The school bell just rang, and Xiao Xiao put everything on the desk into her schoolbag as quickly as possible. She had to jog to catch the next bus to the city hospital, because if she missed it, she would have to wait another half hour.
She hoped in her heart that there would be an empty seat on the bus so that she could sit down and relax for a while, even if it was just for a while. This wish made even herself feel ridiculously humble. During this time, facing the liberal arts and sciences division, the pressure of studying began to increase sharply. In addition, her sister Xiao Ai's condition worsened, making it more difficult to take care of her, which made her a little bit overwhelmed.
Fortunately, there were not many people waiting at the station at the moment, which meant that her wish should be fulfilled. And what was even happier than this was that the young man she often met at the station recently was also there. That man would set off on the same journey as her every day and get off at the hospital. The reason why she noticed him was because once she was too sleepy and fell asleep in the car unknowingly, and he reminded her when she was about to arrive at the station.
The young man saw her and smiled at her. He has a handsome face, not too tall, always wears a white shirt, is young, and has a bookish air. Seeing his smile made Xiao Xiao's heart move inexplicably, as if he was clicked, and his depressed mood seemed to be temporarily relieved.
The No. 5 bus finally arrived. She boarded the bus with him, and then sat in adjacent seats in tacit understanding. Although sitting with him made Xiao Xiao a little excited, she was too tired, so she fell asleep as soon as the car left the station.
She had a dream. In that dream, her sister Xiao Ai did not exist. Her parents had only one daughter. She should be a few years younger than she is now. She was wearing a newly bought skirt and went to the park for an outing with her parents. She ate the lunch box carefully prepared by her mother, looked at the green lawn and the scorching peach blossoms above her head, and enjoyed the scenery. This kind of ordinary and simple happiness was actually the first time she had experienced it in sixteen years. She thought: Ah, this is how the lives of other people of the same age should be! If possible, I hope to stay in this dream forever and never wake up!
"Hey, wake up! We've arrived!"
But a voice sounded in her ears, urging her to leave that wonderful dream. Someone's hand patted her face several times. The hand was very cold, so she woke up from her deep sleep almost the moment she was touched by it. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was the young man sitting next to him.
Only then did she realize that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder just now. Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment, and like a frightened bird, she jumped away from him and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I Not intentionally…”
Unexpectedly, the young man was not angry. Instead, he smiled shyly and responded to her: "It's okay. I often fall asleep on the bus. But it's time for us to get off the bus! You are still in the hospital today. Come on?"
"Yeah!" Xiao Xiao nodded in response.
After getting off the bus, still a short distance from the main entrance of the hospital, she walked side by side with him and naturally started talking. They had never talked like this before. That time he asked her to get out of the car and he just patted her. The rest of the time, he almost communicated with eyes, so both of them seemed a little nervous.
"Are you going to the hospital to visit someone too?" Xiao Xiao asked, looking down at his toes.
"Yes, I'm going to see my mother." The young man took a deep breath and responded.
"I went to visit my sister..."
"Really? Your sister must be still very young, right?"
"She is the same age as me, and we are twins." Xiao Xiao raised her head and met the young man's gaze, which made her so nervous that she tripped and almost fell.
The young man grabbed her quickly and asked, "Are you okay?"
Xiao Xiao, who was still in shock, responded to him: "Nothing! Thank you!"
Xiao Xiao really hoped that time would freeze and this road would never end. In that case, he could continue walking with this young man like this, but the hospital building had already appeared in front of them.
"I went in through the door over there! Are you from this way? Then... see you next time!" The young man waved goodbye to her.
"Yeah, have you... noticed it?"
"Yes!" The young man nodded and walked in the opposite direction to her without saying anything more.
"Goodbye!" she said softly, looking at his back.
As soon as she entered the hospital building, the smell of disinfectant brought her back to reality. She knew that there were a lot of things waiting for her to do next, so she had to put aside her hazy emotions about the young man.
Xiao Xiao also loved her sister in her heart. Seeing her suffer would make her heart hurt, but over time, this pain became a habit. Since her sister fell ill, she no longer had the opportunity to play with children of the same age. Most of her waking hours had to be busy, cooking, washing, cleaning and taking care of her sister Xiao Ai. After everyone went to bed, she could find time to complete her homework.
