Mental Hospital
Not Accompanying Anyone Else
The bedroom curtains were not drawn. Outside the window, there were no other buildings, only a stretch of riverbank with fireworks above the city.
The starlight lamp in the room was on in rotating mode, with stars moving clockwise, and deep blue starlight pouring down, enveloping the two of them.
Jian Qing looked indifferent, stretched out her hand, and flicked Lu Yinxi’s forehead heavily with her fingertip.
Silently denying the words that implied wanting to sleep with her.
Her forehead stung from the flick, and Lu Yinxi hissed, covering her head, glaring fiercely at Jian Qing, wanting to curse but not daring to.
She was now lying on the edge of the bed; if Jian Qing gently pushed her, she would roll off the bed.
She had to wave her hand to shoo Jian Qing away: “Go away, sleep over there…”
Jian Qing lay on her side, propping up her head with her right elbow, recklessly gazing at Lu Yinxi’s face under the starlight.
The sleeve of her right hand’s nightgown slipped off, revealing the jade-like flawless skin on the inside of her forearm.
Lu Yinxi stared at the skin on her forearm for two seconds, then met her gaze.
In this dim light, her straightforward gaze seemed to swallow her whole.
Lu Yinxi turned her head away, covering her face with her left hand to avoid her stare.
This two-faced scoundrel…
Jian Qing moved a few inches closer, her body almost touching Lu Yinxi.
Feeling the heat source approaching, Lu Yinxi’s face burned, and she turned sideways, pressing against the edge of the bed, feeling like she had invited a wolf into her house.
Jian Qing brushed Lu Yinxi’s hair behind her ear: “Yesterday in the hospital, didn’t you want me to get closer?”
Being so close, her breath blew into her ear as she spoke.
Lu Yinxi covered her ears, curling up into a shrimp-like shape, trying to reduce her presence, thinking to herself, no wonder she suddenly wanted to sleep with her on New Year’s Eve… it was all about revenge…
Yesterday evening, after visiting He Bei, she was so excited that she felt like she had taken a stimulant. She dragged Jian Qing running around the hospital, leaning half of her body on her, blowing into her ear, intentionally teasing her, watching her push her away with a serious face.
Excitement weakens one’s rationality and self-control; now, even with a hundred guts, she wouldn’t dare treat her like that.
Lu Yinxi wrapped herself tightly in the quilt: “Teacher Jian, do your students know you’re like this behind their backs?”
She deliberately called Jian Qing “teacher,” not “doctor,” and used the formal “you.”
In the hospital, Zhang Yue and Wei Mingming, and those rotating interns, all respected and feared her, admired her for her rigorous academic and medical skills, and feared her occasional cold sarcasm.
Jian Qing said nothing.
Lu Yinxi tried to use the title of “teacher” to provoke her sense of morality and shame, seeing her remain silent, she called out a few more times: “Teacher, Dr. Jian, am I considered your student now? Have you obtained a teaching certificate? Will you lose your qualification for treating me like this?”
“Not considered.”
At most, it was just a cooperative relationship.
Lu Yinxi opened her mouth, about to say something, but Jian Qing directly covered her mouth, expressionless, asking: “Do you want to play this game? You’re quite good at it.”
Good at what?
Hearing her twist the facts, Lu Yinxi’s face turned red. She stared at her, trying hard to pry her hand away, then pushed her down, firmly tucking her into the quilt.
“Who’s playing? Do you think everyone is as two-faced as you…” Lu Yinxi muttered under her breath, picked up a black eye mask, and prepared to put it on, “I’m not messing with you anymore, I’m sleepy, I want to sleep.”
Seeing her put on the eye mask, Jian Qing’s lips curled up into a faint smile, her deep eyes revealing a hint of mischief.
Having read several fanfictions about herself, Lu Yinxi, as an adult, instantly understood.
She looked at Jian Qing with a complex expression, slowly put down the eye mask, not daring to wear it, then retracted her gaze and reluctantly curled back into the quilt.
This scoundrel ruined her eye mask…
She decided to buy a funny face eye mask tomorrow; she didn’t believe anyone could stay mischievous looking at a funny face.
Jian Qing stopped teasing her and quietly closed her eyes.
