The car traveled for half an hour and arrived at Qing Province Military District Hospital. Xiao Liu led the way and soon Qin Jian stood outside the hospital room door.
“This is…”
She saw Lu Qingshen in the intensive care unit, his body covered in tubes and bandages. Qin Jian rushed to the window and stared intently at his face, searching for any sign that he was pretending.
“Lu Qingshen?”
“He is still alive. Why say he is gone?” After a long pause she found her voice, trembling as she spoke. Her mind reeled and questions crowded in all at once.
Xiao Liu stood beside her, eyes glistening and voice thick with emotion. “Comrade Qin, the Battalion Commander’s injuries are very severe. The doctors say there is blood in his brain and the nerves may be damaged. He may never wake up again.”
“He is kept alive only by machines. To put it plainly he is like a person in a permanent coma.”
A permanent coma! Qin Jian’s legs gave way and she nearly stumbled into the wall. Confusion and disbelief filled her eyes. Could her second chance at life have changed his fate? In her past life he had been fine at this time.
Something did not add up. Back then she had already returned to the South Province and Lu Qingshen had requested a posting to the border. She did not know exactly when he left. After that terrible argument she had not spoken to him until half a year later at New Year. He had been the one to bring it up first, asking if she would agree to a divorce and promising to send money regularly even if they separated.
She had refused. Angry that he still felt that way after so long she had hung up without telling him she was heavily pregnant and about to give birth. Qin Jian had always been proud. She had gone through labor alone and prepared everything for her recovery with no help. Her mother had not looked after her. Instead she had rented a place for Qin Jian to stay. Qin Jian had thought it was for convenience but later realized her mother was simply ashamed of her. All through those weeks her mother kept asking if she had asked Lu Qingshen for money. How could she admit they had fallen out and he did not even know she was expecting?
Then one day her mother had come in smiling and handed her five yuan. She said it had come from Lu Qingshen and told her to spend it on herself. Only a fool would turn down money from a man. Putting aside the fact that her mother had gone behind her back to ask him for money, the call proved he had been alive.
“Lu Qingshen is not dead. He will wake up!” Qin Jian spoke with firm conviction. She felt as though she had missed something important but pushed the thought aside.
Xiao Liu gave a sad smile. “Comrade Qin I wish I could share your hope but the doctors say the chance is very small.”
“The mission was completed successfully. He was injured while covering his comrades’ retreat. The command has already recommended him for a First Class Merit Citation. If he recovers he will be promoted directly to Deputy Regiment Commander. He had so much ahead of him. How could this happen…” He lowered his head and wept quietly.
“He will wake up. If the doctors say there is hope then there is.” Her certainty came from the memory of her past life. She looked at Xiao Liu and saw he was in no state to think clearly. “Have his parents been informed?”
“Director Fu and Commander Lu? Yes they have. They are flying here and should arrive by about ten tomorrow morning.”
Qin Jian nodded. “I will stay here tonight to look after him. Is there space for someone to stay in his room?”
“There is a bed but Comrade Qin you are pregnant. It will be too much for you. Let me do it.” Xiao Liu was worried. “Before the accident the Battalion Commander told me again and again to take good care of you.”
“It is just sleeping somewhere else. There are two beds here. I will not rest easy unless I am here.” She insisted and he went to fetch her things from the family quarters. She had not been living there but her belongings were still kept.
Qin Jian stood by the bed and looked at him. If one judged only by his face he looked as though he were sleeping. She could not bear to think how badly hurt he must be to lie so still. If he had been this injured in her past life and still gone to the border then he had suffered as much as she had.
She bit her lip. She understood now that he had asked for a divorce because of her family’s greed and not because he did not care. It was all a terrible misunderstanding. She had been deceived by her own people and he for whatever reason had never told her what they had done. If only she had known the truth then she would never have wanted to leave him. It was simple enough. All they had to do was stay away from her mother.
She watched him for a while then lay down on the other bed and pulled the thin blanket gently over her stomach. Later Xiao Liu came in quietly so as not to wake her. He saw the frown on her face even in sleep and sighed to himself. She might say she believed he would recover but her heart was breaking all the same.
When Commander Lu and Director Fu arrived at the hospital Xiao Liu answered their questions about Qin Jian honestly and without bias. “Director Fu she came here in the middle of the night and has not left since. She refuses to believe he will not wake up. Yet she frowns in her sleep as if holding back great pain.”
Fu Shuang looked surprised. Before her son had asked for Qin Jian’s hand she had looked into the girl’s background. It was an ordinary blended family with no great faults and a decent reputation at the textile factory. After the marriage Qin Jian’s mother had shown her true colors and demanded money every month as if it were her right. When Qin Jian and her mother had made a scene outside the compound Fu Shuang had lost faith in the match. She had respected her son’s wish to end the marriage. Before the divorce could be finalized however Qin Jian had been three months pregnant. The baby would be born and the marriage would stand. The Lu family had already suffered enough loss with the disappearance of their younger son and could not bear the thought of losing another generation. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought.
“After her prenatal appointment bring her to me.” Fu Shuang pressed her lips together and gave the instruction with eyes closed.
Xiao Liu nodded. “Yes Director Fu.”
When he had gone Fu Shuang could no longer stand upright. Her husband caught her as she swayed, his own eyes red. “Lao Lu how could this happen? He will wake up will he not?”
He held her firmly by the waist. “A Shuang you must face the truth. The injury is to his brain. The chance is very small.”