Chapter 2 Car Accident
Lu Jingshen was swayed from side to side by her, but his face was full of indulgent smiles. He took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulder, and the two of them leaned against each other and looked up at the sky.
Shen Nian'an leaned on Zhou Yanzhe's shoulder, pointing at the star map and whispering something. Zhou Yanzhe listened quietly, occasionally responding in a low voice, the firelight dancing in his calm eyes.
Jiang Yining sat by the campfire, her knees drawn up to her chest, chin resting on her knees, gazing at the flames in a daze. The mountaintop was a little chilly at night. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulder; a jacket, warm with body heat and carrying a familiar, crisp scent, gently fell to her shoulder.
Xie Shiyan sat down beside her without saying a word, but they were very close, his outer arm pressed against hers, feeling a warm and firm touch.
Jiang Yining didn't move or look at him, but simply leaned her head slightly against his shoulder. The flickering firelight reflected a serene, almost imperceptible curve to her lips.
Two days flew by in laughter, playfulness, sharing delicious food, and quietly watching the clouds drift by. It was time to leave. The campsite was cleaned up thoroughly, leaving only the faint scorch marks from the campfire and the lingering fragrance of grass and trees in the air.
The three cars started one after another, winding their way down the mountain road. Jiang Yining sat in the passenger seat next to Xie Shiyan, the window slightly ajar, letting in the mountain wind that ruffled her hair.
She gazed out the window at the rapidly receding verdant mountain scenery, sunlight filtering through the treetops and casting dappled shadows that flickered in the car. This prompted her to softly hum an off-key tune.
Xie Shiyan glanced at her, a smile playing on his lips. He held the steering wheel with one hand and naturally reached out with the other to gently take her hand, which was resting on her lap.
His palms were large and warm, and his calloused fingertips gently caressed the back of her hand.
As the car approached the foot of the mountain, a fork in the road appeared ahead. The view opened up somewhat, and the blurry outline of a town could be seen in the distance. The sunlight was a bit dazzling.
Right now...
A fully loaded heavy truck veered out of control from the right-hand fork in the road. Its body filled the entire field of vision, moving at a breathtaking speed, and hurtled straight towards Xie Shiyan's small car, slamming into it from the side.
The glaring front of the car magnified rapidly in Jiang Yining's suddenly constricted pupils, and the shadow of death instantly seized all her senses.
“Ayan—”
A piercing, distorted scream tore through the air. The instant Xie Shiyan jerked the steering wheel, Jiang Yining unleashed astonishing strength, violently unbuckled her seatbelt, and with all her might, lunged recklessly toward the driver's seat.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Xie Shiyan's head, neck, and shoulders, trying to completely envelop and shield him with her body.
"Ningning, no—"
Xie Shiyan's bloodshot roar was drowned out by a deafening explosion.
boom--
The windshield shattered under the immense impact, turning into thousands of sharp, glaring hailstones that hurtled into the car and slammed into Jiang Yining's thin back.
A clear, crisp sound rang out.
That was the sound of bones breaking and shattering beyond repair. It burned away all of Jiang Yining's consciousness. The last thing she saw was Xie Shiyan's face, which had instantly lost all color, filled with extreme horror and despair.
Warm liquid, with a strong smell of rust, gushed down her forehead, the corners of her eyes, and the corners of her mouth, blurring her vision and drowning out her last bit of perception.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant, and the lights were cold and glaring. Xie Shiyan sat stiffly on a bench outside the emergency room, wearing a hospital gown stained with dark red spots haphazardly—a nurse had hastily given him after his own clothes were torn.
He was slightly hunched over, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms, leaving several bleeding crescent-shaped marks, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.
His eyes were fixed on the glaring red light above the emergency room, the red like congealed blood, burning his retinas. Every second felt like a dull knife cutting into his heart.
"Ningning... hold on... please..." Broken, incoherent murmurs escaped his cracked lips, trembling with despair. Cold sweat soaked his back, sending chills down his spine.
Clang—
The heavy door to the emergency room finally opened. The surgeon, dressed in green surgical scrubs, stepped out, his face etched with undisguised exhaustion and a suffocating solemnity.
He took off his mask and his gaze swept over the several pale faces that had instantly gathered around him outside the door—Jiang's father, who was trying to keep his back straight, was trembling slightly; Jiang's mother's red and swollen eyes had only a last glimmer of light remaining; and Jiang Yining's younger brother was biting his lower lip tightly, his body taut like a bow.
Xie Shiyan suddenly stood up, his movements stiff as a puppet, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the doctor's lips.
The doctor's lips moved a few times. "I'm so sorry... we... did our best. The patient suffered a traumatic brain injury combined with severe rupture of multiple organs... and all efforts to save him failed..."
Xie Shiyan couldn't hear a single word that followed.
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