The sunlight at the alley entrance shifted from above the two people to behind them, slowly lengthening their shadows.
Zhu Yuan suddenly spoke while walking: “When you talked about these treatment plans just now, your tone was very certain.
I thought you were lying to me when you said you were a combat medic back then.”
“I am not good at lying,” Fu Hua’s voice remained gentle.
“These were taught by my father.
I frequently got injured when practicing martial arts in the past.
At first, my father helped me bandage them, then I did it myself, and later on, I specifically went to study it out of interest.”
Zhu Yuan did not continue to ask.
She only gently tightened her right hand resting on Fu Hua’s shoulder a little bit.
The journey from the alley entrance to the entrance of the Public Security Bureau was originally a three-minute walk, but the two walked for a long time, and Zhu Yuan’s right arm kept hurting.
The soft tissue swelling around the fracture ends compressed the surrounding nerve endings, producing persistent severe pain, and the penetrating injury of the lower limb and the ankle sprain radiated upward to aggravate the physical sensation.
Fu Hua never rushed her.
The only change was that when walking to the last two hundred meters, she found that Zhu Yuan’s breathing rhythm was a bit more disordered than just now, so she reached her hand into the backpack and felt around for a while, then took out a new piece of candy, peeled off the packaging, and handed it to Zhu Yuan’s mouth.
“I didn’t have time to buy anything else on the way.
Have a piece of candy first, and I’ll find an ice pack for you when we get to the infirmary.”
Zhu Yuan lowered her head to look at the candy, then opened her mouth and gently bit the candy into her mouth.
The moment her tongue tip touched the candy, a cool sweetness spread from her mouth to her throat.
Fu Hua’s fingertips accidentally touched Zhu Yuan’s lips while feeding the candy.
Her fingers had been soaked by the cold air of the aether crystal in the Hollow, feeling cool to the touch and carrying a faint fragrance.
“…Thank you.”
Zhu Yuan held the candy in her mouth, her voice somewhat muffled.
“Relax, can your ankle still hold up?
I’ll help you up this last section of steps.”
Fu Hua stood sideways on the outside of the steps, passed her right hand from under Zhu Yuan’s right arm, and gently clasped her back.
The movement was still in that very steady and light manner, like holding something fragile.
The two moved up the steps step by step.
Zhu Yuan walked very slowly, stopping for half a second on every step she went up to let her ankle adapt, and Fu Hua accompanied her to stop for half a second.
At the end of the first-floor corridor of the Public Security Bureau, the infirmary.
The team members had already tidied up the bed.
The bed sheets were clean and flat, and a first-aid kit was placed at the head of the bed.
The sunlight outside the window shone through the blinds, casting a row of neat light and shadow stripes on the ground.
Zhu Yuan sat quietly on the edge of the bed with a blushing face.
Fu Hua squatted in front of her, helping her take off her boots.
The shoes connected to the pants, which needed to be slowly pulled off together, plus the ankle swelling stretched the boot shaft somewhat out of shape, making it very easy to get stuck.
Fu Hua’s fingers very carefully hooked the edge of the pants, pulling them down bit by bit, always paying attention not to touch the injured area.
Every time she pulled down a section of the shoelace, she stopped to glance at Zhu Yuan’s expression to confirm that she wasn’t in too much pain before continuing downward.
When Zhu Yuan’s small foot was pulled out of the leather pants, it still inevitably touched the swollen joint.
Zhu Yuan let out a muffled groan, very low, almost clenched within her teeth, but Fu Hua heard it.
Fu Hua did not say “Bear with it a little longer,” nor did she say “It’ll be better soon.” She only gently covered her palm over the upper part of the ankle exposed after Zhu Yuan took off her boot, using the temperature of her palm to cover the swelling that was exuding heat outward.
After a moment, she picked up the ice pack and gently fixed it on both sides of the ankle, pinching the shape of the ice pack with her hand to make the edge of the ice pack fit the arc of the joint.
“Grade two ligament strain.
Apply the ice pack for twenty minutes first, and then apply it every two hours afterwards.
Also, do not walk around casually for the next two days.”
After speaking, Fu Hua stood up, took out sterile gloves from the first-aid kit, put them on, walked to Zhu Yuan’s left side, and gently untied the simply bandaged gauze.
