"Your mom really wants to see you," Song Zimo said, "but she’s badly injured and needs ti to recover. The doctor is saving her, you have to trust the doctor."
Zhang Ke looked at him.
"Really?"
"Really."
Zhang Ke lowered his head and stopped speaking.
He clenched the little bear’s hand tighter.
After a long ti, he suddenly asked,
"Uncle Song, when you were little and got hurt, did your mom co to see you?"
Song Zimo was stunned.
He looked at Zhang Ke, into those eyes, and suddenly didn’t know what to say.
The little nurse beside him nervously watched him.
There was a long silence.
Silence seeped over like water, flooding the whole ward. Outside, the sound of ambulances ca from afar and gradually faded away.
Then Song Zimo said, "My mom passed away when I was five."
Zhang Ke raised his head and looked at him.
"What happened to her?"
"Car accident."
Zhang Ke was silent for a few seconds.
"Then... did you cry at that ti?"
Song Zimo thought for a mont.
"I cried," he said, "cried for a long ti."
"And then?"
"Then I gradually got better."
Zhang Ke looked at him, his eyes slowly turning red.
"I want to cry too," he said, in a small voice, "but I’m afraid to. I’m afraid if I cry, my mom won’t co back."
Song Zimo reached out and touched his head.
"If you want to cry, cry," he said. "After you cry, you should eat and sleep well. No matter what happens, you have to live well."
Zhang Ke looked at him, tears falling drop by drop.
First ca the tears, then the sobs, followed by the soft crying, and finally, the loud wailing. He threw himself into Song Zimo’s arms, crying so hard his whole body trembled, crying until he couldn’t catch his breath.
Song Zimo held him, without saying a word.
The little nurse stood by, covering her mouth, not daring to make a sound.
After a long ti, Zhang Ke cried himself tired and fell asleep in his arms. Tears still clung to his face, but his brow had smoothed out, and his breathing beca steady.
Song Zimo gently placed him back on the bed and tucked him in.
He stood up and looked at that little face for a long ti.
Then he turned and walked out.
In the corridor, the little nurse followed him out.
"Director Song," she said, her eyes red, "you told him the truth today."
Song Zimo nodded, sowhat.
"Why?"
Song Zimo was silent for a few seconds.
"Because he was already doubting," he said. "He knew I was lying to him. A five-year-old kid can already think."
He looked at the window at the end of the corridor. Outside was the night view of the city, thousands of lights shining in hos.
"Lying to him was to help him survive first. But if we kept lying, when he grows up and finds out the truth, it will be harder for him. He’ll wonder, why did everyone lie to ? Why didn’t anyone tell the truth?"
He paused.
"Better to hurt sooner than later."
---
The next morning, during the handover, Xiong Shihai said,
"Yesterday that aortic dissection patient was stable after the surgery, and this morning the tube was removed. His son just found ."
He looked at Song Zimo.
"He said: Your ergency departnt is better than the hospital where my dad had his surgery years ago. That hospital took thirty minutes just for a consultation. My dad was writhing in pain on the bed, waiting for them to consult, to discuss a plan, to schedule the surgery, and by the end, he was almost gone."
He paused.
"He said: Today I realized life-saving can be this fast."
"In the future, we’ll be even faster. Every second counts is the essence of ergency care," Song Zimo said.
After the handover, Song Zimo stood in front of the office window, looking outside.
The sunlight outside was great, and people were coming and going at the entrance of Sanbo Hospital. There were elderly people with canes, young mothers holding children, orderlies pushing wheelchairs, and patients just getting off ambulances. So people looked worried, so looked relieved, so cried, so laughed, and so silently queued up waiting.
The ergency departnt lights were always on, regardless of day and night.
He rembered what Zhang Ke said last night.
"Will your mom co to see you?"
He looked out the window and softly said,
"Mom, I don’t have ti to see you. But I saved many moms."
The door was pushed open.
Xiong Shihai poked his head in.
"Director Song, the ambulance is here, multiple injuries, are you going?"
Song Zimo stood up.
"Yes."
He walked out.
In the ergency departnt corridor, a stretcher was being pushed in, nurses jogging alongside, family mbers crying and shouting at the back. Xiong Shihai was already doing triage, his voice booming like thunder.
Song Zimo walked over.
User Comments
0 comments from readers