The Old Man in the Hospital Room

Within that dimness condensed to the extreme, something like a flash of light suddenly flickered past, strikingly conspicuous.

Instinctively, he tried to reach out and catch that lingering glimmer, only to suddenly find it blinding.

...On the hospital bed, the old man slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was a vast expanse of white. His eyelids trembled, and it took him a while to come back to himself.

Through the small oxygen mask, he gradually made out that there were many people in front of him.

People he knew, people he did not know, those he had met once, those he was fairly familiar with, those he vaguely remembered...

Amid the piercing beeps of the equipment, doctors and nurses bustled around the bed in a flurry. Some recorded the old man's blood pressure and various physiological indicators as he regained consciousness on the nearby medical instruments. Some swiftly adjusted the oxygen supply equipment beside the bed, allowing him to transition his breathing with relative ease while remaining ready to immediately readjust the oxygen flow if necessary. Others carefully held his hand, repeatedly holding up fingers before his face and asking whether he felt anything abnormal, whether he could tell how many fingers they were holding up, and whether he still remembered who they were...

Beyond that busy stretch of white were family members who had rushed over from the side of the room, only to be stopped by the medical staff. They could do nothing but watch the old man lying there, somewhat weak, and call to him anxiously a few times.

At the sight, an elderly woman could not help sobbing softly. She seemed both sorrowful and happy. The younger members of the family hurriedly supported her and handed her a handkerchief...

In this private ward at a hospital somewhere in the capital, the old gentleman who had been admitted due to a "sudden fainting spell" quickly understood his circumstances. Especially after noticing his family in the room, a faintly warm, apologetic smile appeared on his rather gaunt old face.

But he soon recalled something. He raised one hand and waved it forcefully, gesturing for them to remove all the breathing equipment from his face first. Yet deliberately or otherwise, his other hand remained hidden beneath the pale blanket, covered tightly from view.

Although the doctor monitoring his physical condition still wanted to conscientiously offer a word or two of objection, after confirming that the old man was awake, the hospital administrator beside two grave-faced middle-aged men accompanying him gave a few equally solemn instructions. "Do as Elder Ning says. Don't delay..."

Before long, the extra apparatus on the face of the old man known as "Elder Ning" was removed. He lifted his sleeve to wipe away the moisture left on his face by the breathing equipment, then took two deep breaths in relief and gestured for the doctors around him to step back.

After carefully taking another look at the surroundings, the old man finally turned his head.

Unexpectedly, the old gentleman in hospital clothes did not attend to his family. Instead, he nodded first at the two middle-aged men in plain clothes, both standing ramrod straight.

"Little Chen, what time is it now?"

"Elder Ning, it is currently 1:22 a.m. Yanjing time. It has been approximately nine hours and twenty-two minutes since you suddenly fell unconscious at the research institute."

"The situation was urgent at the time, so the responsible personnel sent you to the hospital. Even after examination, they were unable to determine the detailed cause. The preliminary suspicion was that there might be some cerebral influence. Since we could not fully assess the specific severity of this issue with your health, and in consideration of certain personal wishes you had previously expressed, the organization temporarily notified and arranged for your family to come see you. Please forgive us."

After checking the time, the slightly older of the two men promptly and crisply gave a string of answers, followed by a brief explanation of the situation and an apology. Then he closed his mouth again.

They clearly knew each other. At the very least, they had dealt with one another before.

Almost everyone understood the meaning behind that seemingly simple phrase, "come see you."

No one in the room wished to interrupt at a time like this.

Only a child of no more than a few years old, held in the arms of a young family member, sleepily and drowsily looked at the adults' reactions. He seemed to want to say something, but his father pressed a hand to his head and held a finger to his lips with a "shh," leaving him no choice but to continue waiting quietly with everyone else.

"Ah, that was what I asked for back then. How could I blame you... I've caused everyone trouble this time too. Little Sun and the others must have been scared out of their wits then."

"When you collapsed, you really did give Dr. Sun quite a fright."

The man paused, as if recalling something. Then he took two steps forward on his own, moving to the rear side of the head of the hospital bed—a perfect position where he could clearly observe the old man's current condition at close range without taking up medical space that might be needed—and only then lowered his voice.

"After taking you away, he shut off the external communications signals in the laboratory. When he came out voluntarily to verify the situation with the internal personnel, his face was frighteningly pale... Is there something you need conveyed?"

By the time he spoke that final question, the man surnamed Chen had lowered his voice so much that practically only the old man before him could hear it.

"No, no, don't overthink it. This time, it should be my own problem. It has nothing to do with them. I truly owe him and those staff members an apology."

Realizing that the other man might have misunderstood something, the old man shook his head with a faintly bitter smile. But he immediately turned serious.

"Still, this matter probably isn't over yet. Little Chen, Little Xu, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you two to work some overtime."

"Elder Ning, if it is something particularly important, we may need..."

Seeing the change in the old man's expression and seemingly sensing something, the two surprised men immediately reacted with vigilance, abruptly sweeping their gazes around everyone present. The other man even silently stepped half a pace back, his sharp eyes scanning the entire ward entrance and the area beyond the windows like radar.

But before that warning could be finished, the old man stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"It's fine. There's no need to be so guarded anymore. The people here have already been drawn halfway into this, actually. Of course, it may not necessarily be a bad thing, but there's no escaping it, and there's no need to."

"You two should report to your superiors later. Find someone who can take responsibility and arrange a confidential location for me. There are some matters of 'work' that cannot be delayed even for a moment. Also, help me contact the institute and have personnel prepare the procedures for a remote verification connection. This time, the matter is quite serious. I'm afraid we'll need to notify someone higher up the chain of command..."

"Also, this already falls under the research institute's confidentiality procedures. During this period, anyone who has come into close contact with me, as well as everyone present, may have their freedom of movement affected to some extent in the near future. I'm truly sorry to have dragged you all into this because of an old man like me..."

Before his words had even finished, deep apology was already visible in those aged eyes.

Especially when he saw the little child of only a few years old, held in the young man's arms and already terribly sleepy, undisguised warmth appeared on the old man's face, as though even the wrinkles of decades had been smoothed somewhat.

Yet when his gaze caught sight, through a narrow gap quietly exposed beneath the blanket, of the icy, smooth test-tube-like object between his fingers, about as thick as a knuckle, and he confirmed once again that this was not an illusion, his expression quickly hardened into seriousness once more.

Those personal matters could be set aside. The most urgent priority was to deal with what he held in his hand.

...This was an exchange item that should have been brought back from some strange place in a "dream," worth over a hundred so-called Universal Points.

Having weathered decades of storms, he understood very well what this meant.

With a sigh, the old gentleman merely closed his hand and looked through the window toward the outside of the ward.

In the dim night lit by the distant city lights, beneath the streetlamps lining the hospital road, swarms of flying insects circled and wheeled everywhere. Chasing that blazing cluster of white light, they seemed tireless as they crashed, fell, and searched amid the hollow metal lampshades...

He watched quietly for a long time and said nothing more.