Seeing that he didn’t respond, the assistant carefully placed the phone on the bedside table and tentatively called out again, “Mr. Shen? How about I order some takeout for you?”
After a brief moment of composure, Shen Muchuan gestured for him to give him the phone. Then he turned to his assistant, saying, “No need, just get me a glass of water.”
The assistant complied, pouring a glass of water and handing it to him. He then glanced at the time and noticed it was around nine in the evening.
The assistant let out a sigh, feeling conflicted. He had no idea what was going on in Qiao Yue’s mind. On one hand, he had been acting so coldly towards Mr. Shen, but then, in a heartbeat, he seemed willing to risk his life.
However, whenever he thought about that day in the blood transfusion room, the assistant felt a shiver deep within. It was the first time in his life that he had witnessed someone having so much blood drawn from them. Later, he couldn’t control his urge to retch as he watched, a natural reaction triggered by his brain receiving danger signals from his body’s nerves.
If it turned out that all of this was just for the sake of appearances, it would be truly horrifying…
He vividly remembered that when they were drawing the second bag of blood, the female nurse was so scared that her hands were trembling, and she seemed on the verge of tears…
The next morning, a nurse came to change the dressing on his forehead wound. Around seven o’clock, the doctor made his rounds. After asking some basic questions, it seemed like the doctor remembered something and smiled, saying, “Mr. Shen, don’t worry, your friend woke up this morning, and he’s doing well now.”
Shen Muchuan furrowed his brows and asked in return, “My friend?”
The doctor initially thought he had used the wrong term and checked the medical records but then stammered, “I apologize… I assumed Mr. Qiao was your friend based on what happened that day. I guess that’s not the case, is it…”
Who else around him has the last name “Qiao” besides that person? Shen Muchuan was momentarily stunned by the doctor’s words, and then his gaze sharpened as he asked, “You mean he’s in the hospital right now?”
The doctor nodded and continued, “Yes, just like you, he’s been here for five days and woke up a little while ago.”
“But, speaking from the perspective of our medical staff, Mr. Qiao was actually quite fortunate this time. However, considering that Mr. Qiao already suffers from severe anemia, the risks involved in his actions were extremely high. We hope you can understand our decision,” the doctor added.
The doctor hesitated for a moment but still proceeded to explain the events of that day, “It seems you weren’t aware, Mr. Shen.”
“Well, during the surgery, we faced a situation where your rare blood type wasn’t readily available in our hospital’s blood bank. That’s when Mr. Qiao, who shares your blood type, came forward. However, considering his physical condition at that time, transfusing such an amount of blood carried significant risks… But Mr. Qiao was incredibly determined.”
Shen Muchuan’s whole body tensed, and from the descriptions alone, he could almost immediately visualize the situation that had unfolded.
Last time he went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor did indeed mention that Qiao Yue suffered from severe anemia. He couldn’t understand how a healthy adult could have such a severe case of anemia.
However, it wasn’t the first time this had happened. Due to his extremely rare blood type, it was always challenging to find a blood donor. Back in high school, when Qiao Yue had an accident, he received a blood transfusion from him. But the circumstances were different then. No one in the hospital had mentioned this matter to him, including his parents, and he had discovered it by chance himself.
In the past, he had thought it was just a coincidence, a sign of their extraordinary connection. How was it possible that they both had such a rare blood type?
However, this time was different. If the previous incident had been unavoidable, this time the doctors had clearly informed him of the risks involved. So why did Qiao Yue still go through with it?
It was like a spark suddenly igniting a fire that had gone cold. Shen Muchuan could feel his entire nervous system being set ablaze by this emerging thought in his mind.
However, right after that, a strong sense of panic and regret overwhelmed his brief moment of joy. His heart pounded so violently that it felt like it would burst out of his chest, and his spine tingled with a chilling sensation.
It was his own mistake that almost cost his brother his life.
…
Qiao Yue’s hospital room was on the same floor. When Shen Muchuan arrived, he saw a nurse administering saline to him. Qiao Yue was lying on the bed, and his complexion appeared even worse than Shen Muchuan’s, despite the latter having been in a car accident.
After a while, when the nurse saw him finish taking his medication, she pushed a small cart and left the room.
Shen Muchuan stood at the door for a moment, feeling strangely stiff all over.
As the nurse passed by, she was surprised. Wasn’t this the person who had been in a car accident a few days ago? How could he get out of bed and walk so quickly? His recovery was remarkably fast!
Not long after the nurse left, Shen Muchuan saw QIao Yue struggling to get up from the bed. He then bent over the side of the bed, dry heaving in extreme agony. It was indeed dry heaving; he couldn’t bring anything up, but he couldn’t control it either.
