Chapter Thirty-Nine: Outside the Operating Room
After Chen Weiqi left, Chu Zhen didn't leave. He said that when he kissed me, there was a faint smell of fried chicken, which felt pretty good. He had to stay and eat fried chicken and drink beer. He wanted to see if a passionate kiss in the snow or eating fried chicken and drinking beer like this would be more romantic.
There are countless excuses a man can use to stay, and Chu Zhen's excuse was one I couldn't refute. This was also the first time he had stayed overnight at my place. Compared to his two-meter-wide bed, my one-and-a-half-meter-wide single bed did make it a bit cramped for him. After a brief meal of fried chicken and beer, he slept in my bed, using the excuse that the bed was too small to hold me tightly. I really don't know how I fell asleep that night.
"Lin Dang, your mother fell off her bike last night and is going to have surgery this morning." My dad called as soon as I turned on my phone.
"How did this happen? Is it serious?" I panicked for a moment.
"Do you have time? Can you come back? I'm feeling a bit lost." My father's voice was choked up on the other end of the phone. A man who dotes on his wife like this must be panicking at this moment. Moreover, this should be the first time my mother has been hospitalized since the time she gave birth to me.
"Okay, I'll be right back." Luckily, I don't have any classes recently, and with the New Year's Day holiday, I can stay home for a while.
"What happened?" Chu Zhen also woke up.
"I'm going back to City B now. It snowed last night, and my mom fell off her bike. She needs surgery soon," I said as I packed my things.
Is it serious?
"I don't know, I have to go back quickly, my dad is getting a little panicked."
"I'll go back with you." Chu Zhen got up and put on his clothes.
"No, you still have to go to work. I can go back by myself."
"I'll take you home. I'm worried about you being alone." Chu Zhen didn't give me a chance to argue and picked up my suitcase to leave.
I didn't refuse. After a quick wash, Chu Zhen and I set off. I didn't know how much Huang Yanyan had drunk last night, and she still hadn't woken up. To avoid worrying her, I didn't wake her.
"Lin Dang, could you tell me which hospital your mother is in?" Chu Zhen asked as he drove.
I called my uncle and asked him about his condition and the hospital.
"Don't worry, my friend is in this hospital. I'll call him." Chu Zhen then made a call to his friend. I heard that everything was fine, and that he was there so I could rest assured. My heart calmed down.
"Don't worry, he's the head of orthopedics. Your mother was under the care of one of his students, but now he's personally performing the surgery," Chu Zhen reassured me.
"Okay, thank you~"
"You've done something silly again, haven't you? Why are you thanking me!"
City A and City B are adjacent to each other. What used to be a little over an hour's drive took more than two hours because of the snow. When we arrived at the hospital, my mother was still in surgery.
"You're back. The chief physician is performing surgery on your mother. He said he's Chu Zhen's friend." My father said, taking my hand as he saw me. In just one night, my father looked very haggard, and his eyes were filled with panic.
"Yes, Chu Zhen made the contact, and Chu Zhen is here too." Because he came in such a hurry, Chu Zhen didn't bring anything with him. He just went downstairs to the supermarket to buy some gifts. Even though it was a meeting under these circumstances, it was still the first visit.
"Where is everyone?" Dad looked behind me.
"Come up in a bit!"
"Your uncle and aunt are here too. Your aunt went back to prepare the meal, and your uncle is downstairs by the bed. They should all be here soon."
"Why are they all here?" I was a little surprised. Wouldn't this mean everyone would know about Chu Zhen?
"Who wouldn't be worried after finding out about this? Everyone came over last night."
"Okay, I understand!" At this moment, I could only hope that Chu Zhen would perform well and pass the test from all the aunts and uncles.
When Chu Zhen came up, he had quite a lot of stuff, and since we were at the entrance of the operating room, this commotion attracted a crowd of onlookers.
"Hello, Uncle~" Chu Zhen greeted her father very politely.
"You must be tired from the journey. Look how much trouble you've gone through."
"It's alright, it's nothing."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the atmosphere became awkward.
"I've brought all the things for the hospital stay and put them in the ward. My older sister and the others will be here in a little while," my uncle said to my dad as he came up, looking travel-worn, completely ignoring me.
"Okay, Lin Dang is back~" Dad pointed at me, and only then did my uncle turn around and see me.
"You're back. It's alright, don't worry. The chief physician said it's just a broken bone, so you'll have to suffer a bit." My uncle was more composed than my father.
"Hello, Uncle~" Chu Zhen greeted him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Lin Dang's boyfriend," Chu Zhen introduced himself. I saw my uncle's surprised expression, as well as my dad's. It was then that I realized the two brothers really did look alike; even their expressions were perfectly synchronized.
"Friend, friend~" I said quickly. After I started dating Chu Zhen, I hadn't told my parents yet. I was planning to find an opportunity to tell them, but I didn't expect our first formal meeting to be under these circumstances.
My father and uncle didn't press me further, but I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to escape so easily when facing my aunts and uncles.
"Chu Zhen, don't you have something to do at work? Why don't you go ahead?" I said loudly to Chu Zhen on purpose, which indeed caught my father's attention.
"Go back first if you have something to do. Your aunt is doing fine," Dad said.
"It's okay, I'll wait until Auntie's surgery is over before I leave. I can also talk to my classmate about the situation."
Dad didn't refuse; perhaps Chu Zhen's words suited his wishes perfectly. For the rest of the time, the four of us sat blankly outside the operating room until finally, the doctor came out.
"The surgery went smoothly. The patient is now under anesthesia. We'll call him every half hour from now on," the doctor told the father.
"What exactly happened? My dad didn't tell us much detail either," I asked as I stepped forward.
The doctor looked at me, then at Chu Zhen, and I could clearly see a smile on his lips.
"It's nothing serious. I fractured my left shoulder bone, but the surgery is all done. I just need to rest for a while. As for the lump on my head, it's fine too. It should go away on its own soon, so don't worry!"
"Thank you!"
"It's alright, Chu Zhen and I are like brothers, I won't neglect anything he asks me to do." The doctor looked at Chu Zhen behind him, "Want to sit in my office for a bit?"
"I'll come find you after Auntie settles down in her ward."
The doctor didn't linger and started the next surgery. I used to be very afraid of going to the hospital, always feeling that facing a cold and indifferent face would inexplicably worsen my mood. But after my last hospitalization and my mother's surgery this time, I realized that doctors are actually quite good, especially the one in front of me, who can be described as an "angel".
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