The end of the sterilization topic was a little more complicated than Danny expected. He thought he was joking and casually mentioning it, and the doctor would laugh at him for being unfounded, and then the matter came to light. Unexpectedly, the doctor really wanted to sterilize him. The moment he heard the doctor say, "The neutered cat is also very happy", Danny was about to break out in a cold sweat, and the demonic former customer immediately appeared in his mind, and even remembered the silhouette of the doctor holding surgical scissors. Danny's hair stood on end, and he wanted to run away almost immediately.
Fortunately, the doctor finally let go of this idea. Even he turned down Danny's services. Although he doesn't look sober, he's actually a good guy.
That night, Danny was sitting on the countertop of the open kitchen, chewing on the fried fish balls specially prepared by the doctor for a late night snack, while looking at the shadow of the lights falling from the bedroom on the second floor on the snow outside.
In addition to boredom and loneliness, living in isolation, there are many difficulties that Danny, who is used to living in the city, never thought of. One night, the outdoor water pipe froze and cracked, and the burst of water condensed into a frozen waterfall. Danny almost thought he didn't wake up when he opened his eyes. He stared blankly for a moment, then jumped off the sofa and ran upstairs. For the first time, he climbed the second floor of the house and slammed the doctor's door.
"… Frozen! Frozen! Frozen!"
The doctor came and opened the door shortly after. He glanced out of the narrow window beside the stairs and didn't say anything. Instead, he looked down at Danny and smiled: "So excited? Haven't you seen it before?"
Danny wanted to argue that he was just worried about the safety of the water, but his agitated attitude automatically acknowledged the doctor's assertion. Danny had been in the South before, Sunshine Beach skyscrapers or something. It's not that he hasn't seen ice sculptures, and even what he has seen is bigger, more delicate, and more unique, but there is always a difference between the artificially carved exhibits and the creations of nature. The latter has more impact on Danny, who has little contact with nature. .
He turned around with a light cough, restrained his excitement and kept a solemn pace downstairs. The doctor followed behind him and let out a muffled laugh from time to time. Danny glanced back at him—not convincing.
The doctor went down to the living room, not in a hurry to go out, but first took the blanket from the sofa and put it on Danny. Danny has been naked for more than half a month and has never been ashamed. At this moment, he was put on a blanket to keep out the cold under the care of the doctor, but he was abruptly startled, as if he suddenly realized that he was still in the world, and unconsciously woke up. Some shame.
Wrapping himself in the blanket, he quietly followed the doctor into the snow-covered front yard.
It is said to be the front yard, but in fact there is no fixed fence, just an open space between the house and the road. A few days ago, the doctor drove a home snow blower to clear it, and now snow has accumulated over his knees. On one side of the front yard is the entrance to the garage. The Nissan sedan that was supposed to be parked there is now overturned in the wasteland ten miles away, and all that's left in the garage is a snowplow, a wheelchair, and some household machinery.
The cracked water pipe is next to the garage, and there is a very beautiful section of ice at the break. The water pressure is sufficient, the size of the ice flower is quite unassuming, and the ice crystal reflects the dazzling light in the sun. The doctor bent over to study for a few seconds, then returned to the house. After a while, he brought a pot of boiling water, which when poured on the roots of the ice flower, easily cut through the ice like a fluid sharp knife. The whole ice flower broke out of the frozen water pipe and fell completely on the snow. The doctor bent down to pick up the ice flower and handed it to Danny.
"Give it to you," said the doctor.
Danny was fascinated by the mist rising between the ice flower and the boiling water, but he didn't react for a while. He raised his head in surprise and was caught in the sight of the doctor smiling at him. Suddenly, Danny was a little embarrassed and a little nervous. He swallowed and thanked him mechanically. There was a slight tingling in his throat, and heat on his forehead and cheeks.
Danny lowered his head to hide his emotions. It's too cold outside, he thought.
He picked up the ice flower, rubbed his nose, sneezed a little, and wrapped the blanket even tighter.
