Chapter 29: Trap
The long and narrow corridor was cramped and oppressive. The gray and white, monotonous walls cut off the space. The chaotic and noisy sounds in his ear were intermittent, and the harsh and ear-piercing sound of cicadas was restless.
The patients or their families were rushing around in various departments with their medical records, their faces anxious. He was sitting on the cold chair in the hospital, dejected. His hands were crossed and were tightly clasped, and they were on his lowered forehead. His eyes were lowered, and his uneasy face was reflected on the smooth floor.
Someone pushed his shoulder. In front of him was a clean white coat. He looked up and saw the woman’s relatively young appearance. He patted the wrinkled surface of his pants and stood up. “Doctor, how is she…”
“She’s out of danger. The preliminary diagnosis is acute gastroenteritis…”
He let out a sigh of relief and wanted to say some polite words of thanks. But for some reason, he swallowed them back.
The expression on the woman’s face was cold, and her gaze was sharp. She was scrutinizing him from head to toe. She opened her mouth. “Are you her boyfriend?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong?”, he answered casually and asked with some confusion.
“The patient’s stomach condition is very bad. This is the result of a long-term lack of attention to her diet. Such a young girl, her physical condition shouldn’t be so bad. I suggest a full-body checkup after she recovers.”
The woman’s tone was grave, and she shrugged. “I’ve said too much. But as a doctor, I still have to remind you that the patient’s condition requires long-term conditioning and care to slowly recover. I hope… you can be more serious with the girl you like and take good care of her.”
“Okay, I know.”
He nodded, his gaze dazed, like a lifeless dead fish.
He pushed open the door of the hospital room. The girl was already awake. She was wearing a hospital gown and was leaning against the side of the bed. She was staring at the small window of the hospital room. The lush green was overflowing the window, and the branches were sticking in, and they were gently scraping the glass.
Downstairs was a small patch of gardenia trees. The air, which was filled with sunlight, had a very rich, creamy and fresh fruit fragrance. The spiral-shaped petals were pure white, and they were hanging on the branches, with a unique gentleness and elegance of spring.
She didn’t seem to have noticed him. Her clear black and white eyes were bright, and her long hair, which was half-tied up, was up to her waist. Her face had a blood color, and her skin was fair and her lips were bright red, just like the her he had first met.
“Qian Ge…”, he gently called her name.
He saw her turn her head eagerly and look at him as he walked over. Her gaze was hot and gentle, and her eyes were full of joy, and it was as if they were all filled with him.
“I just woke up. I was wondering where you had gone.”
Xia Qiange patted the side of the bed and asked him to sit down.
The two of them were about five centimeters apart. The pungent smell of disinfectant could not cover up the dark fragrance in her hair, and the tip of his nose was itchy.
“Are you hungry? I’ll go and buy some white porridge.” He rubbed his fingers with some discomfort.
“But I’m not hungry.” She held his wrist and gently caressed the protrusion on his wrist bone, as if she were playing with a piece of jade. There was a childish and novel look in her eyes.
“The doctor said your stomach problem is very serious. You have to rest well in the future.” He remembered the messy and chaotic wine bottles on the balcony and said with great seriousness.
“And don’t drink anymore. It’s not good for your body anyway.”
“Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
She lowered her eyebrows and was obedient. He didn’t know if she had listened. She was not interested in the good or bad of her own body. Instead, she slowly got close to him, as if she were tired. She was leaning on his shoulder, and her warm and hot breath was gently caressing the down on his skin. The restless and chaotic scent was expanding, from the side of his neck to the base of his ears, and his body temperature was rising in the ambiguous atmosphere.
“I’ll go and buy some porridge.” He pulled away and left. Just a few steps, and her voice was chasing after him from behind.
“You know I’ve never been able to take care of myself. If you leave, what will I do?”
Su Yu suddenly stopped. The distance to the door suddenly became very far, and he was speechless. He inadvertently remembered that her hands, which were originally fair and beautiful, had become ugly. A few scars were hideously crawling on her fingers, and they had not had time to disappear.
She seemed to have really never been able to take care of herself, but she had always been armed with a strong and unyielding attitude. She had always wanted to walk in front of him. The material gap could be filled with hard work, but the increasingly distant spiritual distance was unattainable.
