The emotional wall built by time
The emergency room at Zhongnao was bright, spacious, and elegant, but it was packed. It wasn't a scene of bloodshed and horrific violence, but rather a throng of patients with various emergencies, injuries, and sudden illnesses. The air was thick with disinfectant and a sense of restlessness. Long lines formed in front of the triage counter, and the nurses were kept busy.
Lin Yang supported Gu Yansheng and squeezed to the triage desk. He anxiously said to the nurse, "Nurse, please take a look! My colleague's arm was cut by a knife. The wound is quite deep and has been bleeding! Can you treat it quickly?"
The nurse raised her eyes and quickly glanced at the arm that Gu Yansheng was holding. The gauze was soaked with blood, but the patient was conscious and there was no sign of heavy bleeding.
She handed over an emergency room registration form with a blank expression. "Go register and pay first, then go to the surgical emergency room and wait in line. The doctor will call you after he finishes treating the patients inside."
"We still have to wait in line? Look how much blood he's lost!" Lin Yang pointed at Gu Yansheng's arm, his tone anxious, "Can't you give him priority?"
The nurse was obviously used to seeing anxious family members, and her tone carried a subtle hint of fatigue and professional calmness. She raised her hand and pointed to the door of Emergency Room No. 1 not far away. A cleaning lady was laboriously wiping a shocking pool of dark red blood on the ground that had not yet completely dried.
"See that pool of blood? If someone is bleeding that much, the doctor will probably rush out to see you right away. Do you have any? If not, please follow the procedure and wait in line. The doctor will treat you according to the severity of the disease."
After she finished speaking, she stopped looking at them and lowered her head to deal with the next patient in triage.
Lin Yang's face turned pale at her words. He looked at the pool of blood, then at Gu Yansheng's pale, sweaty face and the blood-stained gauze. He felt distressed and angry, but he could do nothing. He frowned, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Lin Yang, forget it, don't worry." Gu Yansheng comforted him softly, his voice a little weak due to the pain. "The nurse is right, I can wait. It's worth a while. Just follow the rules."
He tried to force a soothing smile, but the constant stinging from the wound on his arm and the dizziness from blood loss made his vision blurry, and cold sweat slid down his forehead.
At this moment, the heavy electric door of Emergency Room No. 1 slid open to both sides with a "swish".
Jiang Lin, a tall figure in a dark green washcloth, walked out first. He was wearing a white coat and a blue surgical mask on his face, revealing only a pair of deep and sharp eyes and a furrowed brow.
As he took off his gloves that were stained with dark red blood, he whispered something to the emergency doctor, exuding a cold aura and an unquestionable sense of authority.
Jiang Lin habitually raised his eyes and glanced at the slightly noisy emergency hall. The next second, his sight fell on the familiar figure near the triage desk.
Gu Yansheng was being supported by Lin Yang, his face was as pale as paper, his right hand was tightly pressing the glaring, blood-stained gauze on his left arm, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his whole body exuded a sense of fragility as he was trying to endure the pain.
Jiang Lin's deep eyes sank instantly, and his tightly furrowed brows almost twisted into the shape of the Chinese character "川". The already cold aura around him suddenly dropped to freezing point, bringing with it a substantial low pressure, making the air around him seem to stagnate a little.
Without any hesitation, he strode towards Gu Yansheng, the hem of his white coat bringing up a gust of cold wind behind him.
Gu Yansheng also saw Jiang Lin. His heart subconsciously tightened when he met his cold eyes. He endured the piercing pain and forced a smile, his voice a little weak and awkward. "Jiang... Jiang Lin? What a coincidence..."
He tried to lighten his tone, but his pale face and the cold sweat on his forehead made the smile seem particularly forced.
Lin Yang, who was standing next to Gu Yansheng, was enveloped by Jiang Lin's extremely oppressive gaze and the sudden low pressure. He felt his breath was choked, his back instantly tensed, and cold sweat broke out on his palms.
The aura of "Doctor Jiang," his childhood friend whom he had met at the research institute that day, was now even more powerful and...dangerous than he had imagined. He subconsciously took a small step towards Gu Yansheng, acting as a protector, but under Jiang Lin's cold gaze, he felt an inexplicable sense of nervousness and unease.
"Follow me." The voice came through the mask, low and concise, with an unquestionable command. He didn't even glance at Lin Yang, as if the other party was just air.
Lin Yang was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously wanted to follow him, "Doctor Jiang, Brother Gu..."
Jiang Lin paused, turned his head, and glanced coldly at Lin Yang's hand that was resting on Gu Yansheng's right arm. The chill in his eyes made Lin Yang's next words instantly stuck in his throat. He felt an invisible pressure, and the hand involuntarily loosened.
"You, go register and pay." Jiang Lin said this to Lin Yang, and his gaze returned to Gu Yansheng. His tone was absolutely dominant and could not be negotiated.
"Walk!"
Gu Yansheng felt a little breathless under Jiang Lin's aura. He was too familiar with this situation - Jiang Lin was angry, and very angry. He didn't dare to say much, endured the pain, and obediently followed Jiang Lin's pace, his steps still a little unsteady.
Lin Yang watched the two people's backs as they quickly left, especially Gu Yansheng's "well-behaved and obedient" and even a little "cowardly" look in front of Jiang Lin, which was completely different from the calm and gentle look when he was comforting himself just now.
A complex emotion surged in his heart, a mixture of worry, loss, and a hint of indescribable bitterness. He gritted his teeth and turned around to register and pay.
Jiang Lin led Gu Yansheng straight through the emergency room and pushed open a door labeled "Treatment Room." The environment here was noticeably quieter, and the equipment was complete. Jiang Lin closed the door, shutting out the noise outside.
"Sit down." He pointed to the bed, his voice still cold and hard.
