Hell on Earth

Medical Center.

Anna slowly opened her eyes. What she saw was no longer the cold morgue, and the indifferent grim reaper was no longer before her.

"Ted, is that you?"

"It's us."

"Is it really you?"

"It really is us!"

"I'm alive?"

Anna looked puzzled. "Aren't I already dead?"

What do you remember?

Adam asked.

"I remember opening my eyes in the morgue."

Anna recalled, "The mortician was stitching up the wound on my forehead while saying I was dead and showed me my death certificate."

Then I remembered that I had indeed been in a car accident last night.

But I am clearly still alive.

He said that I am just a lingering soul, and that I will soon disappear as my brain cells die completely.

He came to see me off.

I don't believe it!

I have absolutely no control over my body.

When I was able to move a little more, I checked my pulse, but it wasn't beating.

I can hit the bed with my arm without feeling any pain.

Perhaps I really am dead?

That is not death.

Adam explained, "That's the effect of the anesthetic. You were injected with a hydrating sedative, which put you in a state of suspended animation, making you unable to control your body, which is why you experienced those illusions."

I'm asking you, did the mortician give you any medication afterwards?

"So that's how it is!"

Anna's Kasilan Big Eyes widened even more. "He said it was a muscle relaxant to keep my body looking like a living person so it could better attend my funeral."

Oh, right!

Mr. Hutton!

"Your piano teacher?"

Adam remembered her mentioning it.

"Right!"

Anna said, trembling, "I was late for Mr. Hutton's funeral yesterday. When I finally went to pay my respects to his body, I vaguely saw his mouth move."

At the time, I thought it was just my imagination again.

Because I am certain that Mr. Hutton's mouth closed again.

Now that I think about it, was Mr. Hutton still alive at that time...?

"What?!"

Ted and his two companions were dumbfounded.

Lily shrank directly into Marshall's arms, trembling slightly.

Adam and Kate exchanged a glance.

Kate turned pale.

By now, she had basically come to believe Adam's speculation.

"It seems Mr. Hutton is the latest victim."

Adam said with a grave expression.

"This matter..."

Kate felt a chill run down her spine.

By this time, she already knew that Mr. Deakin had been running the town's largest funeral home for over twenty years, offering a one-stop service for encoffining, funerals, and burials.

The cemetery is right behind the funeral home.

Many people from the town and the surrounding area are buried in this cemetery.

If Adam's guess is true.

Now imagine someone being injected with anesthesia, placed in a coffin, and buried. After the anesthesia wears off, how desperate and terrified they will feel when they wake up.

She was a criminal investigator who had reviewed many files and knew that people in that state would desperately try to survive.

I'm afraid that once the coffin is opened, the lid will be covered in bloody scratches.

Then, thinking about those more than one hundred photos of people with their eyes open, she could almost picture more than one hundred desperate people desperately clutching at the coffin lids in the cemetery behind the funeral home, their desperate and painful wails echoing through her mind.

If this isn't hell, then what is it?

"You mean again?"

Seeing that everyone's faces were pale, clearly frightened, Adam quickly looked at Anna and changed the subject. "Did you also have hallucinations before?"

"I..."

Anna hesitated.

"Is it related to your previous bad mood?"

Adam glanced at Ted.

"Anna, just tell me."

Ted remembered this and quickly advised, "Adam is an excellent doctor and a good friend of ours. If you feel unwell, you can talk to him."

"Yes."

Lily had recovered somewhat by now and chimed in, "Adam is very good at creating miracles. This time, he was the first to discover that you were still alive and saved you. Otherwise, Ted would have gone senile long ago."

"Thanks."

Anna thanked Adam, then looked at Ted with deep affection. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to care about me so much... I've always wanted to be loved."

But my mother... she taught me from a young age that loving someone means getting hurt.

So I decided not to love anyone, so that I wouldn't get hurt anymore.

After we met, our feelings for each other were so intense.

At first, I found myself involuntarily immersed in it.

Weeks later, it took me a while to come to my senses. I thought of my mother, and of my past convictions. I backed down.

"So you deliberately distanced yourself from me."

Ted looked at her with pity in his eyes. "If I make you feel like you don't love me, then I won't love you either, so you won't get hurt, right?"

"Um."

Anna nodded.

"You're so stupid."

Ted said with sincere eyes, "I would never hurt you. You're my perfect type, my soulmate... Oh! Adam, what are you doing?"

"It's okay, you can continue."

Adam plucked a hair from Ted's head and laughed nonchalantly.

He'll definitely get Ted and Anna's DNA tested later to see if they're long-lost siblings.

This plot sounds so familiar, doesn't it?

Anna (Wanqing) Taylor (Mu), raised by her abnormal mother who was suspected of having suffered heartbreak since childhood, believed that she would not get hurt if she didn't love. She met the Prince of Romance (Ted Yu) Mosby (Duan) and was instantly conquered by him.

The Prince of Romance sincerely said that he would never hurt her.

The Prince of Romance's mother is a true romantic queen. She and Ted's neighbor, Uncle Ted, are truly in love. On the anniversary of Uncle Ted's death, the romantic queen's heart will stop to commemorate her lover.

If we add the original timeline, the Prince of Romance Ted's favorite character from beginning to end was the Blue French Horn Robin (Yu Yan) and the sparkly Wang, which caused him to hurt many good girls time and time again.

Happiness is truly alike.

The same applies to romance.

They're all just drifting along!

"Um."

Anna narrowly escaped death, having just been on the verge of death, and now her mindset is different.

The shadow cast by her mother's teachings was completely shattered by Ted's smile.

This time, she wants to love.

Is there anything else?

Adam reminded him.

"What?"

Anna was taken aback.

"Aside from emotional factors, are there any other reasons?"

Adam looked at her. "I heard from Ted that you were like a soulless shell the other day, always lost in thought. The mortician also said that he had a special talent and that you were just the Walking Dead. It can't be just about emotional factors, right?"

My emotions are complicated, but my body tells a different story.

Now even Anna herself admits that she and Ted were very affectionate a few weeks ago, which means that Ted has no physical problems.

A few days ago, Ted sensed that something was wrong with Anna, and naturally wondered if it was because he hadn't tried hard enough. He must have done everything he could to please Leonard, like he did with dancing and other pre-cop-like activities, and he was working very, very hard!

So here's the problem.

Why is Anna able to act the Walking Dead when Ted is working so hard?

It's probably not just a matter of emotional estrangement.

"I..."

Anna was conflicted.

"Let's get a full medical checkup."

Adam didn't press her, but simply suggested, "To prevent any unforeseen consequences."

"My nose has been bleeding frequently lately, so I've been taking a lot of painkillers..."

Anna met the concerned gazes around her, her heart warmed, and she revealed her secret. "Yesterday, before I went to Mr. Hutton's funeral, as I walked out of the school, I had a hallucination, as if all the corridor lights went out with my steps, and I couldn't open the door no matter what I did."