There is a saying that "there is no filial son before a long-term illness." What's more, she is only a child. Almost before she has experienced much childhood happiness, her life has been filled with suffering and hardship. Her relatives She had always stayed away from their family because everyone was afraid that her parents would ask them to borrow money. All of this made her mature prematurely.
People got on the elevator one after another, and she stood in the corner and reached the fifth floor of Area A of the inpatient building. The structure of each floor here is similar. Going from the stairwell to the left is the public rest area and nurse station on each floor, followed by several doctors' offices. Opposite the offices is a large infusion room. Next to the infusion room are two bathrooms, followed by wards next to each other.
Before Xiao Xiao even stepped out of the elevator, she heard her parents' voices, which made her feel a little strange. Because they have to do several jobs at the same time, their parents usually take turns coming to the hospital to take care of my sister during the day, but they don't appear often at the same time.
They seemed to be arguing about something, but Xiao Xiao guessed that it was just that they were having difficulty collecting medical bills. As long as she could remember, they had often argued about these things, and she had long been used to it. For some reason, she decided to listen to their conversation in the elevator.
"Have you seen the pile of bills just now?! I ask you, have you seen it?! If they don't think of a way, they will force Ai Ai to be discharged from the hospital!" The mother asked her father with a tearful voice, sounding a little emotional.
"I know!" My father still didn't say much and only responded briefly.
"Have you called your sister?! Didn't she just sell a house in Shenzhen? Can she lend us some more?!"
"I try my best."
"You try your best, you do your best, you will say this! My brothers are not as rich as your sisters, and they have lent us a lot, but your sister..."
"Let's stop arguing. It's not good for others to hear! Besides, Xiao Xiao will be here soon!" his father persuaded in a very low voice.
"Oh, even if I give half of Xiao Xiao's health to Ai Ai, why is there such a big difference when they were born only a few minutes apart... She must have taken away all her sister's luck."
"What are you talking about?!"
"This is not what I said. It was said by the master who was introduced to me by my friend before. He said that our family's Xiao Xiao life is too hard, and it is in conflict with Ai Ai, so Ai Ai has been sick since birth. If I were It would be better to have only Ai Ai as my daughter. She has such a cheerful personality. Even if she is so seriously ill, she never cries and is always smiling, unlike Xiao Xiao... "
"Stop talking! I don't want to hear this kind of thing again! Xiao Xiao and Ai Ai are both our daughters. She has done enough for her sister. When I look at her, I feel like I am incompetent. If I can make more money, she won’t have to go to school and take care of her sister at the same time.”
"But… "
What her mother said next, Xiao Xiao couldn't hear clearly due to choking. Thinking that if she cried in this place, her parents would soon find her, so she stumbled down the stairs.
She still remembered that there was a small flower bed behind the hospital building. In her vision blurred by tears, those little flowers that could not be named were colorfully mixed together. She threw herself into the sea of flowers, just wanting to cry happily.
She had countless grievances accumulated in her heart. She did not expect that her long-term efforts and sacrifices for her sister not only failed to impress her mother, but her mother even believed that she was responsible for her sister's rough fate.
Won't she laugh? She is also the same age as Hua, why is she the only one with a sad face? Because she was so tired, let alone laughing, sometimes she felt that even speaking and breathing were so difficult. Sometimes she felt like a machine that couldn't stop and could only keep moving forward until one day it completely broke down.
She couldn't help but think of her dream. What would happen if she didn't have her sister? With their parents' salary, although their family of three is not rich, they can definitely live a well-off life. She doesn't have to take care of the housework and take care of her sister, so like other girls, she has a lot of time to waste.
Go to a KTV that she has never been to before, buy a computer, go shopping with other girls, go on a trip with her family... There are so many things she wants to do, but all of this changes because of her sister's existence.
"Why are you crying?" Dimly, the young man's voice sounded again. He appeared behind her without warning, and handed over a checkered handkerchief and said, "Don't worry, this handkerchief is clean! "
Xiao Xiao was crying so hard now that her chest was tight and short of breath, and she couldn't speak at all. She took the handkerchief and buried her face in it. Her nose, which had been completely blocked from crying, smelled a fresh smell like mint. She knew that the smell came from this handkerchief.
"The ward where my mother lives happens to be able to see this flower bed. I came here because I saw you crying here! If there is something distressing that no one can talk to, I would be willing to be your listener." The young man said gently.