He should have fallen into this trap, and he would have been self-conscious and would have fallen. But after the truth was revealed, he was slowly seeing her clearly.
“Your body is yours. You should take good care of yourself even if you’re alone.” He said in a deep voice.
“Oh, I know.” She smiled and didn’t say anything. The stiff atmosphere quickly melted away.
“I don’t want to drink porridge anymore. Can you buy me another bowl of wontons?”
…
He was stopped when he was about to reach the door of the hospital room with the wontons. It was still the female doctor. Her face was full of anger, and she asked him with a cold and icy tone.
“Her body is already so sick. Did you ask her to get this medicine?”
The slip was thrown at him. He took it with a bewildered look and looked at it. First, there were some drugs that he couldn’t understand. But his gaze stopped when he moved to the end. He still recognized this medicine.
Emergency contraception…
His heart was suddenly in a mess, and he began to feel anxious.
At first, his idea was simple. He wanted to slowly cure her. He hadn’t expected that it would become a soft spot.
“Do you know how much harm these drugs can do to a girl? And besides, she’s still in her recovery period. Taking the medicine will have a great stimulation on her stomach. Was it for pleasure at that time? Have you thought about the aftermath? She’s insensible, and you’re also insensible? This is ruining her body!”
Su Yu was holding the slip and was stunned on the spot. The temperature had suddenly dropped, and the warm sunlight was like a bleak winter. The atmosphere was filled with ice, and his back was cold.
After the indulgence, she had suddenly become seriously ill. A series of things were too rushed, and they had not left him any room to think carefully.
He suddenly understood.
The trap had always been hidden behind the desire that could not be escaped. His hands and feet were cold, and a sense of suffocation was the first to strike.
The conventional path was slowly turning into a conspiracy in his mind. He was unwilling to think of her so maliciously in his heart. But her scheming and city-like nature were making him afraid everywhere, and he didn’t dare to be careless in the slightest.
From the inexplicable sex between the two of them last night, he had been in prison.
He was moved, and he was in a daze. Her charming and soul-stirring seduction, so he had been impulsively reckless.
The cause and effect were gradually becoming clear.
She clearly knew that she was very sick. Why did she have to torment herself?
It was a trap from the very beginning. It was a trap that he would definitely step into.
He didn’t hear what the doctor had said later. He took the prescription and rushed into the hospital room.
He rushed to her, who was full of innocence. The boy’s breathing was hot, and his eyebrows and eyes had also turned cold and were staring at her.
The atmosphere was grave, and his gaze was like a torch. “Who told you to take these medicines? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think it was a big deal. I’ve taken this medicine before. Anyway, it’s my fault… it has nothing to do with you.”
Xia Qiange tilted her head and looked at him, and then she lowered her eyes and gently rubbed her fingertips. There was a comfortable and leisurely look of having forced the prey into a corner. So she continued to add to the gambling table.
My body is not good, but it’s all intact. Last night we were like that…”
She paused, and her voice was still soft and gentle, with a frail and pitiful look. But her words were cold and realistic, and they had suddenly woken him up. “What if? What should we do? I can’t even take care of myself. What do you think?”
When she had said this, her voice was also stable and calm, like an experienced hunter in a deep mountain, and also like a cold-blooded and evil wolf.
She just regretted that the two of them had not died in bed together from their indulgence. It would have saved her the sadness of seeing him question her. But no matter what, she was no longer soft-hearted. Whether it was hesitation or pain, she had thrown it all into the fire and had burned it clean.
Her soul’s obsession and madness were even greater than her desire to live. She just wanted to keep him, and she didn’t care about anything else.
Su Yu was silent for a long time. The slip in his hand was crumpled and was an eyesore. His eyes were lost and were dilated, and he had no spirit. His whole person was numb and decadent, like a dead piece of wood.
He was not sad because of these things. It was just that he had said that he would make her better, to be normal. But in the end, he had not done it.
There is only self-rescue in this world. No matter how hard he tried, it was useless. The feeling of powerlessness was tormenting.
Fortunately, they… still had a long time.
He exhaled the turbid air from his chest. He smiled bitterly and slowly tore the slip into pieces and threw it away. He suddenly hugged her and whispered in her ear.
“Don’t make a fuss like this next time. I won’t leave.”
