xi Xiaye, Xi Xiaye took it, but she was still staring at Ruan Heng on the bed.

"Don't worry too much. I'm sure Ruan Heng will be blessed and he'll be fine. Stay strong for Su Nan's sake. Didn't the doctor say that there's hope? If he can hold on for the upcoming 32 hours, he has a solid chance at regaining consciousness."

Mu Lingshi was not very good at comforting, but her expression clouded over when she looked at Ruan Heng.

"Mmm, I believe it too. I'll call Su Nan's mother in the morning. Su Nan must be exhausted." Xi Xiaye was worried.

Mu Lingshi's eyes turned broody as she turned her head towards Su Nan.

Dawn arrived slowly amidst the fog of the morning, and the breeze made a lot of leaves fall throughout the night.

In a ward in Hospital T.

When Gu Lingsha regained consciousness, she opened her eyes slowly and saw the white ceiling. She struggled to turn her head sideways and took a look around. As she was trying to get up, a staggering pain hit her in the head.

"Ms. Gu! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

As Gu Lingsha was struggling to get up, a voice called out to her. Gu Lingsha endured the terrible headache and turned her head to see Yang Sheng's smile. She instantly frowned and was trying to sit up with the help of her arms.

Yang Sheng went up to give her a hand.

Gu Lingsha's face was as pale as a sheet, and there were some bruises on her forehead. She looked terribly weak right now with bandages all over her.

"What happened? Why am I here?" Gu Lingsha took a deep breath as she felt the harsh agony in her head.

Yang Sheng put a pillow behind her before saying, "Ms. Gu, you finally woke up! You had an accident. Don't you remember? Master Qi and I didn't see you anywhere when we tried to catch up with you. On the road, we heard there was an accident between an Audi and a Maserati. Master Qi panicked and ran over on foot to see that it really was you! He then quickly sent you to the hospital!"

Gu Lingsha's eyes darkened when she heard Yang Sheng's explanation, but they returned to normal after a while. Her memories from yesterday started flooding back to her.

She could faintly remember driving pretty fast. When she turned her steering wheel, another car zoomed past the red light. It was pretty dark, but she recalled seeing the cars from behind start to close in when she slowed down. She then crashed into the Audi coming from in front, but she could not remember anything afterward.

"Where's Lei?" Gu Lingsha asked moments later. Her blue eyes were sparkling when she looked at Yang Sheng who was slightly caught off guard.

"Master Qi went to ask the doctor about your condition. A policeman dropped by just now and Master Qi is dealing with them. He's stayed with you since last night. Fortunately, your injuries aren't too bad. You only suffered a slight concussion. The Audi driver turned away at the very last second and crashed into the railings, and your car just barely scratched the Audi. Otherwise, it would've been a disaster! You're really lucky despite the misfortune!"

Yang Shen had taken a look at the scene personally. Plus, the policeman also mentioned it just now.

If the Audi had not swerved away, the two of them would have suffered severe injuries!

Gu Lingsha nodded. "Mmm, I wasn't in the best condition last night. I shouldn't have done that." Her beautiful face darkened as she sighed. "How's the other driver doing?"

"Don't worry, Ms. Gu. Master Qi will make the arrangements. It's not entirely your fault. That driver needs to bear part of the responsibility as well, so just stay put and rest well. Let Master Qi handle it. The doctor said your condition is still unstable. Although your fever has just gone down, you still need to take some medicine and rest. The doctor also mentioned your concussion will give you a headache sometimes. Let us know if you feel uncomfortable anywhere. I'll go get the medicine for you."

He then handed Gu Lingsha the medicine.

With a deep breath, she asked, "Assistant Yang, can you help me check who's the person that crashed into me?"

"Don't worry, Ms. Gu. Master Qi is on it." Yang Sheng smiled.

Gu Lingsha did not say anything else. She grabbed the tablets from Yang Sheng and popped them into her mouth.

Su Nan was still sleeping when Qi Lei went over. Mu Lingshi and the bodyguard went to handle the hospitalization administration for Ruan Heng while Xi Xiaye was still on the sofa, taking a light nap when another bodyguard came over.

"Missus?"

Xi Xiaye gradually woke up after she was called several times.

"Someone's outside and he says he's the other driver's family member. He might be here to look for trouble. He doesn't sound very friendly," said the bodyguard.

Xi Xiaye blinked before checking on Ruan Heng quickly. She adjusted the blanket on Su Nan and then stood up. "I'll go and take a look. Stay here and look after them."

"Yes, Missus!"

...

In the empty hallway, Qi Lei wore his silver-gray suit with another extra windbreaker on top. He stood before the announcement board and looked at the posters on it. When he heard the sound of the door closing behind him, he turned around.

He was stunned the moment he saw Xi Xiaye.

"Xiaye? Why are you here?" Qi Lei looked surprised as he gaped at her.

Xi Xiaye looked up. She was not really surprised to see Qi Lei as she walked towards him calmly.

"You look exhausted."

Qi Lei saw Xi Xiaye's expression and instantly frowned. Then, he looked at the door of the patient's ward. "Who's the person inside that could make you so worried? You haven't rested well for the whole night, haven't you? You look frail."

Xi Xiaye did not look at him and just sat down on a long bench nearby.

