Chapter 838: Please
"Will you please stop? Just give me my phone."
"No! Your father is sick! At a time like this, you should not be looking at your phone but praying for his well-being. Stay here with me, in this prayer room."
Lily’s shoulders tensed as she sat back down on the narrow, uncomfortable bench in the hospital chapel. The air was heavy with the scent of incense, making it hard to breathe but it was her mother that made things even more difficult for her. Her mother’s voice had taken on an almost frantic edge, more urgent than ever before, as if the intensity of her devotion alone could somehow heal the man lying unconscious just a few floors away.
Her father had suffered a heart attack—serious enough that the emergency surgery, while successful, was only the beginning of a long and uncertain road to recovery. The doctors’ words rang in her ears: extensive damage, years of neglect, time to regain consciousness... phrases that had carved fear into the pit of her stomach. And now, the waiting. The endless, torturous waiting.
Since the moment they had rushed to the hospital, her mother had transformed from a cold, judgmental figure into an almost obsessive presence. The woman who had hurled cruel words and shut Lily out had seemingly forgotten all the bitter exchange that had culminated into her walking out on her parents again and her father collapsing with a heart attack. Now she was clinging, insistent, eyes wide with alarm as she pulled Lily into hours of whispered prayers and fervent pleas for divine intervention.
Lily had actually not expected this. From the moment she’d admitted her father here and signed the forms, she’d expected her mother to pin the blame for all this on her shoulders as well but her mother had been surprisingly clingy.
Lily pressed her lips together, holding back a sigh. Her mother’s sharp eyes darted to her, daring her to break the moment. With reluctance, Lily bowed her head, clasping her hands as if she were part of the prayer. She whispered a few words, but they felt empty. The guilt in her chest wouldn’t ease.
If she had stayed, hadn’t distanced herself from her parents, would this have happened? Would her father have taken better care of himself? The questions wouldn’t stop. She could almost hear Cai’s voice telling her not to blame herself, reminding her that years of stubborn habits weren’t hers to change. And her first duty had been to protect herself and her sanity.
She knew he would be right, but that didn’t make the guilt any lighter or the pain any less.
She needed to hear Cai’s voice. The need was like an ache in her chest. He was her anchor, cutting through her spiraling thoughts. She had let her mother take her phone without protest, seeing the desperation in her eyes. Instead, she handled the paperwork and spoke to the doctors in a calm, steady voice.