Chapter 13 “Are You Cold?”

Chapter 13: "Are You Cold?"

Lin Haoda walked out of the elevator and arrived at the door of the operating room. Contrary to what he’d imagined, the lighting here was bright, and there was no strong smell of disinfectant.

Maybe because it was late, there were few people in the hospital, and it was very quiet. Lin Haoda walked to the bench and was hesitating whether to sit and wait when the door of a nearby office suddenly opened, and a man and a woman came out. Both were young and good-looking, and they were talking quietly and intimately.

Lin Haoda stared at them for a few seconds, thinking they looked familiar. Before he could place where he’d seen them, Song Yanxin, who was walking in front, looked up and saw him. She was startled and froze for a moment, then nodded at him.

"Hello," Lin Haoda quickly stood up and spoke first. "I'm here to see Mr. Guan."

"He's inside," Song Yanxin pointed to the office. Her eyes landed on his drenched shoulders. She hesitated, then couldn't help asking: "Big brother... did you bring him here?"

Lin Haoda said "Yes," his voice dropping a little. "I just happened to be there."

Hearing that, Song Yanxin smiled at him and said, "Thank you."

The blinds in the doctor's office were partially open. Standing by the window, Lin Haoda could see Guan Junshan inside.

He had his back to him. His silver-gray suit, drenched by rain, had darkened to gray, yet he still stood very straight. With broad shoulders and a tall stature, he stood under the light, watching the doctor attach a brain CT scan to the whiteboard, then leaned slightly to exchange a few words with the doctor.

Lin Haoda's gaze kept shifting between the CT scan and Guan Junshan's back. Maybe because of the setting and mood, his heart gradually sank, and he began to worry about Guan Junshan.

Luckily, it wasn't long before Guan Junshan walked out of the office. Song Yanxin, waiting by the door, quickly stood up. When Guan Junshan saw her, he asked, "Where is Sihan?"

"He went to the restroom," Song Yanxin replied, and then continued, "What did the doctor say? How's Auntie doing?"

Lin Haoda saw Guan Junshan remain silent for a moment, then say to her, "It was caught in time, and the surgery success rate is high, but it has been too long, and the situation is complicated."

At this point, Wu Sihan returned, and Guan Junshan continued updating them on the surgery.

Realizing Guan Junshan had no time for anything else, Lin Haoda silently moved a bit farther away and sat down at the farthest end of the bench.

After waiting about ten minutes, Guan Junshan, having calmed them both, walked toward Lin Haoda. When Lin Haoda saw him, he spoke first, "Mr. Guan."

Guan Junshan nodded in acknowledgment, stood in front of him, his gaze falling on the bandaged back of Lin Haoda's right hand, and asked, "Did you get that wound treated?"

Lin Haoda told him it was a minor issue, just a scratch on the skin.

"If it had been cut deeper, and soaked in rain like that, tetanus wouldn't be out of the question," Guan Junshan said instead.

Lin Haoda was speechless. His right hand, resting on his knee, clenched uneasily. Guan Junshan didn't continue and changed the subject, telling Lin Haoda to take a cab home.

Lin Haoda looked up and almost instinctively asked, "What about you?"

Guan Junshan's cold hadn't fully recovered, and he had also gotten soaked in the rain, so he looked a bit pale, but his spirits were still okay. "I can't go back tonight; I have to stay at the hospital."

"Besides, the driver will come to pick me up at the hospital tomorrow morning," Guan Junshan took the initiative to mention, thinking Lin Haoda might still be worried about the driving.

"...Oh." Lin Haoda slowly withdrew his gaze, and after a long pause, said, "Alright then."

Guan Junshan had originally planned to discuss payment with him. Although Lin Haoda had annoyed him tonight, business was business, and Guan Junshan didn't want to owe a favor.

At that moment, the door of the operating room opened, and a nurse walked out, shouting, "Where is the family? Prepare for blood donation!"

Wu Sihan and Song Yanxin, being the closest, immediately rushed over. As Guan Junshan was about to go over, Lin Haoda called out from behind, "Mr. Guan!"

Guan Junshan turned his head and looked down at Lin Haoda.

Lin Haoda, not sure where he found the courage, moved his lips and couldn't help asking, "Is it your mother in there?"

Guan Junshan stared at him for a long moment and said, "Yes."

The moment he sat down in the blood donation chair, Lin Haoda inevitably became nervous.

He wasn't exactly a model citizen; he had never donated blood before. He hated needles and IVs, and had a natural fear of anything that needed to pierce his body. Even so, he didn't know why he had impulsively volunteered to donate blood just now.

Guan Junshan's mother was undergoing brain surgery and required a large amount of blood transfusion. The other three people present didn't meet the blood donation criteria. Lin Haoda was the universal O-type blood, so the doctor suggested drawing one bag just in case.

Lin Haoda tried hard to act brave, but somehow Guan Junshan still saw through it. The blood donation room was on the second floor, a very small room. Guan Junshan followed him in regardless. He stood to the side, arms crossed, as if checking or supervising, perhaps afraid that Lin Haoda would faint from nervousness and the blood bag would go to waste.

The nurse was busy preparing, sometimes coming in and out. The room was unusually quiet. Lin Haoda opened his mouth several times, wanting to say something, but every time his eyes met Guan Junshan's, he immediately fell silent.

Inevitably, Lin Haoda recalled the time at the HKU campus clinic. Although Guan Junshan hadn't spoken much back then either, his expression hadn't been as grim as today.

