The voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to startle them both. Jiang Lan watched him stride in, looking as though he’d just returned from a long journey. Her lashes fluttered. The very sight of the face she had once longed for day and night now stole the air from her lungs. *Good,* she thought. *If I don't live long, at least this daily torment will end.* The doctor, flustered, rose awkwardly to h