When all of this subsided, he swayed and fell heavily onto the bed, as if he had lost strength. Due to the large movement, the IV tube swayed from side to side.
Seeing this, Shen Muchuan immediately went over and supported him.
Listening to his labored breathing, Shen Muchuan held back the pain in his throat, choked for a moment, but didn’t say anything.
With a pale face and unsteady breath, it took a moment for him to look at Shen Muchuan in confusion. His gaze then fell on the wound on Shen Muchuan’s forehead, and he spoke hoarsely, “Why… did you come here?”
Upon hearing those words, the emotions in the depths of Shen Muchuan’s eyes seemed to burst forth uncontrollably, unable to be suppressed any longer. His voice quivered, and he was on the verge of tears. “Brother… I’m sorry…”
He struggled for a while before managing to say this sentence. His eyes reddened, and it seemed like he was about to cry. After looking at him for a while, there was nothing more that Qiao Yue could say, so he remained silent.
Seeing that his brother wasn’t responding, Shen Muchuan couldn’t help but panic. He tightly clasped Qiao Yue’s hands. “Brother, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Qiao Yue watched him quietly and asked, “Did you come here just to tell me this?”
“No, it’s not…” Suddenly, Shen Muchuan remembered something and reached for Qiao Yue’s arm, pulling up his sleeve to check. But the more he looked, the more uncomfortable he felt. He saw that there were two bruised spots around the needle marks on his brother’s arm…
Qiao Yue pushed his hand away. “You don’t need to overthink it. I just couldn’t stand by and do nothing when someone needed help.”
After saying this, he wearily closed his eyes and said tiredly, “This is the last time. You don’t need to look for me for anything in the future. Besides, I don’t want to be involved anymore.”
Shen Muchuan was taken aback. He didn’t expect his brother to say this. He looked at Qiao Yue, who seemed unwilling to say another word to him.
Did his brother mean that they were now even, and there was no more debt between them?
Shen Muchuan’s face turned pale, and he tightly pursed his lips, whispering, “Brother, is it because of the engagement I mentioned earlier that you’re angry? Actually, it was all a lie… I…”
He paused when he said this, and his voice stopped. He looked at Qiao Yue quietly, noticing that Qiao Yue had turned to look at him, but quickly lowered his eyes when their gazes met.
Shen Muchuan didn’t miss the fleeting nervousness in Qiao Yue’s eyes, and he could even sense Qiao Yue’s body tensing for a moment.
Wasn’t it quite obvious? If Qiao Yue really didn’t want any further involvement with him and didn’t care about him at all, why would he be willing to risk his life to save him?
Shen Muchuan sat silently by the bedside for a while, gazing steadily at Qiao Yue. His eyes fell on Qiao Yue’s lightly pursed lips, which appeared dry and pale due to the loss of color from the blood.
After a moment, his gaze shifted to Qiao Yue’s forehead, which was covered in cold sweat. He asked with a heavy heart, “Brother, how do you feel? Is there anything uncomfortable?”
Qiao Yue didn’t say a word, instead turning his face away and closing his eyes tightly.
Seeing that Qiao Yue appeared quite exhausted and didn’t want to disturb his rest, Shen Muchuan quietly watched him for a while before leaving.
Around noon, Shen Muchuan had food delivered to Qiao Yue’s ward. He was worried that Qiao Yue might still be asleep, hesitating whether to go in and check on him.
He only entered after seeing a nurse come out of the room and confirming that Qiao Yue was awake.
The ward door was partially ajar, and faint voices could be heard from inside. The voices were not loud, but due to the spaciousness of the room, they sounded quite clear.
It was the voice of an elderly man, and his tone was filled with regret and helplessness. “You’re such a silly child. You really don’t value your own life…”
Shen Muchuan instinctively paused his steps because this voice was very familiar.
It was Uncle Shen.
Shen Muchuan’s thoughts raced as he stood outside the ward door, wondering why Uncle Shen, the family’s longtime steward, was here when he had been told that Uncle Shen had returned to his hometown five years ago. His parents had always held Uncle Shen in high regard. However, when he returned to the Shen family estate two months ago, the household staff had informed him of Uncle Shen’s departure.
At that time, he hadn’t dwelled on it much, as his parents had just been in a car accident, and he assumed that Uncle Shen would be grieving. But what surprised him now was why Uncle Shen had returned, especially considering his brother’s actions against the Shen family. Uncle Shen should have had no reason to forgive him.
Moreover, the fact that Uncle Shen had come to visit him was even more perplexing.
Support me on ko-fi ʚ(´꒳`)ɞ