The doctor quickly found the source of the problem: the temperature was too low last night, the thermometer that came with the electric heating tape used for antifreeze was aging and failed, the electric heating tape no longer produced heat, and the water pipe was kept at a low temperature below freezing for one night, and it naturally freezes. Cracked.
The upstream water pump has water pressure detection, and the water supply is stopped in time, and only this section needs to be dealt with. The doctor brought a heater from the garage, thawed the cracked water pipe, removed it, and installed a replacement pipe. The doctor's right forearm was still splinted, and his movements were very hindered. Danny consciously helped to wrap the electric heating tape.
"The weather forecast says that the temperature will drop in the evening. It just so happens that the weather is very sunny today," the doctor stood up, looked up at the cloud head and the shadow of the sun, and said to himself, "It's time to check..."
The doctor mumbled a few words that Danny couldn't understand, which seemed to be related to the hot water supply. He told Danny to go back to the house to rest first, but Danny didn't hear what the doctor said. He planted the ice flower outside the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, where it could be most easily seen, and then followed the doctor firmly. He had been bored at home for so long, and after finally going out for a walk, he naturally refused to listen to the doctor and stay in the house.
In the morning, they checked all the outdoor equipment in the front yard and checked the temperature control in the basement - Danny couldn't understand why the basement needed temperature control. He made a special inspection and found that the doctor did not store the strange toys he imagined. He didn't understand any more.
After lunch, the only items left to check were the heating cables on the roof. The doctor brought an old telescopic ladder and looked back at Danny: "The roof is steep and snowy. You—"
Before he could finish, Danny was already on the ladder. The doctor thinks he has an abdominal injury and can't climb the roof? He was also worried that the doctor had broken a hand. He nimbly climbed to the top of the ladder, sat down beside the ladder along the eaves, swayed his feet, bowed his head and smiled at the doctor. The doctor was startled, smiled, and climbed up.
"This house was originally a holiday house built to support the mountain ski resort. Later, the ski resort was not opened, and it was sold at a low price. After my grandfather bought this house, he did a lot of renovations. The water supply, power supply and drainage system are all his I erected it myself." The doctor walked along the gutters along the edge of the roof, wearing electrician gloves as he said, "The heating is mainly oil heating, and there is a backup room heater in the garage. The generator is there, diesel. Water. From the well over here. Drain over there."
Danny followed the doctor's instructions and looked curiously. The doctor's words were a bit difficult, he only understood half of it, but he understood that the house was just like the doctor himself, isolated and self-sufficient. Danny had heard that 20% of households in even the most developed countries were draining underground septic tanks instead of factories, but this was the first instance he had seen—nothing at all, Danny thought, maybe You can see the difference after the snow melts.
"Before the winter—that is, the day before I picked you up, I checked it once. But there is too much snow in the winter here, just in case, as long as the weather is fine, I will still check it several times." The doctor explained.
Danny nodded as he listened. The snow-covered roof is difficult to walk on, and if you are not careful, you will leave the range of the gutters and step into the snow. Danny froze and asked, "Is there a snow shovel?"
The doctor smiled: "That's not necessary."
In order to reduce snow accumulation, the roof is designed with a steep slope, and waterproof reinforcement is also made, so there is no need to shovel snow on the roof in winter. The heating cable is only installed near the eaves on both sides to prevent the snow from pouring back and freezing.
After checking the front eaves, the doctor walked towards the ridge to check the situation on the back. Danny followed suit. After all, he was not used to such snowy slopes, and he stumbled. In addition, the sky was getting dark, and Danny didn't pay attention for a while, and he slipped on his foot. He exclaimed, and hurriedly lowered/steadied himself.
The doctor had been alarmed by his voice, and was walking towards him with great strides. Danny said loudly, "I'm fine—" Before he finished speaking, he saw the doctor's figure shaking. He also trampled a piece of snow under his feet. The doctor quickly regained his footing and did not lose his balance, but the whole piece of snow slid down the roof, and unfortunately hit the top of the telescopic ladder.
