A Feverish Misunderstanding

The nurse deftly organized the thermometer and blood pressure monitor, her mouth not idle either. “You see? Once your immunity drops, all sorts of problems crop up. You young ladies, you just rely on your youth and don’t take care of your bodies…”

In his hazy state, Zhou Yi vaguely registered words like ‘little girl’ and ‘menstrual period,’ but his fever-addled mind couldn’t make sense of them. He simply dismissed them as hallucinations brought on by the fever.

He furrowed his brows in discomfort, a faint groan escaping his lips.

Standing nearby, Jiang Chen absorbed every word the nurse uttered.

‘Little girl? Menstrual period?’

These two phrases ricocheted within his mind, leaving him utterly bewildered.

He glanced down at Zhou Yi’s fever-flushed face. In its current state of daze and illness, it indeed revealed a fragility unlike its usual demeanor.

‘But… ‘little girl’?’

The nurse had already turned, calling towards the inner room, “Doctor Wang, we have a student with a high fever here. Could you please take a look?”

Just as Jiang Chen was about to explain, the nurse turned back to him. “Come, student, help this young lady onto the examination bed first. The doctor will be right over.”

“He’s…” Jiang Chen’s words instantly caught in his throat.

He looked at the nurse’s utterly convinced expression, then back at Zhou Yi, who was practically unconscious in the chair.

An unnatural flush colored Zhou Yi’s pale skin, and long lashes cast a soft shadow beneath his eyes. This delicate profile, this slender frame… indeed, it was quite easy to mistake him.

Jiang Chen’s throat moved. The words, ‘He’s a boy,’ hovered on his lips before he ultimately swallowed them back, only managing a soft, “…Alright.”

He reached out to support Zhou Yi’s shoulder, the heat emanating from his palm scorching him. The person, the shoulder line, also seemed much more delicate than he remembered.

Zhou Yi was completely delirious with fever, unable to stand on his own. The moment Jiang Chen tried to help him up, he simply slumped downwards.

Jiang Chen hesitated for a moment before bending down, slipping his arms beneath Zhou Yi’s knees and back, and lifting him into a bridal carry.

At the sudden loss of gravity, Zhou Yi remained completely unresponsive.

His head lolled softly against Jiang Chen’s chest, his scalding forehead resting in the hollow of Jiang Chen’s neck. Zhou Yi’s feverish breath ghosted warmly across his skin.

That jasmine scent, now mingled with the faint smell of sickness, became even more distinctly present at his nose.

The nurse had already pulled back the curtain to the inner examination room, glancing back. “Just place him here.”

Jiang Chen acknowledged her, then quickly carried Zhou Yi inside.

The cool sheets made the unconscious person shiver slightly. As Jiang Chen was about to straighten up, his sleeve was suddenly clutched by a burning hot hand.

The sudden absence of the warm embrace caused Zhou Yi, in his dazed state, to instinctively grab onto him.

Jiang Chen’s body stiffened, holding his bent-over posture, unable to move.

The nurse brought over a blanket, neatly spreading it over Zhou Yi, then began to lecture him in the tone of someone who’d seen it all. “You’re quite the boyfriend, aren’t you? Your girlfriend is this sick, with a recurring high fever. It’s clear she’s run down and hasn’t rested well. You should pay more attention, remind her to stay warm, maybe stew her something to boost her qi and blood…”

Jiang Chen was somewhat stunned by this barrage of “education.” He opened his mouth, attempting to explain, “No, we’re actually…”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” the nurse cut him off, waving her hand. “Young people in love only know how to have fun together, not how to take care of each other. Once her fever breaks, remember to make her some brown sugar ginger tea when you get back. And don’t let her touch cold water these next few days.”

“I… she’s not my girlfriend.” Jiang Chen finally found an opening to squeeze out a complete sentence.

The nurse’s scolding shifted to understanding, even carrying a hint of a mischievous smile. “Oh, you haven’t won her over yet, have you? Then you need to try even harder! This is the perfect time to impress a girl. It’s not easy for a young lady studying away from home; she needs someone to look after her.”

Jiang Chen: “……”

He gave up trying to explain.

The nurse adjusted the blanket over Zhou Yi. “The doctor will conduct a thorough examination shortly. Has your girlfriend suffered from severe dysmenorrhea before? This time, besides the fever, has she specifically mentioned any lower abdominal pain or backache?”

The air within the curtained space fell silent for a moment.

Jiang Chen remained silent for several seconds, his gaze resting on Zhou Yi’s tightly furrowed brows, then shifting to the hand still unconsciously clutching his sleeve.

“She…”

He heard his own voice, dry and tinged with a complexity even he found unfamiliar. “She hasn’t mentioned it much before.”

The moment those words left his lips, Jiang Chen himself froze.

It wasn’t ‘he,’ it was ‘she.’ He had, astonishingly, shifted this understanding so naturally within his own mind.

The nurse nodded. “Then it’s likely her immunity has dropped this time, making the symptoms more apparent. Once the doctor arrives…”

Jiang Chen didn’t quite register the rest of her words.

He gazed distractedly at the person on the bed, gently placing the hand that had clutched his sleeve back under the blanket. Then, he did something that even surprised himself.

He reached out, his fingertips gently brushing away a stray lock of hair clinging to Zhou Yi’s sweat-dampened temple.

Just then, the curtain was pulled open from the outside.

“Excuse me.”

The school doctor walked in.

He glanced at the unconscious Zhou Yi on the examination bed, then approached to check his pupils and throat. He also cast a look at the temperature record handed to him by the nurse.

39.5 degrees Celsius.

Quite a high fever.

“When did the fever start?” the school doctor asked.

“Yesterday morning,” Jiang Chen replied immediately.

The nurse was already efficiently preparing the IV drip nearby.

“And what did she do the night before that? Did she catch a chill or come into contact with anyone who had a cold?” the school doctor asked, putting on his stethoscope.

Jiang Chen thought back. On Saturday afternoon, they had run back to the dorm in the rain. Zhou Yalin had gotten quite wet, and although she’d immediately taken a hot shower, still…

“He probably got caught in the rain,” he added, remembering something else. “Oh, and later he also drank a cup of iced milk tea.”

The school doctor shook his head, speaking earnestly. “That explains it. I remember this young lady; she was here just a few days ago, suffering from severe menstrual cramps. Immunity naturally drops during one’s period, and now it’s peak flu season. Her symptoms fit perfectly.”

”Little girl’ again? Dysmenorrhea?’

The school doctor’s words, like a broken record, once again hammered these keywords into Jiang Chen’s ears.

“Has she taken any fever reducers?” The school doctor’s question pulled him back to reality.

“Once, before we came,” he replied.

The school doctor nodded, speaking gravely. “Her temperature is 39.5 degrees Celsius, and the high fever has persisted for over 24 hours with oral fever reducers showing little effect. I recommend a rapid influenza A screening; it’s peak season right now. If it’s the flu, a persistent high fever can be very troublesome, so we need to determine the cause as soon as possible.”

“Alright, let’s do it immediately,” Jiang Chen agreed without hesitation.

The nurse quickly retrieved a test kit, deftly preparing the sampling swab.

She walked to the bedside, turning her head to Jiang Chen. “Student, could you help me? Please gently help your girlfriend lie on her side. The swab needs to be taken from deep within the nasal cavity, so it might be a little uncomfortable for her.”