Running Towards You - Chapter 6

The phone rang, and Lu Jiahe thought it was Li Chenyao calling to hurry her along. Instead, it was the emergency department.

“There’s been a collision at the ski resort, several people injured pretty badly. Dr. Lu, can you come in right away?”

“On my way.” Lu Jiahe hung up and rushed to the operating room.

Ji Yin overheard the call and gazed at the moon outside the window, sighing inwardly. Doctors really were busy, even during holidays, they couldn’t rest properly.

“Hey, you’re something else,” the patient in the next bed suddenly remarked.

“Huh?” Ji Yin turned to look, confused.

“Less than a week in the hospital, and you’ve already snuck out twice, only to get dragged back by the doctor each time.” The roommate chuckled.

Ji Yin gave an awkward smile and lay back down, deciding she’d wait until her condition improved before trying anything else.

During the New Year’s holiday, a few coworkers on adjusted shifts came to visit, including the manager. The two of them held a brief meeting right there.

The pool hall was swamped, so Dong Xiang didn’t have time to drop by. Yanzi managed to squeeze in a moment to sit by Ji Yin’s bed and knit a sweater. “Hold your arms out,” she said.

Ji Yin stretched out her arms while Yanzi held up the partially knitted sweater against her, checking the measurements before putting it away.

The mother of the patient across the room couldn’t help but laugh. “Not many young people these days know how to knit. How’d you learn, girl?”

“My mom loved knitting, so I picked it up from her when I had nothing else to do,” Yanzi replied with a smile.

“Are you two sisters?” the woman asked.

Yanzi glanced at Ji Yin, who spat out a grape seed. “Yeah, don’t we look alike?”

“Not really, I thought you might be cousins,” the woman said with a laugh.

“We each took after one parent,” Yanzi explained.

“That explains it. Was that guy who came the other day your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“How come I haven’t seen your sister’s boyfriend visit?”

“She doesn’t have one.”

“Oh my, a pretty girl like her, I’d have thought she’d be taken by now.”

Yanzi shot Ji Yin a smug look. “Hear that? When are you finally going to start dating?”

“When I’m financially free,” Ji Yin replied, eating grapes without bothering to peel them.

“And when will that be?”

“When Yanhua supermarkets are everywhere across the country, that’ll be freedom.” Just the thought of it made her grin.

Yanzi sighed helplessly. “If Mom were still here, she’d probably be nagging you to get married by now.”

“She wouldn’t.”

“How do you know?”

“She just wouldn’t,” Ji Yin muttered.

“Lu Jiahe, why didn’t you answer my call last night? Do you know how awkward that was for me?!” Li Chenyao shouted over the phone.

Lu Jiahe kept her eyes closed, still heavy with sleep, her voice groggy. “Emergency cases came in last night, had to perform surgery. Couldn’t answer. Sorry.”

“I knew it!” Li Chenyao was furious but helpless. Saving lives was non-negotiable, what else could she say?

“I spent the whole night apologizing to my colleague.”

“I’m sorry. If she’s upset, that’s understandable. Forget it, let’s just leave it at that.” Lu Jiahe buried her face in the pillow.

“I figured you must’ve gotten held up with patients. I explained you were probably in surgery, and she was fine with it. She’s even willing to reschedule and meet you another time.”

“She seems like a nice person.”

“So when are you free? How about tomorrow?”

“Can’t do tomorrow. I’m on duty.”

“What about next weekend? Oh wait, no next weekend we have overtime, and she won’t have time either.”

“Forget it, Yaoyao. Look at my situation, when do I even have time to date?” Lu Jiahe sighed.

Li Chenyao was quiet for a moment. “Alright, if there’s no spark, then let it go. I’ll talk to her later.”

“Yeah, thanks for your help.”

After hanging up, Lu Jiahe couldn’t fall back asleep. She got up and checked the time, already 1:30 in the afternoon.

She brushed her teeth and headed straight to her parents’ place.

“Got any food left? Spare me a bite.”

Her mom paused the TV and reheated two dishes for her.

As she ate, her mother sat beside her, full of anticipation. “How did last night’s meeting go? Did you like him?”

