This is the story of Anne Silliman.

She is eleven years old this year, because of the hereditary problems of the metabolic system, she can not defecate and sweat normally, resulting in a series of complications in the body system, so she must go in and out of the hospital for a long time, through the corresponding treatment, to assist in completing the metabolism, otherwise it may cause unimaginable consequences.

Based on current medical conditions and scientific research results, this is still an incurable disease.

Although it will not affect daily life, you must go to the hospital regularly to report, and then you must pay attention to your daily diet at all times, any mistake may have immeasurable follow-up effects, and may even lead to potential life-threatening injuries.

On the positive side, this is not a terminal illness that leads directly to death, as long as you can pay attention to it at any time, then Anne can grow up smoothly, study, work, start a business, get married, travel the world, she can complete it as long as she wants, and on the negative side, it is a lifelong disease, no negligence is tolerated, and every minute and every second must be cared for.

From the first day of her life, this is Anne's life, like a pea princess living in a glass house.

In Anne's life, everything is arranged, not intended, but it can only be so, in order to survive, this is the only choice.

She can enjoy freedom. She can go to "one man's concerts," she can attend the Grammys, she can leave the hospital regularly to reunite with her family, but all this freedom must come with shackles, from recipes, from routines, from injections, and even from death threats.

Sometimes, she couldn't even tell whether it was freedom or a cage. Perhaps, she was too young to understand the true meaning of freedom, nor the true meaning of life, but ...... Who's to say they've really seen it all?

Everyone thought that Anne was still young, only eleven years old, and did not understand anything, like a canary kept in a birdcage, ignorant of the world, but those bright eyes witnessed too many intricacies and profoundness, not darkness, but complexity.

In the past year, the world has begun to change dramatically, and everything has come flooding in an instant.

First Alex Ricky's heart transplant, then Heather Cross's death, then the shattering of the family.

After ten years of dedication and protection, the Siliman family finally couldn't hold on anymore and began to fall apart. Anne's father was overwhelmed and eventually chose to divorce, and the alimony part still needs to be decided by the court, which cannot be resolved in the short term

It is said that Anne's father has cheated on her mentally and physically, and has now moved out of Silliman's original apartment to live with a third party, and has not visited Anne in the hospital since then. He disappeared from Anne's life completely.

The withdrawal of the breadwinner puts Anne's mother, Joss, in a difficult situation.

For Josie, she needs to deal with her husband's infidelity and abandonment, but she doesn't even have time for heartbreak and collapse, and she must immediately face the mess in front of her, even if her ex-husband is willing to pay alimony, but judging from the past situation of their family, it is still a drop in the bucket, not enough to pay for Anne's expensive hospitalization.

All the while, Joss didn't give up on her job. But now, she had to find another part-time job in addition to her daily work, and only in this way could she barely get through the current difficulties, which was a difficult thing, absolutely difficult, but Joss gritted her teeth and persevered, she found a night shift job, slept only three hours a day, and carried all the burdens.

The problem was that now Josie had to work twenty hours a day, and the transportation time to and from work could take one to two hours, and she didn't even have time to wash and take care of herself, let alone go to the hospital to accompany Anne.

Gradually, Anne fell into a situation where she was unaccompanied.

Anne is a sensible child, she never cries, she never complains, she just hides quietly in the activity room, reads books, and enters a world of her own.

Alex, who gradually began to get on the right track of life after being discharged from the hospital, has not been back to the hospital for a follow-up visit for a long, long time; he used to come to the hospital to visit his mother and father every once in a while, but he has slowly disappeared; now even Lan Li, who regularly comes to the hospital to help, has completely lost news, and even the news of Lan Li cannot be seen in the media.

So......

The following words, there was no need for Anita to continue, Lan Li couldn't help but whisper, "I...... I ...... "He didn't know, he never knew."

He can blame Joss for not reaching out, he can blame Anita for not sending the email, he can blame Nathan for not caring about things here, but these are excuses, terrible excuses. At the end of the day, he was so immersed in his own world that he lost himself and then forgot about Mount Sinai Hospital altogether. It's his fault, at least in part.