"Are you here to look for someone to blame on Gu Lingsha's behalf?" Xi Xiaye's voice sounded hoarse and tired.

"What do you mean? I just wanted to see who it is, and then I'll decide if there's a need to look into it!"

It was in the middle of winter right now, so the early morning was extremely cold.

The corridor was much colder than inside the room. Xi Xiaye shivered a little and clenched her fists, trying to endure the cold. She was not really paying attention to what Qi Lei was saying.

Qi Lei saw her reactions, and before she noticed it, he already took his windbreaker off and put it over her shoulders to her surprise. She wanted to reject at first, but he stopped her cold hand.

"I'm just lending it to you. Remember to give it back to me after you clean it up. It had better be aromatized as well. I don't need cologne or anything of that sort. A fresh vanilla smell would be fine. Do you hear that?"

Qi Lei quickly adjusted the windbreaker on her and then moved away.

Xi Xiaye looked at the windbreaker over her shoulder. Her eyes darkened as her gaze turned complicated.

Qi Lei saw she was being hesitant, so he quickly changed the topic. "Tell me. What's happening on your end?"

Xi Xiaye looked downward. "If you're looking for someone to blame, just blame it on me. Ruan Heng is still in a critical period right now. The doctor said he might stay like this forever. I've asked Ah Mo to find out what exactly happened. The security camera footage showed that Ruan Heng drove past the red light, and Gu Lingsha was speeding. Gu Lingsha came out fine with a light concussion."

She suddenly raised her head and looked at Qi Lei. "However, Ruan Heng had multiple fractures all over his body and is in a critical condition right now. It's not even been a year since he got married to Su Nan. A month ago, Su Nan gave birth to a cute daughter for him. Gu Lingsha merely suffered from a high fever in the accident. I should be the one looking for her instead of you coming here, shouldn't I?"

Xi Xiaye's tone of voice was cold and stern, unable to hide the anger on her face. "Even though she might not care about herself, can't she be considerate about others and not be a killer on the road?"

"Shasha was frustrated. Please don't blame her. Calm down. I don't have any intentions of looking for trouble here. I just wanted to see what the situation was," Qi Lei's expression was strained as he said quietly.

"It's just like what you see. If you want to know the details, you can go and ask the doctors. I've told Ah Mo to handle the accident. If you want a solution to this, then look for him. I really don't like Gu Lingsha. Since you're going to defend her, I don't mind adding you into my blacklist as well."

Xi Xiaye frowned with disgust. She had already decided to go against this woman when she found out there was a past relationship between her man and her. No matter what kind of person she was, she felt her treasure had been breached. What happened at the banquet the other night popped up in her mind as well. All in all, she felt uncomfortable about Gu Lingsha!

And now, Gu Lingsha was involved in the accident with Ruan Heng who might not make it through!

Xi Xiaye stood up coldly and walked back towards the room. She did not want to say anything else and just hoped for Ruan Heng to wake up as soon as possible. Otherwise, Su Nan was sure to break down.

Su Nan might look pretty strong, but situations such as these would always reveal the fragile heart under her disguise. Ruan Heng was like the sky to her. How could she still continue to live if the sky collapsed on her?

Su Nan was already up when Xi Xiaye returned to the room. She was sitting by Ruan Heng's bed. Tears started flowing down her face again as she grabbed Ruan Heng's hand. "Ruan Heng, you have to wake up. The baby and I need you. I can't do this alone... Please wake up..."

Tears continued to fall before she could finish her sentence. She placed Ruan Heng's hand on her face as she was on the verge of falling apart.

Xi Xiaye's eyes were getting warm while she stood there in silence for some time. She then decided to leave the room to the two of them.

...

The doctor said that although 32 hours had passed, Ruan Heng was still in a coma. When the doctor mentioned it might stay this way forever, Su Nan nearly collapsed.

Su Nan's parents, as well as Ruan Heng's parents, rushed to the hospital when they found out. The whole family wept when they received the grim news.

Xi Xiaye could not do anything except comfort them. She was trying to find some specialists to help Ruan Heng.

She lost weight rapidly in just a few days, so Zhuang Shurong was shocked when she visited her during the weekend!

"Do you not have any appetite? How can you lose so much weight? Is it because of stress at work?"

Zhuang Shurong did not know what had happened since she had been working abroad for the past week and only returned to City Z this morning. She remembered her son's request, so she visited Xi Xiaye.

"Or is it because of your friend's accident? Sis Wang told me your friend was involved in an accident. Is he still unconscious in the hospital?" Zhuang Shurong asked.

Xi Xiaye nodded her head. "The two of them are my best friends who got married in January this year. Their child is only a month old. The doctor said Ruan Heng might never wake up again. I'm worried."

"Worrying doesn't help. Well, you're going to the hospital for a check-up today, aren't you? I'll go with you. I'll also meet some old friends there and see if I can get any advice," Zhuang Shurong said.

Xi Xiaye shot Zhuang Shurong a grateful glance. "Thank you, Mother. By the way, can you make more of this chicken soup? I want to bring some for Su Nan as well. It's been a few days since she lost all her appetite."

Zhuang Shurong smiled gently. "Of course, but you have to drink another bowl of it."

Xi Xiaye nodded as she put on a weak smile, and the darkness in her eyes faded slightly.