With a loud bang, the ladder flipped backwards, creating deep lines in the snow below the knees.
The doctor has come to Danny's side, and they are also staring blankly at this scene.
"—Maybe the safety lock is loose." The doctor explained with difficulty.
But this is not the time to investigate the expiration date of the retractable ladder hardware. Danny looked down at the ground 30 feet away, then looked at the semi-disabled man in front of him with a splint on his arm, and himself, the wounded man whose abdominal wound had not healed and was struggling, and after a while, he asked blankly, "We ... can you still go down?"
During winter in the mountains, it gets dark very early. Just after four o'clock, the sky was already dark as if it were night. From the front yard to the highway, there is a column of street lights, which are designed with photosensitive design, and light up one by one at the moment when the sun sets. That gentle light points the way to heaven in the long night.
The doctor had stepped on a piece of snow before, and Danny was sitting on the exposed roof right now. They had been trapped on the roof for less than half an hour, but as the sun went down and darkness fell, it was harder to get off the roof. The doctor was quite anxious about this, and walked up and down the eaves to check possible routes. Danny was in no hurry. Under his feet are the heating cables on the eaves, together with the blanket, providing enough warmth. Besides, the doctor was trapped here with him. Somehow, this made him feel a little at ease.
When the doctor passed by Danny again, he grabbed the doctor's trousers: "Stop." His hand was dangling on the doctor's trousers, "It's too dark, it will fall."
The doctor hesitated. Obviously, he's still trying to figure it out, but Danny grabs his pants and won't let go. After a stalemate, the doctor gave in. He followed Danny's strength and sat beside Danny. The latter then let go with satisfaction.
They sat side by side in silence for a while. Danny is looking at the stars. The starry sky on a winter night is a little different from that on a summer night. The stars seem to be brighter and their arrangement has changed. He can't fully recognize them. He wanted to ask the doctor, but saw the doctor resting on his knee with one hand, his eyes aimlessly falling into the empty halo under the street lamp. He seemed to be thinking, but also seemed to think nothing.
Danny followed the doctor's line of sight and said casually, "Those lights."
He felt the doctor look over. So Danny raised his finger to the line of street lights from the front yard to the highway: "Those." He originally started a topic casually, but when it came to street lights, he remembered a long-standing question of his own, "On the day of the car accident, come back On the way, I just wanted to ask. You live in such a remote place, why do you install those lights?"
"Uh, of course..." The doctor's voice didn't sound as firm as what he said. "Passersby will be safer with street lights."
"Where did the passerby come from?" Danny asked in a strange tone.
Don't talk about passers-by, since he moved into the doctor's house, Danny has never even seen an animal such as a hare or squirrel except for the doctor and himself. Just got trapped on the roof, Danny also proposed to call the police by satellite phone, but the doctor said that after the heavy snow closed the mountain, the police car could not come, the only safe way of transportation was helicopter, and he had to pay the sky-high rescue bill. In such a desolate area, is the doctor's street light for bears and coyotes
The doctor was silent for a while, then replied, "What if." He looked at Danny, "Aren't you here?"
Danny wanted to say that it was just because I was too unlucky to be in a relationship with others, but I didn't have enough vocabulary. He was still racking his brains to construct a sentence, and inadvertently looked at the doctor, but was startled. He suddenly realized that the doctor also understood this. There will be no passers-by, there is nothing here, but the doctor is still waiting. He didn't want to be in the crowd, but he wanted to be approached, and he wanted to save everyone he had met, including Danny.
Danny stared into the doctor's eyes and asked, "If that's the case, why do you live in a place like this?"
"Because of... quiet?" the doctor said. There was a deep uncertainty in his tone.
Danny knew it wasn't the doctor's truth. Like quiet? After Danny began to speak Japanese, the doctor was only briefly surprised to teach him the language for two days, and even after Danny temporarily let go of his mind and slowed down, he continued to teach with a higher enthusiasm than Danny himself. During this time, the doctor's mood was significantly higher than at first. He didn't like silence, on the contrary, he was desperate to communicate.
