The Love Score || Zhuo Zhi

65: I'm Not Dead Yet

"Better," I admitted honestly, placing the cup back on the table. "My throat feels okay. Do I need to be prescribed any medicine?"

Doctor Wu told me no. "The allergic reaction only happened because you consumed something that triggered it. As long as you avoid bell peppers in the future, you'll be fine."

"Is she going to be discharged soon, Doctor?" Ai Qi piped up as I fiddled with the strap of the oxygen mask that lay beside me on the bed.

Doctor Wu paused for a moment and peered at his notes on the clipboard. "I'll run a final check-up for her in a moment. If all goes well, she can be discharged by then."

We all thanked the doctor as he exited the room to find a nurse to run the check-up. "What time is it now?" I asked, seeing that there were no windows in the ward for me to know how bright the sky was. 

"Almost three," Coach Qi replied. "That reminds me, I should call Qi Ying to tell her to prepare."

"Prepare?" My eyebrows raised in curiosity. "For what?"

Coach Qi looked to Ai Qi as if to tell her to be the one to relay the information. Ai Qi grinned and nodded while Coach Qi walked away to the corner of the ward to call Qi Ying. Ai Qi bent down lower so that she was propping her elbows on my blanket while she talked to me. "Coach Qi thinks that we should do the barbeque today because the forecast says that the weather might not be kind to us in the next couple of nights. Hm," She cocked her head to one side in thought. "Today seems perfect for a nightly barbeque, too."

"Did my accident get in the way of things?" I sighed, thinking about how much I've inconvenienced so many people today.

Ai Qi frowned, hitting me lightly. "Yue En, you're always blaming yourself for troubling others. Your accident wasn't your fault."

Si Yang added afterwards, "Besides, we have Da Chi and Ah Yan to take care of the team matters while we are away. What happened to you today won't affect the team's performance," It was a surprise for Si Yang to chime into our conversation, which made Ai Qi throw a questionable glance at me, but I could tell that she was secretly happy that Si Yang was speaking up.

"Oh!" I suddenly remembered. "Was Senior Si Yang supposed to know about the barbeque?"

"Yes," Both Si Yang and Ai Qi answered simultaneously. I bit down a grin as they both looked at each other for an awkward second and turned away shyly, none of them really speaking for a while. A nurse entered the room explaining that she was here to perform the check-up on me. Ai Qi stood up from her spot and Si Yang moved away from the heart rate machine to give way to the nurse.

I continued the conversation while the nurse removed the wire from my wrist. "So Coach Qi was just supposed to let the captains know, I assume?"

"Yes. Xu Zi Ping knows about it too," Si Yang said as I heard Coach Qi say goodbye to Qi Ying on the phone.

"The other members don't?"

Coach Qi approached my bed with a sly smile. "They'll find out sooner or later. Especially those rascals Jia Le and Qiao Chen, they're bound to know one way or another. Qi Ying isn't an especially good liar, either."

I was delighted to hear that we were going to continue with the barbeque plan later today, as well as knowing that my incident didn't disrupt plans either. I gasped, realisation dawning on me. "Does that mean we are doing the outdoor sleepover too?" I grinned excitedly, sitting up straight in eagerness.

"Don't move, dear," The nurse reminded kindly. I nodded sheepishly as Doctor Wu walked in at that moment, informing us that he was going to check on my breathing. The flat metal of his stethoscope pressed against my chest was chilling, even through the thin fabric of my hospital gown.