Xie Ji took two steps forward before the nurse stopped him. "Do you have some kind of habit of disobeying doctor's orders? We just re-bandaged you, and you're already running around like this? Don't let your boyfriend's leg get better while yours is ruined."
"No!" Xie Ji retorted instinctively, "He's not my boyfriend!"
"Why are you in such a hurry if he's not your boyfriend?" The nurse gave him a strange look. "Wait here, I'll go get you a wheelchair. If I find you getting out of bed by yourself, I'll tell Professor Zhuang Huan and have him just amputate your leg. You don't want it anyway, so why not cut it off and give it to someone who needs it? What do you think?"
Xie Ji: "..."
Why does this nurse have such a yandere vibe?
Xie Ji sat on the bed, behaving himself obediently. Only after the nurse brought in the wheelchair did he move into it. "Is this alright? Could you please push me around for a bit, thank you."
"Why the rush?" the nurse asked. "He's already in the operating room. Even if you go over there, you won't see him. You have to wait for him to come out of the surgery."
Xie Ji pursed his lips, his fingers, resting on either side of the wheelchair, turning white from gripping them so tightly.
"You still say he's not your boyfriend?" the nurse teased, pushing him along. "If he isn't, why are you so nervous?"
"Who says it has to be my boyfriend for me to be nervous?!" Xie Ji stubbornly insisted, " Lu Xunji and I have a relationship that's much closer than that!"
The nurse teased him, "A relationship closer than a boyfriend? Is he your husband?"
Xie Ji turned around and pointed at her. "You're being a bit long-winded."
The nurse nodded and said nothing more.
"I've already said it's not that kind of relationship." Xie Ji thought for a moment, then still protested unwillingly, "I really don't understand people like you. Why does an intimate relationship have to be with a boyfriend? Is a boyfriend really that intimate? Once you break up, he becomes your ex-boyfriend, and you might even become enemies. Lu Xunji and I don't have that kind of unstable relationship! We're brothers, you understand? Brothers! The really close kind! He's my brother!"
The nurse sighed, "Someone who can make you push your physical limits to memorize something like that must be a really close friend, even closer than a blood brother!"
Xie Ji nodded solemnly. "My own brother!"
The nurse nodded seriously, "It seems I have been rude!"
"That's incredibly offensive!"
"Sorry!"
I forgive you!
The two walked and talked until they reached Lu Xunji's operating room. Lu Xunji had already been wheeled in for regenerative therapy. The operating room lights were on, and Xie Ji was somewhat flustered.
If he weren't being held in a wheelchair by the nurse, he would even like to stand up and take a few steps.
A huge sense of tension weighed on his heart, and he unconsciously began to shake his leg while sitting in the wheelchair. The nurse beside him said speechlessly, "Would you like me to get you another handful of sunflower seeds?"
"Is that alright?" Xie Ji thought for a moment and said seriously, "I really can't stand waiting like this. I want to find something to do, anything is fine."
The nurse thought for a moment and then said, "Wait."
Then he got up and left.
Xie Ji continued to tremble nervously and excitedly in front of the operating room.
Within two minutes, the nurse returned carrying a large bunch of sunflowers.
Xie Ji paused for a moment, looking at the sunflower in the nurse's arms. "?"
"I got it from the nurses' station." The nurse placed the sunflower on Xie Ji's lap. "A patient gave it to me a few days ago. It's been soaking in the IV fluids at the nurses' station for several days, and it didn't die. In fact, it's growing bigger and bigger. Look at this big flower head, isn't it beautiful?"
Xie Ji paused for a moment, then said, "It looks good. Push me next to the trash can, and get me a small plate while you're at it."
The nurse met all the patient's needs and then sat down on a stool to the side.
Xie Ji, sitting in his wheelchair, began to nervously and excitedly... crack sunflower seeds.
The surgery lasted for about three hours before the overhead lights finally went out, and Xie Ji excitedly stood up.
Zhuang Huan was the first to emerge. He lowered his head, removed his mask, and spoke to his assistant, "Settle the patient down and take him back to his ward. Prescribe some painkillers for him; they won't be very effective, but it's better than nothing, at least it'll provide some psychological comfort. Also, increase the concentration of his IV fluids; he'll probably be in so much pain for a while that he won't be able to eat or sleep, and he'll need high nutrition to maintain his bodily functions..."
The assistant nodded repeatedly, and as he spoke, Lu Xunji was wheeled out. Even with local anesthesia, Lu Xunji's complexion was far from relaxed. His hospital gown was soaked with cold sweat, and his lips were pale, though there was a hint of blood between them.
"Doctor." Xie Ji stood up, holding a large bunch of sunflowers, and walked to Lu Xunji's side. "Is he alright?"
Zhuang Huan glanced at the pitiful state of the sunflowers and the sunflower seed husks scattered on the ground, pondered for three seconds, and then said, "It's alright, the regeneration therapy device will cause pain for a while, as long as you can get through it, your mental state won't be too bad... But you, I suggest you make an appointment with the psychiatric department next door."
Xie Ji looked at the somewhat dejected Lu Xunji with heartache, ignoring Zhuang Huan. He squatted down, wanting to touch Lu Xunji's leg, but hesitated for fear of hurting him. "Does it hurt a lot?"
Lu Xunji barely mustered a trace of life, glanced at the sunflower in Xie Ji's hand, and paused for a moment. "Thank goodness, was it for me?"
Sunflowers represent love that never ends.
Lu Xunji was in excruciating pain and had no strength left, but she still reached out to take the sunflower from Xie Ji's hand. "Thank you, little darling, I really like it."
Xie Ji ran his fingers over the soft petals of the sunflower, then threw the sunflower into the trash can behind him.
Lu Xunji: "..."
"That's not important." Xie Ji clapped his hands, brushed the sunflower seed shells off his clothes, picked up a small plate, and placed it in Lu Xunji's palm. "Want some?"
Lu Xunji: "..."
I don't really want to.
"Thank you for waiting with me for Lu Xunji to come out. My foot is actually fine now, you can go back now. Please help me clean up this trash while you're at it, thank you, thank you." As he spoke, he pushed Lu Xunji's wheelchair and limped away.
The nurse and Zhuang Huan were left with blank expressions.
Zhuang Huan opened his mouth, glanced at the nurse, and asked, "What kind of tactics are you using?"
Who's the kind person who's eating sunflower seeds outside someone else's operating room?!
The nurse took a deep breath, looked at Zhuang Huan for two seconds, and then said dejectedly, "It's hard for me to explain to you, but anyway, it's just... a deep brotherly bond!"
Zhuang Huan pointed to Xie Ji's limping figure. "Those two? Brothers?"
The nurse nodded solemnly. "My dear."
Zhuang Huan's gaze turned strange, and after a long while, he sighed, "... People's hearts are no longer what they used to be, and morality has declined."
The young nurse said, "I don't understand, but I respect it."