Danny didn't open his mouth. He followed the doctor's words and asked, "Have you always lived here? Or did you move here?"
Danny could see the nostalgia on the doctor's face through the moonlight reflected by the snow. The doctor smiled and said, "It's been more than three years since I moved here, right? I'm from Miyagi Prefecture, and I was admitted to Doctor Asahi in the university. Do you know Doctor Asahi? Ah, of course you don't. It's a medical school in the lower ranks in Japan. , but I also tried my best to pass the test. During the video call, my grandfather often teased me, saying that he would hire me as a family doctor in the future.
The doctor's smile disappeared. He shook his head: "I came here to take care of my grandfather after I graduated, for about half a year. But it still didn't work. In the end, I was the only one left."
Danny couldn't understand the place names, schools, and majors, but he could hear the ending of the story that the doctor didn't finish. He hesitated for a moment, moved a little closer to the doctor, and put his hand on the back of the doctor's hand. The doctor took his hand back and pulled him onto himself. Danny was half lying on the doctor's chest, hearing his steady heartbeat, feeling the strength of the gentle caress on the back of his neck, and shuddered slightly unconsciously.
He sneezed again.
"Is it cold?" The doctor hugged Danny.
The blanket had slipped off his body, and of course Danny was terribly cold. But just now, somehow, in the arms of the doctor, he almost forgot about it. Danny hurriedly jumped out of the doctor's arms and got up to wrap the blanket tightly again. He turned his back to the doctor, realizing that his heart was beating fast. The blood was pumped to the limbs and limbs, turning into a living creature rampaging through the body. He wanted to run, he wanted to scream. He decided to leave the doctor's side, but there was nowhere to go. He walked aimlessly for a few steps, and finally he simply climbed towards the ridge.
"Be careful!" the doctor shouted behind him.
But Danny didn't want to be careful when he heard his voice. He climbed up the ridge of the roof and wobbled around. The blanket slid down with his movements, exposing the beautiful soft body beneath it.
Danny looked down at the doctor. The doctor is very tall, and he can rarely see the doctor's face from such an angle. In the moonlight, he could see that the doctor's forehead was not smooth. The forehead pattern is the chronology engraved by life. One is thin and long, like ripples on a calm lake, and one is short and deep, like a scar that cannot be healed for a long time.
Danny laughed. "I'm going to jump off," he yelled.
"-what?"
Danny saw the doctor's eyes widen suddenly in shock. The doctor increased his pace sharply and hurried after him, but he couldn't catch up. Danny closed his eyes and kicked back hard. Against the wind, he fell just like that, into deep, deep snow.
Danny opened his eyes in the snow and waited patiently. Soon he saw the doctor stick his head out from the roof ridge. The doctor's face was nervous, but after capturing the fact that Danny was safe, it turned into a wry smile that was a mixture of consternation, absurdity, and the aftermath of the disaster: behind the house was a layer of snow that was almost one story high. In the front yard, a doctor occasionally drives a snowplow to clean it, but in the back yard, no one touches it at all, and the snow is piled high and soft.
Danny laughed smugly. Just now he climbed up the ridge, and with a rough glance, he decided to jump down. He was so happy that he didn't even think about the consequences.
The doctor took a long sigh, but there was a smile in his voice: "It really is a cat."
Danny just ignored him. He had long felt that there was something wrong with the doctor's definition of "cat". He pursed his lips and made all kinds of strange noises urging the doctor to jump down. Soon, another sound of landing came from the ear. The doctor fluttered up from the snow and held out a hand to Danny.
Danny didn't answer.
"Back me." He opened his arms to the doctor and demanded with a smile. The doctor was startled, and squatted down indulgently. Danny jumped on his back and wrapped his arms around the doctor's neck as he did on the day of the snow crash. The blanket had gone somewhere, and he was naked and shivering in the cold wind, but he was so happy.
He secretly kissed the back of the doctor's neck.