Death Spiral [Infinite Flow] - Chapter 88

Chapter 88 – Shameful Things

Xu RenDong returned home and waited for an hour but Lian Qiao did not come back.

After waiting for more than half an hour and just as Xu RenDong was about to call Lian Qiao, the phone vibrated and Lian Qiao called him first. However when the call connected, it was not Lian Qiao’s voice that appeared on the other end.

“Hello, are you Lian Qiao’s family member? This is the XX hospital…”

When Xu RenDong arrived at the hospital, the emergency room was already full of people. In addition to medical staff, there were also traffic police and several middle-aged people. Those middle-aged people all smelled of alcohol and their faces were solemn, as if they knew a disaster was coming.

A policeman was standing beside Lian Qiao’s bed with his head bowed, recording a statement for him.

Xu RenDong pushed the crowd away and went straight to Lian Qiao: “What’s going on?”

He was asking Lian Qiao while looking over him. There was an IV in Lian Qiao’s arm and his injuries had been treated well: a Band-Aid was attached to his right forehead and a gauze was wrapped around his left arm. The most serious injury was on his left leg. The originally straight and fair calf was already swollen beyond recognition. Although it was treated simply, one could see that the injury was not minor by looking at the purple-red hematoma.

Lian Qiao said, “I was bumped when I crossed the road.” He noticed that Xu RenDong was staring at his calf and said hurriedly, “Don’t worry, it’s all right. Well I fell, I bumped it and got a small injury.”

The policeman snorted, “Yes it’s a minor injury for sure, so minor that the bones are broken in two.” He pointed at the depressed middle-aged men behind him with a fountain pen, “The other party was drunk driving and ran a red light. Fortunately, he was in the city and couldn’t drive fast otherwise you would have lost your life.” 

After the police recorded the statement, the middle-aged men were taken away. A white coated doctor came over and asked Xu RenDong: “Are you his family member? He has a broken leg and needs surgery. If you want to do it here, he needs to be admitted as an inpatient and a family member needs to sign.”

Xu RenDong hesitated for a moment and Lian Qiao quickly replied: “Yes, he is a family member, he can sign for me.”

Xu RenDong frowned and said, “Where are your parents? Did you inform them?”

Lian Qiao whispered: “I don’t want to tell them. “…”

Xu RenDong: “How can you hide such a big thing? Where is your cell phone? I’ll call for you.”

“No, don’t!” Lian Qiao quickly hid the cell phone. His movement was too big and he pulled his injury. He immediately grimaced in pain.

Xu RenDong held him down: “Okay, I’ll listen to you. Don’t move, just lie down.” Since Lian Qiao didn’t want to, he didn’t persuade him any more. He turned his head to the doctor and said, “Then I’ll go and sign it.” 

The doctor nodded and pulled Xu RenDong aside to explain the precautions and possible risks of the operation. After Xu RenDong signed, he returned to Lian Qiao. Lian Qiao lay obediently on the hospital bed, his eyes watery and clear. If it weren’t for the gauze wrapped around him, he wouldn’t look like a sick man.

Xu RenDong sighed and lightly touched the Band-Aid on his forehead with his fingertips: “This is the surprise you want to give me?”

Lian Qiao carefully held his fingertips: “I’m sorry, I made you worry.”

“It’s the other party’s fault, what are you apologizing for? Does it still hurt?”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt if I don’t move.”

Xu RenDong nodded: “The doctor said that the operation cannot be performed yet and the swelling will disappear. You’re sure that you don’t want to call your mom or dad?”

Lian Qiao’s mouth was flat: “If they come here they will only scold me.”

Xu RenDong said: “It’s not good to hide such a big thing from them.”

Lian Qiao was silent for a moment: “…To tell you the truth, in fact I actually ran away from home.”

 Xu RenDong was surprised.

It turned out that Lian Qiao started to be a game host when he was in college. He became more and more popular and made a lot of money. Gradually, he had the intention of becoming a full-time anchor after graduation. When his parents found out, they were furious, thinking that it wasn’t reliable to play games all day. Lian Qiao showed them the balance of his bank card but his parents still didn’t agree, thinking it was just a momentary luck and that it wasn’t a serious job after all.

Lian Qiao had a falling out with his parents. After graduation, he didn’t go back and rented a house directly outside until he met Xu RenDong.

After saying this, Lian Qiao sighed: “They thought it was degenerate to play games all day long and now that I’m bent as well, they must think that I’ve been led astray…” He held Xu RenDong’s hand, his tone very apologetic, “I’m sorry.”

In Lian Qiao’s heart, he had already met Zhong Xiu and so, if he rounded things up, it meant he had met Xu RenDong’s parents. Then the next step should be to bring Xu RenDong to see his parents. It’s a pity that the internal conflict between him and his parents has not been resolved and, at this moment, he really does not dare to add new conflicts.