The sound of fireworks gradually faded away. In the silent bedroom, the sound of hair rubbing against the pillow, her own heartbeat, and breathing mixed together, with the cold fragrance of the person beside her and the scent of the sun-dried quilt filling her nose. Lu Yinxi closed her eyes, counting her heartbeat.
The normal heart rate for a resting human is 60-100 beats per minute.
She was currently experiencing tachycardia.
She reviewed the diseases that could cause tachycardia in her mind, trying to divert her attention and not think about the person beside her.
After a long time, still unable to sleep, Lu Yinxi opened her eyes and turned to look at Jian Qing.
Jian Qing’s eyes were closed, her breathing steady, her long eyelashes as thin as cicada wings clearly visible under the starlight.
After looking at the essence of an ice block, Lu Yinxi wondered again, had her eyelashes become essence?
Her right hand was outside the quilt, not tucked in. Whenever Lu Yinxi saw a child sleeping without tucking their hand into the quilt, she felt something was wrong and had to tuck it in to satisfy her OCD.
Jian Qing was no longer a child, yet Lu Yinxi still took her hand, lifted the quilt, and tucked it in. Just as she was about to withdraw her left hand, the softness under her palm turned, and her wrist was instantly wrapped by that warm softness, unable to move.
Lu Yinxi tried to pull back, but Jian Qing wouldn’t let go.
She whispered fiercely to Jian Qing: “You’re pretending to sleep to trick me again.”
Jian Qing didn’t open her eyes, calmly said: “You’re always disturbing me.”
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She was about to fall asleep.
Lu Yinxi struggled a bit, and Jian Qing loosened her grip. Lu Yinxi successfully withdrew her left hand, curling back into her warm quilt.
“How can you fall asleep so quickly?”
She couldn’t sleep no matter what she counted, how could she fall asleep so easily?
Jian Qing’s voice was flat: “Slept only three hours yesterday.”
“Oh, then you sleep, I won’t disturb you.” Lu Yinxi obediently shut her mouth.
Jian Qing hummed: “Don’t touch me secretly.”
I didn’t touch, let alone touch secretly!
Lu Yinxi loudly refuted in her mind, but not wanting to disturb her more, she lightly hummed, not arguing further.
Hearing her light hum, Jian Qing smiled faintly, not speaking again.
Lu Yinxi lay on her side, seeing the smile on Jian Qing’s lips, she also smiled slightly.
She didn’t dare touch Jian Qing’s hand again, only extended her right index finger to lightly touch a strand of Jian Qing’s hair, then closed her eyes, counting sheep to sleep.
On the first day of the New Year, without any shifts, they could sleep in.
Jian Qing usually woke up at six, but today she woke up half an hour earlier, tiptoeing out of bed without waking Lu Yinxi.
She prepared breakfast, kept it warm, then took out a red envelope, put some cash in it, placed it on the table, wrote a short note: “New Year’s money. I’m going out, back before 12.” and placed it on the table before leaving.
After buying fruits, snacks, new scarves, socks, and clothes, she drove to the Third Hospital in the neighboring city.
The Third Hospital was a mental hospital located in the suburbs of the neighboring city, surrounded by lakes on three sides with beautiful scenery.
Like most hospitals, the doctors here also needed to conduct morning rounds and prescribe treatments, so visiting hours were generally open in the afternoon.
Jian Qing was familiar with the attending physician Fu Yuan, and being in the same profession, it was easier to talk, so she had arranged a visit in advance.
The corridors of the mental hospital were no different from those in the oncology ward, with white walls and white tiles, lined with wards.
Items brought by family members had to be checked and kept by hospital staff, not directly handed to the patients.
Jian Qing carried several bags of items, almost all handed over to the hospital staff, only holding two apples and a packet of plum powder.
She didn’t go to the ward to visit, but directly to the doctor’s office to find the attending physician Fu Yuan.
During the New Year, there were only two doctors on duty in the office.
Fu Yuan saw Jian Qing and skillfully pulled out a chair for her: “Do you want to read the medical records yourself or should I explain?”
“I’ll read it myself.”
Fu Yuan opened the medical record of bed 56 on the computer for Jian Qing: “Last month, she was okay, rarely had episodes, just kept mumbling about why other families brought snacks every afternoon while she didn’t get any. I told her those were brought by their families, and she asked why her family didn’t bring any?”