“Didn’t even happen. Had a few emergency cases.” Lu Jiahe ate while talking. “Let’s just drop it. With my schedule, I could be in the middle of a date and suddenly get called away. Dating me would just be unfair to the other person, don’t you think?”

Liu Jia sighed. “Ah, this job of yours… so exhausting and time-consuming, you don’t even have time for love.”

“Who has an easy job?” Lu Jiahe chuckled. “Only retired folks like you have it easy money, free time, nagging your daughter about dating, yelling at your husband to blow off steam.”

“Shut it.” Liu Jia laughed. “You’re not planning to wait until retirement to start dating, are you?”

“Who knows? A twilight romance sounds pretty romantic, one relationship lasting a lifetime.”

“It’s the new year, can’t you say something more auspicious?” Liu Jia stood up to grab her coat for dry cleaning, feeling its weight in her hands.

She patted the pockets and pulled out an apple. “You don’t even like apples. Where’d this come from?”

“A patient gave it to me. You can have it.” Lu Jiahe wiped her mouth after finishing her meal.

“Perfect, you’re eating it. This picky eating habit of yours is ridiculous. I’ll go cut it for you right now.” True to her word, Liu Jia went to the kitchen and quickly sliced the apple, placing it in front of her. “Finish it. Don’t waste their kindness.”

“I’m really full.”

“Are you eating it or not?”

“Mom, Mommy~”

“Calling me ‘beauty’ won’t work. Hurry up.”

Lu Jiahe slowly nibbled a small piece, pretended to take a call, threw on her coat, and slipped away.

The holiday passed quickly. Two patients were discharged from the ward, replaced by two young men.

Rumor had it they’d collided on the ski slopes one on a snowboard, the other on skis. They’d already argued endlessly about compensation, and now they were sharing a hospital room, ensuring plenty of drama.

“It was totally you cutting across the slope, showing off, and making me wreck my gear!”

“I was following the normal line. If snowboarders can’t cut across, are we supposed to torpedo down like you skiers? This is 100% your fault, you saw me ahead and still didn’t control your speed or path.”

They bickered endlessly, even dragging others into their debate.

Ji Yin listened gleefully to their squabble until several white coats entered the room. Instantly straightening up, he put on a serious face.

“Still arguing, huh?” Lu Jiahe walked in with a smile. “Once we remove your metal plates, you’ll both settle down.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

“The end of skiing is the orthopedic ward, be more careful next time,” Lu Jiahe said after checking their conditions, only to be stopped by the little boy again.

“Dr. Lu, when can I be discharged? I want to go play with my friends.”

“You can leave next week.”

“Great! Can I come back to the hospital to see you after I’m discharged?”

“Preferably not.”

“Not even to play with you?”

“You can play, just not at the hospital. This isn’t a fun place.”

Lu Jiahe walked over to Ji Yin’s bedside. Before he could even speak, Ji Yin answered reflexively, “My knee doesn’t hurt, but it’s super itchy. I really want to scratch it.”

Lu Jiahe examined her cast. “Keep it on for another week. If your ankle heals well, we can switch to an external brace.”

“Okay.”

Over the next few days, Ji Yin obediently stayed in her hospital room.

Yanzi and Dong Xiang visited whenever they had time, but she always shooed them away before long.

With nothing else to do, she downloaded a Werewolf game to pass the time and occasionally listened to her roommates gossip.

“Dr. Lu is so beautiful,” the snowboarder remarked.

The girl across the room laughed. “Every new patient says that oh wait, except for Sister Ji.”

“Does that even need to be said? I thought it was common knowledge, not worth mentioning,” Ji Yin replied.

Everyone chuckled, and the little boy suddenly shouted, “When I grow up, I’m going to marry Dr. Lu!”

“Me too!” a little girl diagonally across from him chimed in.

The whole room erupted in laughter, and the two snowboarding boys joined in, “I’m marrying Dr. Lu too!”

“Well, I’m marrying her first, no one better compete!” the girl across the room declared.

Once all the patients had taken their turns, Ji Yin couldn’t resist playing along. “Fine, I’ll marry a Dr. Lu too, then?”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a white coat appeared at the door. “Who’s marrying me?”

Everyone immediately pointed at Ji Yin.

Ji Yin: “…”

Thanks a lot, roommates.

