Chapter Fifteen: Awakening

After pondering absentmindedly for a while, Su Fang stood up and replaced the bottle with a prepared anti-inflammatory solution. Once everything was in order, she suddenly caught a whiff of a sour, pungent odor coming from Kang Ning, so she went into the kitchen and lit the gas stove to boil some water. Before long, Su Fang returned to Kang Ning’s side with a bucket of hot water. After a moment’s hesitation, her cheeks flushed as she fetched a pair of scissors and carefully cut away the canvas work clothes clinging to Kang Ning’s body, soiled with grease and sweat.

At this moment, Su Fang’s emotions were tangled and conflicted. She longed for her father, who had gone into the mountains to gather herbs, to return soon, yet for reasons she could not name, she also found herself hoping he wouldn’t come back too early. In short, the tremulous stirrings of a young girl’s heart danced like a wavering flame in her graceful brows and clear, slightly elongated eyes, alive and vivid.

However, when she had finished cutting away the clothes and saw Kang Ning’s naked, battered body sprawled before her, the scissors slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor. Her once-shy eyes brimmed with tears of pain—she simply could not believe that the upright and handsome Kang Ning in her heart could be so covered in wounds, his skin split and flesh torn!

Su Fang, gentle as water, found the sight before her almost unbearable. Unable to control herself, she crouched down, covering her face, and wept bitterly.

She cried for a long time before she managed to stifle her sobs, stood up, wrung out a hot towel from the bucket, and, trembling, began to wipe Kang Ning’s body. As she worked, her tears flowed anew, silent and glistening as they fell onto Kang Ning’s scarred form.

Dawn had not yet broken, but Su Fang, sleepless through the night, had already prepared a pot of chicken soup. After letting a bowl cool for a bit, she gently fed it to Kang Ning, her eyes swollen and red from tears.

An hour later, after twenty hours of deep sleep, Kang Ning slowly opened his eyes. In the dim light, he saw a girl sitting by his bed, asleep with her head resting on the mattress. He shook his groggy head gently, taking a long while to recall how he had stumbled into this clinic just the morning before.

Looking at the sleeping girl by his side, then at the blue towel covering him and the empty IV bottle with its needle removed, Kang Ning realized she had tended him all through the day and night. Gratitude welled up in his heart, and he closed his eyes, unable to stifle a heavy sigh.

“Dr. Kang, you’re awake?” Su Fang, startled by his sigh, rubbed her aching eyes and asked softly.

Kang Ning forced a faint smile. “Thank you… Wait, Su Fang? Is that you? What are you doing here?”

“This is my home. After graduation, I came back to help my father run this clinic.” As Su Fang finished, she remembered Kang Ning’s wounds, and tears sprang once more to her eyes. “Who could be so cruel, to do this to you…?”

Kang Ning was taken aback, then deeply moved. He managed to lift a hand and gently patted Su Fang’s hand. “It’s all right now, see? I’m still alive and well, aren’t I? Silly girl, don’t cry.”

Covering her face, Su Fang asked, “Who hurt you? Why would they do such a thing?”

Kang Ning sighed. “Lift your head, don’t cry, and I’ll tell you the reason.”

So Kang Ning briefly recounted the events that had led to this. Su Fang listened, dumbfounded, and finally shivered with alarm. “Oh my god! No wonder there are so many police setting up roadblocks out front—less than a hundred meters from here! What should we do? What should we do…”

Kang Ning struggled to sit up. “Su Fang, I can’t drag you into this. Tell me, is there a way to avoid the police around here? I’ll leave right away.”

“No! How can you go anywhere with injuries like these? Besides, there are police everywhere—where would you go? I won’t let you leave!” Su Fang pressed Kang Ning’s chest in a panic, trying to keep him from rising. But as the thin towel slipped away, Kang Ning’s muscular lower body was suddenly exposed before them both. Embarrassed, Su Fang quickly withdrew her hand and turned her flushed face aside.

Awkwardly, Kang Ning pulled the towel back over himself. “You took off my clothes, didn’t you? Why are you so shy when you’re a trained nurse? I’m your patient now! By the way, where are your parents?”

Su Fang answered sadly, “My mother died when I was little. My father went to Jinxiu Mountain to gather herbs two days ago. He probably won’t be back until tomorrow or the day after.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Kang Ning said apologetically. “Su Fang, where’s the bathroom? I need to use it.”

Blushing, Su Fang dashed to her father’s room in the rear courtyard and found the largest T-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. She dressed Kang Ning in the shirt, and when she pulled the shorts up to his knees, she paused, turned away to move the stool at the bedside, and finally, after a moment, turned back to help Kang Ning towards the yard.

Halfway there, a sudden, urgent knocking at the door startled both Kang Ning and Su Fang, their faces draining of color.

Supporting Kang Ning with her slender shoulder and holding tightly around his waist, Su Fang quickly helped him into her father’s room. After seating him on the edge of the bed, she pressed a hand to her pounding heart, then left to close the bedroom door and strode toward the main entrance. “Who is it?”

“Open up!”

Recognizing the voice of Uncle Qi, the village security chief, Su Fang hurried forward and slid the bolt aside, opening the door a crack to peer out. Seeing two police officers from the local station standing behind him, her nerves tightened with anxiety.

Uncle Qi said kindly, “Girls just love to sleep in—look at you, hair a mess and your eyes half-open. Has your father come back yet?”

“Not yet. Maybe today or tomorrow,” Su Fang replied in a low voice.

A young police officer stepped forward and handed Su Fang a photocopied paper. “Your clinic needs to stay alert. If the person on this notice appears, report to us at once. Our phone number is listed below.”

“All right,” Su Fang replied quickly, lowering her head to read the paper, trying to hide the anxiety on her face. Not until Uncle Qi and the police had gone on to the next house did she close the door and turn back inside.