Chapter 21

TRANSLATOR – ANNIE

He didn’t know how long it took before he gradually regained clarity. He didn’t look at her. She was probably crying, or perhaps  she didn’t cry. She would only hiccup after long intervals, like a child that had cried so much they couldn’t catch their breath again.

When he finally put on his clothes, he touched something solid. It was a wallet, so he took it out. There were about two thousand bills in it, and he threw it all on the sofa. Only then did he realize that the thing he was still holding tightly in his hand was the key he had snatched from Du Xiaosu’s hand. He looked at the set of keys and suddenly understood what he did…What had you done? Gradually, cold sweat oozed from his back… Only he himself knew, it was not for the key, not at all. Everything had been an excuse, a ridiculous excuse.

He raised his eyes. There were bloody cuts that she caused on his hands. She kept crying. And he had, from beginning to end, viciously blocked her mouth with his lips. He knew what she would say if she could speak, and knew whose name she would call. So he hated her with a passion. He wanted her to know the pain he felt. He used all of his strength to do the most disgusting thing in the world, using the most despicable way. If there was fairness in this world, then he was the only person who deserved to die.

She lay there motionless. Suddenly, she grabbed all the money and threw them forcefully at his face. He didn’t dodge. The banknotes scattered like snowflakes. Only he himself understood that he just wanted to humiliate himself. In the darkness, her eyes were shining brightly, like an angry beast, desperate and desolate. She put on her clothes slowly, and he stood far away without moving. Surprisingly, when she got dressed, she rushed out the door like a small arrow.

He chased out after her, but she closed the elevator on him. He rushed down the stairs, but he was a step late and saw her run out of the lobby. She ran hurriedly and fast, as if using all her strength. He surprisingly couldn’t catch up to her, or perhaps, he didn’t have the courage to catch up with her. He didn’t know where she wanted to go, until she exited the gate of the housing complex. She rushed straight forward, as if she had already had a destination in mind, charging towards the main road that had heavy traffic. It was then that he knew she had such a plan in mind. He used all his energy to catch up with her and grabbed her hand. She struggled desperately, but still staggering forward several steps. He didn’t let go, dragging her back, she bit his hand viciously, but even with the pain, he still didn’t let go. However, in a matter of only two or three seconds, a bright light struck piercingly into his eyes. He couldn’t even open his eyes. Only her pale and resigned face could be seen in the dazzling light. He pushed her away fiercely.

There was a sharp cracking sound, but the loud noise could not be avoided. The sound of brakes came and went one after another in the distance, and the flow of traffic finally came to a halt temporarily, like rapids splashing on the rocks, avoiding the turbulent vortex. Her elbow was bruised as she slid the ground, spreading a fire-like pain. When she turned her head, she saw blood flowing out.

The driver had already got out of the car. He was trembling, and it took a long time before he finally successfully pressed the buttons to call the police. People around all got out of their cars. Some were timid and dared not look at them. The sound of police sirens and the sound of ambulances drew near.

In the noisy emergency department, the buzzing sound filtered into the ears, like multiple voices talking at once.

“Blood pressure 80/40, heart rate 72.”

“There is obvious trauma to the back of the head.”

“The sixth and seventh ribs are fractured.”

“The CT film came out. There is a hemorrhage in the skull.”

“Broken spleen!”

“There is a lot of blood in the abdominal cavity…”

There was an abrupt and short buzz: “Ding——”

“Sudden cardiac arrest!”

“Electric shock.”

“200J!”

“Leave!”

“The patient hasn’t yet recovered!”

“Try electric shock defibrillation again!”

……

“Miss, are you a family member of the patient? This is the surgical consent form and the critical illness notice. Please sign it.”

“The situation is urgent now. If you are unable to sign, can you contact his other family members?”

“This is the patient’s cell phone, which number do you see belongs to his family?”

Du Xiaosu finally took the phone. There was still blood on her wrist, and at the moment the grim reaper suddenly struck, he pushed her away, but instead he himself was knocked down. Her mind was blank. She didn’t know what she was thinking. She just opened up the phone’s address book mechanically and numbly. The first one was Shao Zhenrong. Her fingers trembled slightly. The next one was Lei Yutao. She pressed the dial button.

Lei Yutao rushed to the hospital before dawn. She didn’t know what method he used. Although he was more than a thousand kilometers away, he came very quickly. The operation was still not over when he arrived. The driver who caused the accident was sitting on a bench with her, waiting. Both of them looked like puppets, their faces were pale and without a hint of blood.

Several medical authorities accompanied Lei Yutao. In fact, in the operating room, the surgeon who was performing the operation was also a well-known surgeon in the city. Lei Yutao must have arranged for him to hurry on over the moment he received her phone call. This was the first time Du Xiaosu had seen Lei Yutao. He was only in his early thirties, but he was very calm, with a composure that didn’t need anger to exude prestige.

The high-ranked officials of the hospital also came, quickly forming an expert group to exchange opinions briefly, and then entering the operating room. At this time, Lei Yutao finally seemed to notice Du Xiaosu. Her appearance was haggard and dazed, as if she had not recovered from the shock.

He didn’t question her, he just beckoned people from the hospital staff to hurry over and said, “Arrange a room for her to go to rest.”

His tone was calm and gentle, but it carried an indisputable power that made people have no choice but to obey.

She didn’t have any strength to think about anything, so she obediently followed the hospital staff to the room.

It was a very large suite. It was very quiet after the door closed. She was exhausted physically and mentally, and fell asleep groggily.

