Mu Wan woke to the sound of Li Nan calling her.
The hangover was brutal.
Her head felt as though it were splitting open.
Most of the previous night had disappeared from her memory.
She remembered leaving the private room to sober up.
She remembered seeing Liu Qianxiu.
After that, nothing.
Li Nan began the call in a foul mood, demanding to know why she had disappeared without saying anything to Mi Yu.
When Mu Wan told him she was currently in the hospital, he stopped.
The call ended soon after.
Outside the room came the rolling sound of a medical cart.
A moment later, the door opened.
A young nurse wearing a cap walked in carrying medication.
“Time to treat the wound.”
Mu Wan had already changed into a hospital gown.
She unfastened several buttons and pulled the fabric aside to expose the injury.
The nurse came over and began applying the medication without ceremony.
Mu Wan was still half asleep.
The sudden sting made her whole body tighten.
She let out a pained sound and instantly became wide awake.
“Didn’t think about how much it would hurt when you were drinking last night, did you?”
The nurse gave her a severe look.
“Now the wound’s inflamed. You’ll have to stay another day.”
Mu Wan had slipped out of the hospital without permission, gotten drunk, and then been brought back by Liu Qianxiu himself.
Naturally, the ward nurses had plenty to say about it.
“Sorry,” Mu Wan said with a smile.
The nurse’s expression softened slightly.
“Was Doctor Liu the one who brought me back last night?”
“Of course.”
The nurse appeared to remember something.
Then she looked at Mu Wan with open admiration.
“You really are something.”
Mu Wan blinked.
“So many women chase Doctor Liu, but you’re the first one I’ve ever seen cling to him and refuse to let go.”
Mu Wan stared at her.
“…”
Her hangover suddenly seemed like the lesser problem.
“Where’s Doctor Liu?”
“Oh, he’s on leave,” the nurse said. “He won’t be back until Monday.”
Naturally, once Lin Wei learned that Liu Qianxiu had personally brought Mu Wan back to the hospital, another round of speculation followed.
Mu Wan remained unconvinced.
“So Daoist Liu really did bring you back,” Lin Wei said.
“He caught me and returned me to the ward,” Mu Wan corrected as she packed her things.
She was finally being discharged that day.
Lin Wei, who had already left the hospital herself, had come to pick her up.
“I was already admitted and then sneaked out to drink. If anything had happened, the hospital would’ve been dragged into it even if it wasn’t technically responsible.”
Lin Wei gave a disappointed little, “Oh.”
Mu Wan zipped her bag.
“Still, I did cause him trouble.”
She thought for a moment.
“When I get the chance, I’ll treat him to dinner.”
Then she picked up her bag.
“Come on.”
The two of them walked outside toward Lin Wei’s Cadillac.
Lin Wei was petite and sweet-faced, but she had always preferred large SUVs.
She came from money.
Her parents ran a real-estate business in Jing City.
After she graduated from university, they bought her a villa in Xia City.
Lin Wei had converted the place into a studio, using one floor as an office and another as her living space.
Just as Lin Wei was about to start the car, Mu Wan stopped her.
“Wait.”
Lin Wei paused.
Mu Wan bent down and looked beneath the vehicle.
Nothing.
She straightened.
“Never mind.”
“Looking for a cat?”
A hospital cleaner nearby had spoken in the local Xia City dialect.
Mu Wan turned.
The older woman was holding a broom.
“That calico was hit by a car on the main road this morning.”
She paused.
“Died.”
Something inside Mu Wan went cold.
She immediately remembered the plump calico Liu Qianxiu had held in his arms.
Its fur had been a little dirty, but it had been a pretty cat.
That rainy evening, it had probably crawled beneath Mu Wan’s car because it was cold.
Only a few days had passed.
Now it was dead.
From the driver’s seat, Lin Wei looked over.
“What died?”
The cleaner had already started walking away.
Hearing Lin Wei, she turned back.
“Oh.”
She pointed toward a cluster of shrubs nearby.
“She had a litter of kittens.”
Mu Wan’s gaze shifted.
She remembered the calico’s unusually round belly.
Tang’er Hospital was a private hospital frequented by wealthy patients.
Even its landscaping was immaculately maintained.
In front of the neatly trimmed shrubs were a Maserati and a Bentley.
Mu Wan squeezed between the two cars and bent down.
A moment later, she straightened.
Lin Wei stared at what she was holding.
Three newborn kittens.
Their eyes had not even opened yet.
Each was barely more than a tiny warm bundle, wriggling weakly in Mu Wan’s arms.
No one was entirely immune to something that small and soft.
Lin Wei certainly was not.
She looked at them anxiously.
“They’re so tiny. What are we supposed to do?”
“Take them home.”
One of the little bodies squirmed against Mu Wan’s hand.
Its tiny mouth opened.
“Meow.”
The sound was impossibly soft.
Something unfamiliar stirred in Mu Wan’s chest.
Lin Wei looked at her in surprise.
“What?”
Mu Wan raised her eyes.
“Haven’t you been telling me to get a cat?”
That was true.
Lin Wei looked down at the three newborn kittens, still worried.
“Can you actually raise them?”
One of the kittens nudged weakly against Mu Wan’s fingers.
Soft.
Warm.
Fragile.
Mu Wan stroked it gently with her thumb.
“I’ll try.”
dude, can you change the colour of text to black. the gray is too light.
ReplyDeleteaww man, poor cat. At least she took the kittens.
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