Trembling At A High Altitude - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Reconnecting a Severed Limb

The helicopter flew for a very long distance.

According to Li Teng’s prior experience, it would take at least three hours.

In the previous two times, after he had entered the helicopter cabin, eaten the bread and biscuits, and drank the drinks, he just had to have a good sleep, and when he woke up, he’d be at the film studio.

But not this time.

He didn’t dare to sleep. He was afraid that once he fell asleep, he would be treated as a corpse when he got off the helicopter.

Slowly, he sensed the pain in his body and slowly accumulated strength.

When Li Teng tried again, he finally lifted the lid and reached in with one hand. His hand felt the bread inside, but he didn’t have enough strength to take it out. He could only accumulate more strength.

In this process, his consciousness faded multiple times.

Nonetheless, the strong desire to live in his heart reminded him multiple times that he couldn’t fall asleep just like this.

The only way he could stimulate himself to stay awake was to pee every now and then.

The cloth strip sealed up the point of release; such endeavors would stretch the wound, producing extreme pain. And the extreme pain could keep him sober briefly.

This was really no different from being tortured.

At a certain instant, when Li Teng tried again to pee, he felt that the tied-up cloth at the wound was suddenly loosened. A hot flow rushed out at once.

He didn’t know whether it was urine or blood. But the bladder’s swelling feeling subsided a lot, with only the internal pain caused by long-term restraint remaining.

Is the wound open again? Is it bleeding?

Will I die from bleeding?

Li Teng was terrified, but it was impossible for him to get up and check his wounds. It was pitch black in the cabin, and he could not see.

After accumulating strength for a long time, Li Teng finally took the bread out of the box. When he took it out, his arm lost its strength again, and he couldn’t bring the bread to his mouth.

After a few minutes, relying on a strong will to survive, Li Teng finally brought the bread to his mouth. He couldn’t remove the outer packaging bag, but he couldn’t care so much right now. He had to put the packaging bag along with the bread into his mouth.

Then, he started eating the bread along with the packaging.

Due to sepsis and extreme weakness, his stomach was closed up and couldn’t bear digesting any source of food. When he forcibly swallowed the bread, his stomach even cramped, trying to throw up the food.

Li Teng endured the nausea and continued to swallow the bread into his stomach.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect, or the food and drinks in the box really had a healing effect, that after Li Teng took a few bites of the bread mixed with the packaging bag, his body finally gained some strength. It was no longer so hard to control like previously.

He also had the strength to take the remaining bread out of the half-eaten packaging and swallowed it at once.

After eating the bread and resting for a while, he reached into the box again, got the biscuits, and ate them.

Then, he drank the drinks.

He didn’t know whether his wound was bleeding right now. He couldn’t see, and only felt wetness and stickiness there.

After eating the bread and biscuits and drinking the drinks, a strong sense of drowsiness overwhelmed him. Even so, Li Teng did not dare to sleep.

He was still worried that he would not wake up after falling asleep.

He continued to hold on.

The flying time of about three hours was simply tormenting him.

The fear of death and worry that all his previous efforts to survive would be in vain if he failed to stay awake until the helicopter arrived at the film studio, as well as the fate of being wax-sealed after being deemed as a corpse, only strengthened his willpower to stay awake.

…

The long journey finally reached the end.

Li Teng’s guess was correct. The place where the helicopter landed this time was not the helipad by the sea, but a strange place.

When getting off the helicopter, two staff members pushed something like a wheeled emergency bed or a corpse bed and waited there.

“I’m not dead, I”m still alive.”

After the two staff members carried Li Teng onto the bed, Li Teng hurriedly reminded them.

The two staff members did not speak but directly pushed Li Teng into the nearby building.

Upon seeing various signs in the surrounding environment, Li Teng could ascertain that this should be the film studio’s hospital.

He had never been to such a place before. Even when getting injured in the first film, an ambulance had transported the medical cabin over to treat them on the spot.

He didn’t know what the hospital in the film studio was like.

Li Teng reminded himself that he must not forget the important matter, which was to put the piece he brought with him into the medical cabin along with him when receiving treatment.

Two staff members pushed Li Teng into the hospital and into one of the consulting rooms.

A doctor wearing a white lab coat and a mask came over and inspected Li Teng’s body injuries.

“Not dead yet, but very badly wounded,” said the doctor.

“Thank you, put me into the medical cabin faster, please,” suggested Li Teng to the doctor.

Li Teng was very excited to get there alive.

The medical technology of the film studio was very advanced. No matter how serious the injury was, he could be saved in the medical cabin even if he had already died.

At that moment, all the agonizing pain he felt would disappear completely, and he wouldn’t have to suffer the torment of the pain anymore.

“Yours is not a work-related injury during filming. It is not within the scope covered by the medical insurance write-off of the film studio. You need to pay additional points for treatment.” The doctor rejected Li Teng’s suggestion.

“…” Li Teng’s heart grew cold instantly.

But he actually couldn’t argue back against the doctor’s words.

Li Teng thought about it and still protested, “I was forced onto the top of the stone pillar by you guys. Even if I’m on top of the stone pillar, I’m working for you. How can it not be counted as a work-related injury?”

“Can the injury you got lying in your own bed be counted as a work-related injury? Don’t talk such nonsense to me, it’s pointless.”

“Wait a minute! There aren’t many points in my account, can you give me a treatment for 10 points first for now?” Li Teng pointed at himself.

“This kind of injury? Wow! So serious? The front is already necrotic. It’s pretty much reconnecting a severed limb. It needs at least 200 points.” After examining, the doctor quoted a price to Li Teng.

“I’m a newbie, and I was so badly injured in order to return alive to the film studio. You guys must have some concessions for newbies, right?”

No treatment without payment, this hospital is too realistic.

A life only costs 1,000 points. I’m only treating a bird injury, and you charge me 200 points.

Evil! So evil!

“Newbie… There seems to be a policy for newbies to take loans for treatment and pay in installments. Let me take a look.” The doctor walked to the terminal machine by the wall and made an inquiry, then printed a form and brought it back to Li Teng.

“Sign on this form.”

Li Teng reached out with his trembling hand to take that piece of paper.

It was an application form to advance the cost of treatment and pay in installments.

After filling in this form, he could borrow the points needed for the treatment. The stated period of repayment was a year, and it would be deducted from Li Teng’s remuneration for each performance by 50% until all was repaid.

The annual interest rate was 5%, which was still not too outrageous.

However, this also meant that once Li Teng agreed to undergo treatment, in the future, the 10 points he could originally get for each filming would become only 5, with the other 5 used to repay the loan for treatment.

If he still couldn’t repay the amount owned within one year, they would be forcibly deducted from his account. If he didn’t have enough points in his account… It was simple, the old rule of the film studio was to seal him in wax.

Li Teng asked the doctor, “How many points would it cost to treat all the injuries at once?”

“With your injury… It will probably cost 300 to 400 points,” answered the doctor.

“Then how do I fill in the total loan amount?” asked Li Teng.

“The exact injuries can only be ascertained inside the medical cabin. You don’t need to fill in the total loan amount, just sign underneath. I will help you fill in the actual cost afterward.”

Li Teng wanted very much to contest this point… Not marking the price clearly beforehand but only quoting the price on the operation table was entirely the way of a gangster hospital!

But he dared not contest it.

Once inside the hospital, his life was in the hands of the doctor. He wouldn’t question the doctor unless he didn’t want to live anymore.

“Are you signing or not?” The doctor rushed Li Teng.

“Yes.” Li Teng had no choice.