I ran into the yard with my head down, and you can imagine the force of the impact. Not only was Ye Zhi's lip cut, but my nose was also sore and painful. But the responsibility definitely lies with me. I wasn't looking where I was going when I ran, while she walked out of the yard normally.
Looking at Ye Zhi's furrowed brows, I felt very awkward and couldn't say a word for a moment.
Nicole, who was right behind us, stood between the two of us and said to me in a reproachful tone, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I had dinner with friends tonight and came back to get my wallet... I didn't mean to, I didn't expect you guys to suddenly come out of there."
"Your nose is bleeding."
"What?"
"Your nose is bleeding, you should wipe it off quickly."
I instinctively touched it with my hand and found my hand covered in blood. Nicole quickly took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to me.
As I wiped myself with a tissue, I said apologetically to Ye Zhi, "I'm sorry, they were all urging me to go eat, so I was a little anxious... Are you alright?"
Ye Zhi spat out the blood into the trash can, then shook her head at me to indicate that she was alright.
I tilted my head back to stop the blood from flowing down...
Nicole then said to me, "Michael, shouldn't you go to the hospital? You look like you've been seriously injured!"
"It's okay, I'm fine."
"I'm afraid you've broken your nose. You should go to the hospital to get it checked out."
When Nicole said that, I felt my nose hurt even more, but I had to pretend to be strong and said "It's okay" several times.
"Stop being stubborn now. I think Ye Zhi was also badly injured. You two should go to the hospital together... If it's a broken nose, you'll be disfigured!"
I mumbled back, "Who's being stubborn? My nose's about to be knocked off!"
"What, you're trying to extort Ye Zhi?"
"I was trying to extort money... You better lend me the guts."
"Stop joking around, let's go to the hospital right away."
...
At the hospital, Ye Zhi and I sat together on a bench in the corridor waiting for our appointments. She was fine, but my nosebleed wouldn't stop, so much so that I used up a lot of tissues along the way...
She finally spoke and asked me, "Are you in a lot of pain?"
"It didn't hurt, it's just that my blood and energy have been a bit too strong lately, so letting out some blood is a good thing!"
Ye Zhi glanced at me, hesitated for a moment, and then took out a wet wipe from her bag, wanting to wipe the parts of me that I couldn't easily see.
I instinctively flinched...
She looked a little embarrassed and withdrew her hand. She looked out the window, seemingly calm, but I could sense her unease because her hand was unconsciously tugging at the corner of the wet wipe.
I didn't know what to say. After a moment of silence, I finally mustered up the courage to take the tissue from her hand and wipe myself haphazardly.
After waiting for a while, the doctor inside finally called my number, but I didn't get up immediately. I said to Ye Zhi, "You go in first."
"I don't need to see anything, it's just a little sore in my mouth, it'll heal on its own... You should go inside now."
"If you weren't going to look, why did you follow me here in the first place?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I shouldn't have been so blunt. She must have followed me out of concern, but she wouldn't have said those words out loud.
The doctor called again from inside, but I didn't say anything more and went in by myself... At the same time, Nicole, who had gone out to buy water, also came back. I don't know if she was deliberately giving us some space. If so, I don't think it was necessary, because when we were alone together, it was more awkward than anything else.
...
The doctor examined me and diagnosed me with local soft tissue swelling and bruising, which would resolve on its own in about a week, so no special treatment was needed.
When I came out of the examination room, Ye Zhi was gone. Only Nicole and another patient waiting for diagnosis were left on the bench.
Nicole stood up and asked me, "What do you mean?"
"It's alright, just rest and recover on your own..." After a short pause, I asked again, "Where is she?"
"I went to the restroom."
"They called her number, isn't she going to look at it?"
"She's fine... Can't you tell? She came along because she was worried about you."
I remain silent.
Nicole then said to me, "Let's have dinner together later, she's going back to Shanghai tomorrow."
"No, Chen Jin and another friend are still waiting at the restaurant."
As I spoke, I took out the prescription the doctor had given me from my pocket, and then said to Nicole, "Buy her a tube of this ointment later. It's for improving blood circulation and reducing swelling. The doctor said it's very effective."
Why don't you go buy it yourself?
"Nicole, please don't do this. I really feel embarrassed... Could you do me a favor?"
"Fine... I really don't understand why you guys are like this."
"I don't understand either... but there's no need to pursue it anymore... that's it, I'm leaving now."
As I spoke, I put my coat back on and walked towards the elevator at the end of the corridor before Nicole could.
While waiting for the elevator, I looked out the window at the distant starry sky again... It was so clean there, but I felt inexplicably lost and empty, as if something was missing.
...
When they arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant, Yu Tou and Chen Jin had already eaten half of their meal. Both of them were very outgoing, and in no time at all, they were holding wine glasses and calling each other brothers.
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