Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 88
by Little PandaVolume 3: Transition
Calling Out
Qingshi… I like you.
“Pull the plug,” the medical staff took off the oxygen mask, and the vital signs on the monitor quickly dropped. Fang Zhiyou knelt by the bed, covering her mouth with her hand to stop herself from crying out loud.
Yu Gui was by her side, holding her head and pressing it into her arms, “Don’t look… don’t look…”
“Mom! Mom!” Her heart-wrenching cries echoed down the narrow and long corridor.
This was the first time Yu Gui faced the loss of someone close to her, and unlike witnessing patients pass away, she gained a deeper understanding of death and felt an overwhelming ache for Zhiyou.
She vowed silently in her heart: as long as she had a bite to eat, Fang Zhiyou would too, because she was her only family left in this world.
After calming her down, Yu Gui went to a quiet corner and called her parents. “Hello? Mom, it’s me.”
“Changed your number?”
“Yeah, I did. Don’t worry about me too much; just… take care of yourselves.”
“Have you really decided to get a divorce?” After finishing her rounds, Qin Xuan found a moment to sit down in the ward.
The pregnant woman they rescued from the Changping Tunnel had woken up and was recovering well. Today, her baby was out of the incubator and was now sleeping soundly in her arms.
Jiang Lijuan smiled, though her face was still a bit pale. She seemed in good spirits and, holding her baby, felt both emotional and relieved. “I’ve thought it over. It’s better to divorce now while I’m still breastfeeding. If he can treat me like this, who knows how he’ll treat the baby in the future. Having an unreliable father is worse than being a single parent.”
Qin Xuan shared her sentiment, “You’re right to think that way.”
“What about Dr. Lu? Is she any better?”
Seeing the concern on her face, Qin Xuan suddenly found herself at a loss for words and shook her head with a somber expression. “She’s not awake yet. You should get some rest…”
Before she could finish speaking, a young nurse rushed in, grabbing her arm and pulling her out. “Oh, finally found you! You need to get to the Neuro ICU quick! Something big has happened!”
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t pull me like that, let’s talk this out…” Qin Xuan straightened her messed-up clothes, her high heels clicking briskly.
“What big thing happened?” she asked with a look of panic. “It can’t be Qingshi…”
“No, no, no,” the young nurse quickly shook her head, barely able to speak clearly, “It’s not that! Captain Gu hit several of our doctors, and the Neuro Department is in chaos right now. You need to go check it out!”
Qin Xuan felt like her vision went dark for a moment, thinking this was even scarier than Lu Qingshi kicking the bucket. As she walked, she couldn’t help but pick up speed, her clothes fluttering with her movement.
“Oh my goodness.”
What a mess.
Qin Xuan swore she had never seen so many people packed into the Neuro ICU before. From a distance, she could hear Gu Yanzhi shouting, “Come on, you come at me, I’ll take you down one by one! As long as I’m here today, no one is taking Qingshi away!”
Lu Xucheng was so angry his mouth was crooked, surrounded by a group of medical staff, worried something might happen to him.
“Call… call the police! Hurry, call the police! What is this?! You’re just a hooligan, a thug!”
Gu Yanzhi was leaning over the hospital bed, gripping the rail, her eyes red and speaking incoherently, “Call… call, you call… I’m telling you, once I’m out, I’ll be back…”
The old man was practically furious, charging out from the crowd and swinging his cane at Gu Yanzhi’s head. Gu Yanzhi didn’t dodge; she just lay over Lu Qingshi on the bed, protecting her. The solid wooden cane, weighing dozens of pounds, thudded against her head and back, making a dull sound. Her exposed wrist got hit, swelling up almost immediately.
The medical staff rushed in too, some pulling the old man away, others trying to drag Gu Yanzhi off. Meanwhile, some under the old man’s orders tried to sneakily take Lu Qingshi away.
Gu Yanzhi didn’t budge, staying on the bed to shield Lu Qingshi with her broad shoulders. Her long legs dangled off the side, kicking as the rolling bed moved back and forth, occasionally knocking someone over or pushing a group aside. It looked like a chaotic dance in the ward, the bed moving like a canoe being tossed around.
Qin Xuan felt dizzy, letting out a sharp scream, “Everybody, just stop it!!! Gu Yanzhi, what on earth are you doing?!”
Seeing her arrival, Gu Yanzhi got even more desperate, her eyes red as she shouted, “No one can convince me otherwise today! As long as I have a breath left, I won’t let anyone pull the plug on Qingshi’s ventilator!!!”
