“Phew, finally back.” Leo Blaze let out a sigh of relief and called into the microphone on his bedside.<br><br><br>Before long, his attending physician, holding a white tablet, entered the room with a nurse.<br><br><br>“Leo, how are you feeling? Have there been any new developments in your hallucinations this time?” The doctor asked amiably while sitting on a chair.<br><br><br>“It’s still the same environment, doing the same things. This time, though, the Bald Master was in front of me, cruelly killing a person and then conducting Potion Making with her.” Leo Blaze recounted everything he saw in his hallucinations in detail.<br><br><br>“Hmm.” The attending doctor nodded while quickly typing on the tablet to record.<br><br><br>After pondering for a moment, Leo Blaze hesitantly asked, “Doctor, what do these different hallucinations represent? What do they mean for my mind and psyche?”<br><br><br>“No, you shouldn't concern yourself with that. Focus more on the duration of each hallucination and your mental stability,” the doctor shook his head, dismissing Leo Blaze’s thoughts.<br><br><br>“Remember, since these are hallucinations, they’re false. You’ve already overcome Perceptual Disturbance Syndrome, so don’t fall into it again.”<br><br><br>“Just act according to the logic in the hallucinations each time you fall into one, and with our treatment here, you’ll recover soon.”<br><br><br>Hearing these words, Leo Blaze felt a tightness in his heart. His quick discharge depended on this, so he couldn’t afford to be careless.<br><br><br>The doctor didn't forget to cheer up his patient either. “You’re already doing well. When you first arrived, you couldn’t even distinguish between reality and fantasy. It will get better; keep it up.”<br><br><br>As the two conversed, they heard light footsteps approaching from the door.<br><br><br>Both turned to look, seeing a girl peering inside, wearing a black turtleneck sweater.<br><br><br>The girl looked to be sixteen or seventeen, just at that On the Verge of Blooming beautiful age. Her skin was as white as jade, and her black hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, making her appear as lovely as a blossoming flower bud.<br><br><br>Seeing the two young people’s hesitant expressions, the attending physician knowingly chuckled. He gently pushed up his glasses with a finger and turned to leave. “I have other matters to attend to. You two carry on. Oh, Leo, remember to take your medicine later.”<br><br><br>As soon as the doctor left, the girl came in, and they exchanged smiles. Leo Blaze immediately felt a sweetness in his heart, his worries about his illness vanishing quickly.<br><br><br>“Stop smiling, it’s ugly. Look what I brought you? Homework assigned by the teachers themselves!” the mischievous-looking girl pulled out a canvas bag from behind her.<br><br><br>Hearing this, Leo Blaze’s face fell immediately. “Anna, we’ve known each other since childhood, and you’re taking revenge on me like this?”<br><br><br>Anna Yang, the girl, closed the door and took out a small handheld game console, waving it smugly. “And this ~ Hehe, call me sister and I’ll give it to you.”<br><br><br>“Sis! You’re my real sister.” Leo Blaze rushed over excitedly and grabbed the game console from her hand.<br><br><br>Being cooped up in a mental hospital was so boring. He might go crazy from the boredom if he wasn’t already.<br><br><br>“Play less, remember to do your homework,” Anna Yang advised him as she sat on the edge of the bed, watching him boot up the game console.<br><br><br>“Mm-hmm.” Leo Blaze’s attention was entirely on the handheld screen.<br><br><br>His slender, fair fingers pinched the blue and white hospital gown on his body, pulling at it with attachment. “Hey, don’t forget what you promised me.”<br><br><br>Leo Blaze’s hand stopped, and he looked up at her, his face suddenly becoming very serious. “Yeah, we agreed to take the entrance exams for the same university.”<br><br><br>Anna Yang lowered her head shyly, her voice becoming as soft as a mosquito. “Okay, get well soon, I’m waiting for you...”<br><br><br>Suddenly, Leo Blaze pulled her into his arms.<br><br><br>Anna Yang’s face flushed red, and without struggling, she closed her eyes and whispered, “You big pervert.”<br><br><br>They didn’t do anything more. Being young and in love, they felt happy just holding each other.<br><br><br>After a while, Anna Yang had to leave. After all, it was the crucial time in her senior year, and squeezing out half a day was already precious.