Chapter 28: Come, You Love Me with All Your Heart

There are thousands of kinds of love in this world, yet my affection is reserved solely for you.

Gu Xinyao, having been rushed into the emergency room, was held tightly in Dugu Yi’s arms. It seemed as though he feared she might be snatched away, or perhaps that they had become a single, shared life—if she lived, he lived; if she perished, he perished.

The doctor in the emergency room first saw Gu Xinyao in Dugu Yi’s embrace. Her face, stained with blood, was deathly pale—a sign of severe blood loss. The doctor attempted to force his arms open, but no matter how much strength she exerted, she could not budge them.

"You must let go of the patient, or she will die!" The female doctor’s tone was stern; she had never encountered such an obstinate family member.

"No..." Just as the doctor expected him to argue back, she heard him utter a faint, low note of resistance. It was unclear if he was refusing to let go, or if he was simply unable to accept the death of the person in his arms.

"Do you want her to die? I have never seen anyone like you..." The doctor looked up, intending to scold him further. As she stared at his face, she was momentarily struck by his beauty, though it was now marred by blood and exhaustion. The expression on his face caused a pang of heartache in anyone who looked at him. His eyes were fixed solely on the person in his arms, holding nothing else, reflecting a sense of despair so profound that it had rendered him numb.

The doctor had witnessed much life and death, but she had never seen such a handsome man wear such an expression over a woman. Her reprimand died on her lips. She frowned and loosened her grip on his arm.

"Listen to me. Your foot is injured—the bone is sprained. If not treated immediately, it could lead to lasting complications. As for her, she is not in immediate danger, but if you continue to hold her like this, she may well lose her life." She spoke with a gentle, logical firmness, gesturing toward Gu Xinyao.

Dugu Yi’s listless eyes lifted to meet the doctor’s. His brows slowly knit together, and a flicker of life returned to his gaze as he looked at her, as if looking at a sliver of hope.

"She can still be saved? Is that true?" His lips moved faintly, his voice barely a whisper, as if he feared disturbing the one who was sleeping.

The doctor, who also deeply loved her own husband, felt a pang of empathy. She thought of her own husband—a man who knew only how to give—but she dismissed the comparison, deciding that her husband was actually much better-looking than this man.

"Yes. As long as you let her go and let me examine her injuries, I can save her." Looking into those eyes filled with desperate hope, the doctor told a lie for the first time.

Dugu Yi looked down at Gu Xinyao, who remained with her eyes closed. He kissed her cheek softly and whispered, "Be good, you must wake up."

In his thirty-six years of life, he had never possessed anything worth cherishing. She was the first person he had ever wanted to treasure—a realization that had only dawned on him deep in his heart after she was injured. He moved her slightly away from his chest, though he refused to let go entirely.

The doctor approached Gu Xinyao to assess her condition. Due to the side impact, the left side of her body was severely injured, nearly damaging her heart. The situation was far from optimistic.

"Prepare for surgery!" the doctor ordered firmly to the nurses behind her.

The nurses immediately prepared the instruments. The doctor signaled one of the nurses, who nodded and took a tray with syringes and medication. With swift efficiency, the nurse prepared the drug and, without waiting for Dugu Yi to react, administered the injection.

By the time Dugu Yi realized what had happened, he felt his consciousness fading. Instinctively, he tried to hold Gu Xinyao tighter, but he began to sink into a deep sleep.

Watching Dugu Yi, who still clutched Gu Xinyao even under the effect of the sedative, the doctor sighed. She gently pulled Gu Xinyao from his grasp, handed her to the nurses, and placed Dugu Yi on an emergency bed.

The surgery was performed on the bed next to his. Dugu Yi would not be waking up for a while. The nurses treated his swollen foot and secured it with a splint. He had sprained it, but by continuing to put weight on it, he had nearly dislocated it; he needed rest.

Time ticked by, and the surgery continued. Outside the emergency room, Gu Yu had been waiting for a long time. By the time he received the news, both Dugu Yi and Gu Xinyao had already been admitted.

He looked up at the emergency light; it was still glowing. He sat back down on a nearby chair, the old butler standing beside him with a look of deep concern.

"Xiao Yuan, do you think I was wrong?" Gu Yu asked, his head bowed, his hand pressing against his temple in a moment of rare vulnerability.

The old butler, known as Xiao Yuan, had looked after Dugu Yi for a long time. He understood the old master’s good intentions, but he had always looked upon Dugu Yi like a son and could not bear to see him suffer. "Sir, you are simply too stubborn. The young master is too much like you. If you did anything wrong, it was using that method to force him away from the Dugu family."

Gu Yu’s hand slid from his temple to his face, covering it so his expression remained hidden. The butler wondered if he had spoken too harshly and wanted to offer a remedy, but he saw Gu Yu shaking his head slightly, and something slipped through his fingers. The butler dared not speak again. He was a straightforward man, but he feared he had hurt his master, so he kept his lips sealed and stared at the door.