“Mr. Lu, please calm down, calm down…”
Lu Xucheng shook off the nanny, pointing his trembling cane at her and shouting, “I’m Lu Qingshi’s grandfather. What I say goes! Who are you to act all high and mighty in front of me…”
“Qingshi doesn’t need a grandfather who’s eager to see her die! It’s only been a few days… and you already want to pull her off the ventilator and send her to her end, talking about donating her body? That’s nonsense! Comatose people can wake up; who are you to decide someone else’s life for them?”
Lu Xucheng, red in the face and breathing heavily, retorted, “Because I’m her grandfather! Because she’s a doctor! What’s she doing lying here? Waiting to die or wasting medical resources? I’m telling you, you’re the one with no right to make decisions for her. You’re not a Lu family member and have nothing to do with her. You’re just a thug! A hooligan! A scoundrel!”
Gu Yanzhi, equally furious, felt a rush of heat to her head, “How am I not? I’m her girlfriend!!!”
The old man had nothing left to say and simply fainted, eyes rolling back as he collapsed straight to the ground.
The whole room erupted into chaos. “Mr. Lu! Mr. Lu!”
Gu Yanzhi gently laid Lu Qingshi down and was the first to rush over, helping him up. “Sir, sir! Quick, get a stretcher!”
“Great, now the old man’s in the hospital too,” Qin Xuan commented, handing a bottle of cold mineral water to her. “You’ve really got a knack for things, huh? Giving someone a heart attack.”
Gu Yanzhi took the bottle and pressed it against the swelling on her forehead, muttering, “I didn’t do it on purpose. Qingshi hasn’t even woken up yet, and he wanted to pull her off the ventilator. I just…”
Qin Xuan interrupted her, unscrewing the cap of the water bottle and taking a sip. “Do you know what the chances are for someone in a coma to wake up? Less than five percent…”
Gu Yanzhi jumped up, tossing the water onto the seat. “What do you mean?! Do you think Mr. Lu is right? Or do you think Qingshi will never wake up? Qin Xuan, are you even her friend anymore?”
Saying this, she didn’t want to argue further, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and walking away.
After half a minute, she hesitantly came back and handed her a cigarette.
“Hey… do me a favor.”
In the afternoon, after feeding Hamburger and French Fries, Gu Yanzhi picked up the keys and opened the door to the apartment next door.
Pulling back the curtains, sunlight and dust poured in together.
Memories came flooding back.
“Get away from me, hahaha, I’m dying here!”
“Come on, come on, I won’t lose to you!”
“Did you… carry me back yesterday?”
“Yep, and you even used the car keys to open the door.”
“Qingshi… we can still stay friends in the future, right?”
“Of course, on the emergency scene, we’re the best partners.”
…
Her presence filled the entire room. On the carpet in front of the living room TV wall, they had played games together, and the controllers were still on the coffee table.
A few books she often read were on the sofa, where she had once fallen asleep leaning against her.
In the bedroom, the bed wasn’t made yet. Gu Yanzhi tidied everything up, swept and mopped the floors, did the laundry, watered the plants on the balcony, and cleaned out the fridge, throwing expired food into the trash. Though she didn’t drink, the fridge was stocked with the beer she loved.
Gu Yanzhi took one out, popped the tab, and as soon as she took a sip, tears began to fall uncontrollably.
She leaned against the fridge door to steady herself, sniffled, and then went to hang the laundry on the balcony. Bringing the dry clothes back into the bedroom, she opened the wardrobe, and a storage box fell from the top, spilling its contents all over the floor.
There were a few paperclips, two or three buttons, some small bits and pieces, and a yellowed photograph.
The old man in the photo was someone she had just seen today. The little girl in the picture, around five or six years old, was sitting on his shoulders, laughing happily, with clear and delicate features.
Gu Yanzhi brushed off the dust and carefully tucked the photo into her pocket to keep it safe.
“I know you don’t want to see me, but I’ve come today to apologize…” Gu Yanzhi placed the thermos on the bedside table, not sitting down, taking a step back, and bowing slightly.
“Secondly, I want to clear things up. I do like Qingshi, but I never really got the chance to confess to her properly…” Gu Yanzhi lowered her head, her eyes slightly red.
At this point, the old man struggled to catch his breath and started gasping, “Get out… just get out…”
“Please, let me finish. If, after I finish, you still insist on removing all of Qingshi’s life support, I won’t say another word,” Gu Yanzhi said, pulling out a yellowed photo from her pocket and handing it over.
“What’s this…” Lu Xucheng put on his reading glasses.