Anita opened her mouth and tried to comfort Lan Li, but she couldn't make a sound at all, "When she asked me for her birthday before, she asked me ......" Anita's voice choked for a moment, "She said, why didn't Heather come over to her birthday party?" I ......" Anita shrugged, and the words that followed disappeared between her lips and teeth.

Lan Li raised her gaze and gave Anita a shallow smile.

Anita took a deep breath, smiled again, and patted the back of Lan Li's hand, "We all have to learn to part. There are so many volunteers coming and going, but you are the only one who stays, so don't blame yourself too much, we are all trying, but we are not saviors. ”

Anita obviously understands Lan Li's mood, and after experiencing Heather, she is now facing Annie's story.

In life, everyone has their own story, every life has its own troubles and ups and downs, no one is anyone's savior, all they can do is to do their best, give each other a warm hug, and then summon up the courage to continue to take steps.

Lan Li smiled and nodded, "I know." "There's no way he's going to save everybody, and he doesn't intend to save everybody, but at least, through the Heather Cross Foundation, more people can be helped, and it's a way for him to give back to society. "Anita, you can contact Joss and ask her to prepare her materials and then submit an application to the Heather Cross Foundation to see if she can get help. ”

"Can she apply too? I thought it was only for ALS. Anita looked surprised.

Lan Li nodded in affirmation, "Because the donations we received at the beginning far exceeded our expectations, we have set up a special project to help minor patients, hoping to make a small difference." Now, I don't have the authority to complete the review, but I have carte blanche to a professional, but as far as I know, Anne should be fit and can apply for help. ”

Anita suddenly realized, "Good, good. He couldn't say a word, but nodded in agreement, "Actually, Elle proposed it before, wanting to help Josie." But Joss didn't want to drag Ellie down, after all, the Cross family's financial situation was not good, and Derek donated most of their income to the foundation, so she would rather take out a loan from the bank if necessary, but the house they live in now is involved in divorce......"

Elle and Derek, Heather's parents.

Although Heather has left, they still did not give up hope, but became volunteers, actively helping the operation and promotion of the Heather Cross Foundation, hoping to help more people, because they themselves have experienced the pain of life and death, so they better understand the needs of others.

Lan Li let out a long breath, the Heather Cross Foundation, for many, may be just a gimmick for the "Ice Bucket Challenge", but for many more, it is a lifesaver that saves families and lives.

Lan Li is not a savior, he can't help everyone, but at least, he can leave a ray of hope through the foundation and support those who are in deep trouble to continue to struggle.

While speaking, Lan Li felt that his left hand supported on the hospital bed came from a force, firmly grasped his wrist, turned his head to look over, and then saw Anne who had just woken up, half-asleep and half-awake, Anne grabbed Lan Li's wrist for the first time, widened her eyes, and said timidly, "Lan Li?"

The voice of gain and loss thumped on his chest in a muffled manner.

"Hmm. Lan Li smiled and nodded, "How's it going?Did you sleep well?Did you have any dreams?"

"I had a dream," Anne had just spoken...... then she closed her mouth tightly and shook her head repeatedly, "No, I didn't dream. Thinking back to the dream, she was like a koala, lying on Lan Li's chest, crying, that look was really terrible, she couldn't speak.

Lan Li didn't pursue it, and gently tapped Anne's nose with her index finger, "How is it, do you need to drink a glass of water?" After crying just now, Anne barely sweated, so that her cheeks were now a little too red, which made people quite worried.

Lan Li cast a gaze at Anita, but Anita was handy, "It's time to take medicine now, I'll go get water." Then, Anita also winked at Lan Li, with an expression of "I'm not going to be a light bulb", which really made people cry and laugh.

Anne didn't seem to notice it, but firmly grasped Lan Li's left hand, and cast her gaze earnestly, staring at it, lest her eyes flash slightly, and Lan Li in front of her would turn into a cloud of smoke and disappear.

Lan Li smiled dumbly, adjusted his sitting posture, and put Anne's little hand in his palm, "This is reality, not a dream, don't worry, I'm back in New York." It's a pity that it's been raining outside today, otherwise it would have taken you out to the movies. ”

Anne didn't speak, just smiled shyly and shook her head, her eyes still falling motionless on Lan Li.