Picking up a cat was an important turning point in the unchanging daily life of Jiu Shi: he was well-intentioned and unrewarded, and he was innocently hostile for two days. As a result, he had a car accident and lost the only means of transportation that could communicate with the outside world during the long winter. A tragic fracture—if it wasn't for Kuze himself, or a medical graduate who knew how to reset, his right arm would even be at risk of being abolished.
Along with the fracture, of course, came the fever. After Kuze returned home, he underwent emergency treatment again, and took antibiotics, but still developed a low-grade fever in the early morning. When he woke up the next morning, Kuze felt as if his soul was floating on the sea. After a while, he slowly grabbed a floating board of memory and gradually woke up.
From overturning the car to returning home, everything experienced during this period can be called a miracle of escape from danger and close call, but the miracle does not mean that the story has a happy ending. Not to mention the possible disasters that may occur in the next few weeks, such as infection, closure, and shortage of supplies, Kuze currently has a completely inescapable doubt: Yesterday, he seemed to hear the cat speak.
Kuze is aware of the mental health risks of living alone for many years. He took a deep breath, got up and took a shower, with a heavy mental preparation for a fantasy-like illness after a fever, he pushed open the door.
In the living room downstairs, the cat was still sleeping. Last night's snow trek made the two wounded work hard. In comparison, the cat, who had been overly vigilant before, slept more peacefully now, and he didn't wake up even when he came to his side.
Kuze sat on the sofa next to him, silently watching the sleeping face of the cat.
After a few minutes, the cat woke up naturally. Like before, it rubbed sleepily on the sofa before slowly opening its eyes. Seeing Kusei, the cat was startled, and subconsciously shrank back, but at least he didn't show the expression of disgust that he did a few days ago. Kuze stared at the cat closely, thinking about countermeasures in confusion:
This cat... If it does talk, how can I tell if it's talking or I'm going crazy? … a conversation? No, just record it. Play it back... Wait a minute, the spectrum, analyze the spectrum to see, the cat's pitch is a bit higher.
Kuze was trying his best to fumble for the phone with composure, while still closely watching the cat's movements, unconsciously holding his breath.
Finally, the cat opened his mouth hesitantly:
"-Meow?"
... I must have remembered it wrong.
Kuze let out a long sigh, unable to tell whether he felt relieved or lost at the moment.
The cat glanced sideways at Kuze without knowing it, yawned half, and the other half was swallowed painfully by the cat because it pulled on the wound. This reminded Kuze. After arriving home last night, he reworked his arm, but he didn't even care about the cat. There are some new scratches on the cat's hand, not serious, but it's best to clean and bandage it. In addition, the bandage on the cat's abdomen should also be changed.
The first aid kit had been on the sofa since the cat arrived. Kuze pushed the cat down on the sofa and picked up the surgical scissors.
Danny lay on his back on the sofa, staring at the cold light of the surgical scissors, his breathing paused for a moment.
Danny hates scissors of any kind. He turned his head away, letting his eyes fall on the couch with his teeth marks. The owner of the sofa was leaning over Danny at the moment, slowly cutting through his surgical gown with the surgical scissors. Against the light, the figure of the other party was as huge as a mountain, which was extremely oppressive.
Danny suppressed his fear and didn't struggle.
The surgical gown was completely cut, and the cold blade rubbed against Danny's skin, and he felt the hair stand on end. There was a click in the ear, and it was the other party who opened the first aid kit by his side—to be honest, as a first aid kit, it was too big and included everything: a full set of surgical scissors, needle holders, sutures, and There are a lot of medical devices that Danny can't name and don't belong in first aid. Danny assumed that the man was a doctor.
Using only his left hand, the doctor deftly and discreetly loosened the bandages on Danny's body. When the cloth came out of the healing wound, it was inevitable that the prelude of pain would start, and Danny clenched his teeth sharply, his head dizzy. If he hadn't gotten used to the pain, he would have fainted immediately.
In fact, it wasn't that far off: Danny was sweating profusely when the dressing was done. The doctor changed a clean white cloth and carefully wiped his body. His hands are steady and professional, with no trace of ambiguity - but that's why Danny is ashamed of his nakedness. He has not been in the industry for a long time, and he is not used to such a gesture of revealing his weaknesses in front of anyone.
Like his peers, Danny has learned many special techniques to free himself from the body, float high above his soul, watch his temporary masters love/stroking the body's back, chin, and molesting every inch of his hair with skin. Now, however, the doctor's movements are gentle but firm, not to be confused with the love/stroking of the masters.
In order to divert his attention, Danny muttered in a low voice, "There's no anesthetic, what the hell..." He thought that this sentence might just sound like a cat meow in the other person's ear.
Sure enough, the doctor didn't answer.
The doctor rarely speaks, and when he speaks, Danny doesn't understand at all. Danny woke up at first to find himself seriously injured, lost all his belongings, and restricted his freedom... These kinds of panic reached their peak when confronted with a stranger who could not communicate with the doctor, which was enough to defeat reason. Even today, after thinking about what happened to him and knowing that the doctor was not malicious, Danny still couldn't feel completely at ease.
But Danny is good at patience.
Changing the bandage was a must, and Danny could endure the pain. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to relax. The desolate and isolated environment flashed through his mind, the hand that had reached out to cover him in a car accident, and the broad shoulders that carried him home. There were moments when he was trudging through the snow when he was almost sure the doctor couldn't hold on and would leave him in the wilderness.
But they all came back alive in the end. This doctor, although strange everywhere, doesn't seem to have any intention of harming him.
