What If...I Remember?

Chapter 41

"Zhe Yan? Where am I?" Bai Qian recognised his aura before her eyes could open, and Zhe Yan's voice spoke from not too far away, "Ah, you're awake. How do you feel?" "Terrible." Bai Qian opened her eyes slightly, "Was I poisoned by Su Jin?" "Drugged. A sleeping drug mixed with water was applied to that hairpin. You're lucky she hit nowhere vital, Xiao Wu." Zhe Yan came closer, a bowl in his hands, and Bai Qian wrinkled her nose upon seeing the liquid at once, "Medicine?"

"Your wound doesn't heal easily, Xiao Wu, without some medicine. Plus, this is to help you deal with the side effects of the drug. If you don't want it, then nevermind, but mind you, don't come complaining." Zhe Yan was about to put aside the bowl when Bai Qian took it over, downing it in one gulp, and Zhe Yan grinned. That same trick always worked on Bai Qian.

"Did you change my eyes yet?" Bai Qian squinted at the light shining in from Zhe Yan's open window, but the instantaneous appearance of her blindfold told her otherwise, and Zhe Yan held up the box she handed him as he held his arms in surrender under her accusational glare, "I only just cleaned them, and besides, I wasn't sure what you were going to do with them too." "Help me install them now." Bai Qian laid back down at once, and Zhe Yan raised his eyebrows, "You'll be blind for a week, Xiao Wu, while your eyes adapt. And there are side effects too, because you might lose blood in the process of changing."

"I'd rather have them back earlier." Bai Qian peeled her blindfold off, her eyes slowly travelling from his face to the ceiling of Zhe Yan's hut, and Zhe Yan sighed, shaking his head, "Mind you, Xiao Wu, this will hurt. Do you want an anesthetic?" Zhe Yan readied the box and a thick piece of silk, and Bai Qian shook her head, "I don't mind the pain; I have dealt with it before." "Then keep still. I will start now." Zhe Yan moved his palm towards her eyes, and Bai Qian saw the faint glow of his power as it drew nearer, and there was a sharp sting in her sockets as Bai Qian felt the blood well up almost instantly, and the hollowness that she had familiarized herself with for three years as Su Su filled her sockets again.

"Zhe Yan, my eyes?" Bai Qian's voice was suddenly much softer, and Zhe Yan slid the lid off the box as he tried to hold her head steady, "Xiao Wu, keep still!" A slight squelching sound was heard, and Bai Qian felt the hollowness leave as the blood suddenly oozed from her sockets, trickling down her cheekbones slowly after they were squeezed out by the insertion of her eyes, her eyes that were reunited with her once more.

"Can you move them?" Zhe Yan asked concernedly, and Bai Qian reached her fingers to the blood that overflowed, "I can move them, Zhe Yan. Can I-" "Don't open or touch them; you could get an infection if you do so." Zhe Yan grabbed her hand back, wiping away the blood for her, and Bai Qian felt his hands lift her head as he wrapped the thick piece of silk over them, "You'll be blind for a week, Xiao Wu. Have Ye Hua help you around, if you need."

"Will do..." Bai Qian said thickly, a sudden drowsiness hitting her in the head, and Zhe Yan pulled the blanket over her, "Sleep it off, there's always the beginning drowsiness." "..." Bai Qian didn't reply, and when Zhe Yan turned back again, she was already asleep, her chest rising and falling slowly with the soft sound of her breathing.

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"Ye Hua?" Bai Qian called tentatively, her arms stretched as she groped around Zhe Yan's hut. It had been quite awhile since she was blinded, and she had rather forgotten what it was like, seeing just a patch of darkness before her. But even as she shifted on the bed, managing to grab on to the bed frame, Ye Hua still had yet to appear. "Ah-!" Bai Qian missed a step as she descended from the bed, and yet as she fell forward, a strong hand gripped her wrist, stopping her from falling just before she hit the ground, before it yanked her up into a warm embrace, and a voice spoke amusedly, "Qian Qian, were you intending to kiss the floor?"