Jian Qing said lightly: “I brought some today.”
Reading through the medical records, doctor’s orders, and examination reports one by one, Jian Qing pointed to the record from the 26th: “The auxiliary examination result from the 26th last month wasn’t recorded in the medical history, quality control will deduct points.”
“Sharp eyes.” Fu Yuan laughed, typing to update the medical record, “That day she said she felt chest tightness and couldn’t breathe, so I ordered an ECG and cardiac ultrasound to check, everything was normal.”
Jian Qing hummed, borrowing a small knife from Fu Yuan, and began peeling the apple, then cutting it into small pieces.
Fu Yuan chatted idly: “When are you scheduled?”
Jian Qing: “Scheduled until the 29th, then off until the 4th.”
Fu Yuan nodded: “That’s good, I’ve got a messed-up schedule, night shift yesterday, off tomorrow, back the day after tomorrow afternoon. Had breakfast?”
“Eaten.”
“Was going to suggest we eat together later, give me a ride back to Jiangzhou City at noon, I hitched a ride with a colleague yesterday.”
“Okay.”
“Want to see her first?”
“Alright, thank you.”
Most patients in the Third Hospital wake up at 6, have breakfast at 7, gather at 8 for some exercises led by nurses, then take medications, waiting for doctor rounds.
Jian Qing borrowed a mask, covering her mouth and nose, disguising most of her face.
There were open wards and closed wards in the Third Hospital.
Open wards housed mostly mild, self-controlled patients with more freedom, allowed to bring phones, accompanied by family, and could apply to leave for special reasons, even go home for the New Year.
Closed wards housed patients who couldn’t bring phones, couldn’t have family stay, and had to engage in activities daily, never lying in bed all day.
Fu Yuan led Jian Qing to the closed ward 306.
Opening the door of ward 306, a thin woman in her fifties stood by the window, back to them, eyes vacant, muttering to herself.
“Apple, banana, orange…”
Her pronunciation was perfect, her tone especially pleasant.
Fu Yuan walked in: “Aunt Ruan, did you sleep well last night?”
The thin woman remained unmoved, still standing there, only stopping her recitation.
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Jian Qing carried a small aluminum basin filled with apple pieces soaked in plum powder.
She brought the basin to her mother.
The woman turned her eyes, seeing the apple pieces, showing a stiff smile: “For me to eat?”
Jian Qing nodded.
She dared not speak.
Her mother’s condition fluctuated, sometimes recognizing her, sometimes not.
Last year, she accidentally called her “Mom” and made eye contact; her mother immediately scratched her neck, having a hysterical episode.
Since then, she always wore a mask during visits, trying not to speak or make eye contact.
The woman took the plastic spoon, scooped up an apple piece, and ate, asking Fu Yuan: “Doctor, when can I be discharged? I’m already well, can my little daughter come to take me home?”
Fu Yuan heard this countless times daily: “When can I go home?”, “When will my family take me home?”
But some patients couldn’t recognize their family standing right in front of them.
Fu Yuan patiently explained, Aunt Ruan pursed her lips, muttering like a child.
The morning sun rose, sunlight through the glass highlighted the wrinkles on her face.
Jian Qing quietly watched that face, six parts similar to her own, without speaking.
She saw her nails had grown, and after eating the apple, she took a nail clipper from her bag, grabbing her mother’s hand to trim her nails.
After the doctors finished rounds, the nurses led the patients downstairs to the hall to make dumplings.
Most stable patients had been taken home for the New Year, leaving those either abandoned by family or with unstable emotions, prone to episodes.
They were all mentally incomplete patients, regardless of age, stubbornly stuffing dumpling skins with filling, not caring if the skin couldn’t hold it, breaking, pieces scattered on the table.
Doctors and nurses told them to use less filling, they muttered wanting more meat, it’s New Year, why not let them eat meat.
Everyone was amused.
Jian Qing also smiled.
She suddenly missed that child at home, wondering if she was still in bed.
She promised to make dumplings together today but forgot to set a specific time.
She thought she could give her the whole day; waking up without seeing her, she would surely curse her in her heart.