<br><br><br>Although the time was short, for Leo Blaze, it was a ray of light in his difficult days.<br><br><br>“I’ll walk you to the gate,” Leo Blaze said as he donned his hospital’s blue and white striped gown and wore the hospital slippers.<br><br><br>Following Anna Yang to the door, he felt something wasn’t right. Then he noticed the pestle he used in his hallucination was on the bedside table.<br><br><br>Leo Blaze trembled, stepping back two paces, but upon closer inspection, he found it was his lunchbox instead.<br><br><br>“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Anna Yang asked, seeing his abrupt reaction, a hint of worry crossing her face.<br><br><br>Seeing the concern on her face, Leo Blaze immediately put on a cheeky grin. “Haha, did I scare you?”<br><br><br>Anna Yang, puffed with anger, pinched the soft flesh on his waist. “Aren’t you too old to act like a child and do such childish things?”<br><br><br>“Don’t be mad, I just wanted to cheer you up,” Leo Blaze reached for her hand, only to be flicked away by her.<br><br><br>After flicking his hand away a few times, their hands eventually intertwined.<br><br><br>The other patients sunbathing in the courtyard watched this scene with peaceful smiles. Such tender and innocent love was truly beautiful.<br><br><br>Though they walked slowly, they eventually reached the hospital gate. Anna Yang stood there reluctantly, looking at Leo Blaze. “I’ll come see you again next week. Take care in there.”<br><br><br>“Maybe you shouldn’t come next week. I know studying is intense now, and you only have half a day off each week. Don’t waste it on me.”<br><br><br>Anna Yang lightly stepped on Leo Blaze’s hospital slippers, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. “Dummy, don’t project your feelings onto others. I’ve never been out of the top three in rankings, so there’s no study pressure.”<br><br><br>“Ah~” Leo Blaze clutched his heart, feigning pain. “That Hits Hard, Girl.”<br><br><br>Anna Yang was tickled, laughing as she playfully punched him and then turned to bound toward the bus stop like a deer.<br><br><br>Watching his girlfriend’s bus disappear completely, Leo Blaze’s smile faded gradually.<br><br><br>The thing he’d seen earlier came to mind, and he walked toward the doctor’s office with worries on his mind.<br><br><br>An hour later, Leo Blaze lay restless in bed, thinking anxiously about his future with Anna Yang. Beside him was the doctor’s new medication for the syndrome.<br><br><br>The pestle from earlier and Anna Yang’s smile kept cycling in his mind.<br><br><br>“If the condition worsens and I can’t get discharged before the college exams, I won’t be able to enroll in the same university as Anna Yang.”<br><br><br>Though confined here, Leo Blaze knew the gossip outside. In the eyes of the neighbors, he was an unequivocal lunatic.<br><br><br>However, the day before he was admitted, Anna Yang, his Old Friends from Childhood, confessed her feelings, saying everything without needing words.<br><br><br>She was a good girl, and as a man, he didn’t want to let her down.<br><br><br>“I’ve followed the doctor’s orders exactly these days. Why is the condition worsening? Do I need to be transferred again? This is already the third place.”<br><br><br>“Dr. Lee should be capable, right? He was the best doctor Dad could find.”<br><br><br>The more he thought about it, the more it troubled him, so he sat up abruptly and took out Anna Yang’s books and worksheets, starting to study to distract himself from his relentless worries.<br><br><br>Leo Blaze continued doing homework, and before he knew it, it was late at night.<br><br><br>Just as he finished an English test paper, he stretched with a yawn and rubbed his temples.<br><br><br>“Ha~ What time is it? It must be late,” he thought as he put on his slippers, ready to use the bathroom before sleeping.<br><br><br>As he yawned his way to the door, his right hand paused over his itchy chest, feeling something odd.<br><br><br>Leo Blaze opened his collar to find a patch of black-brown substance sticky on his chest.<br><br><br>That strangely familiar color brought a thought to mind.<br><br><br>Leo Blaze touched it with his finger and put it in his mouth. The bitter yet slightly sweet taste made his pupils contract slightly.<br><br><br>This was candy given to him by a foolish senior sister who had died in his hallucination! The things from the hallucination were appearing in reality!)