Gu Yansheng sat down as he was told, and the pain in his arm made him gasp.
Jiang Lin walked to the sink and cleaned his hands thoroughly using surgical handwashing techniques, his movements as standard as a textbook. He put on his gloves, making a slight rubbery rubbing sound that was particularly clear in the quiet treatment room.
He picked up the surgical tools for cleaning wounds and walked in front of Gu Yansheng, looking down at him and saying, "Take your hands away."
Gu Yansheng slowly removed his right hand, which had been pressing against the wound. The blood-soaked gauze clung to the wound, the cloth and the clotted blood mixed together, giving it a rather hideous appearance.
Jiang Lin's eyes did not fluctuate at all, as if the person in front of him was not someone he was familiar with, but just an ordinary trauma case.
He carefully lifted the sleeve of his blood-soaked lab coat with tweezers, revealing a wound about five centimeters long. The wound's edges weren't particularly neat, and it seemed to have penetrated the dermis. The flesh was slightly turned outward. Fortunately, no major blood vessels had been damaged, but it was still slowly oozing blood.
He picked up a bottle of saline rinse and pointed it at the wound.
"Hiss..." The cold liquid washed over the exposed wound, washing away some of the blood stains and also bringing a strong sense of stimulation. Gu Yansheng's body trembled violently, and his arm subconsciously retracted.
"Don't move!" Jiang Lin's voice was as cold as ice. His big hands wearing sterile gloves were like pliers, instantly clamping Gu Yansheng's wrist and fixing his entire arm firmly on the treatment table. The force was so great that Gu Yansheng couldn't break free at all.
His movements were precise and steady, with the almost ruthless control that only a surgeon can possess.
After the saline solution, there was an even harsher disinfectant—iodine. When the dark brown liquid was poured onto the wound, a sharp, burning pain suddenly exploded!
"Ah!" Gu Yansheng's vision darkened with pain, his forehead instantly covered with cold sweat, his body shaking violently and uncontrollably, and he bit his lower lip tightly to prevent a cry. He instinctively wanted to pull his hand back again.
However, the hand stuck on his wrist didn't budge, as if welded to it. Jiang Lin didn't even pause for a second because of his struggle, instead using his other hand to wipe the inside of the wound with a cotton swab, ensuring it was thoroughly disinfected.
His eyes were fixed intently on the wound, his expression invisible through the mask, but his tense jawline and the chill emanating from his body revealed his suppressed anger at the moment.
Gu Yansheng felt so much pain that tears welled up in his eyes. He knew Jiang Lin too well.
This "ruthless machine"-like approach was precisely a manifestation of Jiang Lin's extreme anger. He didn't dare to move anymore and could only endure it, his body trembling slightly.
"How did it happen?" Jiang Lin's voice finally rang out again. Through the mask, his emotions were undetectable, but each word weighed like ice beads. His hands continued to work, cleaning the necrotic tissue from the edge of the wound.
Gu Yansheng knew he couldn't hide it, and he also knew Jiang Lin was angry. He endured the pain, and with a little subtle grievance and weakness in his voice, he explained it in detail bit by bit:
"It was... it was Xiao Hu from the project team. He had someone outside who was called over. His wife, who was still in confinement after giving birth, rushed over with the baby in her arms. It was a chaotic scene... That... that woman was waving a box cutter around... I saw Xiao Hu's wife, holding the baby, unable to stand steadily and about to fall... Right next to her was the woman with the knife... I was afraid something might happen to them, so I rushed over to try to separate them... In the chaos... I don't know how..."
His voice got lower and lower as he spoke, because Jiang Lin seemed to be a little heavier when cleaning the wound, causing him to gasp in pain.
"So, you're brave enough to act as a human shield?" Jiang Lin finally raised his eyes, his gaze piercing Gu Yansheng coldly. His gaze was so sharp that it seemed to see through everything, filled with intense questioning and...fear.
At this moment, Lin Yang took the registration form and payment receipt and carefully opened the door of the treatment room. What he saw was this scene:
Gu Yansheng was sitting on the bed, his face pale, his eyes slightly red, his hair soaked with cold sweat and sticking to his forehead. He was looking up at Jiang Lin who was standing in front of him.
His arm was firmly fixed on the table by Jiang Lin, and he allowed the other party to "roughly" treat the wound. With an almost aggrieved and dependent expression on his face, he was explaining in detail how he was injured in a low voice, as if he was confiding in and... admitting his mistake to the person he trusted most.
Although the cold-faced doctor Jiang's actions seemed ruthless, Lin Yang keenly noticed that when Gu Yansheng described the chaotic scene, the joints of Jiang Lin's fingers holding the tweezers turned slightly white; when Gu Yansheng said that he rushed over, the cotton swab that Jiang Lin was wiping the wound paused for an imperceptible moment.
This atmosphere… Lin Yang's heart sank. This wasn't just an ordinary doctor-patient relationship; it was more than just friendship.
In front of Jiang Lin, Gu Yansheng cast aside all his outward calmness and composure as a senior, revealing his most genuine and even somewhat vulnerable side. It was a trust and habit that had been ingrained in his bones over the years.
And underneath Jiang Lin's seemingly cold anger, there was clearly an intense concern.
Lin Yang stood at the door, holding the receipt in his hand, feeling like a sudden intruder.
He looked at the unconscious dependence Gu Yansheng showed towards Jiang Lin, a look that only he would show towards the closest person, and compared it with the gentle restraint he had shown when comforting himself before...
A strong sense of loss and indescribable jealousy instantly gripped his heart. He had to admit that some relationships were indeed barriers that could only be forged over a long period of time.
For example, the cold-faced childhood friend doctor in front of him. He silently took a half step back, gently closed the door, and did not go in to disturb her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