The ten-hour surgery finally concluded that evening. Gu Xinyao and Dugu Yi were moved back to the ward, lying side by side. It was a deliberate arrangement by the doctor; she knew that once Dugu Yi woke up, he would search for the person beside him, and it was better to keep them together as ward-mates than to have him injure his foot again.

Gu Xinyao drifted back to consciousness. She felt as though she had been in a long, long dream. In it, she was a seven or eight-year-old girl again, cherished by her parents. They were young and loving, and she was happy.

Yet, something felt missing. One day, she saw a doll in a shop window. It was so beautiful that she realized that was what she lacked. Her mother told her the doll was expensive and that she must move him with her heart before he would agree to come home with her. So, she went to the shop every day to talk to the doll. Finally, on a particularly sunny day, the doll agreed to go home with her. She was overjoyed. She didn't know if she hadn't been sincere enough later on, but one day, the doll vanished. She cried and searched, but could never find him again...

"No, don't go..." she rasped. She suddenly opened her eyes to see a familiar, handsome, yet haggard face. She froze.

"Doll..." she whispered. Then she paused. Her dream seemed to overlap with reality. He wasn't the doll from her dream; he was real. He was...

"Yi?" she called out, her voice barely audible.

Upon hearing her call, tears welled up in those handsome eyes.

"Xinyao!" His voice was hoarse, yet it felt like a balm to every pore of her body.

"Don't cry!" She tried to raise her hand to wipe his tears, only to find her hand already firmly held in his palm. After she spoke, his tears fell anyway, landing on her pillow, yet they seemed to fall straight into her heart. She could not bear to see such a strong man weep. She was all alone in this world, and he was the only one willing to shed tears for her.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized sincerely. He looked at her through his tears, not understanding why she would apologize.

Seeing his confused eyes, she tried to sit up, only to find the left side of her body immobile. "Me?" she asked, looking at him for an answer.

He shook his head, speaking with difficulty, "I... I was given an injection, I don't know either. The doctor said as long as you woke up, everything would be fine." He had believed the doctor's words—he had asked her to save her, and Xinyao had truly woken up.

Gu Xinyao felt a sense of relief. She looked toward his feet, remembering the moment she had used all her strength to push him away from the oncoming car. She had seen him fall just before she lost consciousness. "Your foot?" she asked, worried.

Dugu Yi wiped his tears and offered a smile he hadn't shown since entering the hospital. "I'm fine. It's just a sprain, it swelled up a bit. The doctor said I'll be fine in a few days."

"Come, sit on my bed." Though Gu Xinyao couldn't move half her body, her mind was sharp. She knew his capacity for enduring pain and didn't believe him.

Dugu Yi hesitated but eventually compromised. As he stood up, he winced, a small motion that didn't escape her. When he sat on the edge of her bed, she saw the splint wrapped around his right foot. Even so, he kept smiling, as if the pain didn't exist.

Gu Xinyao felt a deep sense of frustration. She had wanted to take care of him, yet even though she had saved him from the car, he was still injured.

"I'm sorry!" This time, she said it with such intensity it was almost through gritted teeth.

Only Dugu Yi, sitting beside her, could understand that her anger was not because he had failed to take care of himself, but because she blamed herself for failing to protect him. Knowing how much she cared for him brought a sweetness to his heart. He knew that from this day forward, they would be together for longer than anyone else—even in death, they would be as one.

"My, what a sweet young couple! How enviable!" A nurse who had just entered chuckled upon seeing Dugu Yi sitting by Gu Xinyao’s side.

Dugu Yi, known for his cold and distant demeanor, had never been teased like this. But since being with Gu Xinyao, he had changed so much.

Gu Xinyao only smiled. The nurse came over to change the IV, saying, "Miss Gu, you and Mr. Dugu are so devoted. You have no idea how worried he was while you were in a coma. He refused to let go of your hand, and wouldn't let anyone else tend to your wounds. It took Dr. Liu to finally convince him to loosen his grip so we could treat you."

Once the IV was changed and the nurse had finished speaking, Dugu Yi’s face flushed a deep red. He had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, and now that it had been laid bare, he didn't know how to look at Gu Xinyao.

Gu Xinyao knew he was embarrassed, but hearing these things made her feel content. After all, even if he didn't love her, being cared for this deeply was enough to make her feel happy.

"I love him very much!" Gu Xinyao squeezed Dugu Yi’s hand, not hesitating to speak her truth.

"Seeing such a loving couple, I'm truly envious. Oh, by the way, there is a Mr. Gu outside who wants to see you. He says he is your father." After expressing her envy, the nurse remembered the visitor.

Dugu Yi and Gu Xinyao exchanged a look. Although the rift between father and son had mended, their relationship was still distant, and they were unaccustomed to such sudden displays of concern.