131. Inner Prison
Yu Chuanbei withdrew his hand hesitantly and slowly sat back in the chair. His voice was sad and hoarse: "Ling, I'm sorry, it's all my fault, but you have to bear the consequences." Ling Ling still turned her face away, not looking at him, and sneered: "Don't you think this matter has nothing to do with you? Questioning whose child it is or something like that." "No!" Yu Chuanbei straightened his body and defended anxiously, "I won't think of you that way, and I won't doubt you, Ling, you have never done anything wrong, it's all me, I'm a bastard! I..." He was silent for a long time, and then he said with a trembling cry in his voice: "That time, I was a rapist; now, I'm a murderer." He said this in a heavy tone, and Ling Ling felt depressed and suffocated. "If we can still be together, if this child can be born smoothly and grow up healthily, how great it would be." His mournful voice became lighter, but more desolate, "Ling, can you come back with me after you are discharged from the hospital? You need to rest well, I will take care of you." "No need." Ling Ling refused decisively, "I don't want to see you again, go away." "Ling, can you give me a chance to make it up to you? I will ask you to do anything." He begged for mercy in a crying voice. Ling Ling turned her head and looked at him. It was the first time she saw him cry, but she did not soften her heart. There were tears in her eyes, but there was hatred at the same time, "And then what? You symbolically made amends, and then you felt better. After that, you were still noble, and I had to act as if I had never been hurt in order to appear magnanimous." "No, Ling, it's not..." Yu Chuanbei said at a loss. "I told you I don't want to see you again. If you truly want to make amends, please disappear from my life. Get out!" Ling Ling struggled to hold herself up, but every movement in her lower body caused a tearing pain, fueling her hatred for him even more. She yelled at him, using all her strength to completely break away from him. Yu Chuanbei stood there for a long, bewildered moment before turning away in grief. The moment he left her ward, he felt like he was being escorted to a dark execution ground, a seemingly endless corridor where he had sentenced himself to life imprisonment. Yu Chuanbei didn't show up for the next two days, but he hired a dedicated caregiver for her. Once she was able to walk again, she fired the caregiver, unwilling to owe him any more favors. Tomorrow was Monday, and she was ready to go through the discharge procedures. She collected all the test results by herself and went to each window to pay the bills. Yu Chuanbei silently...
Yu Chuanbei slowly withdrew his hand and slowly sat back in his chair. His voice was mournful and hoarse, "Ling, I'm sorry. This is all my fault, and you have to bear the consequences."
Ling Ling still turned her face away, not looking at him. She sneered and said, "Don't you think this matter has nothing to do with you? Questioning whose the child is."
"No!" Yu Chuanbei straightened up and defended himself anxiously, "I don't think about you that much, and I won't doubt you, Ling. You've never done anything wrong. It's all my fault, I'm a bastard! I..." He was silent for a long moment, then said with a trembling voice, "That time, I was a rapist; now, I'm a murderer."
He said this in a very serious tone, and Ling Ling felt so depressed that she couldn't breathe.
"How wonderful it would be if we could still be together, if this child could be born safely and grow up healthily." His mournful voice became a little lighter, but even more desolate. "Ling, will you come back with me after you're discharged from the hospital? You need to rest well, and I'll take care of you."
"No need." Ling Ling refused decisively, "I don't want to see you again, go away."
"Ling, can you give me a chance to make it up to you? I'll ask you to do anything." He begged for mercy in a crying voice.
Ling Ling turned her head and looked at him. It was the first time she saw him cry, but she didn't soften her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes, but at the same time, there was hatred. "And then what? You symbolically made amends, and then you felt better. After that, you were still noble, and I had to act as if I had never been hurt in order to appear magnanimous."
"No, Ling, it's not..." Yu Chuanbei said in a panic.
"I said I don't want to see you again. If you really want to make amends, please disappear from my life from now on. Get out!" Ling Ling tried hard to support her body, but her lower body still felt a tearing pain when she moved. The pain stimulated her to hate him even more. She yelled at him, using all her strength to completely break away from him.
Yu Chuanbei stood there bewildered for a long moment before turning away in grief. Leaving her ward, he felt as if he were being escorted to a dark execution ground, a seemingly endless corridor where he had sentenced himself to life imprisonment.
Yu Chuanbei didn't show up for the next two days, but he hired a diligent caregiver for her. After she was able to walk again, she fired the caregiver because she didn't want to owe him any favors.
Tomorrow is Monday, and she's going to go through the discharge procedures. She collected all the test results by herself and went to each window to pay the bills.
Yu Chuanbei silently watched her from a distance, out of her sight. Seeing her struggling and occasionally showing signs of pain, he couldn't help but feel distressed. But he didn't dare approach her. He knew Ling Ling wanted to completely break off all ties with her. He even felt that if he touched her again, it would be a defilement in both her and his heart.
