Only one light was turned on in the ward, shining a warm light to a corner silently. The general high-dependency ward’s layout did not have as many terrifying instruments as an intensive care ward. The green potted plants on the windowsill added a touch of softness to the white ward.
Ye Jian did not enter the ward directly but chose to stand outside and watch quietly. In fact, Uncle Chen hadn’t been sleeping well in the past. She was afraid of waking him up if she entered the ward.
Ye Jian retracted her gaze, lowered her head and wiped away her tears, and sincerely thanked the responsible guards, “Thank you very much for your hard work during this time. Please go back to your room and rest with your comrades. Let me handle the rest.”
“It’s our duty to take care of the old squad leader. You don’t have to be so polite.” The guards were very young, about twenty-three or four. They felt a little shy towards Ye Jian’s politeness and continued, “We are in three shifts, the comrades in the morning shift will arrive on time at 7 a.m, and that is the time when we go back to rest.”
“…We don’t need to rest, the three of us can watch together. You can ask me if you have anything you want to ask. The old squad leader and my comrade have always been in the hospital. We know the old squad leader better than the comrades in the morning and noon shifts.”
Because of their responsibilities, they were not allowed to leave the post at will. She was wrong to have asked them to go back to rest.
The high dependency ward’s layout was very humane, it was like one room and one hall, except that the “hall” was small, but still, it allowed the family to rest while watching the patient.
There used to be a folding bed, but now it had been moved out, and two wooden stools without a backrest were placed.
Although there was a high stool, it looked more like a display at first glance. The guards who were guarding had never sat down. The packaging plastic film on it was good without a trace of friction.
Ye Jian took out the plastic chair and began to ask him in detail about Principal Chen’s stay while another guard stood outside the corridor.
“On the first day of transfer from Yunnan Province, his situation was indeed dangerous. All organs were failing. When we received the old squad leader, we directly sent him to the emergency room for rescue.”
Just after hearing the first few sentences, Ye Jian’s heart clenched, and the hands-on her knees clenched into fists. Organ failure was life-threatening… When she was away, her loved one was experiencing a critical situation.
“The old squad leader’s will to survive is very tenacious, and he has survived two difficult situations. Experts later said that it was a miracle to survive.”
“Having to survive these two critical situations meant that he had passed through the most dangerous week, and the old squad leader was also able to say a few words to us after that… Last time, if he woke up during the day, he could only open his eyes slightly but couldn’t say a word.”
Ye Jian’s eyes reddened again, but she didn’t cry anymore, because Uncle Chen once said, “As a soldier, I would rather bleed than cry.” She didn’t want Uncle Chen to wake up to see that she had cried.
In her life, she couldn’t let down those who had expectations on her.
Although one should live for oneself, she understood that she must be responsible for herself in her life, but she should still take care of her relatives and live up to those who had expectations of her.
“The old squad leader survived the most dangerous week, but his organ function was impaired, and it is still possible for complications, but the risk is low. For insurance purposes, he stayed in the intensive care unit for another week before the expert confirmed that he could be transferred to the high dependency ward.”