Xu RenDong didn’t think about it so much and just asked: “Then what career do they want you to do?”

Lian Qiao was taken aback: “Uh… finance or something? Some profession that sounds good and makes a lot of money.”

Xu RenDong breathed a sigh of relief: “Then you take me to see them. This way they will know that it is the same in any profession and people in finance can also be bent.”

 Lian Qiao: “???” What is this magical brain circuit?

When he came back to his senses, he couldn’t help laughing. The laughter caused dissatisfaction among the surrounding medical staff and the nurse came over with a serious face and asked him to be quiet. Xu RenDong and Lian Qiao apologized. Not long after, the hospitalization certificate was completed and the nurse came over to push the bed and transferred him to the orthopedic ward upstairs.

Lian Qiao lived in a single room. This ward is fully equipped with a refrigerator and microwave, and the room is quite large. Of course, the cost is several times more expensive than the ordinary three-person ward.

After the ward was settled, the doctor on duty came over to inquire about his condition. Then told him that his CT results had come out and his internal organs were not damaged. His forehead and arm were only scratched, and it will be fine after a few days. The biggest problem was still his left leg.

“Look, this is the tibia, it’s called the tibial plateau and it’s here that’s broken.” The doctor pointed to the film and explained the condition to Lian Qiao and Xu RenDong. “The operation can only help you put together the broken bones and fix it from the inside with steel nails. You can get out of bed within a week after the operation but this leg cannot be used forcefully, and you need to rely on crutches. When the bones grow slowly, come to the hospital for a minor operation to remove the steel nails.”

Xu RenDong nodded. Lian Qiao was a little uneasy and asked the doctor how long he would be on crutches.

The doctor said, “At least three months.” 

After the doctor left, Xu RenDong comforted: “Don’t worry, I can apply to work from home to take care of your injury and you don’t need to worry about the rest.”

Lian Qiao shook his head: “I’m not worried about that…” He gently pulled on Xu RenDong’s sleeve and whispered, “What about the instances? If I go in with a lame leg, it will drag you down.”

Xu RenDong smiled: “This is not a problem. When I’m with you, what do you have to be afraid of? Think about it, after you followed me, what time did you not lie down and win?”

Lian Qiao said: “The Lamia time…”

Xu RenDong: “…” He really forgot.

Lian Qiao held his fingertips and rubbed it tenderly and lovingly but he was complaining: “You idiot, you have no medical knowledge and you are not afraid of pain. A stone was inserted in your leg and you pulled it out by yourself. You made yourself go into a massive hemorrhage and went into shock, have you forgotten?”

Xu RenDong coughed awkwardly: “Anyway, let’s just take it one day at a time.” He glanced at the time, it was half past one in the morning. Then he pulled the curtain around the bed to let Lian Qiao sleep.

Xu RenDong went to the nurse station to borrow an escort bed and was about to lie down when Lian Qiao reached out and lifted the curtain and whispered, “Brother RenDong…”

“Huh?” Xu RenDong leaned over and found Lian Qiao blushing. He touched his forehead worriedly, “What’s wrong? Do you have a fever?”

“No.” Lian Qiao struggled for a while but finally said shamefully, “…I want to pee.”

Xu RenDong was prepared for this, took out a urinal and handed it to him: “The doctor said all your physiological needs need to be solved on the bed.”

“…Broken legs are really troublesome.” Lian Qiao whispered. He took the urinal and said, “Don’t look, go outside the curtain.”

Xu RenDong was helpless: “What’s there to be shy about?”

Lian Qiao: “I might not be able to release it if you’re looking at me.”

 Xu RenDong: “???”

Although he didn’t quite understand, Xu RenDong still pulled the curtain tightly then went outside and waited. A low sound of water soon came from inside the curtain.

Xu RenDong didn’t feel anything at first until Lian Qiao handed out the urinal, Xu RenDong reached out to pick it up. He felt the warmth through a layer of plastic and he suddenly blushed.

Lian Qiao hurriedly said, “That, I didn’t… I didn’t leak… and I wiped it off with a piece of paper…” He explained at a loss, too embarrassed to know what to do. In the end, he could only hold out an apology, “I’m sorry…”

“I don’t think it’s dirty.” Xu RenDong lowered his head, finished this sentence quickly, turned his head and ran into the bathroom.

Lian Qiao recalled that sentence and the fleeting blush at the corner of his eyes. He  suddenly felt very happy.

A few days later, Lian Qiao’s leg swelling had just about come down and he went onto the operating table. This is a very simple operation. Xu RenDong has long gotten the details of the entire operation process from the chief surgeon and also knows that this operation is very mature and extremely safe. But when he actually came to the waiting area for the family members of the operation and saw Lian Qiao’s name appearing in the column “under operation” on the electronic screen, he was still very uneasy.