This is enough. Danny thought. As the pain in his abdomen subsided, he slept tiredly.
Danny woke up again soon after.
He was still on the sofa, with the snow-capped mountains outside the window. Looking to the west from the floor-to-ceiling windows, there is no artificial trace. The place was so desolate that Danny was convinced that the previous owner, who had been enjoying himself with abuse, was really thinking about throwing the body when he threw him from the car.
Fortunately, someone happened to live here in isolation and saved Danny's life in time. Coincidentally, the man was also a doctor. If it wasn't for the fact that Danny couldn't think of anything worth conspiring, he would have kept his suspicions longer.
Ignorance is a source of fear, and Danny is truly ignorant of doctors.
The mess in the morning dressing change has been cleaned up, the sofa is fresh and clean, and Danny has also been cleaned. The doctor was not there, and there were two shallow basins on the low table, which were water and chicken with a layer of fish floss. The chicken was mashed suspiciously. Nothing but that. Danny stared at it for a moment, and decided that he was not hungry, so he ignored it, got up and went to the toilet.
Perhaps because of Danny's cooperative attitude since yesterday, the doctor let go of the restraints on his limbs. Danny is naked now, except for his hands, which were extra bandaged from the glass cut yesterday. He grappled with personal problems, rubbing himself on the towel by the tub (and trying not to think about why the doctor thought of leaving the towel in such a place and who would clean it up afterwards). Before leaving, Danny caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror out of the corner of his eye.
He looked terrible, bruised, heavily bandaged around his waist, and nearly alopecia areata with medical scissors; but at least a little better than yesterday, less exhausted and hopeless. Numerous scrapes and whiplashes on the naked body showed signs of healing, and Danny hoped they wouldn't leave scars. Selling skin is his only source of livelihood.
Upstairs, there was no movement in the doctor's room. Danny thought it was a good time to explore the house. Seniors in the industry say that the less you know, the safer it is, but the fear of unfamiliar surroundings drives him, and Danny still wants to find out what the doctor is. He quickly figured out the structure of the house: two floors above ground, a living room, an open kitchen and a study on the first floor, and a bedroom on the second floor. There may also be a storage room underground. The garage is outside and connected to the kitchen.
Danny wasn't going to go upstairs. He tried the door of the study, found it to be false, and pushed it open without any guilt. Opposite the door is a bay window and a desk, with a wall of bookcases connected to one side of the desk. The huge and overly specialized medicine cabinet loomed large in the bottom column of the bookcase, and it was full of books of all kinds. Danny couldn't read the text on the spine, but just glanced at the binding to see that they were boring, professional books.
He rolled over and sat on the desk, opened the drawer above the bookcase, and saw many notebooks inside. Danny took out a copy, flipped to the cover, and saw an unknown signature. On the next page is a hand-drawn illustration of the breakdown of the human skeleton.
Is it the doctor's note? Danny assumed the doctor was Asian, given the dark hair and black eyes. Can't guess more. Compared with Danny, the doctor is quite tall, but his personality is inversely proportional to it, and his silent appearance is like a ghost. Danny became curious and continued to read the words he couldn't understand.
The long-haired carpet covered up the footsteps, and when the doctor pushed in, Danny was still flipping through the pages, and it was too late to collect the evidence. He leaned back in a panic, trying to hide the notebook behind him, but soon realized it was futile. Danny could only take a deep breath, tensing his scalp and waiting for the doctor's response.
To Danny's surprise, the doctor was not angry with his reckless intrusion and snooping. He patted Danny on the back of the neck, and before Danny could react, he felt himself rising into the air and was carried off the desk by the doctor with one hand. Danny waited for the doctor's answer, but the doctor just walked to the living room as usual. Danny hesitated for a moment and followed.
The accident for several days in a row made the doctor look a little tired. He sat down on the sofa and closed his eyes. Danny stood bewildered for a moment, choosing to sit aside, some distance from the doctor. After a while, he felt the doctor's left hand reaching out, unconsciously stroking his back.
Danny felt guilty since he was caught in the study, and even if he was numb, he tried his best to restrain his reaction. He was scared. The doctor is very calm now, but this kind of calm is probably just an appearance, it is the tranquility before the eruption of the volcano, Danny does not dare to make a noise at all.
However, some things are beyond Danny's control:
He is hungry.
The sound of stomach peristalsis must have reached the doctor's ears. He opened his eyes and looked at Danny. Danny awkwardly avoided the doctor's gaze and pretended not to know anything.
The doctor laughed and got up to leave. After a while, the doctor came back with a spoon, and he took the plate of mashed chicken from the low table and gave Danny a mouthful—hand-to-mouth feeding. Danny felt a little weird. He tried to get out of the doctor's arms, but the doctor refused to let go. The hand was big and powerful, reminding Danny of the choking experience of being pulled on the collar and having to struggle to follow.
Danny weighed for a moment and gave up the struggle. He opened his mouth obediently and swallowed the cat food in one mouthful. The chicken tasted so-so, and Danny stopped after eating half of the plate. Occasionally, sticky chicken mash drips from the edge of the spoon on Danny, which he ignores.
It was snowing heavily outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Danny was curled up on the sofa, feeling the doctor's left hand on the back of his neck, rubbing it regularly. After a moment, the hand moved to Danny's chin and scratched softly. Danny was a little overwhelmed by the overly intimate touch, but he was full and warm, and felt safe in a long time. He just mumbled a few words, endured the doctor's harassment, and cast his eyes loosely at the figure projected by the floor-to-ceiling window.