The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 389: Wake Up

Gao Yang lay on the bed with a loose, blue and white striped patient garb, his face somewhat pale. His hair had grown out, his bang almost covering his eyes. There was an IV drip connected to the back of his hand, the skin of which was dry with obvious veins due to his weight loss.

“Let me tell you, your sister is so popular! I friendzone someone else today—well, in a manner of speaking.” Gao Xinxin grabbed a stool and sat down by Gao Yang’s side.

“Hoho, I’ve already rejected three boys during the first month of school,” Gao Xinxin said proudly.

She reached out to brush her brother’s bang to the sides. “Your hair has gotten long, Brother. I’ll give you a trim tomorrow. Haha, don’t panic. I’ve been trimming my own bang these days. I’m a certified hairdresser now!”

As she spoke, she leaned in to grab Gao Yang’s arm and massage it.

The doctor had said that patients in vegetative state required frequent massages to promote circulation. And the body should be flipped regularly to move the muscles, preventing atrophy and necrosis.

“Brother, Dad has decided to transfer all the shares of the food processing factory to Uncle Qing and pulled out of the partnership,” Gao Xinxin said as she massaged Gao Yang. “Given Dad’s condition, he can’t run around doing business like before, leaving all the weight on Uncle Qing’s shoulders, which was unfair to him.”

“Uncle Qing was kind enough to give Dad a large sum, so you don’t have to worry about us. Besides, Dad is now attending a training course for those with physical abilities. He will soon start working.”

“As for your college, we’ve kept you on the roster. You’re a student of Li City College, majoring in computer science.”

“After all, you don’t really have a hobby outside of playing games, and Dad said that it’s easy for an IT major to find a job nowadays. Even if you don’t like it, you can always transfer to another department.”

Gao Xinxin stood up and started massaging Gao Yang’s right leg.

With difficulty, she bent his leg and massaged the acupuncture points on his calf. “Oh, right, Mom’s stopped working part-time at the supermarket. Her friend referred her to work as a salesperson at a gold jewelry shop. Although they never hire anyone above the age 35, the owner made an exception for Mom since she looked good and gave a good impression.”

“Anyhow, all’s well. Don’t worry.” Gao Xinxin glanced at his feet and frowned. “Your toenails grow so quickly, Brother. Ah, I didn’t bring a clipper with me today. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

She rattled off whatever came to her mind as she massaged the acupuncture points in different parts of Gao Yang’s body. Then she fetched a basin of warm water, getting a towel damp to wipe her brother’s face and neck. After that, she replaced the water and wiped his body with another towel, leaving the parts that would be inappropriate for her to clean to Wang Zikai.

When all that was done, night had already fallen.

Gao Xinxin placed all the washing tools in the basin and put it under the bed. She washed her hands before turning around to close the curtains.

Back at her brother’s bedside, she elevated the bed and took a bottle of milk and a toast out of her backpack.

She finished them quickly, and that was it for her dinner.

She wiped her mouth and took out her phone, going back to the story she had started reading yesterday. “I’m gonna continue the story tonight, Brother. Let me see. Where was I...”

She sat upright and cleared her throat, getting started in a gentle voice.

“‘You are beautiful, but you are empty,’ he went on. ‘One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you—the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is...’[1]”

Halfway into the reading, Gao Xinxin stopped suddenly, her slightly open mouth trembling and her eyes widened with force. Involuntarily, her tears dropped, wetting her sickly-looking face.

...

Bam!

Half an hour later, Wang Zikai barged through the door, panting and sweating as he rushed in.

When he got Gao Xinxin’s text, he had just had dinner and was driving to the hospital, but got trapped in a jam at a crossroad.

He couldn’t wait for even a second, so he opened the door and ran all the way here.

His eyes were red and his face ashen. His brain blanked as he stared at Gao Yang, already covered by a white cloth on the bed.

“No, no no no...”

He took a few steps forward and dropped to his knees. “This can’t be, this can’t be!”

Wang Zikai looked pained. He shouted at Gao Xinxin, “What happened? I visited him this afternoon, and he was fine. How did he suddenly, suddenly...”

He couldn’t utter the word ‘die’. Death could happen to anyone, even himself, but not his best friend and brother.

Standing by Gao Yang’s body, Gao Xinxin shut her eyes and bit her bottom lip hard, unable to say anything.

“Gao Yang!” Wang Zikai let out a heart-wrenching scream, scrambling his way to the bed and lifting the white cloth covering Gao Yang’s face. “Fucking wake up! You hear me? Wake up now!”

“Wang Zikai...” Finally, Gao Xinxin spoke, her voice trembling. “The doctor, the doctor said that...my brother went in peace, that he wasn’t in pain...”

“Fuck going in peace! No pain my ass!” Wang Zikai snapped at Gao Xinxin. “Gao Yang can’t be gone! Get the doctor here! His heart isn’t beating? Then get him back! If my brother’s not saved, I’ll burn the hospital down!”

“Wang Zikai, stop, stop it...” Gao Xinxin covered her face with both hands.

“You can’t die, Gao Yang! I won’t allow it!” Wang Zikai grabbed him by the shoulders and cried hot tears of pain, the tears dripping down on Gao Yang’s pale face.

“We...we’re the 94 Duo! We’ve promised to get rid of those liz...”

Gao Yang opened his eyes wide and shouted, “I’m not dead!”

...

Half an hour ago.

When Gao Xinxin looked up, unbidden, she realized that her brother had regained consciousness, sitting up.

Face pale and eyes unfocused, he looked weakly at Gao Xinxin.

After a long while, Gao Yang found the strength to manage a smile, asking in a voice that was hoarse to the point of sounding modulated, “Why...did you stop...”

“Because she is...” Gao Xinxin shuddered and breathed quickly, sniffing while doing her best to finish the line, “Because she is...my rose.”

“Brother!” Gao Xinxin cast her phone away and threw herself into Gao Yang’s arms, bawling.

Gao Yang would like to open his arms to hold her and ruffle her hair, but he didn’t yet have the strength.

Gao Xinxin sobbed as she said in starts and stops, “Brother, brother, you’re finally awake... I knew...you wouldn’t abandon us. I knew it...”

“Let me...look at you...” Gao Yang struggled hard to say.

“Yeah...” Gao Xinxin immediately sat upright and wiped her tears roughly, looking at Gao Yang while crying and laughing.

“Xinxin,” Gao Yang said in an aching tone, his lips barely parting. “You’ve...lost so much weight.”

1. Katherine Wood’s translation of Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s Little Prince. ☜

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