Chapter 75: Almost Thought I’d Never See You Again

Unfortunately, the person who entered shattered his expectations.

“My apologies for not leaving anyone in the room earlier,” the accompanying doctor immediately apologized upon seeing Shen Yi’an. “The neck area is prone to bacterial growth, so I went to fetch a small bottle of iodine from the surgeon to apply to your wound.”

“I only learned from the soldiers who escorted us to the hospital that strangers had entered the room.”

“Truly sorry, we shouldn’t have all left at once.”

“No new injuries, I hope?”

Hearing this, Shen Yi’an waved her hand while pointing at the gauze on her neck. “None, no need to worry.”

“Those people weren’t good, but I’m no pushover either—at least I got the upper hand verbally.”

Seeing she still had the mood to joke, the accompanying doctor knew she wasn’t frightened and took the time to explain further.

“Originally, someone was left in the room, but unexpectedly, both the surgeon and the hospital sent people over.”

“The moment I left, the soldier guarding the door was also called away.”

“Thank goodness you’re fine, otherwise we’d both face punishment upon returning.”

Understanding the situation, Shen Yi’an nodded in realization. “I wondered why no one was here when I woke up. I thought you all had matters to attend to.”

“Didn’t expect both the hospital and the surgeon to send people.”

After responding, she quickly followed up with a question. “Were both matters the same?”

“Does a wounded person like me need to cooperate?”

“No need!” The accompanying doctor shook her head.

“When I went to the surgeon for iodine, she just explained what to watch for with your wound.”

“Seeing I had experience, she chatted a bit more, which is why she gave me this small bottle of iodine.”

After explaining her own situation, she continued with what happened after meeting the soldier.

“The soldier was summoned by the hospital.”

“Probably the hospital leadership learned there was a patient escorted by military personnel and assumed it was a special case.”

“They called him over to inquire about room arrangements and see if a room change was needed.”

After detailing the specifics, she shook the iodine bottle in her hand.

“Shall we apply it now?”

“It’s been half a day since leaving the operating room—the medication applied by the surgeon should have been absorbed by now.”

Hearing this, Shen Yi’an waved her hand. “Let’s do it before bed, no rush.”

When she woke up a while ago, the wound was terribly painful, so she couldn’t resist drinking a cup of Spirit Spring Water.

Now the pain was completely gone, replaced by a faint tingling sensation.

Likely, the wound was gradually healing.

If they removed the gauze now, the accompanying doctor would surely be surprised and might even consult the surgeon about the medication.

To avoid unnecessary complications, it was best to skip some steps when possible, and only proceed when absolutely necessary.

Taking her firm refusal as fear of pain, the accompanying doctor didn’t insist further.

As the one who contributed the most, she was allowed some occasional willfulness.

Placing the iodine on the table, the doctor noticed the empty lunchbox and teased lightly.

“I thought you had a small appetite, but it seems you’re full of surprises.”

“However, you can only have liquids for now. Solid food will have to wait until the wound scabs over.”

“Otherwise, swallowing will make the wound hurt more.”

Hearing her mention the lunchbox, Shen Yi’an then smiled and pointed at Song Yao, who looked a bit downcast. “It was this little one who ate it. I haven’t had a bite yet.”

“This is…” Following Shen Yi’an’s gesture, the accompanying doctor finally noticed the child perched precariously on the edge of the bed.

Earlier, her focus had been entirely on the injured patient, so she hadn’t noticed there was an extra person in the ward.

Now that she did, she was naturally a bit surprised.

Hearing this, Shen Yi’an widened her eyes in surprise. “When you met earlier, didn’t the soldier say anything?”

“No!” The accompanying doctor shook her head.

“When I ran into the soldier, he was rushing to borrow the hospital’s phone.”

“He briefly explained what happened in the ward when he saw me and told me to hurry back and keep watch.”

“He also said we shouldn’t leave the ward until he returned.”

Understanding the situation, Shen Yi’an blinked in acknowledgment before recounting how she had encountered Song Yao. “…It’s a good thing you all weren’t here.”

“If you had been, I might not have had the chance to meet this little one…”

From their earlier conversation, Shen Yi’an now understood why Song Yao had run into her ward.

Aside from the fact that no one was at the ward door, another reason was that only her ward door was tightly shut.

Among the five single-patient rooms in a row, the doors of the other four were slightly ajar, while only hers was firmly closed.

Thinking the room was empty, Song Yao had slipped inside to hide.

If anyone had been there, he might have hidden elsewhere or possibly been caught by those people.

After hearing the details the soldier had omitted, the accompanying doctor was stunned.

“It truly is ‘when one door closes, another opens.'”

“If we had all been here, the ward door would definitely have been ajar, and the little one wouldn’t have come to our ward even if he were looking for a place to hide.”

After responding to Shen Yi’an, she turned her gaze to Song Yao’s face.

“Speaking of which, why does this little one look somewhat familiar?”

“But I’ve never seen him before. Strange, why does he seem familiar?”

“Could it be that my brain is short-circuiting?”

Watching her puzzledly tap her head, Shen Yi’an couldn’t help but laugh. “Right? You think he looks familiar too?”

“Earlier, I saved him precisely because he looked familiar. Otherwise, as an injured patient, I wouldn’t have had the energy to meddle.”

After saying this, she openly revealed the child’s identity.

Upon learning that the person who seemed familiar was the son of the comrade on the train who had fought hand-to-hand with the human trafficker leader, the accompanying doctor’s eyes widened in surprise.

“It really is him!”

“No wonder he looked familiar. So he’s Comrade Song’s son…”

Just as the three of them were chatting animatedly, the tightly closed ward door was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang.

Immediately afterward, a woman’s voice, choked with tears, rang out.

“A Yao! A Yao!”

“Mommy is here, A Yao, don’t be afraid!”

As her voice faded, she rushed into the ward.

Seeing the grimy little one leaning against the hospital bed, Chen Rongying burst into tears.

“A Yao! A Yao!”

“Mommy finally found you!”

“Thank heavens, Mommy finally found you!”

Feeling the strength of the embrace, Song Yao was initially dazed.

Mommy?

Had Mommy come?

Had Mommy finally found him?

When tears dripped onto the back of his neck, the dazed young man finally snapped back to reality and tightly embraced the person who seemed desperate to press him into her very being.

Then came the torrent of unrestrained sobbing.

“Mom! Mom!”

“Mom, I missed you so much!”

“I missed Mom! I missed Dad! I missed my sister! I missed everyone at home!”

“Mom, why did it take you so long? I almost thought I’d never see any of you again!”

Hearing her son’s raw, uninhibited wailing for the first time, Chen Rongying felt as if her heart were being wrung out by an invisible hand reaching through her chest.

She desperately wanted to offer words of comfort, but her lips merely parted and closed without producing any sound.

All she could do was weep uncontrollably while lifting a hand to stroke her son’s head in reassurance.

Witnessing the mother and son’s emotional reunion, Song Chaoxu—who had entered moments later carrying their daughter—found himself at a loss for words.

Yet his feet carried him instinctively behind them, where he knelt and enveloped all three: his wife, son, and daughter.

Just as the weeping reached its peak, a faint but childish voice pierced through the emotional atmosphere.

“Bro… brother?”

“Bro… bro… bro!”

“Save… brother! Save brother! Save brother!”

As the utterances grew increasingly coherent, they abruptly ceased at a certain point.

It was precisely the disappearance of that childish voice that made the three embracing figures suddenly fall silent.