Life in Critical Condition

Even after Xu Chen left the hospital, he kept recalling the photo of the deformity. Its sickly distortion lingered in his mind.

In the end, though, Xu Chen did his best to forget it. It was only ugly, after all.

At worst, the deformity would only cause him to lose the use of his leg. Judging by its appearance, the skin was glossy, with no blackening, and its blood supply was still quite adequate, so there was no need to worry about necrosis. The doctors' first priority could only be to save Song Tian's father's life. If he survived, there would always be a way to deal with the leg.

Back at the dorm, Xu Chen stared at the empty room and fell silent for a long time. Song Tian had gone to be with his father, leaving no one else in the dorm. The loneliness was overwhelming.

With nothing else to do, Xu Chen picked up the latest book handed out to them from the desk and began to read.

Because coastal typhoons had moved inland, radioactive material might be spread across most of the country, sending cancer risks soaring. The health bureau had therefore increased its investment in cancer education, making things more demanding for medical students.

Three days later, the sun was still shining brightly. Xu Chen studied the teacher's PowerPoint presentation, which explained the mechanisms by which cancer developed.

The teacher explained it to the students from the lectern.

"Various carcinogens, including tobacco, alcohol, aflatoxins, nitrites, and radiation, can also lead to cancer..."

At that, something suddenly occurred to Xu Chen. He thought it over and wrote it down.

Then someone knocked on the classroom door.

At the teacher's signal, the student nearest the door opened it, and the whole class looked outside in surprise.

Outside stood two noncommissioned officers in military uniforms. Still reacting as he had been taught during military training, the student who had opened the door immediately saluted. One of the officers returned the salute, then asked the student something.

A visit from soldiers was a rare occurrence. Whispers broke out in the classroom as everyone speculated about what had happened.

Then the teacher went over to speak with them. In the end, the teacher and the students close enough to hear the conversation all turned to look at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen was still reading the words on the presentation when he noticed what seemed like countless gazes fixed on him. Baffled, he looked over.

"Xu Chen, I'll fill out the leave paperwork for you later. Go with them."

Xu Chen had no choice but to nod. "Okay."

Once outside the classroom, he discovered that besides the two noncommissioned officers, there were another six armed soldiers. The whole scene looked like they were escorting a prisoner to an execution, as if they were afraid Xu Chen might run away.

The display even frightened Xu Chen a little.

"Comrade, what have I done?"

The officer paused, then patted Xu Chen on the shoulder. "Don't jump to conclusions. My orders were just to bring you to see someone."

"Then why did you all bring guns? Isn't that a bit much? I'm just a student."

"Of course it is. But the order came down suddenly while we were conducting an exercise. As for why, you could say we were pulled away at short notice. They sent whoever was convenient..."

Xu Chen didn't understand what the officer meant until he was hurriedly brought to a Type 08 Infantry Fighting Vehicle in front of the teaching building.

The enormous vehicle was far cooler than any off-road jeep, not to mention that it seemed to have a lot of weapons mounted on it.

He had just wanted to take a closer look when two soldiers swiftly opened the rear ramp hatch. Then Xu Chen was pulled and dragged aboard.

The vehicle started moving, and Xu Chen could only exchange looks with the soldiers inside, who were on full alert.

After a while, Xu Chen heard sirens clearing the way outside. If he had guessed correctly, this was a special vehicle under traffic police escort. Judging by how smoothly it was moving, it seemed they hadn't even stopped at red lights in the bustling city center. Xu Chen was flattered and bewildered. What had he done to deserve such treatment?

With the escort clearing their way, Xu Chen experienced what had to be the fastest trip out of the city. But the viewing windows in the vehicle were tiny, nothing like those in civilian vehicles. He could only tell that they had left the city; as for where they had gone, he had no idea.

The wail of the sirens eventually faded. Presumably, the escort had taken them far enough, leaving the fighting vehicle to continue alone.

Not long afterward, the vehicle stopped. The soldier closest to the hatch felt around for a moment, and it quickly opened as if by magic. The soldiers filed out, pulling and dragging Xu Chen down with them.

Xu Chen looked around. Judging by the red cross, it was a hospital. He looked up at the building before him and saw that it didn't even have a name. It had to be some unknown military district hospital to be like this. He glanced around again and saw a row of fighting vehicles parked off in the distance, with another weaving back and forth, seemingly in training.

Only then did Xu Chen understand what the officer had meant by being pulled away at short notice. They had simply used whatever was nearby, sending whichever moving vehicle was closest?

