*cough cough.* Xiao Li-Hua coughed roughly, her throat and chest burning painfully, and she looked at her hand. There was blood.
She was barely able to reach for her handkerchief at her side because she had grown too weak. Her pale complexion, dried skin, and sunken cheeks were the epitome of a sick person.
She had been terminally ill since she was five, fighting a disease the world was yet to identify, and unable to feel her legs.
She had been in this pathetic state for over 15 years. Some would say she had fought long enough and that it was time to finally give up, and others would say she was simply suffering in vain.
There was no hope for her, but she wanted to believe that she could change her fate. That she could walk again.
Why else had she been living for the past 15 years in pain and making her parents spend so much on her?
Whenever they visited, they smiled at her, but she knew that behind that smile, they were already exhausted. They were simply waiting for her to give up, and they would stop spending money unnecessarily.
Everyone was tired of seeing her face after all. Her pale sickly and unsightly face.
She heard it from the nurses and even the patients in the other wards. It was useless to keep fighting, so why fight?
It was simply because she wanted to walk and smile without worrying about anything. She... *Cough cough* she coughed hard and painfully.
Her chest burned like crazy. She was reaching her limit.
She knew it. Even without others telling her, she could not fight fate. And the more one tries to fight fate, the more they suffer.
Tears dropped down her cheeks and soaked her sheets. She was living such a pathetic life. It was time to stop, right? It would save everyone the trouble of taking care of her when there was no result.
She...
Her door opened, and light illuminated her dark room. The person who walked in was a boy. Her childhood friend who never forgot her.
"Little Flower, I'm here to read you the ending of the book." He announced and walked in. This boy's name was Yu-Sheng.
He had been coming to Li-Hua's ward for three years, always wanting to keep her company and tell her about the things happening outside in the world.
He also read her stories because he wished that she would have pleasant dreams. Dreams of a happily ever after. One that she could not achieve in this world.
Though he knew that, he always said to her,
"Hurry up and get well, Little flower. So that you can start your journey to your happily ever after."
The nickname he gave her was a name he felt suited her best. But looking at her now, she didn't look like a little flower anymore. She looked more like a withered flower.
But in his eyes, she would always be a little precious flower to him.
Xiao Li-Hua turned her head, barely able to smile at him.
"Is it over?" She asked.
"Yes. The author just released the last chapter. So, I will read it to you." He looked excited. He was such a ray of sunshine.
He sat on the bed after lifting it up a bit to help her sit and placed her head on his shoulder.
This was how she spent most of her evenings, and she thanked Yu-Sheng for giving her courage to live this far. It was thanks to him that she was able to dream such nice dreams and forget reality for a moment.
"Little Flower, don't close your eyes on me now, okay?" He muttered as he began to read the last chapter.
The title of this book was 'The Lycan's Lucky Bride'. They had picked it out of the numerous web novels when they had finished the last book because it seemed like a nice read.
And it was. It was a beautiful story between a human and a Lycan in a world that was similar to theirs but very different at the same time. A world with mystical creatures like vampires and werewolves.
*Cough cough* Li-Hua coughed hard again, and Yu-Sheng held her close. Her breathing was hard, and she could feel her eyes fading, but she wanted to stay awake.
At least till the end of the story. She wanted to finish this. Yu-Sheng, after reading two paragraphs, would pause and ask,
"Little Flower, are you awake?" And Li-Hua would nod her head, barely.
He would continue and then ask again,
"Little flower, are you awake?" Once again, Li-Hua would nod her head.
He repeated this till he was done with the book, and his face beamed with glee.
"They lived happily ever after, in love." He said and looked down at Li-Hua, whose breath was fading gradually. "Little flower, are you there?"
Yu-Sheng was scared. He had heard from the doctor that Xiao Li-Hua did not have much longer to live and that she could die any moment, but he stubbornly wished she would live a little longer.
He knew it was only causing her pain, but he was selfish. So selfish to the point that he would rather she stay with him like this forever than leave him for good.
"Yu-Sheng," Li-Hua called with a weak voice, her breath shaking as her heart had begun to take gaps. "Why are you so good to me?" She asked.
