Chapter 5
The infirmary was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant. The school doctor expertly examined Ling Yao's swollen ankle, applying the cool medicated oil, which brought a brief tingling sensation. Ling Yao leaned back on the examination bed, his brows furrowed slightly, and occasionally a suppressed gasp escaped through his teeth, but otherwise, there was no further expression. He had great endurance, Su Rui thought.
Su Rui stood awkwardly to the side, unsure what to do with his hands. He dared not keep his gaze fixed on Ling Yao, so he pretended to look out the window or at the glass cabinet in the corner filled with various medicine bottles. But his entire mind, as if pulled by an invisible thread, was firmly tied to the diagnostic bed behind him.
The school doctor gave Ling Yao a simple fix and prescribed some topical ointment. "Try to move around less for the next two days, and don't put too much pressure on this foot. If it's still severely swollen tomorrow, it's best to go to the hospital for an X-ray," the school doctor instructed, turning to get some medication from the medicine cabinet.
For a moment, they were the only two people left in the small infirmary.
Silence descended once more, thicker and more disturbing than on the way here. Su Rui could clearly hear her own heartbeat, thump, thump, which seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet room.
He felt like he should say something, like "Does it hurt?" or "Do you need me to get you some medicine?" But the words were on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed them back. He was afraid that if he said something wrong, he would provoke the other person's impatience.
"Hello."
Ling Yao's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence.
Su Rui turned around abruptly as if she had been called out, and looked at him nervously: "...Huh?"
Ling Yao didn't look at him. His eyes fell on his fixed ankle. His tone was very flat, and no emotion could be heard: "Thank you for what happened just now."
Su Rui was stunned, almost suspecting that she had heard it wrongly.
Ling Yao...thank him?
Before he could recover from those two sudden words, Ling Yao continued speaking, still with that flat tone, but with a natural, unquestionable sense of control: "However, after we get out of here, don't say a word about what happened today. Including you helping me over here, and..." He paused, finally looking up at Su Rui, "...and this thank you. Understand?"
The tiny, flattered flame that had just risen was instantly extinguished by the cold water. Su Rui's heart slowly sank, and a familiar, slightly bitter taste filled the air.
As expected, he is still the same Ling Yao.
"Yeah." Su Rui lowered her head, staring at the cracked rubber edge of her old sneakers, and said in a muffled voice, "...I understand."
At this moment, the door of the infirmary was pushed open from the outside with a bang, accompanied by hurried footsteps and noise.
"Brother Yao! Brother Yao, are you okay?!" "Damn, I heard you sprained your ankle? Is it serious?" "Where's the school doctor? What happened?"
Ling Yao's group of friends rushed in noisily, instantly filling up the small infirmary. They surrounded Ling Yao, asking questions in a flurry of voices, full of concern and noise.
Su Rui was squeezed to the outermost corner by the sudden crowd, like a drop of water merging into the sea, and instantly lost her sense of existence.
He looked at Ling Yao, who was surrounded by his friends. The fragility caused by the pain on Ling Yao's face and the brief calmness before had long disappeared. He returned to his nonchalant and slightly ruffian look, and even cursed with a smile: "What are you arguing about? You won't die."
It was as if the journey just between the two of them, filled with silence, pain and strange conversations, had never happened.
A boy noticed the brace on Ling Yao's foot and exclaimed, "Brother Yao, who helped you get here? You're so loyal!"
Hearing this, Ling Yao's eyes seemed to casually glance towards the corner where Su Rui was. His eyes were light and without any warmth, and even carried a subtle warning.
Then, he shrugged casually, his tone relaxed and natural: "I just met an enthusiastic classmate on the road and lent a hand."
"Which class are you from? You should thank them!" "That's right, why don't you do good things without leaving your name?"
Ling Yao twitched his lips, as if he found the question boring, and casually changed the subject: "Alright, stop hanging around here, it's boring. Who's going to buy me a bottle of water?"
The topic was immediately diverted.
Su Rui stood in the corner, watching Ling Yao being cared for by his friends like a star, and listening to him naturally erasing his own existence, defining him as "an enthusiastic classmate he met on the road."
He slowly and slowly took one step back, then another, and finally quietly left the infirmary and closed the door gently.
He isolated himself from the noise inside, and also from that short and unreal world where only he and Ling Yao existed.
The corridor was deserted. He looked down at his hands, and the warmth and touch he had felt through the fabric of the other person's clothes still lingered in his palms.
Now, the only smell left is the smell of disinfectant.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
