Dolly asked for leave and went to the hospital with Winfred.

Winfred had regularly gone there for check-ups since discharge, and the reports all showed that his body had been working well. The doctor even told him, "Maybe your illness won't get worse as long as you maintain good mental status."

Unexpectedly, Winfred went there two weeks earlier than the appointed time.

His doctor asked with a worried look, "Winfred, what's wrong?"

"I was unconscious last night," Winfred told the doctor in a calm voice while holding Dolly's hand tightly.

The doctor immediately arranged a thorough examination for Winfred. He received all the results two hours later.

"It's not encouraging this time." The doctor said, "Winfred, your illness is getting worse according to the results."

Winfred, who had always been calm and strong, was stunned for a couple of seconds. He asked, "What's going on?"

The doctor said, "You're now in the second stage out of the seven stages of your illness, if I may say so. There are typical symptoms in this stage, such as occasionally losing consciousness and suddenly feeling dizzy, but you don't feel any discomfort, nor do you feel exhausted."

Dolly held Winfred's hand tightly. "Doctor, does Winfred need hospital care now?"

"It will be a good choice." The doctor thought for a moment before he said, "But it's not necessary. Winfred has a good attitude. He may live as usual for another period of time if he doesn't want to stay in the hospital. Hospital care should be considered when he gets worse in the third or fourth stage."

The doctor meant that it was up to the patient whether to stay in the hospital or not.

"I see." Winfred nodded. "Thank you, doctor. We're leaving now. We'll contact you if we have any problems."

After that, Winfred took Dolly's to leave the doctor's office.

Dolly simply stood there and stopped Winfred.

Dolly was so frightened in the morning that she couldn't imagine what she would have done if Winfred hadn't woken up.

However, she could go to the doctor as soon as possible if Winfred stayed in the hospital so that the doctor could save him.

"Winfred, you need to stay in the hospital." Dolly was almost pleading, "I'm scared. I'm afraid that..."

Dolly had often said that she was scared those days.

However, she had always been a fearless person who would never be easily affected by anything.

She hadn't slept peacefully ever since she knew about Winfred's disease.

Winfred smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, my girlfriend was overwhelmed just now."

He took Dolly's hand and left the office. He didn't stop until they reached the end of the corridor.

It was neither cold nor hot in New York in June. The pedestrians walking in the street were in lightweight spring clothes, all wearing a smile on their faces.

"Yunjin, I don't want to stay in the hospital for now," Winfred said after Dolly finally calmed down.

"Why?" Dolly asked with a helpless look while grabbing Winfred's sleeve.

Winfred gave her a determined look and said in a gentle voice, "The doctor said that hospital care wasn't necessary for now. He said that I was in the second stage of my illness. That's far from the fourth stage."

Dolly shook her head. "I don't care about it. In my eyes, as a patient, you'll be safe only if you stay in the hospital."

"My little fool." Winfred smiled with a helpless look, "You know, I don't need immediate hospital care even though my disease is rare. I can still live a normal life now. Why should I stay in the hospital? It's boring to stay here with a group of patients every day, and I can't go out without my doctor's permission. Don't you think it's cruel for me?"

"But..." Dolly racked her brain, wondering how she could persuade Winfred.

However, she was no match for him when it came to persuasion.

Winfred placed his hands on Dolly's shoulders and continued saying in a soft voice, "Unless I recover, it will be hard for me to go out once I stay in the hospital. But even the doctor isn't sure if I can recover. No one knows how long it will take for me to recover even if I could."

After a pause, Winfred said, "Yunjin, I don't want to leave you alone in the lifeless apartment."

Dolly gazed at Winfred, on the verge of tears.

Winfred caressed Dolly's face with his slender fingers. "In fact, I don't want to stay in the hospital. Yunjin, how about cherishing it when I can still live a normal life? Don't you think it's a little stupid to waste my last days in the hospital? I want to spend more time with you when I'm still able to."

Dolly was finally persuaded. She agreed with Winfred about not staying in the hospital for the time being.

Winfred had lived as usual apart from his occasional dizziness from then on.

However, owing to their previous experience, Dolly knew very clearly that Winfred would be defeated by his disease sooner or later.

She thought that their peaceful life would be disturbed one day.

