Chapter 19 The Last Time I Called Him A-Zhi
"hiss--"
The fall was too fast and too heavy. Shi Nian's fingernails left several scratch marks on the handrail before she rolled down.
Shi Nian only had time to cover her stomach with her hands.
Everything happened in an instant.
On the stairwell platform, Han Wei and Lin Zhihuan bumped heads and fell to the ground together.
Lu Yanzhi felt something being pushed in the chaos, and then he saw Shi Nian rolling down the stairs.
He reached out to grab her, but he only grasped air.
The hallway was dimly lit, and the motion-sensor lights suddenly went out after there was no movement. The green "safety passage" light made everything seem particularly eerie.
Shi Nian, who had rolled down the stairs, managed to sit up. She looked up and saw Lu Yanzhi's hand, which he hadn't had time to retract.
He was the one who did it.
"Nian Nian!"
Lin Zhihuan's voice was trembling.
Her shouts made the motion-sensor lights turn back on.
She pushed Han Wei, who had fallen to the ground, aside and ran to the platform below the stairwell in a few quick steps.
"Niannian, how are you...?"
Lin Zhihuan's voice was full of sobs as she nervously supported Shi Nian.
Shi Nian's face was covered in cold sweat.
My body aches all over, my hands, feet, head, I've been hit and it hurts a lot.
But none of that compares to the pain in my stomach.
The pain was so intense that she almost fainted.
"Nian Nian..."
Lin Zhihuan was truly panicked because she knew Shi Nian's physical condition.
"He hit his head during the impact, suffering abrasions and a concussion."
"There's some bleeding down there. The baby hasn't been lost yet, but it's very dangerous. If we want to keep the baby, I'll probably have to stay in bed..."
The doctor had said these things to Shi Nian when she was first sent out.
Her doctor colleagues also told her that during the treatment, she begged them to save the child.
But now he's fallen down such a high staircase... all of this was for her, Lin Zhihuan!
As she thought about it, tears streamed down Lin Zhihuan's face; guilt almost overwhelmed her.
Lin Zhihuan immediately took out her phone to dial a number, her hands trembling as she pressed the screen.
"Niannian, I'll call for help right now. Hang in there."
Shi Nian was in so much pain that she couldn't speak.
She felt something constantly slipping away, something leaving her.
She endured the excruciating pain and looked up, only to see Lu Yanzhi turn around and help Han Wei up.
She opened her mouth, as if to call out to him to say something.
But no sound came out.
She watched as Lu Yanzhi pulled Han Wei into his arms.
Carefully and with great care.
The motion-activated lights in the emergency exit went out again, and the light shining in from outside the exit vaguely outlined the silhouettes of Lu Yanzhi and Han Wei standing together.
Tears streamed down her cheeks from the corners of her eyes, and Shi Nian's heart ached uncontrollably.
“Ah Zhi…”
Just as Lu Yanzhi was helping Han Wei out of the emergency exit, Shi Nian called out to him.
Lu Yanzhi stopped in his tracks.
He didn't turn around.
He simply stared calmly at the cold, white corridor outside the emergency exit.
It was late at night, and there weren't many people around outside; it was quiet.
Lu Yanzhi's heart, however, did not find peace.
There was chaos just now.
By the time he realized what was happening, Shi Nian had already tumbled down the stairs, and all he could see was his own hand that he hadn't pulled back.
His fingertips pierced his palms, and Lu Yanzhi's clenched fists trembled with force.
"Brother Yanzhi," Han Wei called out to him from beside him.
He looked down and saw Han Wei's swollen and red cheeks, as well as a small bump on her forehead.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he said calmly:
"Shi Nian, you'd better take care of yourself."
Then, he led Han Wei out of the safety passage.
"Lu Yanzhi!"
Behind him came Lin Zhihuan's heart-wrenching screams from inside the passageway.
This time, he did not stop.
Inside the emergency exit.
Shi Nian watched Lu Yanzhi leave.
As she left, Han Wei turned back and glanced at her.
His eyes were full of mockery, provocation, and smugness.
To adopt the posture of a victor.
Shi Nian closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.
Yes, she had already lost completely.
Why call him again?
Didn't she already foresee this outcome?
Unwilling to accept it?
Or is it because this child also carries his blood?
She had long warned herself to guard her heart.
Why break your promise?
Tears streamed down her face; her stomach ached terribly.
She was very sad.
I'm so sad I feel like I'm going to die.
"Huanhuan..."
She didn't know what to do, and just unconsciously called out Lin Zhihuan's name.
Lin Zhihuan was already crying her eyes out.
She kept wiping away Shi Nian's tears, but the tears kept falling, and she couldn't wipe them away no matter how hard she tried.
"Niannian, it's all my fault."
Lin Zhihuan cried and hugged Shi Nian tightly, saying, "I'm sorry, Nian Nian, I'm so sorry..."
Shi Nian was in so much pain that she was losing consciousness.
The scene from her dream seemed to reappear before her eyes.
The red skirts fluttering as his parents danced, and the innocent face of young Lu Yanzhi.
pain……
She was in so much pain.
[Mom, Dad, what should I do?]
Shi Nian cried until she was exhausted, sobbing intermittently.
Before losing consciousness, her hand reached out into the air, as if trying to grab something.
But in the end, she couldn't hold onto anything.
"Nian Nian!"
Lin Zhihuan watched as Shi Nian's hand fell limp, and she screamed in pain.
The motion-sensor lights in the hallway turned on again.
Lin Zhihuan saw a large patch of blood seeping from beneath Shi Nian.
It stained Shi Nian's clothes red, and it also stained Lin Zhihuan's white coat red.
She didn't know what to do, so she could only urge the doctor to come over quickly.
The doctors arrived quickly, lifted Shi Nian onto a stretcher, and rushed her to the emergency room.
"Don't worry, we'll save her." A colleague with whom she usually got along well patted Lin Zhihuan on the shoulder and comforted her before hurrying away.
Lin Zhihuan was left staring blankly at the large pool of blood on the ground.
She only reacted when the caregiver came to clean her up, wiped the tears from her face, and followed them to the emergency room.
...
On the other side.
Lu Yanzhi led Han Wei into the car.
The car door was closed, and the seatbelt was fastened, but he didn't start the car for a long time.
He seemed to see Shi Nian's eyes looking at him as he fell to the ground, appearing before his eyes again and again.
"Yanzhi," Han Wei, sitting in the passenger seat, said, "if you're worried about her, go back."
"I'm still downstairs at the hospital. I can see her as soon as I go upstairs. It's okay for me to go back by myself."
Lu Yanzhi did not reply, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Han Wei lowered her head, took a wet wipe from her bag, and wiped her lips little by little.
There was lipstick on it, and traces of blood from Lin Zhihuan's recent beating.
She placed the wet wipe stained with lipstick and blood where Lu Yanzhi could see it, feigning remorse, and said, "I acted impulsively. I got into a fight with Dr. Lin at the hospital. Although I didn't push Shi Nian, but..."
As she spoke, she put down the wet wipe in her hand, leaned over, took Lu Yanzhi's hand, and looked at him with teary eyes.
"I'm sorry, Yanzhi, I just wanted to... protect you."
Lu Yanzhi lowered his eyes slightly, looking at Han Wei's hand that was holding his.
For some reason, what flashed through his mind was Shi Nian holding his hand when he was worried and in pain about his grandfather's illness many years ago.
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