“This was found at Qingshi’s place. I’ve known her for a long time. She’s always been so strong and exceptional, working hard and taking good care of every patient, even at emergency scenes, going through life and death without a single complaint…”
“We’ve saved a pregnant woman who died in a car accident, rescued a delivery guy with late-stage liver cancer, and saved a child with cerebral palsy barely alive from a fire. We even went through the dangerous explosion of a chemical plant together. That time, we almost died in there. She went out and came back to save me. She didn’t give up on me then, and now, I won’t give up on her…”
“Such a strong person, do you know when I first saw her cry?”
In the photo, Lu Qingshi was at her most innocent and lively. It was her fifth birthday, and her parents were busy with work, so she ran to the hospital, tugged on his arm, and begged, “Grandpa, Grandpa, Mom and Dad won’t play with me. Will you take me to the park?”
When he didn’t agree, she started crying loudly in the department, and his students burst into laughter. Lu Xucheng had no choice but to pick her up and leave the lecture halfway to take her out to play.
“I really can’t do anything with you, you little troublemaker.”
Lu Xucheng took off his reading glasses, rubbed his forehead, and his voice trembled slightly, “Even if you tell me all this now, it still…”
Gu Yanzhi continued speaking on her own. “Once, she got drunk, so drunk she didn’t know where she was, and she lay on the bed crying and crying. Do you know what she said?”
Lu Xucheng remained silent, turning his head slightly, but he couldn’t hide his increasingly red eyes.
“What did she say?”
“She said she wanted a complete family… with grandparents, parents, and Lele…” As Gu Yanzhi spoke, tears fell like a string of broken pearls.
“She never forgot about you. Why won’t you give her another chance? After all, she’s your granddaughter, your only family left in this world…”
“I grew up without parents. It was my foster father who raised me, and he later died in a fire. So, I understand the sadness and pain of losing a family member. It’s not something that gets better just by saying a few words or after a few years. It’s everywhere, and I think both you and Qingshi know this feeling well. You’ve already lost once, so why not cherish what you have now?”
“I’m begging you,” Gu Yanzhi bent down deeply, choking up, “give her a chance, and give yourself a chance too.”
Ever since she caused a scene in the ward that morning, security outside the ICU had been increased. Qin Xuan walked over with a nurse, chatting and laughing, and she made a phone call along the way.
“I helped you out. How are you going to thank me?” Xiang Nanke leaned casually against the window, sipping tea.
“Cut the nonsense. Just tell me if you’re going to help or not.”
Qin Xuan abruptly hung up the phone just as she reached the nurse’s station. She stopped to chat with the on-duty medical staff while the nurse beside her continued pushing the medicine cart further inside.
After the incident that morning, the police had fully taken over security for the special care ward. Gu Yanzhi pulled her mask up and slowly walked over.
“Hey, my stomach suddenly feels a bit off. Keep an eye on things for me, will you?” One of the police officers dashed into the restroom.
This was the chance.
Gu Yanzhi pushed the cart in, saying, “I’m here to change the patient’s medication.”
What she didn’t expect was that the person didn’t ask many questions. While opening the door for her, they even added, “Captain Xiang said to please hurry, or it will be hard for us to explain.”
“Thank you.”
Gu Yanzhi slipped inside, pulled down her mask, and let out a long breath.
The room was filled with medical equipment casting blue and green lights, making that face look even paler.
Since she was injured, this was the first time Gu Yanzhi had come in to see her, not counting the morning incident.
Gu Yanzhi took off her hat and sat down by the bed, holding her hand in her palm and pressing it against her cheek.
She had so much she wanted to say, yet she felt at a loss for words. Her chest felt tight, and she had cried countless times these days, becoming more and more unlike herself.
“I’m sorry…” Gu Yanzhi buried her head down. “Please wake up soon, okay? I would rather be the one lying here than see you suffer like this…”
“These past few days have felt like a dream. Every time I close my eyes, I see you covered in blood, lying in front of me. I’ve never been this scared before… scared of blood…”
“Qingshi, Qingshi…” she sniffed, calling her name with deep emotion. “As long as you can wake up, you don’t like me clinging to you, right? I can… I can stay far away from you… and won’t bother your life anymore… as long as… as long as you can wake up…”
Gu Yanzhi reached out and gently wrapped one arm around her, biting her left hand to stop herself from crying out loud. A fragile whimper, like that of a young animal, slipped from deep in her throat.
When leaving, she couldn’t help herself and softly kissed her lips.
When she was awake, Gu Yanzhi didn’t dare to do it; she was too timid. It was only in this moment that she dared to say those words.
“Qingshi, I like you.”
You have to… get better.
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