When Lu Qiang looked in the direction of the bed, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He saw that Jiang Yuyan was crying in her sleep and she was murmuring something. He immediately stood up from the couch and walked towards the bed.
Lu Qiang stood near the bed and was shocked to see her. He saw that Jiang Yuyan was sweating, she was drenched insweat. She looked scared with her eyes closed tightly and tears were rolling down from them. She was clutching the quilt in both her hands tightly, close to her chest.
He understood, she was having a nightmare. He moved in closer to her but didn’t rush to wake her up as he knew it was not a good idea to wake up a person who is having a nightmare.
Jiang Yuyan was murmuring something with her crying voice but Lu Qiang couldn’t hear what she was saying because of her continuous sobbing. He moved in little closer to her and could only hear her saying ’Let Go!’
Her voice was painful. Lu Qiang felt his heart skipped a beat, watching her in such condition. Still he decided to stay strong and deal with the situation.
He called her name with a soft voice "Yuyan!" but she didn’t react as she was immersed in her nightmare. He called her again but still there was no reaction. She was just crying, sobbing and murmuring something.
Lu Qiang then decided to say something more comforting. "Yuyan! It’s just a nightmare. Open your eyes. It’s me Lu Qiang."
Still Jiang Yuyan couldn’t hear him and started to cry even more in her sleep.
Watching her like this broke his heart and he wanted to wake her up as soon as possible. He couldn’t hold himself back and tried to wake her by holding her hand, but the moment he touched her hand, something happened that was unexpected for Lu Qiang.
Jiang Yuyan pushed his hand away and screamed saying, "Don’t touch me!" and sat up in the bed with her eyes closed. She couldn’t realize that it was Lu Qiang’s hand. She didn’t even open her eyes to look at him as she was too scared and was still trapped in the slumber of her nightmare.
Lu Qiang knew, it could happen when you suddenly try to wake up a person from the nightmare, but the way she reacted was hurtful as he thought that he couldn’t help her. The woman he loved was in a pain and he couldn’t do anything to lessen her pain, instead she felt even more scared when he tried to do so.
After pushing Lu Qiang’s hand, Jiang Yuyan sat in the bed with her legs folded in front of her chest and her arms were clenched around her knees. She buried her head in the circle of her arms, as trying to hide herself and was continuously crying.
Lu Qiang didn’t know what to do. He stood frozen in his place, few steps away from her. He let her cry for a while and called her again, "Yuyan!"
This time she heard him calling her name but she replied without looking at him, while crying and sobbing, "Stay away! Please, let go."
Then, she tightened the grip of her hands around her legs even more as she was trying to bury herself in a small space. Still she couldn’t realize, that it was Lu Qiang who called her name.
Lu Qiang didn’t give up and said again, "Yuyan! Look at me. It’s me, Lu Qiang... Your Lu Qiang."
Jiang Yuyan Heard the name Lu Qiang and loosened her grip of her arms around her legs and said while still burying her head in her circled arms, "Lu Qiang?"
When Lu Qiang heard her saying his name, he felt relieved and said again, "Yes! It’s me your Lu Qiang."
Jiang Yuyan was still crying and repeated his name again and again while sobbing, "Lu Qiang...Lu Qiang..."
He took a step towards her and called her name, "Yuyan! Look at me."
She raised her head up and looked at him. She had puzzled expressions on her face. Her eyes were teary and was red because of her continuous crying. Her face was covered in sweat and her cheeks were drenched in continuously rolling tears. Her nose was stuffed with snot and its tip looked red.
Lu Qiang went closer to her and said, "It’s okay! It was just a nightmare. It’s all over now."
Jiang Yuyan was just looking at him with her teary eyes while crying and sobbing.
Lu Qiang sat down on the corner of the bed in front of her.
Jiang Yuyan didn’t react but let him sit there while continuously observing his movements. She was out of the slumber and realized what had happened. She looked like a lost kid who didn’t know what to do.
Lu Qiang raised his hand to wipe her tears but she moved her face back and said, "Don’t!"
He stopped his hand and he was just about to retreat it back when he heard her saying, "I am dirty."
On hearing her last words, Lu Qiang didn’t retract his hand, instead he moved it towards her face and said, "No! You are not." Then, he wiped her tears with his hand.
Jiang Yuyan tried to move her face away again and said, "Yes, I am! So, stay away from me."
Lu Qiang moved even closer to her and hugged her without giving her a chance to retreat. She tried to push him away while saying again and again, "I am dirty....I am dirty."
Lu Qiang didn’t let her get out of his embrace; instead he held her tightly and said in a calm voice. "You will always be the most pure and precious thing for me. Nothing can make you dirty."
On hearing these words, Jiang Yuyan started to cry even more and stayed in his embrace as she felt safe there. Her voice choked. She was trying to say something but the way she was sobbing, the words which were coming out, were all incomplete and broken.
Lu Qiang loosened his grip and patted her head and said, "Cry as much as you want. Don’t stop because i am here to take care of you."
Lu Qiang wanted her to cry and let out the pain she was feeling at that moment. He knew, after crying for some time, it would help to calm her down and she would feel a bit more light hearted.
After crying her heart out while burying her head in Lu Qiang’s nape, Jiang Yuyan raised her head up to look at him.
Lu Qiang looked at her and said, "Everything is over now and as i am here, everything will be fine."
Lu Qiang’s comforting words helped her to calm down. She wanted to hear it even more. She realized how much he meant for her, that his simple words were sounding like a pleasant cold breeze passing by while touching her heart, but she was concerned about her past and couldn’t accept her own feelings for him.
Jiang Yuyan was still sobbing and said, "You don’t know, what this nightmare was about."
Lu Qiang smiled lightly and said in a comforting voice, "I told you before, whatever it is, we will fight it together."
Jiang Yuyan shook her head and said in her heavy and rough voice as her throat was dry and felt choked, "It’s....it’s not that easy. You... don’t... know... what happened...that...."
"Shhhh! whatever it is, that won’t stop me from loving you more and more." He said it to stop her from remembering her painful memories at that moment. He thought, it was not the right time.
He looked at her and saw that her dress was drenched in sweat and even the bed sheet was moist. He wanted her to freshen up first and feel relax.
Jiang Yuyan again tried to talk, "But...I...."
"But you need to freshen up first. We will talk about it later and trust me; I do want to know about it." He stopped her before she could say anything further.
Lu Qiang wanted to listen each and everything she wanted to say. He was desperate to know about the thing, that affected his woman to this extend to have scary nightmares, but he wanted to have a nice and open talk with her when she would be in a clear and calm state of her mind."
Jiang Yuyan also felt that she needs to freshen up and said, "I need to wash myself."
Lu Qiang stood up from the bed to make a space for her to get out of the bed. He helped her by moving the quilt around her, to the one side. Jiang Yuyan moved to the edge of the bed to get up from it, but the moment she tried to stand up, her legs felt that they were like half paralyzed and she lost her balance.
Before she could fall down, Lu Qiang held her and helped her to stand properly.She looked at him and said, "Thank you." Her body was shivering a little.
Lu Qiang allowed her to walk again but as she took one step, she again lost her balance and Lu Qiang again held her. He was expecting it to happen again so he was ready to hold her.
Feeling unable to walk on her own, tears again started to roll down from Jiang Yuyan’s eyes as she felt frustrated.
Lu Qiang hugged her while supporting her to stand up and said, "It’s okay!...It’s okay!"
He then lifted her in his arms and took her to the bathroom.