She dreamed of Zhenrong, just like she had dreamed of countless times. He was trapped in the car alone. The sand and rocks poured down and submerged him. Everything was dark. The sky and the earth were silent. He didn’t even struggle before leaving this world. She cried and cried, desperately digging at the dirt with her hands. She knew that it was too late. She knew she didn’t have the capability. But, the one buried underneath was Zhenrong, how could she not save him? She dug while she cried and finally saw Zhenrong. His face was smeared with mud. She carefully wiped at the mud with her hand, but that face suddenly turned into Lei Yuzheng. Blood spread, covering her entire field of vision, just like she had witnessed, him falling in a pool of blood, never to wake up again.

She shot awake, only to realize that it was a dream.

It was dusk. The nurse seemed relieved to see her wake up, and said to her: “Mr. Lei is waiting for you.”

Seeing Lei Yutao, she was still at a loss and a little flustered. In the huge room, there were only two people: him and her. His appearance was not like Lei Yuzheng nor Shao Zhenrong. He also seemed to be observing her. His gaze was calm, it’s sharpness hidden, appearing gentle and harmless. But she felt fear arise.

Finally, he pushed a cup of tea in front of her: “Drink some water.”

She shook her head. She really couldn’t drink. Her stomach was stuffed with rocks. He didn’t push it. On the contrary, he asked very gracefully: “I want to smoke, can I?”

She nodded. Faint smoke rose up, trapping him within it. Through the smoke, he seemed to be thinking about something, but also as if he was thinking nothing. He leaned back slightly on the sofa. There was a trace of fatigue in his voice: “He hasn’t woken up yet, I fear he won’t pass these 24 hours…” He squeezed the cigarette out “Go see him. He’s still in the ICU.”

She was a little frightened about the calm in the eldest brother’s words. He didn’t ask her anything at all, nor was he surprised about why she was at the scene of the incident. He seemed to know something. What made her most uncomfortable was that he was also Shao Zhenrong’s elder brother. She did not want him to have any misunderstandings.

But she could see nothing from his face. He just waved his hand tiredly: “Go.”

She followed the nurse to the ICU numbly and blindly. After a complicated disinfection process, she had to put on a sterile gown, a hat and a mask before entering.

The two nurses are busy. The person lying on the bed already seemed to have lost consciousness. His body was stuck full of tubes. Under the oxygen mask, his face was pale as paper. She stood motionless like a puppet, looking at the familiar eyebrows and eyes. They were so much like Zhenrong. The surrounding instruments were working, making a quiet and monotonous sound. She felt in a daze that it was Zhenrong on the bed, but she desperately told herself that it was not Zhenrong, Zhenrong was dead… But he obviously lay here again. She was in a trance, and didn’t know at all whether it was Zhenrong or someone else.

The medicine and blood bag dripped out drop by drop. His face was getting severely blurred. Death had been close at hand, but he pushed her away. What was he thinking at that moment? She always thought he was the devil, and that night he truly was the devil, stealing from her bluntly and rudely, making her hate that she was alive. But now the devil was about to die.

She stayed in the ICU for a long time. The nurses are so busy with their work that they don’t care about her at all. There had been two very critical rescues. The instruments buzzed, and many doctors rushed in around the bed to treat him. She stood alone in the corner, watching everyone try their best to bring him back from the jaws of death.

It was like a tug of war, with life on one end and death on the other. She thought, so this was the kind of work that Zhenrong did, saving the dying and healing the wounded, fighting desperately with death. But no one was able to save him.

In the end, everything was calm again. He still lay on the hospital bed, unfeeling. The nurses changed one bag of medicine after another. Time seemed to freeze. Knowing that Lei Yutao came in, she still stood there blankly, looking at him.

“Talk to him!” His voice was not loud, but with a commanding tone, “I don’t care what method you use, I want him to survive. Little Rong is already dead. I can’t lose another brother. My parents can’t lose another son. Do you hear me?”

She was pushed, and stumbled over to Lei Yuzheng. She stood in front of the hospital bed again. Lei Yuzheng’s pale face occupied her entire field of vision. Zhenrong’s face was as pale as his at the time. At that time, Zhenrong was already dead. Was he going to die too?

After a long time, she tentatively stretched out her finger and gently dropped it on the back of his hand. The needle was poked in the thickest vein and fastened with tape. His hands were cold, as if they had no warmth. She slowly touched the skin on the back of his hand. He did not respond.

For three days in a row, he just lay there motionless, like an unconscious body, letting the medicine bags change one after another, letting the nurses change from another group to another. Every time, two nurses would stay in the ICU in turns . Only she stayed motionless by his side, sometimes only sleeping until very late into the night. A short while after she slept, she was suddenly awakened by a knock on the door.

Looking at Lei Yutao’s pale face under the fluorescent lamp, she couldn’t help muttering, “He died?”

“He’s awake.” Lei Yutao didn’t seem to be pleased, but instead had a touch of solemnity in his tone, “Go and see.”

Lei Yuzheng was still unable to speak, his face under the oxygen mask was still as white as paper, and he could not move, but as soon as she entered the ICU, she found that he was indeed awake. Although she was wearing a hat and mask, he clearly recognized her. His eyes turned slightly, seeming to stare at her for two seconds, and then his eyelids slowly closed.

The nurse said softly, “He fell asleep. After the operation, the body functions were overdrawn to the extreme, so it is easy to fall asleep.”

After a long time, Lei Yutao said: “He was afraid that we had lied to him. Just now, he thought you were dead.”

She didn’t speak. If she could, she would rather be dead.

Lei Yutao stayed in the hospital for two more days. Only until Lei Yuzheng was transferred out of the ICU and confirmed that to no longer be in critical condition did Lei Yutao decide to return. Before he left, he seemed to hesitate to say something, but in the end he just said to Du Xiaosu: “Take care of him.”