Liao Nanxing looked at Xu Xiuzhen, who was lying on the hospital bed and had difficulty even speaking, and fell into deep thought.
In my ear, I could hear the old lady stammering for a long time, unable to make herself clear.
He gave a few perfunctory "uh-huhs," not really hearing what the old lady was saying at all.
I've made up my mind.
However... now is not the best time to talk about this.
"Mom, if you're tired, go to sleep for a while. I'll watch over things here," Liao Nanxing said.
Xu Xiuzhen nodded and closed her eyes.
Liao Nanxing glanced at the IV drip that wasn't finished yet; less than a third of the large bottle had been used, with two-thirds still remaining.
He glanced at the urine bag hanging by the bed. The nurse said that he needed to record his daily urine output and that he should empty it when it was almost full for easy recording.
The urine bag must have been emptied by the nurse before he arrived, so it was empty.
I adjusted the chair, leaned over the edge of the bed, and closed my eyes.
He hasn't had a good night's sleep for seven days in a row.
He spent all seven nights in the detention center standing up.
He also had to do labor during the day, and several times he almost fell asleep while eating.
Now he's finally out, and he can finally close his eyes and sleep for a while.
A voice kept telling Liao Nanxing, "Just sleep for a while, it'll be fine."
Then... people said they had no feeling, and then they had no feeling.
He didn't even know when he fell asleep.
Until someone shook him and scolded, "Family member of bed 19! Wake up! Wake up!"
Liao Nanxing frowned, and when she looked up, her neck and shoulders felt sore and numb.
"What's wrong?" he asked groggily.
Through his blurry vision, a nurse stood in front of him.
Because he couldn't open his eyes wide enough, he couldn't see the nurse's face or expression.
"You have the nerve to ask what happened? Your mother is still in critical condition, how can you sleep? I brought you here to take care of her, not to sleep here!"
Liao Nanxing then remembered that he was in the hospital, and the old lady had just been rescued and was still under observation.
He patted his face, trying to wake himself up.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Your mother's urine bag is about to burst!" The nurse pointed to his leg.
Liao Nanxing looked down and saw that the once empty urine bag was now swollen like a balloon, filled with yellow liquid.
"I...I'll fall down right away."
I hurriedly got up and reached out, only to realize that I didn't know what to do.
He looked at the nurse with embarrassment.
"Excuse me, how do I do this?"
The nurse rolled her eyes.
"Uncle, you're so old, you don't even know how to put in a urine bag?"
Liao Nanxing awkwardly licked his lips.
He genuinely didn't know.
Before marrying Zhou Chunhua, the old lady rarely got sick, especially when she needed to be hospitalized.
Although there were one or two instances, they were always taken care of by my father or by a hired caregiver.
Not long after he married Zhou Chunhua, his father fell seriously ill. At the same time, he was in the prime of his career and had no time to take care of his father at his bedside.
Therefore, the task of taking care of her elderly father naturally fell to Zhou Chunhua.
Whether in the hospital or at home, whether doing laundry, cooking, or emptying bedpans, Zhou Chunhua did everything perfectly, never letting him lift a finger.
After her father passed away, the old lady grew old and her health deteriorated. She was hospitalized for various illnesses and pains, and Zhou Chunhua took care of her every time.
To put it simply, before his divorce from Zhou Chunhua, he didn't even know where the hospital cafeteria was, let alone how to empty the urine bag.
"Move aside." The nurse pushed him aside, took the bedpan out from under the bed, and started to urinate.
"Did you see that clearly? After you've finished urinating, put this plug back in, then take the urine in the basin to the toilet to empty it. When you come back, remember to register it."
Liao Nanxing nodded quickly and memorized the steps the nurse had just explained.
"And one more thing! You can't fall asleep again this time! The blood just flowed back into the IV line! Luckily it was an IV line, otherwise we would have had to get it reinserted!"
This time, the nurse didn't wait for his reply. She shook her head impatiently, her face longer than a horse's, and turned to leave the ward.
The urine bag was empty under the edge of the bed.
Liao Nanxing squatted down and reached out to put the small plug back in.
However, when his hand touched the warm, wet urine bag tube, goosebumps instantly covered his entire body.
On his arms, the hair stood on end visibly.
His fingers simply slipped out of his control.
Looking at the water droplets on his fingers, Liao Nanxing even felt that he couldn't keep this finger anymore.
"Oh? You think it's dirty?" A disdainful laugh came from the direction of the next bed.
"That's your mother! She never looked down on you when you were little, and now you're looking down on her?"
Liao Nanxing glanced at the woman who had spoken, but ignored her.
The woman continued, "It's obvious you've never done this before. If you really can't do it, then hire a caregiver."
Hire a caregiver?
Where would he get the money to hire a caregiver now?
With gritted teeth, he closed his eyes and tightened the small valve at the bottom of the urine bag.
Then, carrying the nearly overflowing yellow liquid, he left the ward and headed straight for the restroom at the end of the corridor.
Previously, when the elderly lady was hospitalized, she always had a private room with a private bathroom.
But things are different now. He can no longer afford it and can only stay in a multi-person ward where several people are crammed together and there is no bathroom.
Lost in thought, someone suddenly came out of the door of the ward next to her. Liao Nanxing couldn't dodge in time and bumped into the person.
With a whoosh, the urine in the chamber pot overflowed, soaking his pants, socks, and shoes.
Even the hand holding the bedpan wasn't spared.
A warm sensation swept over his fingers, his knuckles tightened, and a wave of nausea washed over him as he ran toward the nearby bathroom.
After emptying his bladder, he rushed to the sink outside, turned the water on full blast, and rinsed himself repeatedly.
But no matter how he rinsed it, he felt it wasn't clean.
For the first time, he realized that such seemingly insignificant little things could actually have such a great psychological impact.
He and the old lady were mother and son, people who had given birth to and raised him, and were related by blood. If he was like this, what about Zhou Chunhua?
She was essentially a complete stranger to the old man and the old woman. The psychological impact of her actions must have been even greater.
These seemingly insignificant little things are actually the most unacceptable.
Liao Nanxing spent a long time washing her hands.
He spent even longer washing the wet trouser legs.
When he returned to the ward, the nurse who had scolded him earlier was changing the old lady's dressing.
As soon as he came in, the nurse rolled her eyes at him.
"I really don't know how you can be a son! You spent over an hour just emptying a pee bottle, leaving your mother here unattended. Do you have any conscience?"
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