He waited on pins and needles outside the operating room for hours before Lian Qiao was finally pushed out. He seemed to be in good spirits and he shared his surgical experience with Xu RenDong all the way back to the ward.

“The feeling of being half numb is amazing. I can feel them playing with my bones but it doesn’t hurt at all!”

“But it’s still scary. Seeing them with hammers and drills, it seems that they are not doing surgery but woodworking. …it’s very scary…”

 “Later, when they sewed me up, a junior doctor came to do it. He also praised my legs for being good-looking and wanted to sew my wounds a little better, hahahaha!”

However, his energeticness didn’t last long. In the evening, Lian Qiao began to have a fever. The nurse came over to measure the temperature and it was 38.1 degrees. The doctor said that this low-grade fever was normal. This is the absorption heat after the operation. As long as it does not exceed 38.5 degrees, no special treatment is required.

Although the body temperature was not high, Lian Qiao was very uncomfortable. The anesthetic gradually dissipated and the incision started to hurt. He was lying on the bed moving around, feeling uncomfortable no matter what.

Xu RenDong went to call the doctor again. The doctor said that this is a process that must be experienced after the operation and it is good to endure it. He even gave Lian Qiao a sleeping pill. So Xu RenDong could only go back to the ward, talk to Lian Qiao, and coax him to sleep.

Lian Qiao felt uncomfortably burning, tossed and turned for a while and finally woke up in pain. After doing this a few times, he couldn’t fall asleep again.

Xu RenDong was with him and tiredness gradually appeared on his face. After all, he had been waiting outside the operating room during the day and he even took the time to write a few reports to the company. It was approaching the early morning, and Xu RenDong couldn’t hold it anymore.

Lian Qiao felt distressed and said, “Don’t worry about me, you can go to sleep first. Just close the curtain and I will play with my phone for a while.”

 Xu RenDong said, “I’m afraid you will burn up again later.”

“If I feel uncomfortable, I’ll ring the bell myself to call the nurse.”

Xu RenDong took the thermometer out of Lian Qiao’s armpit, glanced at it and sighed, “38.4 degrees, if your body temperature doesn’t go down, how can I sleep?

“If  you continue forcing yourself to stay awake, how can my body temperature come down?”

“Then what should I do?”

Lian Qiao hooked his fingers towards him and Xu RenDong walked over. Lian Qiao hooked his neck and acted coquettishly: “Let me hug you, okay?”

Xu RenDong glanced at the hospital bed: “The bed is too small, I’m afraid it will hurt your wound.”

“You won’t. Lian Qiao moved to the side and gently tugged at the corner of his clothes, “Come on, give me a hug. If I hold you, I won’t move around.”

Xu RenDong also made sense after thinking about it. If Lian Qiao hugged him to sleep then if he was in any discomfort, Xu RenDong could wake up immediately. So he cautiously climbed into bed. This hospital bed is quite spacious for one person but it is a bit crowded for two people. Luckily there are rails on either side of the bed. Lian Qiao took off the pillow and let Xu RenDong rest on his arm. Xu RenDong faced him and saw him smiling with curved eyes, looking content. That smile would make anyone feel sweet just by looking at it.

Xu RenDong touched his forehead again. It was still a little hot. Suddenly, all kinds of pity rose in his heart. He leaned up and kissed Lian Qiao’s forehead lightly.

“Don’t kiss me…” Lian Qiao protested in a low voice, “I’ll have other thoughts.”

Xu RenDong was a little embarrassed and apologized to him. When Lian Qiao heard the “I’m sorry”, he laughed again, stroked the corner of his lips and said, “Why are you so cute.”

After speaking, he held his face and kissed him with a “mua”.

 Xu RenDong: “…” We agreed not to kiss!

If they continued being clingy with each other, it would never end. Xu RenDong turned around abruptly, turned his back to Lian Qiao and said, “Sleep!”

“Okay.” Lian Qiao replied with a low smile, leaned over and hugged him tightly, buried his head in his neck and whispered softly: “You are my special medicine, I will be fine tomorrow.”

Xu RenDong’s heart was so soft. The two fell asleep hugging each other.

When 6AM in the morning came, the nurses were on duty to do rounds. A large group of nurses came to the ward chatting together. As soon as the curtain was opened, they saw two big men cuddling on the same bed. The scene was very awkward for a while.

On that day, the entire hospital’s internal WeChat group was going crazy: a pair of handsome young men in a certain ward of the Orthopedics and Traumatology Department. A leg was broken and they still insisted on getting up to stuff. The disabled were really strong!

***