Abnormal

Holding the handcuffs for a while, Bai Xiuwen asked as usual: "Oh, where did you see him?"

The girl said: "In County X. Actually, I didn't see it very clearly, but it should be him. He wears glasses, is quite thin, and is dressed neatly, but his face is a bit haggard.... To be honest, so many years have passed, I didn't expect him to be like this now."

"Actually, it happened just now. The road at home was slippery and it was dark. The driver drove my aunt and me home. There was no traffic on the road, so he drove a little faster. Then a man appeared in front of him, standing upright in the middle of the road. , the driver slammed on the brakes, and my aunt and I were shocked."

Bai Xiuwen's eyelids twitched, and before he could speak, he listened to the other side saying: "——that's Gao Tong. Actually, we didn't bump into him, but he asked for money instead. You know, that's very skillful, I I think he probably has been doing 'pengci' work for a long time. Speaking of which university he was admitted to at the time, no one knew, but now..."

"My driver kicked him twice. I didn't feel very good at the time. After all, I was a classmate... I asked the driver to give him [-]. The driver said it would be better to give him [-]. He is like a [-]."

The girl was still chanting in bits and pieces.She and Bai Xiuwen are both high school classmates, and they are also studying in the United States; their parents are also friends for many years, so they have not broken contact since graduation, and they are good friends.

On a quiet and quiet night, the sound of steamships honking by the river seems to have been heard after centuries, hazy and long.Bai Xiuwen listened silently, went back to the room and turned on the computer, and advanced the date of going back.

"I don't know how a young man can be so useless, alas..."

The other end seemed to have not finished expressing her speech, the girl sighed regretfully, not knowing who she was doing was worthless.

After everything was settled properly, Bai Xiuwen said, "Chen Peng invited him to this class reunion."

"...Ah?! Really? How did Chen Peng find him?"

"It's true. But I don't know how to find him." He turned off the computer and cleaned up the clutter on the table: "Chang Wan, I'm out of town now, and I still have some things to deal with. have to go now."

"Okay, good night."

After hanging up the phone, Bai Xiuwen called Gao Tong several times, but the other party didn't answer, and he couldn't get through the call after that.He asked Deng Lixin to call, but there was no response.

Deng Lixin said: "What's wrong, it's so late at night?"

Bai Xiuwen just shook his head, said he was sorry to trouble you, and stopped talking.He lit a cigarette with his usual expression, smoked it a few times and then extinguished it, showing a little impatience in his movements.

—Something must have happened.

The night passed quickly, and Bai Xiuwen took an early flight back to Tianjin the next day.After placing the luggage at home in the city, he sent Jiang Changwan a message, asking her where she met Gao Tong last night.

The other party was very surprised, but still told him the address.

"Probably at the X county and city hospital. At that time, the red light in the hospital made my eyes hurt."

X County is a small impoverished and remote county seat in the suburbs of Tianjin. The city is made of mountains, and the roads are winding, dangerous and broken.The national road has been built in the past few years, but it has not been connected to the county, and the economy has not developed at all. The soil here is poor, the crops are not harvested, and the farmers have no money at all.

Bai Xiuwen has been overseas for many years, he has not taken a political career, and he doesn't know many people here.Fortunately, my father once served as the secretary of the local municipal party committee, and even he had some face.He asked someone to find the head of the Municipal Health Bureau, and after a lot of effort, he finally got a call from the director of the hospital in X county and city.

After explaining the purpose of coming, the other party told him to wait for a while, and replied in a few minutes: "It is true that a patient surnamed Gao has been hospitalized recently."

"How's it going?"

"To be honest, myocardial infarction is already a frequent occurrence in our county. The weather conditions in County X are harsh, there are many elderly people, plus other factors, the incidence rate is very high. This patient had two heart infarctions within three days, and the operation was carried out. After several rounds, although the person is not dead, he is not out of danger. He is still in the intensive care unit."

Bai Xiuwen was stunned for a moment, and tapped the armrest of the seat under him with his fingers.

"...I see, please take care of me."

……

"Three bowls of millet, two drawers of buns, and a stack of pickles."

Before dawn, there were several shops selling breakfast at the entrance of the hospital.Gao Tong didn't sleep much that night, and when he heard the noise, he went out early to buy breakfast and came back.

"Mom, I bought breakfast, you can eat some." Gao Tong put the porridge in the heat preservation tableware, and whispered: "I will take care of Dad first, and you can rest for a while."

"Mom, don't worry, you can eat first."

The woman sitting by the hospital bed was wearing a gray padded jacket, which looked bloated due to ill-fitting.Her face was haggard, with sunken eye sockets on her scorched and thin cheeks, and her cheekbones were high and prominent.

Gao Tong hesitated to speak, and finally sat aside and looked at the man on the hospital bed.

He has not woken up until now, and can only rely on the machine to maintain his breathing, and the complicated tubes are inserted into his body.The sleeve of the sterile suit was empty, only a bony hand exposed for infusion.This is his father.

