Chapter 18

“What? Miss was in a car accident?!”

No matter how composed someone usually was, news like that was enough to leave them flustered. Secretary Cen forced herself to stay calm and asked for the details.

“…A fracture? …All right, I’ll tell Madam.”

After hanging up, Chen Shu walked over to the person sitting on the metal chair in the middle of the corridor.

Half an hour ago, he’d been at home eating with his wife and child when Miss had called. But the person on the line hadn’t been Miss; it had been her classmate.

The other girl had said in a trembling voice that Miss had been in a car accident. She had only just managed to give him the hospital address before the call cut off. When he called back, for some reason, he couldn’t get through no matter what.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, the only person he saw in the corridor outside the emergency room was Miss’s classmate.

She wore a plain white undershirt underneath, and a large smear of sticky blood stained the chest.

Not just her clothes; her face, hands, and arms were all mottled with blood. When she saw him, her red, swollen eyes—full of guilt, anxiety, and helplessness—brightened a little.

Chen Shu was startled by her appearance. He immediately stopped a passing doctor and told him to treat her, but she stopped him.

“It’s not my blood. I’m fine.”

Chen Shu was horrified. If it wasn’t her blood, then whose was it? It couldn’t possibly be Miss’s, could it?

Her classmate confirmed his guess, and he was so frightened he almost fainted. Miss had lost that much blood—how badly had she been injured?

He was panicked and racked with self-reproach. If he had driven Miss back himself, she wouldn’t have run into an accident...

He didn’t know that while he was blaming himself, the girl in front of him was blaming herself too.

At that moment, a doctor came out of the emergency room. Chen Shu immediately stepped forward to ask about the situation. Unlike the two of them, who both looked grim, the doctor spoke with unhurried ease:

“Oh, the little girl who was brought in just now? Nothing serious. Just a forehead abrasion and a radial fracture. Once the stitches are done and the cast is on, she can be moved to a general ward for observation.”

The doctor couldn’t help adding, “That girl was pretty lucky, considering how big that accident was!”

The truck had lost control and killed and injured quite a few people; they had all been sent to this hospital. You could say Yan Can’s injuries were relatively light in this accident.

As he spoke, the doctor’s attention was drawn to the girl before him. Her face, hands, arms, and clothes were all covered in blood. Noticing his gaze, Su Ci explained again, “It’s not my blood.”

The blood on her body was all Yan Can’s. At the time, that tree had come crashing down on them with overwhelming force. Yan Can reacted quickly and, in an instant, knocked her down; the two of them rolled across the ground a few times together and got away.

Su Ci herself had only a few insignificant scrapes at most. But Yan Can was different; her forehead had struck the edge of the flowerbed, and blood had started pouring out at once.

Everything had happened so suddenly. Su Ci had never seen so much blood on one person before. Trembling uncontrollably, she had torn off her shirt and pressed it against Yan Can’s forehead to stop the bleeding.

The girl in her arms cried out, “It hurts, it hurts...”

Later, the ambulance, fire trucks, and police all arrived. Still stunned, she watched the medical staff lift Yan Can, covered in blood, onto a stretcher, and she followed her into the ambulance as well.

During the transfer, she stared blankly at Yan Can’s blood-covered face, her mind completely empty. When the medical staff asked her several times, she only came back to herself long enough to say, “I’m fine. The blood on me isn’t mine.”

Yan Can wasn’t transferred to a general ward until an hour later. Once the detailed test results came out, aside from the obvious abrasion on her forehead and the radial fracture, there were only superficial scrapes on her arms, knees, and a few other places.

Su Ci had those too, but she didn’t let anyone treat them. They weren’t serious anyway; she could just go home and apply iodine herself.

But Yan Can’s condition was different. After all, she had split open her forehead and broken her hand. The doctor recommended keeping her in the hospital for observation.

“I’m fine. It’s just a radial fracture, and they stitched up my head.”

In the private room, Secretary Cen held up the phone while Yan Can smiled and video-called her mother to reassure her.

Mother Yan leaned close to the screen to look at her forehead wrapped in white gauze, her heart aching terribly.

“Stitched up? Did it hurt a lot?”

