Sang Yu dashed forward and reached out to part the man’s hair. As suspected, she saw Shen Peichuan’s face hidden underneath. How did he end up here?
“Captain Shen.” Sang Yu called out and softly tapped his face, but he showed no signs of waking up.
“Haonan, go get help right away,” ordered Sang Yu nervously.
“You know him, Ms. Sang?” asked Wang Haonan as he stared at Sang Yu with a stunned expression on his face.
“Go get help now!” instructed Sang Yu sternly. She was too worried, and she ended up raising her voice.
“Okay, I’ll go right away,” said Wang Haonan. He finally regained his composure and ran ahead. There were pebbles on the ground, and he slipped and fell a little. However, he didn’t waste any time before he got back up and hurried.
Sang Yu wanted to carry Shen Peichuan up, but the latter was too heavy. She couldn’t even get him off the ground. When she saw the dried blood on his head, her heart ached like an invisible claw was tightening its grip on her heart. Her eyes instinctively reddened with tears.
“Ms. Sang,” said the college student, Wang Wen, who was also a teacher at school.
Most villagers there shared the surname of Wang.
Sang Yu acted like a desperate drowning woman who had just gotten ahold of a floating straw. She requested in a worried and anxious tone. “Quick, help me take him to the hospital.”
Wang Wen crouched down and offered, “I’ll give him a piggyback ride to the village.”
With Sang Yu’s help, Wang Wen managed to get Shen Peichuan onto his back. Wang Haonan, on the other hand, said, “I’ll get the principal to ride his tricycle over.”
Upon finishing his piece, Wang Haowen ran back to the school.
Wang Wen was dripping sweat as he asked, “Sang Yu, you look extremely anxious. Do you know the guy well?”
Sang Yu murmured an affirmative reply.
Wang Wen’s gaze shifted downwards as he continued pushing forward. The principal showed up with his so-called tricycle soon after. “Get in,” said the principal.
The vehicle the villagers nicknamed a tricycle was basically a small, three-wheeled truck with a carriage attached to its back. The villagers used carriages like that to carry their harvest into their storage space during harvest seasons.
A few people could stay in the front seat, but it would not be spacious. Sang Yu got to the back where the carriage was and suggested, “Let’s place him in the carriage.”
After that, Sang Yu sat down and let Shen Peichuan use her lap as a pillow.
Wang Wen got into the carriage as well. He offered, “I’ll help you.”
Sang Yu nodded in agreement.
The road was uneven, and Sang Yu was worried that Shen Peichuan would be further injured by the bumpy ride. Hence, she asked Wang Wen, “Can you help me support his body?”
Wang Wen nodded. He later sat closer to Shen Peichuan and locked the unconscious man with his arms to lessen the impact of the bumpy ride.
Eventually, the bumpy journey ended, and the path became much more even after they got onto the main road. The car almost moved faster without the rocks disrupting the ride.
Over an hour went by before they reached the Second Branch of the People’s Hospital. The medical experts there rushed Shen Peichuan into the operating theatre immediately after.
“Ms. Sang, who is that?” asked the principal.
They were in a hurry all that while, so the principal never got the chance to ask any questions. However, he caught Sang Yu’s face turning pale with worry when they were getting out of the car.
“He’s a good friend of mine,” replied Sang Yu as she had her head down.
“Why did he show up near the school? Did he come to look for you?” asked Wang Wen hesitantly.
Wang Wen fell in love with Sang Yu at first sight, so he felt terrible when he saw how worried Sang Yu was.
Sang Yu shook her head and replied, “He’s a police captain. He’s probably here for a case.”
That was the only explanation Sang Yu could think of.
Why else would he show up there?
“Thank you both so much,” said Sang Yu to her colleagues. She wouldn’t be able to get Shen Peichuan to the hospital that quickly if they hadn’t helped.
Who knows what terrible condition Shen Peichuan would be in if not for the two of them?
“You don’t need to thank us. We’re friends, after all. Besides, you’re teaching the students for free too, aren’t you? We’re the ones who are supposed to thank you,” replied the principal with a smile. His wrinkles were everywhere, and it was clear that he had struggled in the past. Despite that, he remained kind.