So Lin Haoda could only chat with the nurse, rambling about random things. Finally, even Guan Junshan couldn't take it anymore and, as if annoyed by his noise, said, "Can you be quiet for a moment?"

The needle was just a few centimeters away from Lin Haoda's arm. Lin Haoda was so nervous that his voice cracked, his lips turned white, and his other hand gripping the armrest trembled slightly. "I'll try."

At that moment, Guan Junshan suddenly walked over. He was very tall, standing beside Lin Haoda, looking down with a strong, overbearing presence.

"Are you cold?" Guan Junshan's voice was low but clear.

As he said this, he lowered his hand and gently touched Lin Haoda's cold wrist.

Lin Haoda's mind went blank for a few seconds, his attention completely diverted. He looked up at him. "Not really... why?"

Guan Junshan didn't answer. He wrapped his hand completely around Lin Haoda's wrist. The next moment, the needle pierced Lin Haoda's skin.

Lin Haoda endured it, frowning slightly. Just as he was about to pull his hand out of Guan Junshan's grasp, Guan Junshan tightened his fingers a little. His palm was broad and warm, like being wrapped in charcoal warmth on a damp rainy day, making Lin Haoda's heart inexplicably tremble.

Guan Junshan looked down at him. Their eyes met. Lin Haoda's eyes were clear and bright, a little moist, with a hint of instinctive wariness, like a wary cat that hadn't been fully petted.

Both were briefly distracted, lost in their own thoughts, but neither spoke.

"Alright, you can go out now. Remember to stay for half an hour's observation," the nurse soon began to pack up the equipment.

Whether it was because Guan Junshan's presence was too strong, Lin Haoda didn't feel much when the needle was removed. It wasn't until Guan Junshan let go of his hand that he groggily came to.

Lin Haoda's blood bag was processed and soon sent into the operating room. Guan Junshan went downstairs to take care of the payment, reminding Lin Haoda to stay for the full observation time before leaving.

When he came back, the blood donation room was empty; Lin Haoda was nowhere to be seen.

Guan Junshan went to the nurse station to ask and was told that Lin Haoda had left a few minutes ago.

Guan Junshan recalled how pale Lin Haoda had looked after the blood draw. He frowned. Somehow, he suddenly felt generous and wanted to send a message to check if Lin Haoda had managed to get a taxi. But when he took out his phone, his usual rationality and cool quickly returned, and he had to suppress the urge.

It was close to midnight. At best, Wu Manzhen's surgery had only reached the one-third mark. Worried that Wu Sihan was in a bad state, Guan Junshan asked Song Yanxin to accompany him home to rest and come to the hospital tomorrow after the surgery to visit.

At the massive doorway of the operating room, people came and went in a hurry, leaving only Guan Junshan alone in the end.

He sat and stood, sometimes pacing, looking at the red light above that read "In Surgery," silently lost in thought for a long time, no one knew what he was thinking.

Waiting is always torment. As an adult, Guan Junshan had earned the right to refuse to wait, but at times like this, facing illness and life, even he lost the right to be arrogant. The only thing he could do was wait; everything else was futile.

The lights on this floor were voice-activated. After a long time with no one passing or speaking, they went out one by one, leaving only a few dim emergency lights.

Guan Junshan stood alone on the boundary between light and shadow. In front of him were two snow-white operating room doors; behind him was an endless, deep corridor stretching to unknown places, filled with the bitter cold smell of disinfectant.

After an unknown time, with a "ding," the elevator doors at the end of the corridor suddenly opened, and one by one, the lights on the ceiling began to turn on.

Guan Junshan heard footsteps, turned around, and saw Lin Haoda.

Lin Haoda stood in the bright light, soft hair and bright eyes. From neither too close nor too far, he gave Guan Junshan a hesitant smile.

He came over, his footsteps triggering the sensor lights, carrying a bag from which the aroma of food drifted, overpowering the smell of disinfectant.

Lin Haoda's appearance also dissipated Guan Junshan's worry and sadness. With a sterile dressing still on his right hand, he looked somewhat comical carrying the bag with only his left hand. Guan Junshan had to reach out, politely take it from him, and ask, "What's in here?"

"I noticed the McDonald's downstairs is still open," Lin Haoda said cheerfully, as if he had discovered something monumental. "You can even order freshly fried chicken and burgers!"

Guan Junshan raised his eyes and looked at him: "You went to buy these just now?"

"Yeah." Lin Haoda seemed puzzled and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Guan Junshan stared at him, then quickly changed his mind and commented, "Eating these at midnight is unhealthy and not nutritious."

Lin Haoda went "Ah," lowered his eyes guiltily, looking totally innocent in front of the picky Guan Junshan: "Everything else is closed. The convenience store only has bottled water."

Lin Haoda's eyes were round, with pitch-black pupils and slightly downturned corners. Compared to ordinary people, they always seemed bright and liquid, giving him an air of innocence.

Guan Junshan stood very close to him and was certainly qualified to judge. Objectively speaking, Lin Haoda's appearance was by no means outstanding, but he was unexpectedly good at playing to his strengths, knowing what expression to put on to get people to soften up.

At this moment, Guan Junshan was still unaware of how much trouble this "scheming" Lin Haoda would bring him.

For now, he said nothing, simply reaching into the bag to pick a random flavor of burger, then handed the rest back to Lin Haoda for him to take care of on his own.