Chapter 93 Visitation
A week later, visitors were allowed into the intensive care unit, once every two days for fifteen minutes each time. The first to go in were Shen Gengli and his wife. After Chen Musheng came out, she cried until she fainted. Shen Gengli tried to hold it back at first, but in the end he burst into tears, and in an instant he seemed to have aged by several decades.
Xie Tong also came. After she came out, she walked very fast, as if she was trying to escape. She walked faster and faster, and her crying became louder and louder.
Shi Chengyu watched them go in one by one and come out crying, like a prisoner waiting for trial. His heart felt like it was being tortured, with pieces of flesh and blood being cut off from his body.
Shi Chengyu's visiting time was scheduled for Sunday. Shen Sichen kept putting it off day after day, but sooner or later he would have to face this day.
Before going in, Shen Sichen told him to be mentally prepared and even wanted to go in with him, but was rejected by Shi Chengyu.
Shi Chengyu followed the nurse into the sterile ward, disinfected himself, changed into isolation clothing, and passed through door after door. The lights above his head flickered, and there was only the sound of doors opening and closing. The surroundings were very quiet, and there was also the sound of the isolation clothing rubbing against each other when walking.
Wearing an antibacterial mask, he could clearly hear his own heavy breathing, and then a faint dripping sound began to appear in his ears.
The last door opened, and the dazzling light made Shi Chengyu close his eyes subconsciously. The nurse next to him motioned for him to go in.
Various instruments made a slight, harsh ticking sound. Shi Chengyu's body stiffened and he moved step by step to the bedside.
In just a moment, he wanted to escape.
The person on the bed was sleeping peacefully, her head tightly wrapped in gauze, a breathing mask on her face, only her bruised eyes showing, countless tubes inserted into her body, extending from under her hospital gown. On the heart rate monitor next to her, a mountain-like curve appeared every once in a while, very regular, but not normal. No normal person's heart should be like this.
Shi Chengyu's throat tightened. For the first time, he truly saw the injured Shen Chutang. He had to hold on to the bed to stand up, and he couldn't move his feet at all. He had prepared many things to say to her, but now he gritted his teeth and couldn't hold on any longer, so he fell to his knees on the ground.
He wanted to hold her hand, wanted to touch her face, but he didn't know where to start. Her face was injured, her left hand was wrapped in gauze, and her right arm was in a cast. He raised his hand and kept it above her cheek for a long time, then let it drop, not daring to touch her at all.
Shi Chengyu knelt on the ground, his hand on the bedside, touching Shen Chutang's little finger from a distance. The blood in his body ran cold, and his heart ached to the point of numbness. Suppressed and painful cries slowly echoed in the ward, and he couldn't say a word.
That was how it was, until the nurse came in and urged him to leave.
Shi Chengyu did not resist. He stood up from the ground, moved slowly, walked away little by little, changed out of his isolation suit, washed his face in the sink, and left the ward calmly.
Shen Sichen thought he would collapse, or was just making a fuss and refusing to come out, but when he saw him come out as if nothing had happened, he was stunned in surprise.
Shi Chengyu walked past him and stepped forward mechanically. Not long after he walked, he suddenly fell to the ground.
"Shi Chengyu!" Shen Sichen rushed over. Knowing that he had a heart attack last time, he quickly called a doctor. Fortunately, he was fine this time, he just fainted.
Shi Chengyu fell asleep for a whole day and night. Shen Sichen had someone add a sleeping pill into his medicine so that he could sleep well.
Shen Sichen was really afraid that he would die before Shen Chutang, but he was surprised by how calm Shi Chengyu was after waking up.
Shi Chengyu seemed to have returned to normal. He no longer stood rigidly at the door of the ward. He began to ask the doctor about Shen Chutang's condition. Even when he heard the worst result, his expression did not change at all.
Although he still stood at the door of the ward most of the time, he also started to eat and sleep normally, and he was always ready early for the weekly visit.
He is so normal that he doesn't look like a normal person. He has no joy, anger, sorrow, or any other emotions.
When the weather began to turn autumnal, Shen Yanheng brought Zhao Wenxian and An An over. The doctor said that they should talk to the patient more, perhaps they could awaken her consciousness.
An An called "Auntie" many times beside the bed and told her about the new friends she made and the delicious food she had eaten.
After coming out of the ward, he pouted and asked aggrievedly, "Why did my aunt ignore me..."
These words silenced everyone present.
"My aunt said she would buy me a new schoolbag, but she didn't do it." An An added that he went to kindergarten and did not receive Shen Chutang's new schoolbag. His innocent eyes were full of confusion as to why his aunt broke her promise this time.
An An looked at the man with half black and half white hair. In his impression, only very old people have white hair, but there are no wrinkles on his face. He remembered what his mother said about calling him younger, and asked in a baby voice, "Uncle, why are you crying?"
Shi Chengyu came back to his senses, wiped the tears from his face, and said in a low voice, "An An, tomorrow, tomorrow uncle will buy you a new schoolbag."
An An shook her head, "Uncle, I'll just wait for my aunt to buy it for me."
"Here's a candy for you. My aunt told me to eat a candy when I'm unhappy." An An lowered her head and whispered, "But it doesn't seem to work."
Shi Chengyu took it and held the candy in his palm, "Thank you, An An."
Shen Sichen picked up An An and said, "Okay, let's go, uncle will take you to play there."
"Chengyu, An An's childish words are innocent, don't take them to heart." Shen Yanheng walked over and patted his shoulder. Looking at the white hair on his head, he felt mixed emotions. "Take good care of yourself. Keeping your body healthy is the most important thing."
Shi Chengyu: "I understand, brother."
The crowd dispersed, Shi Chengyu peeled off the candy wrapper, the candy melted a little in his palm due to the warmth, he lowered his head and put it in his mouth, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth.
If he hadn't insisted on going to England, if he had taken her with him that day, if he had come back earlier, wouldn't things have turned out like this?
But there are no ifs in the world, and time cannot be reversed.
He kept thinking back to Shen Chutang's lonely back when he left. Why did he have to go find that diamond? The most precious thing in his life was already in front of him. Why didn't he go back and hug her? Why wasn't he the one who got hit...
Shi Chengyu couldn't accept the fact that the last time they saw each other before Shen Chutang got into trouble was like that. He abandoned her and left her alone at home. He felt like someone was holding his heart.
Would she be scared when she was alone at home? Would she shed tears secretly and then hide her sadness in front of others with a smile? She was so timid, would she be afraid when a car rushed towards her at such a fast speed...
He repeatedly tortured himself with these correct answers, pain and regret tormented his mind, but he used this pain to prove that he was still alive.
Shen Sichen and the others always asked him to take a rest, but he didn't dare. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see Shen Chutang appearing at the intersection. He wanted to hold her, or even rush over to push her away, but it was all in vain. He even fantasized about going back to the day when he was about to leave, rushing out of the car, hugging Shen Chutang in his arms, and telling her that he was not going.
But when he opened his eyes, all he saw was the bloody reality and his unconscious lover.
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