Chapter 19 The Fat Man Wakes Up
The two returned without much trouble. The woman was very familiar with the hospital and had managed to survive there alone for a month, which showed she had some skill.
The woman led Han Shuo along the route with the fewest zombies. Ten minutes later, Han Shuo finally returned safely to the parking lot.
The zombies had left, and Han Shuo pressed the descent button. The car returned to the ground.
"You sit in the back and get in the car to leave the hospital first!"
Once in the car, Han Shuo checked the fat man's breathing; thankfully, he was still breathing. A weight was finally lifted from his shoulders.
Han Shuo started the car and drove out of the hospital.
By this time it was completely dark, and even with the headlights on, visibility was extremely limited.
Leaving the city tonight was impossible, so Han Shuo decided to find a place to stay for the night and have the woman treat the fat man.
In the car, the two chatted briefly. The woman had escaped from the hospital and regained hope for survival, which made her much happier.
Han Shuo learned from the woman that her name was Li Shurou, and that she was two years younger than him. Like the fat man, she was 28 years old.
Li Shurou is a local of City B. She used to work at the hospital we just visited, as the head doctor in the emergency department.
At her age, to have climbed to this position, Han Shuo felt that Li Shurou must either have a powerful family background or be exceptionally skilled in her profession.
According to her, the emergency room was extremely busy on the day the fog carrying the ice crystal virus descended. Li Shurou didn't leave the house all day and stayed at the hospital that night. That's how she escaped the disaster.
For the past month, thanks to her familiarity with the hospital, Li Shurou has managed to survive on meager food supplies and intravenous nutrition from the hospital.
"Let's find a place first. Your friend's condition isn't great, but he can hold on for a while."
Li Shurou quickly checked the fat man's wound. She wasn't shy at all, and started eating the food from the back seat with gusto.
She hasn't eaten anything all day.
"Can you save him?" Han Shuo asked as he drove. He ignored Li Shurou's casual eating of their food; if he could save the fat man, he wouldn't mind giving her all of it.
"Hmph! Relying on you to save me is definitely a long shot. Don't worry, this little wound is nothing to me!"
Li Shurou was extremely confident in her medical skills. She believed that any other patient in the emergency room with a minor injury like the fat man's would have a more serious condition.
In her view, the fat man had only fallen into a coma because his wounds had not been disinfected in time, leading to inflammation and infection.
Once the necrotic tissue in the wound is removed and the festering stops, the high fever will subside and everything will be fine.
Of course, this condition cannot heal on its own; medication is necessary.
Han Shuo was relieved to hear Li Shurou's words. The fact that the fat man was still alive meant his efforts today hadn't been in vain. At least it wasn't all for nothing.
...
Soon, Han Shuo found a two-story hardware store. There were relatively few zombies there, so Han Shuo decided to spend the night there.
After getting out of the car and clearing out a few zombies that were wandering around nearby, Han Shuo pried open the roller shutter door of the hardware store.
After searching inside, they found two bodies that had starved to death on the second floor.
"It's probably a husband-and-wife business. They're quite timid; they'd rather starve than go out."
Han Shuo threw the body out the window. After confirming there was no danger inside, he returned to the car, called Li Shurou, and carried the fat man up to the second floor.
Afterwards, Han Shuo went downstairs to take everything out of the car, locked the car door, and pulled up the roller shutter.
Upon going upstairs again, Han Shuo saw Li Shurou treating the fat man.
How long will it take for him to wake up?
Li Shurou quickly cleaned the fat man's festering wound, then poured alcohol onto a cotton ball to disinfect it. While busy with her hands, she responded with a simple "yes."
"It's hard to say. If it's fast, it'll be around tonight. At the slowest, it'll probably take two days."
"oh."
While watching Li Shurou receive treatment, Han Shuo sat down on a chair next to her and started eating.
"What is this?"
After she finished treating the wound, she wrapped it with gauze, layer upon layer. Han Shuo saw Li Shurou take out a very small medicine bottle and hang it on the clothes hanger, seemingly intending to give the fat man an IV drip. However, the small bottle didn't look like something for an IV drip at all.
Li Shurou rolled her eyes at Han Shuo, thinking to herself, "As expected, this guy doesn't know anything about medical common sense." Seeing that Han Shuo had rescued him, she didn't look down on him this time, and explained.
"Human serum albumin, you've probably never heard of it, just think of it as a nutrient solution."
At this moment, Li Shurou was ready. In the dimly lit room, she successfully inserted the needle into the fat man's hand on the first try, without any error.
"You said he's been unconscious for almost a day and a night. This stuff is to replenish his bodily functions and help him recover faster."
"Oh, I see. Is losing just this one bottle enough?"
"Of course it's not enough. After this is finished, we'll need to administer some anti-inflammatory drugs, and... never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway."
Li Shurou walked over to Han Shuo and took out a bag of puffed snacks to eat.
Seeing that she was indeed putting her heart into treating the fat man, Han Shuo's attitude softened considerably.
The two chatted for a while longer, during which Li Shurou changed several bottles of IV fluid for the fat man. After she finished, she turned around and went to another room to sleep. In total, Han Shuo counted and found that four bottles of IV fluid had been administered.
Han Shuo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the fat man seemed to be alright. He also felt somewhat exhausted after a day of fighting.
The first floor was uninhabitable, and the second floor only had two rooms. Helpless, Han Shuo had no choice but to make do with the sofa for the night.
I slept soundly until dawn.
...
The next day, Han Shuo woke up and left Li Shurou at home to look after the fat man, while he went to find some food nearby by himself.
Yesterday at the hospital, Han Shuo and Li Shurou made a pact that Han Shuo would take her out of the hospital.
Even now, Li Shurou hasn't left; on the contrary, she seems to want to stay. Han Shuo understands this, because she values his abilities.
Since that's the case, Han Shuo didn't bring it up again.
Although their first meeting was somewhat unpleasant, having only the fat man and him in the group was indeed a bit lacking. Li Shurou had a somewhat eccentric temperament, but Han Shuo couldn't refuse her simply because she was a doctor.
Han Shuo wandered around outside for half a day and only found some biscuits and water.
This amount of food, including what they had left behind, will only be enough for the three of them to eat for three or four days once the fat man wakes up.
"Sigh, finding food was relatively easy when we first left home, but now that half a month has passed, it's become much more difficult."
...
When Han Shuo returned to the hardware store, the fat man finally woke up in the afternoon.
"How are you? Do you still feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Han Shuo quickly stepped forward to inquire about the fat man's condition.
"Hmm... I feel a little dizzy and weak all over," the fat man said softly, vaguely recalling what happened last night. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, he asked weakly.
Where are we?
"Your wound became infected, causing a high fever and coma. You are now in City B."
"City B? Why are you in the city? Don't you always avoid the city center?" The fat man was a little surprised. He knew that entering the city center was always Han Shuo's last resort.
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