Yan Can didn’t even know how many stitches she’d gotten. Secretary Cen answered for her from the side: “Seven stitches. If recovery goes well, the stitches can come out in a week.”

“Let Miss be discharged tomorrow, and then take her to Director Lin for a full checkup.”

The Yan family had invested in a high-end private hospital, and Lin Rui was the hospital’s director.

Yan Can’s injuries weren’t severe, but they weren’t light either. She’d still need targeted treatment and anti-inflammatory IVs later. Going to the private hospital her family had invested in would be much more comfortable than staying here.

Mother Yan nodded, clearly very satisfied with the arrangement. The mother and daughter chatted a while longer before hanging up.

Secretary Cen took back the phone and handed Yan Can a brand-new one, identical to her original model.

“The old phone has already been sent for repair. Once it’s fixed, it’ll be delivered directly to the estate.”

Her original phone had been smashed. It had barely managed to power on long enough to make one call before it died completely.

Yan Can was a little surprised. Secretary Cen really was capable; she hadn’t even said anything, and the woman had quietly taken care of everything.

She started fiddling with the new phone in her hand and, remembering Su Ci, who had been with her at the time, asked, “Where is she? My classmate.”

She had woken up and seen Secretary Cen; the doctors and nurses had just come in, but she hadn’t seen Su Ci.

Before Yan Can fainted, Su Ci had been conscious, so she should be fine, right? At the very least, she shouldn’t have been more seriously injured than her. If she wasn’t worse off, why hadn’t she come to see her? Yan Can found that odd.

Secretary Cen said, “She’s outside. Do you want me to call her in?”

Yan Can felt a little strange. What was Su Ci doing outside? No matter what, she had saved her life. If she wasn’t injured, shouldn’t she have come over to check on her after she woke up? Irritated for no clear reason, she nodded.

Outside the ward, Su Ci sat on the cold metal chair in the corridor. She knew Yan Can was awake. The other girl had saved her at a critical moment, so she should repay that kindness. How to repay it was one thing, but she shouldn’t be avoiding her and pretending nothing had happened. She should have stayed by Yan Can’s side like Secretary Cen, waiting for her to wake up and saying thank you first thing.

She knew that was the proper way to treat a lifesaver, but knowing it and doing it were two different things.

She was a little afraid. She didn’t even know what she was afraid of. Afraid of Yan Can? Afraid to face her? Because of her, Yan Can had nearly lost her life. If not for her, Yan Can would have gotten away on her own long ago. She was a burden...

She lifted her hand, her gaze fixed on the duck charm in her palm. The duck was green, with a long flat beak. It looked a lot like the yellow duck swim ring she had seen when she was little, except this one was a tiny, shrunken version—small, green, and a little ugly.

Unconsciously, she rubbed the duck’s plump belly with the pads of her thumb and forefinger. The fuzzy texture felt very comfortable.

The sound of women’s high heels striking the floor came from inside the ward; it drew closer and stopped at the doorway.

The door was opened. Su Ci looked up in a daze and glanced sideways.

The woman’s surname was Cen. Chen Shu called her Secretary Cen. Before Yan Can was moved to the general ward, this woman had already questioned her.

As soon as she arrived, Chen Shu left, relieved. After that, she had been the one watching over Yan Can the whole time.

“Classmate, Miss wants to see you.” She said that, then added, “I’m going to buy dinner. What do you want to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Have some anyway. Miss hasn’t eaten either.” Secretary Cen said gently, “Miss asked me to get your opinion, so don’t turn down her kindness.”

Hearing that, Su Ci looked past her toward the person behind her. She pressed her lips together, then said, “I don’t have any dietary restrictions. Anything is fine.”

“All right.” The woman nodded. “Then I’ll trouble you to keep Miss company for a bit.”

Su Ci didn’t say anything. She gripped the hem of the hospital gown in both hands, and after a long moment, she finally said with difficulty, “It’s no trouble.”

“Su Ci, how are you?” By then, Yan Can was already sitting up, head lowered as she tapped on her phone. When she saw Su Ci come in, she set the phone aside and looked her over.

Although Su Ci was also wearing a hospital gown like her, she didn’t look injured at first glance. Yan Can let out a relieved breath. “Good thing you’re okay.”