"It's because I like you a lot," Yu-Sheng said. It was the same response he gave every time she asked him, and every time she did ask him, his eyes teared up.
He was scared that she would disappear as soon as she got his response.
"Thank you." Li-Hua said, and Yu-Sheng's eyes widened. "Thank you for always reading to me and..." *Cough cough* she coughed hard and long, and it got his heart aching.
"Little flower." He called with a trembling voice.
"Thank you, Yu-Sheng, for always keeping me company." She said and closed her eyes.
Yu-Sheng bit his bottom lip while his upper lip trembled. Tears streamed down his cheeks in long lines, and he held Xiao Li-Hua's hand.
"Little flower," he sniffed and then smiled. "You don't have to thank me. I..." He paused, noticing he could no longer hear Li-Hua's hard and heavy breathing.
He lifted his trembling hand to her face to check if Li-Hua was still breathing, but he couldn't feel air from her nose, and her heart had stopped too.
Li-Hua had died.
This... He knew this would happen one day, but it didn't mean it was okay with him.
His body trembled as he held her tight and finally confessed truthfully.
"I do it because I love you." He said, holding her face to his as a long line of tears rolled down his cheeks. "I love you, Li-Hua, my little flower. So, sleep peacefully. And I... I wish you a happy dream." He kissed her hand, his tears watching over her body hand in his grip.
He felt like a part of him had been stolen from him, and he would never be able to retrieve it. He would miss her a lot.
After Li-Hua closed her eyes and breathed her last, she felt like she had dived into a sea of colorful dreams, but she hadn't seen anything in particular.
It was all vague to her.
She looked at her hands, which seemed transparent, and her body, which seemed naked but had none of her features pronounced. She couldn't feel anything either. Not her legs, not her hands, and not even her own breath.. It was as if she wasn't living.
And then she figured it out.
"It looks like I died." She said. She wasn't particularly sad about it, and she most definitely wasn't happy.
She never got to live, even if she was alive.
She looked around at the formless, colorful dreams around her and wondered,
"Is this what comes after death?"
And then, she saw a path. It looked like a path she was meant to take, maybe to the afterlife, but behind her, opposite the path that had been created for her, was a bright light.
She felt she had to choose. Would she take the path that had been designated for her, or would she go towards the light?
It wasn't that difficult to figure out.
Since her life had been designated from the start, she knew what lay at the end of that path would be someone's plan for her, so she went the opposite way and chose the light.
As soon as she did, the light shone brighter, and she had to cover her eyes, but the light had blinded her eyes, burned her vision, and left her with a dull-looking eyeball.
So, the next moment, she opened her eyes, and what she saw was darkness. Plain darkness, and it scared her to the point that she began to cry.
But sometimes it was strange.
"Wahhh"
Why did her voice sound like a baby's cry?
"Oh my, it looks like the second one is finally awake?" She heard a stranger's voice and then felt her body being lifted.
So easily? What was going on?
"Oh my sweetheart, are you scared? Yu-Hua woke up a while ago, but as soon as she fell asleep, you woke up. Did you two plan this? Hm?" It was a woman's voice filled with warmth and compassion as she craddled Li-Hua in her arms.
Though Li-Hua felt this woman was saying weird things, it was a fact that she felt warm and secure in this woman's grasp.
"The doctor said her eyes can only be healed through a miracle, but aside from that, she's very healthy." She heard a man's voice. "So don't worry, sweetheart. Our babies will grow up healthy."
Li-Hua began to process her situation gradually. Not only could she fit into a woman's arms, but she felt so small, and her crying voice sounded like a baby's... It could only mean that she was a baby, right?
So, was this a dream or had she been reincarnated after her death?
"From now on, I shall name you Bai-Hua because you look just like a beautiful little flower."
"And with our last name included," The man kissed the woman's cheek and said, "She will be Xiao Bai-Hua."
"Our little white flower."
That was right. Bai-Hua had reincarnated as a baby in another world, and she now goes by the name Xiao Bai-Hua.