Chapter 122 - 115: Daybreak
This is usually caused by immense pressure from the front and back.
Furthermore, the pelvis was also subjected to severe vertical shear force and rotational stress.
This meant her lower body had been violently twisted while being crushed.
After a step-by-step deductive analysis, a picture of the accident gradually formed in Jiang He’s mind...
In the instant the bus jolted violently, Wu Wanning had been sitting in her seat.
A loud CRASH erupted as the window to her right shattered.
In the fraction of a second she had to react, Wu Wanning pivoted on her upper body, twisting to the left to shield her daughter first.
Immediately after, the massive boulder that crushed its way in from the right slammed viciously into her abdomen and right chest.
Her ribs collapsed instantly, the fractured ends piercing her lungs. The immense impact traveled through her costal arch to her liver, tearing the right lobe completely.
The direction of the lacerations, the stress planes on the fractures, the displacement of her crushed organs...
Every drop of blood on the operating table told the story of what happened in that fraction of a second.
It must have been excruciatingly painful.
While pinned under the wreckage waiting for rescue, she would have been fully conscious, feeling her ribs digging into her lungs, feeling the blood drain from her abdomen, and feeling the soul-crushing agony of her shattered pelvis.
Thankfully, the daughter beneath her only had minor injuries...
Jiang He had heard the girl’s tearful cries in the emergency hall.
And now.
Inside Wu Wanning’s abdominal cavity, he understood the mother’s reply.
’Daughter, it doesn’t matter if you hate me. Mommy will always give her life to protect you.’
"Gauze."
"Here."
"Liver is fine. Now for the retroperitoneal hematoma in the pelvis. The internal iliac artery is bleeding pulsatively. Prepare for ligation."
"Here, dissecting forceps."
"A branch of the left internal iliac artery has ruptured. I’ll ligate it. You apply pressure to the right side to stop the bleeding."
"Okay."
The master and apprentice continued to work in perfect concert.
Amid the rhythmic beeping of the monitor, the shadowless lamp shone as coldly as daylight.
The circulating nurse replaced the blood-soaked gauze and the waste bucket.
Seeing the state of the bucket’s contents, she froze for a moment.
It was unimaginable...
How could someone so severely injured have been rescued from the scene and brought to the hospital?
They had the rescuers at the scene to thank.
Like the doctors, they were heroes, all of them snatching people from the jaws of death.
...
「Last night at 8:30, the rain was pouring down.」
In the garage of the Municipal Special Service Detachment, firefighter Li Cheng was sitting on the running board of a red Steyr water tender, looking at his phone.
There was a text from his wife:
[Xiaoya and I took the bus back to our hometown. She’s in a bad mood because she didn’t do well on her exams. Plus, you broke your promise to spend her birthday with her today, so she doesn’t want to talk to you right now. Don’t call... Make sure you eat on time at the station.]
Li Cheng stared at the screen, silent for a long time.
Today was his daughter Xiaoya’s fifteenth birthday, and the family of three had planned to go back to their hometown together.
But just before his shift ended in the afternoon, a factory in the next district caught fire. His company was called for backup, and as the leader of Squad One, he had to take off the regular uniform he’d just changed into and put his turnout gear back on.
The fire was out and he was back, but his leave was ruined.
He took a deep breath in the garage.
’In this line of work, if you want to be worthy of the badge on your chest, you often have to let your family down.’
He wiped his face with his hand and stood up, ready to head to the mess hall to grab a few bites of cold leftovers.
Just then, the alarm bell above the garage suddenly blared.
The piercing sound tore through the rainy night.
The dispatcher’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker:
"All units, assemble! Major landslide on the mountain section of the Ring City Expressway! A long-distance overnight bus has been hit, causing a multi-car pile-up behind it! Grab all extrication tools and deploy immediately!"
Li Cheng froze.
A long-distance bus.
The Ring City Expressway.
A terrible premonition washed over him.
There was no time to hesitate. He swiftly pulled on his turnout gear, donned his helmet, yanked open the door, and jumped into the passenger seat.
Seconds later, the fire engine’s siren wailed as it charged into the downpour...
The scene was even more horrific than the dispatcher had described.
Mud and rock had cascaded down the mountainside, completely cutting off the expressway.
The long-distance bus lay on its side against the guardrail.
A giant boulder had struck the middle of the bus, caving the roof down to the seats. It looked like a soda can that had been stomped flat.
Behind it, cars and a truck were smashed together.
The truck’s fuel tank had ruptured.
The smell of diesel hung in the air.
The company captain jumped out of the truck and ordered, "Squad One, grab the extrication tools and get on that bus with me! Squad Two, handle the pile-up! Move it!"
Li Cheng slung the hydraulic extrication tool kit, weighing dozens of pounds, over his shoulder and charged toward the middle of the bus, wading through knee-deep mud and water.
Rain hammered against his helmet, blurring his vision.
Faint groans came from inside the bus.
"Anyone in there? Can you hear me?" Li Cheng smashed a remaining piece of glass with the hammer in his hand and shone his searchlight inside.
The beam of light swept across the twisted cabin.
"Help... save my mom..."
A girl’s tear-choked voice called out.
Li Cheng’s breath caught in his throat.
He knew that voice all too well.
His heart nearly stopped beating. He could hardly breathe.
His worst fear had come true...
"Fuck!"
He roared, jamming the tip of the hydraulic spreader between a warped seat frame and the roof.
"Old Zhao, pressurize!"
The engine roared to life, and the hydraulic spreader slowly pried apart the twisted steel.
A gap opened up.
Li Cheng squeezed half his body into the cabin.
He saw a jacket stained red with blood.
It was the one he had bought for his wife last year.
Wu Wanning was lying prone beneath a seat, her back bearing the immense weight of the crushed roof.