“It’s true. You don’t have to be so courteous towards us,” agreed Wang Wen. He had gone to buy everyone bottled water. Sang Yu accepted the bottled water while thanking him.
She never opened the bottle or drank any water, but instead, gripped it tightly as her gaze repeatedly shifted towards the operating theatre.
“Don’t worry,” comforted Wang Wen as he patted her arms.
Sang Yu nodded.
Two hours later, the door to the operating theatre opened, and the doctor walked out. “Who’s the patient’s family?” asked the doctor.
The three adults turned to one another before Sang Yu stepped up and informed, “I’m his friend.”
“Where is his family?” asked the doctor.
Sang Yu replied, “I am unable to get in touch with them at the moment. You can tell me everything instead.”
“I see. The patient’s head is injured, and we’ve examined him closely. His life is not threatened, but the medical facilities we have here are limited. We cannot say, for sure, if he had a concussion. We’d have to transfer him to a hospital in the city to run more tests. You guys will have to decide whether you want to do that,” said the doctor.
Sang Yu didn’t hesitate. “Please transfer him…” said Sang Yu.
“Doctor, when will the patient regain consciousness?” asked Wang Wen in time to interrupt Sang Yu.
Wang Wen thought that the patient himself should be the one to decide whether he wanted to be transferred to a better hospital.
After all, Sang Yu had already paid for the medical fees for coming to that hospital. Transferring to a better hospital meant that Sang Yu would have to spend even more money. Sang Yu won’t consider her own wellbeing, so I’ll have to.
“If everything goes right, he should wake up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” replied the doctor.
Wang Wen turned to Sang Yu and suggested, “Let’s ask for his opinion when he wakes up then. You’re not a family member, after all, so let’s avoid causing any trouble.”
Sang Yu hesitated.
“You’re just a university student. How much savings do you really have?” added Wang Wen.
Sang Yu was running out of money, and Wang Wen’s words made a good point. She was not Shen Peichuan’s family, so it wasn’t right for her to decide on his behalf. Fortunately, he would wake up on the following day, and she could ask for his opinion then.
“The patient needs to be under constant observation for the next forty-eight hours. Please fill in the forms for that,” requested the doctor.
Sang Yu replied, “I’ll head over right away.”
“Hang on. I’ll go. You should wait here,” said Wang Wen while stopping her.
Sang Yu didn’t want to trouble the guy, but he was persistent, so she could only say, “Thank you.”
Wang Wen gave her a gentle grin and said, “You’re welcome.”
Shen Peichuan was taken to his room soon after. The room was shared with three other patients and their families. They had some dirty clothes and leftover food packages lying around, and the stench of disinfectants reeked. Still, that was one of the better rooms the hospital could offer.
After everything was taken care of, Sang Yu asked the two of them to go home. “You guys should head back. I can stay here on my own. Besides, the students are still waiting in their classrooms, and they need someone to keep an eye on them.”
“The principal can go back. I’ll stay here and keep you company,” suggested Wang Wen.
Sang Yu felt bad about that, so she pointed out, “It’s fine. You should head back. I can handle everything on my own. Besides, there isn’t enough space for the two of us to stay here.”
Wang Wen deliberated. It was true that there was insufficient space, so he agreed, “Okay. Please call me if you need any help.”
“Okay,” replied Sang Yu.
A chair was placed beside every patient’s bed, but there was no extra bed for visitors to rest on. Sang Yu stared at Shen Peichuan’s bandaged head and noticed that there was some dried blood on his neck that hadn’t been cleaned. She then went out to buy a basin and a towel before she got some warm water to clean the blood off. She already had everything ready anyway, so she cleaned his face and hands as well.
She never left his side after that.
That night, Sang Yu didn’t have any appetite, so she got herself some water before she continued staying by Shen Peichuan’s bed.
With that, she spent the rest of her night there.
The streets were quiet early in the morning, and the first glimmer of sunlight broke through the clouds and woke everyone up. More and more people showed up on the street, and the hawker selling breakfast had started working.
Shen Peichuan opened his eyes slowly and saw that he was in an unfamiliar room.