Lu Jiahe strode over leisurely. “Anything you’d like to say?”

Ji Yin: “I, I’m just a civilian. Nothing to say. Pass. Next.”

“Then I’ll claim Seer. Sister Ji totally said she’d marry you, let’s vote her out!” the girl across the room cackled.

“Laughing so happily? Good, let’s go remove your bone screws,” Lu Jiahe said with a smile.

“Wahhhh.” The girl’s laughter instantly died.

Ji Yin, utterly unsympathetic, pounded her quilt in amusement.

“Don’t flail around. If you hit your knee, I’ll have to hit you too,” Lu Jiahe warned.

Ji Yin immediately sat up straight, perfectly docile.

Yanzi, who had just arrived to visit, stood frozen at the door, utterly shocked by the scene.

Only after Dr. Lu and the nurses took the girl across the room to the operating theater did Yanzi step inside, incredulous. “I never thought you’d actually listen to Dr. Lu.”

“Following doctor’s orders, don’t you know anything? Ignoring your doctor is basically asking for death,” Ji Yin declared righteously.

“And what about all those times you sneaked out before? Weren’t you ignoring doctor’s orders then?”

“That was the allure of money,” Ji Yin said, pulling out her phone to call Old Mrs. Chen for a casual chat.

“You’re practically her real daughter by now,” Yanzi muttered after she hung up.

“This is my sugar mommy. Whoever helps me make money is my mom.” Ji Yin took the inventory list she handed over, verified it, signed it, and passed it back. “Is my bike fixed yet?”

“Lots of people getting repairs these days. The boss said it could use some maintenance too, so it’s still at the shop.”

“My foot’s itching.”

“Seriously? Even now, you’re still thinking about riding?!”

“I mean my foot is literally itching!” Ji Yin wedged a finger into the gap of her cast but couldn’t reach the itchy spot. Frustrated, she grabbed a lollipop and poked inside with the stick.

“Ji Yin, what are you doing now?” Lu Jiahe walked into the ward just as Ji Yin was fiddling with her cast.

“Dr. Lu, it’s so itchy!” Ji Yin whined.

“Try to bear with it.”

“I can’t.”

“Hold on a few more minutes. I’ll check on you after I finish here.” Lu Jiahe was discussing post-surgery care with the family of the patient across the room.

After carefully going through the instructions, she finally turned to examine Ji Yin.

Ji Yin lay sprawled on the bed like a dead fish.

“Itching stopped?” Lu Jiahe asked with a smile.

“No.” Ji Yin grabbed her hand. “I’ve been holding back. Help me, please.”

Lu Jiahe checked the time but sat down anyway, removing the cast to relieve the itch and inspecting her ankle before putting it back on.

“Why does it itch so easily?” Ji Yin muttered.

“Maybe you have sensitive skin.”

“…”

Lu Jiahe went to the bathroom to wash her hands. “Your ankle’s healing well. If you promise to rest properly, I’ll switch you to an external brace in a few days.”

“Great!” Ji Yin couldn’t wait to get rid of the cast, it was restrictive and stuffy.

“I’ll head out now.”

As Lu Jiahe reached the door, two nurses passed by. “Dr. Lu, why haven’t you eaten yet? The cafeteria’s out of food.”

“Going now,” Lu Jiahe replied.

Ji Yin checked the time almost 1 p.m.

Crap, I made Dr. Lu miss lunch again.

A few minutes later, Yanzi returned with food. Before she could set it down, Ji Yin urged, “Quick, go find Dr. Lu and give her this meal.”

“Huh?” Yanzi blinked, holding the food. “Why suddenly give it to Dr. Lu? Where is she?”

“She just left. Hurry, give her yours, then buy another one.”

“But I got stinky tofu for you, your favorite.”

Ji Yin facepalmed.

The other patients protested, “You two, go eat in the bathroom!”

[Text from Ji Yin]: Dr. Lu, did you get lunch?

[Text from Lu Jiahe]: Yeah, why?

[Ji Yin]: What did you eat?

[Lu Jiahe]: My mom made this. [Photo of three dishes and soup]

Ji Yin stared at her bowl of stinky tofu. “My lunch suddenly lost its appeal.”

“It never had any,” Yanzi quipped.