Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Nan Mu looked down at his body and endured the pain as he spoke. “Are you referring to these small red spots? If so, it’s probably just an allergic reaction.”

Wen Miao froze, tears trembling on the edge of her lashes. “Are you sure? When did you have an allergic reaction?”

The doctor was more professional. “When did it start? Do you know what the allergen is?”

“This evening. And yes, I know.” Nan Mu fell silent for a moment. Seeing the two of them still staring at him, waiting for him to speak, he closed his eyes and said, “I’m allergic to taro.”

Wen Miao: ???

She was hesitant and confused. “That taro soup with lard cracklings?”

Nan Mu gave a grunt of affirmation.

Wen Miao didn’t say another word, standing to the side as she watched the doctor perform various examinations on him.

However, a flurry of images flashed through her mind. His surprised expression when he saw the taro soup, his lack of appetite while eating, his restlessness during the movie…

After a long while, she finally couldn’t help herself. “So you don’t actually eat taro soup at all? But I remember Wen Tangtang always saying that both she and you liked that dish… and didn’t you used to eat it with us at the Second Cafeteria?”

A nurse nearby was rinsing Nan Mu’s wounds; hearing this, she looked up at him as well.

For the first time in his life, Nan Mu felt a sense of total social death. He remained silent, his gaze resentful as he stared straight at Wen Miao.

Wen Miao felt a premonition, yet found it hard to believe.

She couldn’t quite believe that Nan Mu was the type of reckless person who would eat something knowing full well he was allergic to it.

The air in the emergency room was unexpectedly quiet. The first one who couldn’t stand it and spoke up was actually the young nurse. After cleaning Nan Mu’s last abrasion, she looked up at Wen Miao and said earnestly, “He definitely did it to see you. I’ve seen plenty of these young people who are blinded by love.”

There was even a hint of smugness in her tone.

The doctor also spoke up in a deep, earnest voice. “While life is precious, love is dearer still. But young people should also pay attention to their health; a healthy body is more important than anything.”

Wen Miao didn’t say anything, simply reaching up to press a hand to her forehead.

Nan Mu, on the other hand, acted like a dead pig that didn’t fear boiling water. He thick-skinnedly added, “You’re right, Doctor. Next time, I’ll find a different way to pursue her.”

***

The CT scan results came back quickly. Fortunately, there was no internal organ damage, but Nan Mu had a mild concussion and needed bed rest.

Most of his external injuries were abrasions, except for a significant gash on the outside of his thigh caused by something sharp, which required stitches.

Because the dried blood had stuck his pants to his leg, the doctor simply used scissors to cut the fabric open to avoid further injury.

Since the wound was quite high up, the scissors cut almost all the way to the root of his thigh. Wen Miao felt like she could almost see the color of Nan Mu’s underwear.

“I-I-I… I’ll head out first,” Wen Miao stammered. Then, feeling like she was just burying her head in the sand, she hurriedly added, “I’ll go buy you a new pair of pants.”

“Wait!”

“Don’t go!”

Nan Mu and the doctor spoke at the same time.

After speaking, the two looked at each other, and Nan Mu made a gesture for the doctor to go first.

“Young lady, come over here. You need to hold him down. I can’t do this alone.”

Wen Miao felt herself go numb.

This… they wouldn’t let her leave, and they even wanted her to get her hands on him?

“It’s difficult to apply anesthesia to this wound, so I have to stitch it directly,” the doctor said, gesturing toward Nan Mu’s leg. “In a moment, just press down on this spot and make sure his leg doesn’t move.”

“No anesthesia? How much will that hurt?” Wen Miao glanced at Nan Mu. “Shouldn’t you use anesthesia?”

“I can do either, but the suffering is about the same.” The doctor gestured around the wound. “If I use anesthesia, I have to inject it in several places-about ten shots in total-and then I’ll do fifteen stitches. That means you’d be poked twenty-five times. If I don’t use it, you just have to endure it, and I’ll just do the fifteen stitches.”

