Chapter 77: Jiang Shulan Has Recovered
When Su Zhaozhao arrived at the hospital, Jiang Shulan greeted her. "Doctor Su, you’re here?"
Jiang Shulan’s condition was steadily improving. He was even initiating conversations with her now, and Su Zhaozhao breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, good afternoon. How are you feeling now?"
Although her heart was heavy from having just witnessed Wang Dahua fall to her death, Su Zhaozhao still managed a smile when she saw Jiang Shulan.
’There are so many people struggling in this world.’
’Life is hard for everyone.’
"I feel much better. My leg doesn’t hurt as much as before."
"How about I take you outside for a bit?" Su Zhaozhao said with a smile.
"But in my condition... I can’t go out," Jiang Shulan said. "It’s too difficult."
The young man’s gaze fell on his leg. ’How can I walk with a leg like this?’
Just then, Jiang Shulan’s parents came in. It was as if they had aged ten years overnight.
In front of Jiang Shulan, however, they maintained their composure, even managing a faint smile when they looked at Su Zhaozhao.
"Doctor Su, you’re here?"
"Yes, I was planning to take Shu Lang downstairs for a bit to get some sun. I wouldn’t have been able to get him into a wheelchair by myself, so your timing is perfect."
After saying that, Su Zhaozhao left the room to borrow a wheelchair from a nurse.
She had asked about Jiang Shulan’s condition when she first arrived.
He was able to move a little now, so she thought that getting outdoors and breathing some fresh air would be good for Jiang Shulan’s physical and mental health.
Once Su Zhaozhao returned with the wheelchair, Jiang Shulan’s parents lifted him into it.
Jiang Shulan stared down at his leg, finding the sight completely jarring.
Su Zhaozhao saw the rims of his eyes instantly turn red.
Before, Jiang Shulan had been lying in bed, covered by a blanket, which was only lifted when his dressings were changed.
From that angle, he couldn’t see the empty space where his leg should have been.
But now, sitting in the wheelchair, the loss was starkly visible.
It would be hard for anyone to accept.
"Come on, let’s get you some sun," Su Zhaozhao said. "The weather is beautiful today. The afternoon sun is lovely and bright. It’s been a while since you’ve been outside, hasn’t it?"
She changed the subject, not wanting to let him dwell on it.
They went down to the courtyard to bask in the sun.
Other patients were there as well, getting some fresh air.
Su Zhaozhao stood beside Jiang Shulan. "How is it? Feeling comfortable?"
Jiang Shulan nodded, looking up at the sky.
It was a little after two in the afternoon. The sun was so brilliant that he couldn’t help but squint when he looked up.
’It’s so bright.’
’But I still want to look.’
’Maybe this is the only way I can feel like I’m still alive, still human.’
Over the past few weeks, he had moved from a state of complete collapse to gradual acceptance.
But how could he not feel any grief at all?
He was still sad, still grief-stricken.
But he knew so many people were counting on him to recover, so he had to recover as quickly as possible.
’I’m still alive, so life must go on.’
’I always pushed myself so hard before. Even after losing a leg, I can’t give up. I have to keep fighting.’
Jiang Shulan turned his head and glanced at Su Zhaozhao.
The young woman had been with him this whole time, like a different kind of comrade-in-arms.
’It’s like she has some Mind Reading Technique. From the moment we met, she’s understood me perfectly.’
’She’s calm, gentle, and warm as the sun, guiding me out of the darkness.’
Thinking of this, Jiang Shulan said to Su Zhaozhao, "Doctor Su, thank you. I’ll do my best to recover."
Su Zhaozhao gave Jiang Shulan a brilliant smile. "Mhm, keep fighting. You must always remember, as long as you’re alive, there is always hope."
Jiang Shulan paused. For some reason, as Su Zhaozhao said those words, he sensed a flicker of sadness in her.
’Doctor Su... has something bad happened to her, too?’
Just then, two women walking by spotted Su Zhaozhao and called out to her. "Doctor Su, you’re here! Did you hear what happened to Wang Dahua? Oh, it’s such a tragedy. They couldn’t save her."
Su Zhaozhao looked up and saw they were other patients she had been counseling a few days ago. Today was their last session.
They were scheduled to be discharged tomorrow.
They looked like they had long since moved on from the shadow of the bus crash.
They seemed perfectly fine.
’If Wang Dahua hadn’t been discharged so quickly, would she be standing here now, smiling and greeting me?’
’But now... they couldn’t save her?’
Su Zhaozhao’s hand on the wheelchair handle tightened reflexively.
She made it a rule never to reveal her own feelings in front of her patients.
Even now, though her heart was filled with grief, she forced herself to remain composed.
Jiang Shulan’s gaze fell on Su Zhaozhao’s hand on his wheelchair. The young woman was gripping it so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
But her voice was as calm as ever when she spoke. "I heard. It’s very sad. I just wish she could have stayed at the hospital to continue her treatment."
"Doctor Su, don’t blame yourself. This isn’t your fault. You did your best to stop her mother-in-law; we all saw it. She had even agreed to stay, but then she snuck out of the hospital the very next day."
The women tried to comfort Su Zhaozhao.
After they left, Jiang Shulan couldn’t help but ask, "What happened?"
"It was another patient from the bus. She had severe psychological trauma, but her mother-in-law thought she was faking it and pushed her to leave the hospital. After she was discharged, she couldn’t take it anymore and jumped from a building."
Jiang Shulan’s eyes narrowed. "How could she...? To survive a disaster like that... she should have cherished her life..."
"Look at me. I lost my leg. At first, I didn’t want to live either, but I’m slowly coming to terms with it. I know I have to keep living."
Hearing her son’s words, Jiang Shulan’s mother immediately cried out, "Oh, Shu Lang, no matter what happens... even if you were paralyzed and bedridden for the rest of your life, I would take care of you forever! But if you leave your father and me behind, I couldn’t go on living."
"Mom, don’t worry. I’m already much better now," Jiang Shulan said with a small smile.
While he might not have been as strikingly handsome as Xie Huaizheng or Lin Shumo,
when he smiled, his features bathed in the sunlight, Su Zhaozhao finally understood what it meant for a name to fit a person so perfectly.
His eyes shone like stars, and his features were open and clear—an embodiment of his name, Shu Lang. He gave off the impression of a soldier, resolute and strong.
"Doctor Su, you’re very sad, aren’t you? You don’t have to hide your feelings either. Why don’t you try venting, using the methods you taught me?"