Hearing that, Su Ci’s guilt deepened even more. Before this, she had always suspected that Yan Can’s approach and closeness toward her had some ulterior motive. But when Yan Can had thrown herself at her without hesitation, crying in her arms and shouting, “It hurts, it hurts so much,” all of Su Ci’s doubts had vanished without a trace.

Outside the window, it was already dark. The harsh white light of the fluorescent lamp fell on her face. Yan Can had a strip of white gauze on her forehead; there was no color left in her face, which looked pale and fragile.

Su Ci’s throat tightened. “I’m sorry.”

She had finally said it.

Yan Can froze. Su Ci clearly wasn’t injured, but somehow she looked even worse than she did.

“Are you okay?” Yan Can asked, worried.

“I—”

Before she could finish, the door was suddenly shoved open from outside. Zhang Ru and Yu Ting stood in the doorway, both looking worried.

After school, Zhang Ru had gone home and immediately called Yan Can to ask if she was feeling better, but she couldn’t get through. It wasn’t until half an hour ago, when Secretary Cen answered, that she learned Yan Can had actually been in such a serious accident. She immediately dragged Yu Ting over.

The young miss Yan already had a weak constitution. No one knew how long she would need to recover this time. Silently praying for her, Zhang Ru thought, Please don’t get sick again; then she glanced aside and saw Su Ci was there too.

Zhang Ru smiled at her and quickly walked over to Yan Can’s bed. Yu Ting nodded at her as well and came to stand by the bed. The two of them surrounded Yan Can and asked her a great many questions. Yan Can chatted with her two best friends while also worrying about neglecting Su Ci; whenever a suitable topic came up, she included her too. But Su Ci had never been very talkative, so she only responded once or twice now and then.

Secretary Cen brought dinner over, and seeing the little group of students making such a racket, she tactfully found an excuse to leave. Once Secretary Cen was gone, the four of them made noise again.

Su Ci sat quietly in the chair, peeling oranges. Once they were peeled, she put them into the fruit plate, and Yan Can would just spear them with a toothpick when she wanted to eat.

They chatted until the nurse came by to remind the patient to rest early, and then the group finally left.

Su Ci went downstairs with Yan Can’s friends. As soon as they got into the elevator, Zhang Ru invited her, saying, “Come with me. I’ll take you home.”

“No need, I—” Su Ci hadn’t finished refusing when Yu Ting cut in, “Yan Can said it. Just let her take you.”

After saying that, she gave her a friendly smile.

Su Ci lowered her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Zhang Ru smiled too. “From now on, we’re all friends.”

In her mind, if Yan Can recognized someone as a friend, then that person was their friend too.

The next day, Yan Can was transferred to the private hospital her family had invested in for a full checkup. Once the results came back and there were no other issues, Yan’s father and mother finally relaxed.

“Cancan, why don’t you stay home and rest for a while before going back to class?” Mother Yan was full of worry on the screen. She only had this precious daughter; there couldn’t be the slightest mishap.

“No need. It’s just a small issue. My hand is hurt, not my foot. I’m fine.” Yan Can insisted on not resting at home.

With her current grades, if she stayed home to recover, she’d fall even farther behind that bunch of monsters in her class.

After hanging up, Yan Can lay back down in bed. Sleeping was impossible; it was only ten.

She really wanted to play games.

But she couldn’t play at all; her right hand simply couldn’t move. And yet she was so restless she really wanted to get her fix. She opened a gaming streamer she had followed before and found that the streamer just happened to be live. She watched for ten minutes, and the more she watched, the more she itched to play, so she simply started a match.

How could one hand possibly beat two people, let alone with her non-dominant left hand? In the end, she got cursed out by her teammates and lost miserably.

She let out a heavy sigh, looking at her right hand in its splint, when she suddenly remembered how she had once sent Su Ci a photo while she was on an IV drip, and the other girl hadn’t replied. What about this time?

With that tentative thought, she took a photo of her right hand and sent it to Su Ci.

After sending it, she waited a while; there was no response.

She still got no response after going to the bathroom and coming back.

This girl—

Just as she was about to complain that Su Ci had no heart, was cold, and didn’t care about her, the next second her phone buzzed once.

Su Ci: ?