Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Half an hour later, the woman stared blankly at Liu Ye.
He had tied her to a long pole. A crank protruded from the other end.
“Perhaps we should forget this,” she said anxiously. “I’m not very tired anymore.”
“Absolutely not. I am responsible for your health. If anything happens to your body, it will be my fault. Don’t worry. This method is guaranteed to work.”
Besides, the rules said never to believe a patient. If she claimed not to be tired, she must actually be exhausted. And tired people needed sleep.
“Listen, if you dare move me, I’ll… I’ll call someone!” the woman shouted in panic.
Liu Ye frowned. Under her astonished gaze, he pressed the green button.
“Why did you press that?”
“The rules say to press it when a patient behaves abnormally. And you said you wanted to call someone, so I called them for you.”
Director Jia hurried in with three nurses, all carrying bags of equipment.
He found Liu Ye and the patient locked in a standoff.
“What happened?”
“Director, the patient refuses to cooperate. She won’t let me help her sleep!” Liu Ye reported loudly.
Director Jia stared at him.
“You pressed the green button for that? Are you an idiot?”
He was furious. All the equipment they carried was disposable. Once removed from storage, none of it could be used again.
“The rules say to consult you if something goes wrong. I am following them exactly. Besides, this is serious. If the patient doesn’t sleep, she won’t rest. Without rest, her health will suffer. If her health suffers, I’ll lose my job. So this is extremely serious, Director.”
Director Jia found himself momentarily persuaded.
Wait. This was not a normal hospital!
“Do not press that button unless something extremely serious happens. Understand?”
“Yes.” Liu Ye nodded.
Director Jia glared at the woman. She immediately tried to explain.
“Director, you don’t know what he’s planning-”
“I don’t care. As long as it falls within a caregiver’s duties, you must obey him. Understand? He is your caregiver!”
Director Jia turned and stormed out.
Liu Ye smiled at the woman.
“See? The director says you have to listen. Let’s begin.”
“Wait-”
Before she could dissuade him, Liu Ye finished securing the apparatus and turned the crank.
Her body began rotating. This prevented her from lying on any one side for too long and ensured that every part of her body touched the mattress equally.
For some reason, the setup felt intensely familiar to her. Perhaps all the spinning stimulated her imagination. If the bed were replaced by a fire and she were replaced by a pig…
This was a rotisserie!
“Stop! Stop this instant!”
“Stop? If a patient says stop, the rules mean I can’t stop!”
Liu Ye cranked faster.
“Little Liu, I can’t fall asleep like this!” she screamed.
“You can’t sleep? Don’t worry. I have a solution.”
That problem was even simpler.
The woman wondered what he intended to do.
Liu Ye gave a mighty shout.
“Invincible Flaming Wheel!”
Liu Ye spun the crank so violently that sparks nearly flew from the handle. The woman rotated like the blades of an electric fan.
“You! @#$%!”
She seemed to be saying something, but he could not hear her.
After a long while, Liu Ye slowed down. Her eyes were tightly shut, and he smiled with satisfaction.
She had fallen asleep.
How did the saying go? Opportunity favored the prepared. True ability meant seizing an opportunity the moment it appeared.
This time, Liu Ye had set himself a goal: he would keep the job for an entire month.
Even after the woman fell asleep, he continued rotating her so she could enjoy healthier, more comfortable rest.
At last, a nurse called everyone to collect lunch.
Liu Ye stopped working and went to fetch the woman’s meal. Caregivers emerged from the other wards, each wearing an ugly expression.
Their patients suffered from conditions so horrific that fear had begun creeping into their hearts.
At the ward entrance, a nurse distributed meals from a trolley. Liu Ye examined the tray he received. It contained one scoop of rice and something resembling cornmeal paste.
At first, he thought the food far too meager. Then he remembered that the woman was ill and probably could not eat rich or greasy dishes. Under those circumstances, the meal was acceptable.
Caregivers ate later in the downstairs cafeteria, after feeding their patients.
Liu Ye returned to wake the woman for lunch.
He soon encountered a problem. Perhaps his care had been too excellent, because she slept so deeply that nothing could rouse her. If she had not still been breathing, he would have fetched a nurse.
“What am I supposed to do? She’ll become malnourished if she doesn’t eat. And if that happens, I’ve failed at my job!”
Liu Ye grew anxious. Fortunately, his years of caregiving experience soon provided inspiration. When he noticed the ventilator beside the bed, an imaginary lightbulb appeared over his head.
The other caregivers faced similar difficulties.
In Ward 02, a young man named Wang Fugui stared anxiously at the woman in bed. He had once been an ordinary shut-in. Then one day, while studying certain educational materials, a Fiend crawled out of them.
He had never been comfortable dealing with women. After that incident, his patience with them became even shorter.
“Eat your food!”
The woman looked equally miserable. She had become skeletal. Her hair was gone, her body consisted of little more than skin stretched across bone, and those bones seemed ready to crumble at the slightest touch.
“I can’t swallow it!”
She suffered from anorexia. Even the finest delicacy felt like swallowing burning charcoal.
Wang Fugui was frantic. Her refusal to eat violated the handbook. Who knew what consequences might follow?
“Could you… could you take just one bite?” he begged.
“I really can’t.”
Tears ran down her face. Merely looking at food made her nauseous. She did not know why she remained alive. She had eaten nothing for a month and felt ravenously hungry, yet could not swallow anything without wanting to vomit.