He accepted the call, bringing the phone to his ears. A deep and m.u.f.fled voice asked a simple question in a flat tone, "How is my Ge?"
Zhou Chengping thought for a moment, then replied, "Do you want to hear the euphemistic description or the worst possible outcome?"
An Ze firmly said, "The worst possible outcome."
"The worst possibility is that afterwards he… may be disabled. Of course, I"m only saying maybe."
An Ze didn"t speak.
The sound of breathing from the other side of the line didn"t change, yet the atmosphere suddenly seemed to turn stiff.
After a minute of silence, Zhou Chengping whispered, "An Ze, both of your Gege"s legs are injured, but his right leg is especially serious. The comminuted fracture is determined to have been caused by a heavy hammer, the ones who did it should be his abductors."
An Ze continued his silence, seeming to be considering something.
"He was missing for several days and was later found by some construction workers in an abandoned factory. When our ambulance arrived, he was already dying, his heartbeat had stopped on the way to the hospital. It wasn"t very easy to bring back his pulse…"
Still silence.
He had no choice but to continue: "The orthopedic surgeons will continue to follow up with his treatment. In my opinion, his legs are unlikely to heal completely. But, of course, that depends on his state of mind and his body"s ability to recover…" He paused. "Why aren"t you talking?"
An Ze finally said, "It"s better than I thought."
Zhou Chengping, surprised, "Did you imagine worse?"
"When I received the news, I thought he would"ve died on the operating table or go into a vegetative state."
Zhou Chengping was silent for a moment. "Your possibility is indeed worse."
An Ze calmly went on to say, "In a miserable time, thinking of a more tragic outcome will give ease to my heart." He smiled. "For me, the fact that he"s alive is already a blessing."
His voice didn"t betray any emotions. Zhou Chengping carefully pondered over his words, suddenly feeling there was a point of reason to them. Compared to directly dying or going into a vegetative state, the fracture is indeed much better.
Zhou Chengping nodded approvingly. "As you said, I also think your Gege being alive is already a good thing."
An Ze, not a word or movement, shifted the topic: "What about the other two? Are they back?"
"The other two? Oh… you"re talking about An Yan and An Mo?"
An Ze nodded. "Ah."
"They haven"t come back yet. From what your father said, An Yan is in Paris partic.i.p.ating in Fashion Week and An Mo is in New York to see the art exhibition. Oh, that"s right, just a moment ago, your grandfather was outside the operating room, angry. He shouted that you brothers must return here within the next three days."
"I got it."
Zhou Chengping doubted. "You got it? Are you planning to go home?"
"No."
He paused. "Your Gege is severely injured yet you don"t intend to come back to see him?"
"He"s been taken to the ICU, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you think I should drop the important task in my hands just to go home and sit outside the intensive care unit, only to stare blankly at the words "Declined all visits" on the window?"
"…" Imagining the scene of him sitting in a daze outside the ICU made Zhou Chengping suddenly want to laugh. The always steady and cool-headed An Ze certainly doesn"t do the foolish act of sitting outside like a guardian, lost in thought.
"He is alive, that is enough. I will go back to see him, but I"m not in a hurry."
Zhou Chengping nodded. Then, remembering what he just heard, curiously asked, "Ah, the important task you said… What is it?"
"Cla.s.sified information."
"…" Zhou Chengping was speechless.
An Ze smiled. "I"ll hang up first."
"…" Listening to the beeping sound of the busy signal near his ears, Zhou Chengping couldn’t help but feel a little depressed.
This An Ze, so naturally calling him to inquire information, and then instantly hanging up without a word of thanks after obtaining it.
Sure enough, the man was indeed a graduate from military school, having the habit of doing things in the most simple and direct of ways; he spoke as if to troops, giving orders with a one-thing-and-meaning-just-that kind of tone. Talking to him always gave Zhou Chengping a strange kind of feeling, like something was constantly oppressing and engulfing him.
After some careful thinking, he suddenly realized that throughout the conversation, An Ze"s questions and answers were tranquil and honest, as like a soldier’s… Zhou Chengping felt even more depressed.
At this time, the phone abruptly rang again.
He looked at that caller ID and his depression cubed.
The four brothers settled down with very different and distinct personalities. As their cousin, Zhou Chengping grew up with them since childhood. Every since he became a doctor, whenever they would have a slight illness or any problems relating to health, they would always call him for consultation. It"s gotten to the point where Zhou Chengping felt like he was their own personal hotline. As if to prove this, the moment An Ze hung up, An Yan immediately rang.
Zhou Chengping reluctantly picked up the phone. He said, "An Yan."
A voice teasing of a smile sounded in his ear: "Biao Ge, how are you lately?"
Compared to the neat and straightforward An Ze, the second brother, An Yan, was the model of a casanova, his life very exotic and full of pa.s.sion. He spoke in a tone that was particularly "artistic", often leaving people dazed and confused whenever he opens his mouth.
