"You asked me to come back with you and now you are saying that it's all a dream? Wei, are you okay?"

  　　Wei quickly said, "No, it's…I didn't want to make you angry…"

  　　Lihua pursed her lips. "You are making me upset by avoiding this and telling me that it's all a dream. If you don't have anything more to say about it, then I will leave."

  　　Wei held her back and anxiously said, "No! Please don't go."

  　　"But you are not telling the truth," Lihua narrowed her eyes. She looked away, disappointed. "But then again, you always lie to me."

  　　Wei stared at her helplessly. "I am sorry. Whenever I think that you will be hurt or upset, I…I tend to hide things from you because I don't want to see you disappointed. But-but if I tell the truth then…" his heart pounded fast in his chest, "I want you back, Lihua."

  　　The softness in his voice shook her.

  　　He tremblingly reached out to her hand. "Lihua, I know I have hurt you a lot. I have disappointed you a lot. Perhaps, you will never forgive me for what I have done. But I am ready to face whatever punishment you give me. Even Song Jia…if she wants to take revenge from me, then I will gladly take it. But don't leave me, Lihua. I-I want to live together with you again. With you…with our twins. I really want you back, Lihua."

  　　He slightly gasped and continued. "It was hell living without you for these past months. I missed you so much. I dreamt that you were always right beside me. I would imagine that you are laughing. I felt as if I could hear your sweet voice wherever I went. But when I realized that you weren't there at all, it felt as if somebody dropped me from a tall building. It hurt…" his eyes were moist as he looked at her, "Lihua, I cannot live without you. P-please come back to me."

  　　He tightened his hold over her fingers. "Lihua, I promise. I will be a good husband this time. I won't disappoint you ever again. I won't hide anything from you again. I will be a good husband to you and a good father to our children. I-I failed to protect you once. But it won't happen again, I promise. I won't let anybody put even a scratch on you anymore…Will you…will you please give me a second chance?"

  　　At the end, his voice quivered and tremored. He had firmly held onto Lihua's hand, afraid that she would shake it off and leave him.

  　　But that never happened. He felt Lihua's other hand gently resting on top of his which had held onto her fingers.

  　　"Wei…I don't want to live apart from you anymore either."

  　　He froze. For a moment, he felt as if his ears were tricking him. He lifted his gaze and saw her pearl like tears drop onto his hand. "I don't want to….live alone anymore either. I missed you a lot too. I missed you even more than you might have missed it. A-and it was triple because the twins missed you too…"

  　　Her tense shoulders trembled as she softly cried. "I hated when I was at Jiang Zhen's place. It made me realize a lot of things that I was being blind to. Life without you felt meaningless. I didn't even realize when I started to dream that you would take me back one day and then we will live together forever. But sometimes, I was afraid…that if Jiang Zhen never lost, would I never get to see you again? That was terrifying. I hated that fear.

  　　It might have betrayed sis Jia, but I wanted to be with you even if…even if she might have not been with us today. It was fate that Mingshen saved her, but if she really had…then I would have still chosen to return to your side one day. I am so selfish, right?"

  　　Wei vigorously shook his head. The one thing he hated the most was seeing Lihua shed tears. Now that she was, he physically felt helpless to console her.

  　　"You are not selfish!" He exclaimed. "Don't say that," he tried to get up and remove the tubes from his hand, making Lihua shocked.

  　　"What are you doing!? Don't do that!" She pushed him back on the bed!

  　　Wei denied. "No. I want to hug you. I don't want to see you cry. Tell Mingshen to remove this stuff," he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

  　　Lihua glared at him. "Are you an idiot? You are a patient! Do you want to be even more sick!?"

  　　She softened as she knew his intentions for which she could only helplessly sigh. "You…I am fine," she rubbed the tip of her nose.

  　　"But you are hurting…" Wei pointed out.

  　　"You are also hurting! So be quiet!"

  　　He pursed his lips and stayed quiet as Lihua ordered.

  　　She heaved a breath in relief. "Good."

  　　A few moments later, she said, "You don't have to console me. No matter what you or sis say, I will always feel that I am selfish…" she trembled. "I don't want to be, but it's…you have loved me so much without holding back that it always shakes me from my stance. It's all your fault for loving me too much that I cannot ignore it," her eyes ached. "So much that you even took a bullet for sis's sake. I don't know if it's fate or retribution, but it won't change the fact that you saved her this time. Otherwise…I might have really lost her. You hurt once for which I might not forgive you, but you saved her life now for which I cannot thank you enough."

  　　There was a long beat of silence where neither said anything.

  　　Lihua whispered, "When I was with Jiang Zhen, I thought at times that I might never get to see you again. When you…" she shivered, "slipped into a coma, I thought of how long I would have to wait again before you open your eyes? It was suffocating. I don't want to feel this fear ever again, Wei…That's why, you have to be strong! Y-you cannot fall sick like this because you have to take care of me and our twins forever!"