The injured right arm was completely exposed under the fluorescent light, with irregular skin tear margins, obvious contusion bands, exposed subcutaneous fat layer, and tissue fluid already beginning to ooze from the wound edges.
Fu Hua quickly judged the bleeding range around the wound and the degree of tissue contusion, and then looked up at Zhu Yuan.
“Be good, bear with it a bit.”
Her tone carried gentle appeasement.
Then she rinsed the wound with saline, and a cotton ball gently dipped away the scabs and tiny aether crystal debris at the edge of the wound.
Her movements were very light and steady, and her technique of rolling the cotton ball outward from the edge of the wound was exactly the same as the medics Zhu Yuan had seen during training.
“The fracture is in the lower-middle section of the upper arm, and the possibility of a bone crack is greater than a complete break.
Wait for the X-ray to confirm.” After speaking, Fu Hua used splints to fix the left upper arm from the posterior and anterior sides of Zhu Yuan’s shoulder.
The inside of the splint was padded with gauze to prevent direct pressure on the skin, and the elastic band looped around the armpit for fixation, which would neither let the fracture ends displace nor block blood circulation.
After the fixation was completed, she gently touched Zhu Yuan’s index finger and thumb with her fingertips to confirm that the peripheral blood circulation was normal.
Soft footsteps sounded at the door.
A Public Security Bureau officer pushed the door open and saw a young girl wearing red-framed glasses by the bed adjusting the elastic band for Zhu Yuan.
Zhu Yuan’s left upper arm had been temporarily fixed with a splint, the position was accurate, the tightness was appropriate, and the ankle had been iced.
Out of duty, the Public Security Bureau officer still spoke.
“Officer Zhu Yuan, the hospital’s X-ray machine is already warmed up.
We will send you over now.
The left arm will be imaged first, the penetrating injury on the right leg needs immediate debridement and suturing, and the ankle X-ray will be done after the orthopedics consultation.”
A nurse pushed a wheelchair in from behind, and Fu Hua helped Zhu Yuan sit in the wheelchair.
Zhu Yuan was wearing ill-fitting hospital socks, which piled up softly on the instep.
Her ankle was wrapped layer after layer with ice packs and elastic bandages, and the blood-soaked bandage on her right thigh had also been replaced with a new round.
Fu Hua had just helped her sit firmly and was reaching out to straighten her pulled-crooked collar, when Zhu Yuan suddenly raised her hand and pressed down on her wrist.
Her gaze was firmly locked on Fu Hua’s face, her lips parting and closing several times, as if thousands of words were stuck in her throat, but in the end not a single word could be spoken.
Only the suddenly tightened force in her palm revealed her churning anxiety and reliance.
After a stalemate of a few seconds, she finally slowly released her hand, her whole body as if drained of all strength, leaning back wearily against the back of the wheelchair, letting Fu Hua push her toward the door.
Zhu Yuan gently closed her eyes.
The fluorescent lights in the corridor swept past from overhead one by one, and the cold white light penetrated her closed eyelids, flickering dimly and brightly, looking just like her fluttering heartbeat at this moment, shaking one’s heart heavily.
Just as Fu Hua pushed her around a corner, she did something her past self would never have thought of.
Like a child afraid of the unknown, she stretched out her uninjured right hand, her fingertips trembling slightly, and gently hooked the corner of Fu Hua’s clothes as she walked beside the wheelchair.
Using only her thumb and index finger, she carefully pinched that piece of soft beige fabric, with a force so light it was almost nihilistic, as if with a little strength, this bit of support would slip away from her fingertips.
For her, as long as this corner of fabric stayed steadily at her fingertips, she wouldn’t have to be afraid of losing her direction in ‘life’.
Fu Hua quickly noticed that weak pulling force.
She lowered her head, glanced at the hand clutching the hem of her jacket, said nothing, and didn’t turn back, but the force in her hands unconsciously increased a bit more, pushing the wheelchair more and more steadily.
Every time she reached a corner, she would stop in advance, gently lift Zhu Yuan’s injured left foot, and let the wheelchair hug the base of the wall to steadily bypass the corners, without even a slight bump, protecting her exceptionally thoroughly.
Hehehe
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”