[Main story complete]
[For more, see the author's novel: Goodbye, Huo Enzhe, by Xie Jiuyan]
One-line blurb: But you're so wonderful. I can't quite bear to let you go...
In the second summer after Fang Ruici began volunteering at a hospice, she was assigned a patient who turned out to be her ex-husband, Huo Enzhe. They had been divorced for two years...
He was no longer the dashing man he used to be. Emaciated and gaunt, he lay in his hospital bed, unable to hear or see clearly.
Huo Enzhe asked, "May I ask your name?"
Fang Ruici wrote in his palm, "My surname is Fang."
Huo Enzhe smiled. "Then I'll be in your care for the next two months, Ms. Fang."
Under the name Ms. Fang, Fang Ruici quietly stayed by Huo Enzhe's side for more than two months. She did not leave the night before he died. Standing outside his hospital room, she heard him sigh to the close friend who had come to say goodbye.
"But she's so wonderful. I can't quite bear to let her go..."
Later, Huo Enzhe passed away all the same.
When the time came to process the death certificate, the staff member asked Fang Ruici:
"What was your relationship to the deceased?"
"His partner..."
"Then could you show me your marriage certificate?"
"Then... just put down 'friend.'"
Content warning: Tragic ending
Theme: Treasure the present