Rather than letting him beat around the bush with his glib tongue, Zhou Chengping hurried to the topic: "Ah, I"m fine. Your Gege has just been rescued and sent to the intensive care unit."
An Yan was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "He"s been rescued? That"s indeed good news. Dr. Zhou has worked hard, truly our savior. I will certainly come back home and personally give my grat.i.tude."
"…I"m hanging up first."
"Don"t rush to go, we haven"t called in a while. Let"s reminisce about the old times, okay?"
"…I was here till two in the morning." Zhou Chengping yawned. "Let"s talk another day, I"m hanging up."
Without waiting for the other"s reply, Zhou Chengping hurriedly shut the phone.
Not long after, he received an MMS with a picture of an enlarged smiley face attached to the following line: "Quickly go get some rest, OK? Have a good dream ^_^"
The smiley face along with the emoticon makes one want to so badly punch it…
Zhou Chengping shook his head, directly turning off his private cell phone.
Once again, he made a round to the emergency ward. After confirming that the patient"s condition was more or less stable, Zhou Chengping lowered the unease in his heart and turned to the duty room to rest.
Maybe it was because he was too tired, but he immediately fell asleep the moment his eyes closed.
A very laughable picture reappeared in his dreams, one of where he and the brothers returned to the innocent and simple times of childhood, a group of children gathered together to play.
Even as a child, An Luo was cold and indifferent. He"d rather be alone and immerse himself to devotedly stacking his blocks than to play with them.
The child An Yan was especially naughty, always knocking over the blocks his Gege stacked whenever it gets high. Every time this happens, An Ze, like a small adult, would appear to teach him a lesson: "Gege took a long time to pile them! Why would you do that?!" At this, An Yan would retort: "You"re not the one who stacked them, how is this your business?"
Thus, the two got into a you punch me, I kick you scuffle, with rapid strikes and beaten limbs. Zhou Chengping dodged to the side and observed as if watching a good movie, while An Mo rushed forward, trying to defuse the situation: "Why are you two fighting again? Stop fighting, stop fighting!"
As An Yan and An Ze beat each other up more fiercy, the protagonist, An Luo, still had a cold and indifferent expression on his face. He debated over reprimanding An Yan for knocking over his blocks or stand up and defend him against An Ze. In the end, he ignored them.
Seeing that his two younger brothers would fight for half a day, An Luo simply yawned and turned to go upstairs, what remained unseen was deemed to be clean.
A sudden ear-piercing ringing of the phone shook Zhou Chengping awake from his dream.
When he looked up at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was already seven in the morning. The east horizon released a thread of sunshine through a layer of cloud, spilling onto the whole city and enveloping it with a coat of an insipid golden halo.
It was the beginning of a brand new day.
Zhou Chengping picked up the phone, accepting the call. The soft, gentle voice of the young nurse sounded in his ear: "Dr. Zhou, the patient, An Luo, who was brought into the ICU last night is your cousin, right? He just woke up a moment ago. Are you coming to see him?"
He immediately sat upright. "Yes, I"ll be there at once."
The author has something to say: Inevitably, we’ll confuse names, so I made a list of the family relationships:
Grandfather: An Laoye Ze(An Guangyao)
Father: An Yudong
Mother: Zhou Bizhen(nephew – Zhou Chengping)
Oldest son: An Luo
Second son: An Yan
Third son: An Mo
Fourth son: An Ze
In this chapter, two(?) brothers appeared. From roughly this, which is the small attack? The troublemaker An Yan or the protective An Ze? Or both?(An Luo: …you killed me.)
Hahaha, we can guess and see. To cuc.u.mber bet, pay one get ten >__<>
Give ease to my heart: If you didn"t get it-no, An Ze is not a s.a.d.i.s.t. Wording is a bit weird, but it basically means there are outcomes worse than a fracture, so An Ze"s grateful that those outcomes didn"t happen and it"s only a broken bone.
Not a word or movement(不動聲色): Idiom; remaining calm and collected; not batting an eyelash
Naturally(理所當然): Idiom; according to reason, it should be the case; inevitable and right; as it should be by rights(I used naturally instead since it fit more into the sentence)
One-thing-and-meaning-just-that(說一不二): Idiom; to keep one"s word
Cubed: In a math sense; Depression^3
Biao Ge(表哥): older male cousin via female line
Glib tongue(满嘴跑火车): Idiom; to talk big
What remained unseen was deemed to be clean(眼不见为净): Idiom; what the eye doesn"t see, the heart doesn"t grieve over; (similar to)out of sight, out of mind
T/N: Sorry if the Wattpad didn’t work for some of you last time. I don’t know what happened, but it works now.
And, as the author said, who do you think is the ML? An Yan? An Ze? Both? ┬┴┬┴┤･ω･)ﾉ