"The patient's vital signs are dropping."
"Pupils dilated, no response to light."
Several doctors and nurses crowded around Ning Shile, wheeling him into the emergency room.
The metal hospital bed rattled, its wheels rumbling across the floor.
"Prepare to resuscitate!"
Ning Father, Ning Mother, Zheng Father, and Zheng Mother had all arrived. Several police cars were parked outside the hospital.
The vehicle involved belonged to the second uncle. He claimed he hadn't done it on purpose, that there was something wrong with the brakes. Ning Father and Ning Mother naturally didn't believe him, and the argument raged on without end.
Zheng Father and Zheng Mother wanted justice for Ning Shile and had called in the most authoritative vehicle inspection agency.
Zheng Ye hadn't joined them. He remained at the hospital, silently watching the emergency room doors without moving.
The image of Ning Shile collapsing replayed over and over in Zheng Ye's mind.
Late at night, a car crash, blood...
Zheng Ye's breathing grew ragged. He closed his eyes. For the first time in a very long time, he felt fear.
Intense terror spread from his heart, chilling his limbs. A suffocating sensation crept upward from his feet, as though it would drag him underground.
He was afraid.
He was afraid something would happen to Ning Shile, afraid he would leave just like that...
After an unknown stretch of time, the sound of a door opening broke the silence in the corridor. A doctor hurried out of the emergency room, his brow tightly furrowed. "Is Ning Shile's family here?"
"Yes." Hearing that name, Zheng Ye seemed to snap back to himself. "I'm here."
The doctor strode over and spoke quickly, wasting no words. The situation seemed urgent. "The patient has severe internal bleeding. He needs surgery immediately."
"But I need