He wondered if he could contact Zhong Mingtong to help take care of her, considering the hospital where she worked. But what was his role? Furthermore, if Ling Ling needed Zhong Mingtong's care, given her relationship with him, would he really need to get involved? Furthermore, if Ling Ling and Zhong Mingtong had a romantic relationship, with the potential for further development, who would want their relationship to start with Zhong Mingtong taking care of her ex-boyfriend after a miscarriage?
He was helpless and desperate, but suddenly he saw a man in a white coat walking towards Ling Ling. The documents in her hand happened to be scattered on the ground. She bent down with difficulty to pick them up, but the man got there first.
"Lingling, why are you here?" The speaker was Zhong Mingtong.
Ling Ling was stunned for a moment, then took the reorganized documents from his hand, smiled at him and said, "Thank you."
"Are you feeling unwell?" Zhong Mingtong asked her worriedly. Seeing that she was wearing hospital gown, he had a bad feeling.
"No." Ling Ling tried to sound more relaxed and said, "It was just—an abortion."
After Ling Ling said this, the conversation between the two of them fell into a vacuum for a few seconds.
"It's okay." Zhong Mingtong spoke first, and he seemed relieved. "It's just a minor operation, it's okay." He added, as if giving himself a reassurance.
Hearing him say this, Ling Ling no longer felt so embarrassed. She continued, "I've completed the discharge procedures and will be leaving soon."
Zhong Mingtong wanted to say something more, but stopped herself. She took the bag of medicine hanging from her wrist and said, "Then I'll take you back to the ward."
Seeing Zhong Mingtong leave with Ling Ling, Yu Chuanbei felt relieved, but also discouraged. In fact, he had always wanted to ask Ling Ling a question: If she had met Zhong Mingtong first and then met Yu Chuanbei, what would she choose?
He thought, she may not decisively tell the result, but as long as he hesitated, he felt that he had already failed miserably. He could not bear the possible consequences of this question, so he never asked it.
Now he had no right to be jealous, but when had his emotions ever yielded to his reason? All he could do was turn around and leave.
Ling Ling returned to the ward, changed her clothes, and packed her belongings to prepare for discharge. Zhong Mingtong completed the last piece of paperwork for her and came to the ward to hand it over to her.
Ling Ling took it and said gratefully, "Thank you, Dr. Zhong. You always show up when I need help the most. I owe you so much, I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you."
Zhong Mingtong smiled calmly and said, "I never felt that you owed me anything. If you enjoy doing something, you won't feel owed anything."
Ling Ling just thought he was being polite. She couldn't possibly think that he was flirting with a seamless new love in the ward where she was being treated for a miscarriage.
Zhong Mingtong continued, "Although you've been discharged, you should still rest for a while. I just heard from your attending physician that this was a medical malpractice at that private hospital. Although it hasn't harmed your future fertility, the trauma is quite severe, so you shouldn't go to work."
Ling Ling immediately protested, "How can that be! Tomorrow is Monday, the busiest day of the week. There are still many things to communicate with each other. If I'm not here, everyone will be busy. My illness is quite sensible. It can be cured in one weekend and it won't affect my work on Monday at all. As for that private hospital, I have already talked to the attending doctor and collected all the evidence. I must take them to court and can't let them hurt people again!" Ling Ling said indignantly.
Zhong Mingtong sighed and continued to persuade him, "As long as it can be considered work, even if it's repetitive labor, it's no big deal. We are all just parts on the assembly line, and there are countless replacements. If someone is gone, anyone can take over."
Ling Ling retorted, "That's different. I'm doing creative work! Besides, Dr. Zhong, if there's a critically ill patient waiting for your surgery today and you can't come, their life will be in danger! It's just a miscarriage, it shouldn't be a big deal. I heard online that many young women who have miscarriages often spend the night in internet cafes after the surgery."
Zhong Mingtong, however, said sarcastically with a straight face, "Yes, that's right. Abortion is just a minor surgery. You can do it any way you want afterward. You don't have to worry about menstrual irregularities or even amenorrhea caused by uterine damage, nor do you have to worry about a decrease in immunity. You can also consider endometritis, vaginitis, and urinary incontinence as just probabilistic events. Even if cervical adhesions cause infertility, it's not a big deal. If pelvic organs are damaged during the surgery, they can be restored to their original state in a matter of minutes."
Ling Ling was genuinely frightened by his words; it was the first time she'd seen him look so serious. She felt like a legally illiterate person, having been painstakingly persuaded just before committing a heinous crime. So, with a playful smile, she said to him, "I've noticed. Once you put on that white coat, you feel like an emotionless, precision instrument, a walking medical encyclopedia. Okay, okay, Dr. Zhong, I'll ask for leave from work and work from home tomorrow."
Although the result was unsatisfactory, she compromised, and Zhong Mingtong nodded reluctantly. Seeing that she had packed everything and was about to leave with her backpack, he opened his mouth, wanting to say something to her, but felt it was inappropriate and swallowed it back.
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