When Wen Miao heard that anesthesia wasn’t just one simple shot but required so many, she suddenly felt that it really might be better to go without it.
Following the doctor’s instructions, Wen Miao was about to step forward and hold Nan Mu’s leg down when his face turned an unusually bright shade of crimson.

He refused repeatedly, “No, it’s fine. I can handle it. I don’t need her to hold me down.”

The doctor remained unmoved and still insisted Wen Miao help. “No, what if you move? Little girl, come over here and hold him still!”

Wen Miao moved forward to press down on Nan Mu’s knee while the doctor began disinfecting the area and preparing the sutures.

Not daring to look at the bloody wound, Wen Miao kept her back turned toward the two of them.

She had assumed that getting stitches without anesthesia would be incredibly painful. However, throughout the entire process, she didn’t hear Nan Mu make a single sound. Only the sudden tension in the leg muscles beneath her hands reminded her that he was enduring the pain.

What she didn’t know was that Nan Mu’s attention was currently entirely focused on her hands resting on his leg.

Though there was no anesthesia, this was even better.

=

Due to his concussion, the doctor required him to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days. Once the wound was treated, Nan Mu was wheeled to a ward by a nurse.

It was a three-person ward. When they entered, the room was empty except for some belongings laid out on the bed by the window.

The nurse and Wen Miao helped Nan Mu move from the gurney to the bed nearest the door.

The moment Nan Mu lay down, his face turned deathly pale, and he looked as if he were about to be sick.

“What’s wrong?” Wen Miao asked, feeling anxious.

“It’s likely because of the concussion; moving around makes him feel nauseous,” the nurse said with an air of understanding. “So, he needs to stay lying down as much as possible these next few days. Don’t let him stand up or walk around as he pleases.”

Wen Miao nodded quickly. “Okay, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I specifically arranged this room for you,” the nurse whispered into Wen Miao’s ear before leaving. “When you’re keeping watch tonight, you can sleep on that bed since no one else is using it.”

“Thank you.” Surprised and delighted, Wen Miao thanked her repeatedly.

After seeing the nurse out, Wen Miao asked for a towel. She went to the bathroom to dampen and clean it, then brought it back to help Nan Mu clean himself up.

Of course, she only helped him wipe his back; Nan Mu handled the rest himself.

“How about I go out and buy you a change of clothes? I can pick up some daily necessities like a washbasin while I’m at it. You’ll need them for the next few days.”

“No need.”

“But you can’t stay like this,” Wen Miao said, gesturing toward him. His shirt was stained with blood, and his pants were in even worse shape-one leg had been cut to just above the knee, while the other was torn level with his upper thigh.

“It’s fine,” Nan Mu said composedly, pulling the blanket up to cover himself. “I’m worried it’s not safe outside. Don’t leave my sight.”

Wen Miao really wanted to point out that, given how he felt like vomiting the moment he stood up, he wouldn’t be much help if something actually happened. But then she remembered he had ended up like this to protect her, so she swallowed her words and said instead, “I won’t go far. Didn’t the nurse just say there’s a 24-hour supermarket right across from the hospital entrance?”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Nan Mu started to get up as he spoke, frightening Wen Miao into quickly pinning him back down to the bed.

“No, no! Didn’t you hear what the nurse just said? she told you that you need to stay in bed and rest! You can’t get up and walk!”

“It’s fine, it’s just a few steps.”

“But you only walked two steps just now!” Wen Miao stood where the gurney had been and gestured with her hands to demonstrate exactly how short a distance he had covered. “And your face went completely white, do you realize that?”

Nan Mu fell silent for a moment. “Then you shouldn’t go either.”

Wen Miao understood Nan Mu’s concerns, but she still felt he was being overly cautious. However, Nan Mu clearly looked like he would insist on following her if she left, so she had no choice but to sit down on the empty middle bed. “Fine.”

Seeing her dejected expression, Nan Mu felt a flash of self-reproach, thinking he had been a bit too forceful. He tried to explain himself. “I didn’t mean anything else. I just feel like that person didn’t act on a whim…”

Wen Miao nodded. “I know. He was coming for me.”

Nan Mu was startled. “You knew?”