Chapter 7 Hospital Vigil
Blood streaked his forehead. His eyes were barely open, lips drained of color.
"Hold on!"
I pulled off my jacket and slid it under his head, then grabbed my phone to call an ambulance.
Lin Qi's fingers suddenly clamped around my wrist, grip shockingly strong.
His lips moved, trying to say something.
I cut him off. "Don't talk!"
I figured that’s what he was trying to say—not to call, that it was too expensive.
But he was in this state. I had no idea how bad it was. I didn't dare move him myself.
The ambulance arrived fast. Lin Qi's consciousness was fading.
"Don't fall asleep. We're almost there." My voice shook. "Your sister is waiting for you at home."
The emergency room lights burned white and harsh.
I crouched on the floor, lost, pacing inside my head.
My grandmother had been in a car accident too. They wheeled her into the ER, and she never came out.
Even after all these years, I could still see it clear as day. I would never forget.
I was just a kid then. I didn't call for help fast enough. I moved her when I shouldn't have, and a broken rib pierced her lung.
This time I'd called immediately. I hadn't touched Lin Qi wrong. He would be okay, right?
Only when the doctor came out and said there was no danger to his life did I collapse into a chair, all the air leaving me.
In the ward, Lin Qi's head was wrapped in thick bandages, his face paper-white.
Luckily, besides the head wound and some scrapes, he had only sprained his right arm and ankle. Nothing worse.
I sat counting the drops from the IV bag, mind drifting.
When I snapped back, his eyes were open.
"Water." His voice scraped like sandpaper.
I helped him sit up a little, dipped a cotton swab. "Doctor said not too much. Just wet your lips."
He took it, then stared straight at me. "You didn't hit me. Why save me?"
My hand jerked. Water splashed the sheet. "Lin Qi, you heartless little— I saved you out of kindness. Don't even think about scamming me."
He froze, then actually smiled—small, but real.
"Who's scamming anyone," he muttered.
I wiped the sheet with tissues. "You ask why I saved you? I'm human. I have a heart. I couldn't just watch you die."
He gave a bitter half-laugh. "Someone like me—wouldn't the world be better if I was gone?"
He probably felt that way because of his heart condition, the hard times he’d put Lin Yan through as a kid, and having to drop out of college when it flared up again.
I glared at him. "What do you mean 'someone like me'? You are going to live, you hear me? You don't get to waste my worry, my time. You'd owe even more people then. I want you alive. Stop thinking that crap."
His lashes trembled as he looked at me. "I won't die."
I smiled. "I know. You still have a sister to protect."
I reached to ruffle his hair, remembered the bandages, and pinched his cheek instead. "Good boy."
His face went blank for a second, then he turned away to hide it.
"Did you tell my sister?"
Only then did it hit me—I hadn't called Lin Yan.
I pulled out my phone. Just as I was about to dial, he grabbed my wrist again.
"Don't." His voice was small. "I don't want her to worry."
"Fine." I checked the time—four in the morning. "Go to sleep. I'll stay here."
His eyes got even stranger—maybe grateful.
I was pretty great, after all.