The ward was quiet, and even the sound of dripping and re-merging into the solution was very clear.Gao Tong's lips were dry, and he rubbed his trousers with his hands, he hesitated for a while before asking.

"...Mom, does Qiuqiu know about this?"

"I know." The woman replied: "She has no class today, so I will ask your old uncle to send her over later. You must also miss Qiuqiu."

"Yeah." Gao Tong nodded, with a slight smile on his face: "Then...then I'll go buy a tofu nao for her later."

"Qiuqiu should have eaten it, don't rush to buy it yet. Tong, you...cough, cough cough—" before the woman finished speaking, she began to cover her mouth and cough.

This cough couldn't be stopped, as if the sound came from the chest, followed by a few whistles that were as sharp as broken.Gao Tong hurriedly stood up and went over to pat her back to soothe her.

"Mom, why don't you drink some cough syrup. How come you coughed all night and still haven't recovered, why don't you wait to see a doctor first?"

"No, no need. This is an old problem..." The woman quickly waved her hands, coughing until her face flushed and her eyes were bloodshot, but she said, "This is just a minor illness. If you show it to the doctor, it will be serious... ... Prescribing a bunch of medicines to deceive people into taking our money!"

"..." Gao Tong sighed: "Mom, please speak in a low voice. Also, you have been coughing for so long and haven't recovered, so we need to find out what's going on. Doctors also charge money for regular medical treatment, so don't think about it." That's a lot."

"You don't know how your uncle was fooled into being in the hospital before! It's obviously a small problem rather than a tumor... These people's hearts are so dark that I don't know where they are. Let's be sharp, others Believe anything."

Gao Tong didn't say anything more.At this time, the door of the ward was pushed open suddenly, and a nurse came in and said, "Okay, the time is up, the family members should go out first. Also, who is Gao Liqun's family?"

Gao Tong was taken aback, and his mother answered first: "Hey, here! May I ask the doctor, what is the situation of our old man now?"

The nurse came over, swept to the equipment cabinet by the bed first, and said impatiently: "How many times have I said, don't bring in meals! If the patient is infected with bacteria, can you be held accountable?"

Gao Tong lowered his head in embarrassment, "I'm sorry, this one hasn't been opened yet. I'll take it away." He went over and brought back the thermal tableware, and asked, "Gao Liqun is my father, what's the matter?"

The nurse looked him over and told them to follow her out first.

"The two of you are family members. Fill out the form first, and you can transfer the ward after a while."

"Ah? Transfer?" Gao Tong's eyes lit up a little: "It means... the situation is getting better, can I go to the general ward?"

"No. The patient's condition is not clear at the moment. The transfer is to a single ward." The nurse lowered her head and flipped through the roster in her hand, and said, "Hurry up and pack your things, someone will take you upstairs later.

Seeing that the nurse was about to leave, Gao Tong hesitated for a moment before calling her to stop: "—Wait a minute, nurse, we didn't ask to change the ward. Is this because of any change in the condition?"

The nurse hesitated for a moment before replying, "Anyway, you don't know, and the doctor will explain to you then."

"but……"

"If you don't charge too much money, don't worry."

Gao Tong didn't want to ask about money at first, but the other party's words directly blocked the rest of his words.He was stunned on the spot, but his mother pulled him, with an ugly expression: "Is it your father..."

"Probably not." Gao Tong came to his senses and patted her hand: "There is no reason to change the ward suddenly in that way, most likely it is to ask us to sign a critical illness notice."

After changing the ward, I finally had time to eat something.The mother and son were sitting on the iron bench in the corridor drinking porridge, Gao Tong lost his appetite after a few sips, and just leaning back slightly to squint for a while, his mother's voice rang out in a low voice.

"Tongtong, how are you doing in the south, are you eating and sleeping well? I don't know how to call home..."

"...I'm sorry, Mom, I, I'm too busy." Gao Tong didn't know how to answer, he tightened his trousers, "I have a good life, there are many kinds of dishes in the south, and the taste is also good. Mainly It’s because I’m too busy at work, working overtime like crazy, I can’t spare much time.”

What exactly are you doing? Sometimes you even feel that your parents who gave birth to you are a burden, and you will be upset when you think about reporting the current situation.This is his most realistic state.

"Your father bought a smartphone, and asked Qiuqiu to fiddle with saving your photos and phone number... We have been looking forward to your call since we finished our work. Qiuqiu always asks if you have it when you come home from school." News. As you know, she loves to play with you since she was a child, and she misses you. "

"mom……"

He opened his mouth, but finally closed it without a word.I only felt a sudden pain in my temples, and my chest was also very oppressed.

However, at this time, there was only a "brother" coming from afar, the lively voice like a silver bell, very familiar.Gao Tong looked sideways in surprise, and saw his sister, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, running towards him!Gao Tong immediately stood up, bent down and opened his arms, and the girl jumped into his arms like a bird.

"Brother!" Gao Qiu hugged him tightly. "I miss you so much!"

"Qiuqiu has grown a lot taller." Gao Tong's nose soured, and he whispered, "My brother misses you too."