Noticing her perfunctory attitude, Theodore frowned and said discontentedly, "I said be serious."

“I know, I know. Stop nagging," Ariana murmured. She rubbed her bleary eyes again.

Sleepiness gradually eroded her vision. She was not as on guard as she was when wide awake. Her expression loosened and her body relaxed. She reached out her hand and began to pat Theodore gently on the shoulder as if coaxing a child to sleep.

As he listened to the tranquil song, Theodore's heartbeat slowed down. Soon the song faded away. He turned his head to look at Ariana, whose eyes closed now as she had drifted off to sleep.

He gently tucked her in and then fell asleep, too.

The next day, when the first golden ray of sunshine filtered through the window and lit up the room, Theodore awoke. The first thing he noticed was how relaxed he felt. It was rare for him to sleep so soundly through the night.

Last time, he found he slept well when Ariana was beside him.

Last night, he tried again and confirmed it was not a fluke.

He looked down and noticed she had clutched onto him in her sleep. He carefully moved her hand away from his waist and was about to get up when her phone rang.

He stretched his hand above her to take the phone from the bedside table on her side. The caller ID showed a string of numbers, no name. He answered it.

The caller was a woman. Her loud voice on the other end of the line was audible before he even placed the receiver by his ear.

“Hello, Ms. Edwards. This is Grace Hospital calling. Your physical examination results have come out..."

Theodore subconsciously furrowed his eyebrows when he heard the word “hospital”. He listened quietly as the woman on the other side went on about some physical examination. When he was about to ask more, the phone was suddenly grabbed out of his hand.

He looked up to see Ariana's flustered face. She looked at him with an accusatory expression and put the phone to her ear, turning her back to him.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you just now. Can you please repeat what you said?"

The caller from the hospital repeated patiently, "We emailed you the examination results. Please check it. In addition, your physical condition meets the operation's requirements. You will find the doctor's contact information in the email. You can call the doctor to make an appointment."

“Okay. Thank you." Ariana hastily hung up the phone.

She wasn't sure if she was listening properly. Her mind was in a daze. She threw her phone on the table, feeling a little tense and restless. She pursed her lips, wondering how much Theodore had heard.

“What examination? Are you sick? Is something wrong?"

As expected, Theodore barraged her with questions.