A nurse hurried over.
“None,” replied the doctor, equally anxious. “The patient has a rare blood type—RH negative AB blood. We don’t have it in our supplies. I have already sent someone over to the central hospital to ask for some, but they are still coordinating due to a shortage in supply.”
“What do we do then?” asked the nurse, panicking. “The patient needs a blood transfusion, or else he might die. After losing that much blood, if he does not get the blood transfusion in time, there will be a high chance of sequelae due to the brain ischemia even if he manages to pull through.”
The doctor was even more anxious, but what could they do? Not even one in ten thousand people is guaranteed to have that rare blood. To make matters worse, even the central blood station had run out of supplies.
Yan Huan was about to leave—whoever was in there had nothing to do with her—but something made her stop. For some reason, she couldn’t make herself leave.
She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she realized that her hands at both sides of her body were clenched tightly.
Let’s save him then.
It wasn’t as if a little blood was going to cost her her life.
She turned around and walked to the doctor.
“Are you feeling unwell, Miss?” asked the nurse, thinking that she needed assistance.
Yan Huan shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I just happened to overhear your conversation.”
The nurse stared at her, baffled.
“You need RH negative AB blood, right?”
The nurse still did not understand.
Yan Huan pushed her hair back, looked up, and smiled, a weary smile.
“I have it.”
She was brought to the blood-sampling room by the nurse, where she had her blood extracted and tested. As she said, her blood proved to be of the super rare RH negative AB blood type.
It wasn’t her first time donating blood, but she still cried when the thick needle stabbed into her blood vessels.
“It’s alright, the pain will go away in a while. The patient didn’t lose that much blood, so we’ll only need around 500CC from you,” consoled the nurse. They also gave her a hand-warmer to hold.
Yan Huan’s hand tightened around the hand warmer. She wasn’t crying cause of the pain; it was the familiar sensation of bleeding out, the feeling of heat leaving her body.
After extracting about 500CC of blood, she sat there listening to the messy footsteps of the nurses. One of them covered her in a blanket carefully.
When Yan Huan opened her eyes again and checked the time, it was almost midnight.
Can she still go home at this hour?
“How about you rest a little longer?” suggested a nurse. “Your legs are injured, so you shouldn’t be doing too much walking. Rest now and have another examination tomorrow. That way, we’ll all be at ease.”
Yan Huan nodded her agreement. She was weary, truly. Sleep came quickly when she laid down on the empty bed the doctor assigned her.
The next time she woke up was due to pain. The bouts of pain coming from her legs were hard to bear.
“How are you feeling today?” asked the nurse as she entered her room.
“It hurts a little,” said Yan Huan, pointing to her legs.
The nurse inspected her wounds carefully. “Don’t worry, the wound isn’t infected. It’s normal to feel some pain.”
Relieved, Yan Huan resumed her lying position. It’s good that it wasn’t infected; she really didn’t want to be hospitalized, where she would be lonely and uncared for.
“By the way,” she remembered something. “How’s that person doing?”
“That person?” asked the nurse, slow on the uptake. Before long, she understood what she meant. “Are you talking about the person who received your blood?”
“Mhm,” nodded Yan Huan. “Is he alright?”
“Yes, he’s fine. He has yet to regain his consciousness, but he’s going to be fine. The operation had been successful thanks to your timely blood donation. Otherwise, his life would have been at risk due to hypovolemic shock, and he would never be as good as he is now. The woman that was with him isn’t doing so well, though.”
It’s a strange affair, thought the nurse as she recalled the woman in question. She was just going about her day, when what could only be called a freak accident befell her.
Things weren’t so bad for the guy; despite hitting his head, he had not received any major injuries. All that was left was for him was to regain consciousness, and the rest of his injuries would heal in time. The woman had not been so lucky; her legs were severely damaged, and might even have to be amputated. The doctors had not yet come to an agreement as to whether that was necessary.
Yan Huan was reminded of the phrase “life is unpredictable” as she listened to the nurse’s ramblings. Humans can never know what the future held for them, or in what manner their deaths will be. Should she feel lucky to have gotten away with just a few scrapes?
The investigation of the accident had concluded as well: the female driver was drunk-driving, most likely due to an unsuccessful relationship, and the crash had left one dead, two severely wounded, and five injured. Compared to the others, Yan Huan’s injuries were the lightest. By the time the police tried to find her, she had already left the hospital. It looks like she had to stay here for a while longer, at least until she had fully recovered. She couldn’t go back covered in scrapes and bruises again.
She exited the hospital from its entrance. There were many people entering and leaving the hospital, a place with both the despair of death and hope of life.
It wasn’t a likable place; it could even be said to be a detestable place.
She tied her scarf under her chin and walked out, her legs still hurting vaguely. She could still walk, at least. Recalling the woman who faced amputation, she felt sad for her, and lucky for herself.
May good people be blessed with a peaceful life.
Of course, bad people deserve to receive their due punishment. No one should have impunity after endangering the life or health of others. The drunk driver had to be held accountable for her actions, whether it was life-imprisonment or the death penalty that awaited her.
She walked on. Suddenly, feeling a pang of pain, she clasped her elbow at the spot where the needle had entered.
The pain was all too familiar to her. She hated blood extraction. The memory from her past life was too fresh, and her fears had not yet gone away.
She walked on. The wind blew at her hair, occasionally releasing a few strands from the scarf’s imprisonment and setting them on her pale face.
The man on the bed had not yet awakened, but his breathing was stable and his face calm. He was frowning a little, which suggested that his sleep wasn’t very restful.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Immediately, he felt sharp pangs of pain at his forehead, as though someone was prodding him with a needle.