Therefore, Dolly still felt worried, even though Winfred was feeling well those days.

Winfred soon saw through Dolly, so he decided to have a frank talk with her.

"Yunjin, we can't get rid of my disease." Winfred said, "You must accept the cruel reality that we don't have much time left to live a normal life. Come on, promise me that you'll live, work, and laugh as you used to before I'm sent to the hospital. Cheer up, will you?"

Dolly had to admit that Winfred's words made sense although she felt sad.

Winfred lifted the sides of Dolly's mouth with his forefingers. "Come on, smile. You look better when you smile."

Dolly laughed with pure joy as her forced smile faded. She hugged Winfred and laughed out loud in tears.

Only then did she realize that she was the reason why Winfred didn't want to stay in the hospital.

She was depressed even when Winfred was still with her. She would have lived a hard life if he had been in the hospital.

She realized that she should have let Winfred stay in the hospital without worry.

Therefore, Dolly tried her best to maintain a good mental status. She became as optimistic as Winfred and spared no effort in her work without thinking about his disease. She began to study the dishes for patients and search for information about his illness on the Internet after work. Under the influence of Winfred, she no longer looked worried, and she was even hopeful about their future.

More than half a month passed in that way. Winfred went to the hospital for a routine examination.

Winfred and Dolly were slightly nervous when they received the results. The doctor said,

"I'm glad to tell you that Winfred's illness hasn't worsened. It's still fairly optimistic according to the results. Keep in mind that it will be affected by your mood. Stay optimistic and believe that you can survive your disease."

Dolly couldn't help it. She jumped up happily and hugged Winfred. "How about having a fancy meal to celebrate it tonight?"

Winfred patted Dolly's head. "Okay, we'll go wherever you want to go."

Dolly mentioned a star restaurant. "I want to eat Australian spiny lobsters there, no matter how expensive they are!"

"Okay." Winfred gazed lovingly at her with a smile. "Let's order all the most expensive dishes."

Dolly had been worried because she thought that they would be financially insecure since Winfred fell sick. She tried to save every cent to keep enough money to pay for Winfred's medical bills in the future, although their bank balance was increasing.

Winfred was glad that she could do whatever she wanted. He would always support her.

Dolly went shopping on Fifth Avenue with Winfred after their big meal.

She had learned on the Internet that she could find almost all the famous shops that she thought of on Fifth Avenue. The reason why she had applied to an American university was that the avenue was a fatal attraction for her.

The first thing Dolly did when she first went to the United States was shopping at all the stores on Fifth Avenue.

However, she had never gone there again ever since she was financially cut off when she insisted on living with Winfred. Nonetheless, she was experienced in shopping there, so she took Winfred into a men's suit store as soon as they got off the car.

The two both had elegant demeanor, although they were wearing ordinary clothes. The sales clerk quickly walked over and asked, "Good evening. May I help you?"

Dolly said, "I'd like a tie for my boyfriend."

"This way, please." The sales clerk gestured for Dolly to follow her and led the two to the tie rack.

The sales clerk didn't know Chinese, so Winfred said to Dolly in Chinese, "A tie here is worth more than our living expenses for half a month. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

"No big deal." Dolly waved her hand at leisure. "We have money."

Dolly knew well about creating a perfect ensemble. Not long after, she picked a tie that matched Winfred well.

Winfred handed the bank card to Dolly and said, "Waiting here to pay the bill is up to you. I'm going to the restroom. Let's meet at the coffee shop downstairs."

Dolly nodded. She went to the coffee shop downstairs to wait for Jiang after paying the bill. Unexpectedly, Winfred entered the coffee shop with a bag in his hand.

She didn't know what was in the bag, but she couldn't be more familiar with the conspicuous logo on it.

Winfred walked over to Dolly, who was looking at him in surprise. He squatted down in front of her and took off her flat shoes. Then he took out a box from the bag and opened it, in which there was a pair of elegant, delicate high heels.

Winfred held Dolly's foot and put on one of the high heels for her. Then he looked up and asked, "How does it fit?"

He needn't have asked about it since he knew Dolly's shoe size, and the size of designer shoes was always standardized. "How do you know that I want this pair of high heels?" Dolly looked at Winfred in a daze, without checking whether it fit her or not.