I was tired, so tired. Even my bones felt hollow. To make it worse, my head hurt like hell as if my skull could no longer hold the pressure and would crackle at any moment. Two days of tension had finally taken a toll both on my body and my psyche.

I would not utter a single word of complain if I could return you unscathed to granny. However here you are, left eye swollen shut, little face covered with striking mosquito bite marks. You were miserable to look at, but even the terrible mosquito attack couldn’t damp your buoyant spirit. You hurled yourself into my arms, and rubbed eagerly your face against my lap. It must be very itching, isn’t it?  I told you don’t scratch, and you seldom disobey a direct order. But you little genius, always could find a crack to slip through. Just like now, you conjured up this cute way to solve your itching problem and not a mother could turn you down. Dear, I would do anything to make you suffer little.

How could that happen? I know you are extremely vulnerable to the mosquito attack. Those ugly bugs thirst for your blood, addict to it. Your blood must smell like heroin to drug addict, drawing them out of their hide and coming after you. Therefore I was always careful, but it's the middle of the autumn now, and the weather has dropped like a rock lately. Naturally I thought I could relax the guard a little, and how wrong I was!

We brought you to the hospital. You behave so bravely. No scream, no tears and no drama. “Yu yu yong gan, Yu yu yong gan (I am brave)” you chanted in nonstop mangled Chinese, as if with those magic words you could brace yourself for any challenge---perhaps they did help. You didn’t cry in face of the doctor, neither did when you did blood test. Oh, dear, I was so proud!

When we sent you to granny and said Goodbye to you, you snuggled close. Your head on my shoulder, and you chattered: “Bu bye bye, bu bye bye." It made my heart squeeze at the knowledge that these days when I am not around are flying by and soon you would be too big for me to pick up. Dear, I didn't want to say Goodbye either.