"Listeners, urgent notice: A strong cold front will arrive in the south tonight, bringing temperatures down to zero degrees Celsius, accompanied by strong winds. Please be sure to close windows, wear extra layers, and reinforce shelters. Please inform each other!"
A crackling sound came from the public radio in the hospital lobby, followed by the urgent voice of a male announcer.
The air in the ward felt like a block of ice-cold iron, making one's chest feel heavy and suffocated.
When Ling Huanwu was carried in by Qiao Hui, her trouser legs were still dripping with murky water, her lips were as white as paper, and each breath was so light it seemed about to break.
Lin Xiaoqin and Qiao Hui were both terrified; their hands were trembling as they held onto the hands of the doctors and nurses in the hospital.
But by then the hospital was in complete chaos. Countless patients were pouring in, and doctors and nurses were working like spinning tops. They would hurriedly tell the doctors and nurses to drink more water and wait in line for emergency treatment before going about their own business.
Fortunately, Qiao Hui knew a doctor who brought him over, which gave him a chance to receive treatment.
Seeing Ling Huanwu being taken into the emergency room, the two of them paced anxiously in the corridor, biting their nails.
"What's wrong with Captain Xiao Zi? He was fine on the island, how did he suddenly become like this?"
Lin Xiaoqin held Qiao Hui's hand, her voice trembling as she spoke.
The nurse came out with a critical condition notice, her urgent voice echoing down the corridor, "Who is the patient's family member? The patient has been diagnosed with cholera and is now suffering from acidosis and severe shock. You, the family members, should be prepared..."
The moment Qiao Hui received the notification, Lin Xiaoqin was so shocked that her legs went weak.
"Nurse, you have to save her! She's so young. She's the team leader of our village's cooperative. We're all waiting for her to come back. You have to save her..."
When Lin Xiaoqin knelt down on the ground, she grabbed the nurse's leg and burst into tears, pleading incessantly, almost kowtowing to the nurse.
After signing the notification form and handing it to the nurse, Qiao Hui picked up the woman who was crying her heart out on the ground, his eyes red with tears. "Comrade Xiaoqin, you have to pull yourself together. We have to believe that Comrade Ling will definitely be blessed by heaven. I'm going to send a telegram back to Wantan Island and tell Jiuzhen to come over as soon as possible. Xiaoqin, you have to hold on!"
Half an hour later, an elderly doctor rushed out of the emergency room with another critical condition notice.
Standing alone and helpless at the door, Lin Xiaoqin collapsed to the ground, holding the admission notice, unable to even cry out.
"Huanwu!"
A frantic roar came from behind.
The sound of military boots grinding against the concrete floor echoed through the corridor.
Lin Xiaoqin turned around in disbelief and saw Zhou Jiuzhen tightly holding a brown paper package, which contained the cholera vaccine he had just received from Captain Sun.
"Doctor! Vaccine! I brought the vaccine!" Zhou Jiuzhen shoved the package into the old doctor's hand, the veins on his forehead throbbing. "Quick, give it to her!"
The old doctor wore a pair of glasses with a broken leg, the lenses fogged up. He glanced at the vaccine box, then took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. His voice was as deep as a stone: "Comrade, this vaccine is for disease prevention. She... can't use it now."
"What did you say?" Zhou Jiuzhen's voice suddenly rose, and he reached out to grab the doctor's arm, his knuckles cracking as he squeezed the doctor's bones. "Impossible! The technician said this is the best cholera vaccine in the country! Have you never seen this before?"
“I know about this vaccine,” the old doctor sighed, pulling his hand away and walking into the emergency room. “But this kind of preventative injection is only effective before the onset of symptoms, so it’s useless now. We need to give her saline solution, but the hospital’s stock… We can only offer conservative treatment. If this woman doesn’t make it through tonight, she probably won’t survive!”
Zhou Jiuzhen didn't hear what was said next.
Ignoring the doctors' and nurses' attempts to stop him, he rushed into the emergency room and tightly grasped Ling Huanwu's hand, which was outside the blanket.
The hand that usually wiped his body and smoothed his eyebrows and eyes was now curled up, as cold as a stone soaked in well water.
He suddenly remembered that when he left yesterday morning, she was still standing on the dock, glaring at him angrily, saying that she was only going for a few days and would be back soon.
But how did she become like this?
He turned around abruptly and slammed the packet of vaccines against the wall. The glass syringe shattered on the floor, and the liquid splashed onto his military trousers, chilling him to the bone.
But he ignored it, staring at Ling Huanwu's pale face, letting out a low growl like a wild beast with its throat blocked.
He couldn't let her go, he absolutely couldn't.
Late at night, Ling Huanwu was wheeled from the emergency room into the ward.
The ceiling fan in the ward had long been turned off, and the wind, carrying a damp and cold air, seeped in through the leaky window, making the hairs on the back of Zhou Jiuzhen's neck stand on end.
Ling Huanwu's arm was already cold. The nurse tried several times with the needle, but the vein was as hard as a thin wire.
It slipped out as soon as it went in, and beads of blood seeped onto the pale skin, looking particularly glaring.
Zhou Jiuzhen suddenly ripped open his shirt, revealing his chest, which was stiff from the cold air, and grabbed the IV tube, pressing it against his chest.
The saline solution he received from the warehouse was so cold it could numb your hands when it was first poured out, but he seemed oblivious to it. He tightly wrapped the tube with his warm skin, rubbing the tube wall with his fingertips again and again, as if trying to absorb all his body heat.
“Huanwu…we’re not cold…” he said to Ling Huanwu, his voice trembling, tears streaming down his face.
Her eyelashes trembled, and a little moisture seeped from the corners of her eyes, but she didn't open them. Her breath was as light as a wisp of smoke, as if she would be swept away by the wind outside the window at any moment.
Zhou Jiuzhen quickly brought his ear to her mouth, and the breath brushed against his earlobe, making his heart tremble with coolness.
He didn't close his eyes all night. He cut his military overcoat into strips and wrapped them around the IV bottle. He was only wearing a single layer of clothing. His back was already stiff from the cold of the night and felt like ice to the touch.
When the nurse came to change his IV, she noticed a red mark on his chest from the cold tubing. She tried to move him, but he abruptly waved her hand away, his eyes bloodshot: "Don't touch me! It's not warm yet..."
Before he could finish speaking, a metallic taste rose in his throat. He swallowed it hard and then reached for Su Wan's hand, which was already starting to stiffen.
He wrapped it in his palm, his ten fingers gripping it tightly as if rooted to the spot, afraid that if he loosened his grip, the person would be gone.
In the middle of the night, the doctor came in, examined Ling Huanwu's eyelids, felt her pulse, and finally sighed towards the corner of the wall.
Zhou Jiuzhen knew what that meant.
He chased everyone out, bolted the door behind him, and then sat quietly by the hospital bed, appearing particularly fragile in the quiet ward where you could hear someone breathing.
"Huanwu," he grasped her hand and pressed it against his face, the coldness making him shiver, but tears suddenly welled up and fell onto the back of her hand, "I know you're tired, but just hang on a little longer... just a little while longer..."
"Open your eyes, take me to the space, there's a spiritual spring inside that can definitely heal you, please take me in, okay?"
He pulled a cloth bag from his pocket, unfolded it layer by layer, and found the candy he had secretly bought last time.
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