After an hour of dumpling-making, doctors and nurses gathered patients in another hall to draw, play cards, read, or watch TV, doing whatever they liked as long as they didn’t stay in the ward.
Fu Yuan leaned over, seeing Aunt Ruan drawing, asked: “Whose birthday? Why draw a birthday cake?”
Aunt Ruan laughed: “My little daughter’s, I gave birth to her on New Year’s Eve, the next day she was two years old by Chinese age, every New Year’s Eve we celebrate her birthday, she must have slept with her sister last night, sleeping till mid-morning.”
Jian Qing also leaned over, looking at her mother’s doodle.
An adult, a little girl with pigtails, a birthday cake.
Without her presence.
She sat back, neither happy nor sad, continuing her silent company.
At noon, she drove Fu Yuan back to Jiangzhou City.
Before leaving, she sent a message to Lu Yinxi—
【40 minutes late.】
Lu Yinxi replied with a received emoji.
Fu Yuan sat in the passenger seat, stretching and moving joints: “A night shift feels like losing a year of life, getting older, can’t handle it anymore.”
Jian Qing said nothing.
Fu Yuan, used to her silence, asked: “Want to grab a coffee?”
Jian Qing nodded: “My treat, you pick the place.”
Usually, Fu Yuan took good care of her and her mother.
Both lived near the city center, choosing a cat café there.
Fu Yuan loved cats to the extreme, keeping two or three at home, often visiting cat cafés with friends.
Jian Qing disliked cat hair, refusing to hold any cats.
When a furball jumped on the table to entice, she mercilessly picked it up and placed it back on the floor.
Fu Yuan, chatting with her while holding a cat, sighed seeing Jian Qing chase away a cat: “That was my favorite American Shorthair.”
Just got chased away…
Jian Qing ignored her, checking the time on her phone.
Fu Yuan, petting the cat in her lap, laughed: “What’s the rush, got a pet at home? You should have a pet; you don’t like talking after work, but need to relieve stress, build emotional interaction. A soft pet is great; you can feed it, sleep with it, take it for walks. But don’t get a cat, they allow or refuse petting on their terms, scratch when annoyed, play at night, even shed hair, your cleanliness obsession might not handle it.”
Scratch when annoyed, play at night, even shed hair…
Jian Qing, expressionless, checked the time again, said: “You should go home and rest.”
“Alright, not delaying your work; I can’t hold long either, my cats will smell other cats and refuse to be held.” Fu Yuan yawned, reluctantly putting down the cat, spraying some perfume on herself, “See you next month.”
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At 12:40, Jian Qing returned home.
Entering, she took off her coat, changed into slippers, and walked into the living room.
Lu Yinxi sat on the sofa, disinfecting her right hand.
Jian Qing sat next to her, grabbing her right hand to check the wound, asking: “What happened?”
Lu Yinxi sniffed, her small face filled with grievance, muttering a bunch of words: “I wanted to make dumplings with you this morning, but you were gone when I woke up. I bought ingredients and cut them myself, accidentally cutting my finger while chopping onions. The iodine at home was used up, I went out to buy more and saw you at a cat café with a beautiful woman… you still smell like her perfume, and you ask what happened?”
Jian Qing took a cotton swab, applying iodine, cleaning the wound, softly explaining: “Not a date, she’s a doctor I know.”
Lu Yinxi asked: “So you spent the whole morning with her?”
Jian Qing didn’t deny, not looking at Lu Yinxi, focusing on cleaning the wound.
Lu Yinxi continued: “On the first day of the New Year, you went to accompany her?”
Jian Qing calmly explained: “Not accompany, just visited her hospital, gave her a ride back.”
Lu Yinxi guessed: “So you visited someone in her hospital?”
Jian Qing paused, then hummed, continuing: “Don’t be angry, I wasn’t with someone else.”
It was her mother.
Lu Yinxi gently said: “Then smile for me, if you smile, I won’t be angry.”
Jian Qing was stunned, turning to look at Lu Yinxi.
Lu Yinxi met her gaze, eyes soft as water: “The person you visited must be important, but today you look not just tired, but sad? On New Year’s, did they make you sad?”
The author has something to say:
Lu Yinxi (grieved): I love cats too, she didn’t take me to the cat café.