Too bad it wasn't a tank. Otherwise, Xu Chen thought he might have seen a tank driving through the city, provided the roads could bear its weight.

The two noncommissioned officers also got out of the vehicle, then hurriedly led Xu Chen into the building.

Thanks to the soldiers' brisk, decisive movements, Xu Chen was still in a daze when, seemingly no time at all later, he was brought to a room inside.

"All right, Xu Chen, we've brought you here, so our mission is complete. Just go in." With that, the officer saluted, turned, and left.

Xu Chen still had no idea what was happening. He looked at the door in front of him and had no choice but to pull it open.

Before Xu Chen had fully opened it, the door was immediately pushed open from inside. The person there glanced at him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him in.

A large conference table filled the room, with more than a dozen people seated closely around it. Among them were the deputy regiment commander and the regiment committee member Xu Chen had met before. There seemed to be all sorts of people there; nearly half wore white coats. The one pulling Xu Chen along was Captain Chu.

The atmosphere in the conference room was extremely tense. Many people weren't sitting in their seats but were pacing back and forth with deeply furrowed brows. Things eased somewhat when they saw Xu Chen enter.

Before Xu Chen could ask anything, Captain Chu stared at him, his eyes bloodshot. "Xu Chen, there isn't much time, so I'll keep this short. Old Ge's life is in danger. He specifically asked to speak with you alone, with no one listening in. But this conversation is too important for us not to take any measures. Just put this voice recorder next to Old Ge's pillow while you talk."

Facing Captain Chu's anxious gaze, as though he were ready to devour someone, Xu Chen had many questions but left them unspoken and nodded.

What he most wanted to ask was how Old Ge had ended up at death's door, and why he wanted to see him.

"Do you understand what I just said?" Captain Chu raised his voice.

"Yes, I understand."

"Sorry, the situation is urgent, and my attitude was a little... Come with me. I'll take you to him."

With that, Captain Chu hurried out of the conference room, pulling Xu Chen along.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, why is Old Ge in critical condition?" Xu Chen asked cautiously, jogging to keep up.

Captain Chu brought Xu Chen to a hospital room guarded by two soldiers. Ignoring their salutes, he said quickly, "It's systemic organ failure. Even the doctors can't explain it. Old Ge is a vital pillar of our country, so be sure to listen carefully to what he says."

"Understood."

"All right. If there's anything else you want to know, we'll talk when you come out. For now, just do as Old Ge says. He's in here." Captain Chu opened the door and pointed to the only bed in the room.

A doctor and two nurses were inside monitoring Old Ge's condition. They hurriedly gathered their things, and the doctor shook his head helplessly at Captain Chu before squeezing past him through the doorway.

The two nurses also quickly finished gathering their things, though for the most part they only needed to put down what they were working on. After they left, Captain Chu glanced at Old Ge's bed and closed the door.

Xu Chen didn't dare delay. He pressed the button on the recorder, and once its indicator light came on, he walked to Old Ge's bedside.

Only then did Xu Chen see how bad Old Ge's condition was. It was plain to the eye that he was older and weaker than when they had last met.

Leaving everything else aside, the machinery beside him that maintained his vital signs alone was worth no less than ten million, and there was even an ECMO machine that had not been put into use. All manner of tubes led beneath the blanket. Xu Chen could hardly imagine what lay underneath, but there was no helping it. The machines were doing their utmost to sustain Old Ge's life on the bed. If any one of them lost power, his life would become like a candle flickering in the wind, liable to go out with a breath.

On the vital signs monitor beside him, one practically had to pick out the normal readings from among the abnormal ones. They were only a little better than the readings from a corpse.

Old Ge's eyes were narrowed, and he seemed to be asleep. But to Xu Chen, it looked more like a coma. His condition seemed such that he no longer even had the strength to control his eyelids, leaving his eyes half-closed. With nothing else he could do, Xu Chen first placed the recorder beside the pillow at the head of the bed.

"Hello? Old Ge? It's Xu Chen. You asked me to come?" Xu Chen tried to wake him.

Old Ge's eyes seemed to move slightly.

"Old Ge, I'm here. Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Old Ge weakly opened his eyes and looked at Xu Chen. His mouth opened a little, and his dry lips moved slightly.

"Your mouth looks very dry. Shall I get you some water?" Xu Chen looked around, but there was no teapot or cup.

"No, no need."

Xu Chen turned back in surprise and saw that it was Old Ge who had spoken. He called out with effort, his unfocused eyes directed toward Xu Chen.

"Come, come closer."