Lost One of His Legs

The last thing Jiang Jinyan remembered before the car accident was how dark the sky was, the evident sign that the rain was going to be fierce. He was worried whether he could return without getting soaked, furthermore his head was starting to hurt and he didn't want to catch a cold. Thus, taking the risk of how there weren't many cars on the road, he stepped onto the zebra cross and dashed through the green light.

After that, a strong beam of light came out of nowhere, the shine pierced his eyes and made him reflexively squint. His mind turned blank and everything became dark.

As his consciousness hovered between life and death, he felt like he heard many people talking around him. The voices sounded professional and cold, they were discussing how they could keep his body intact, but unfortunately, they had no choice in the end.

His thoughts were blurry and his body numb. He very much wanted to open his eyes, but the darkness swallowed him whole again.

The warm sunlight poured in through the window into the hospital room. The monotone beeps of the heartbeat monitor filled the air. In the huge monochrome room, he laid on the bed with his whole body covered in bandages, one of his legs suspended in midair.

It only reached up to his knee which was currently wrapped in a thick bundle of bandages, nothing was below it.

His fingers twitched and the beeping intensified.

There was the sound of the door sliding open, and a female voice exclaimed. "Call Doctor Chun! The patient in room 510 shows the signs of waking up!"

Jiang Jinyan breathed, and the oxygen mask covering his face fogged up.

There was a faint commotion nearby, but he could only focus on how his whole body felt numb. His eyelids flickered, and slowly, he opened his eyes, his mind blurred.

"Mr. Jiang?" There was someone calling him, but he was too weak to answer.

In the end, he could only maintain his consciousness for a few seconds before drifting back to a long slumber.

The last thing that flashed through his mind was; damn it, I am late to practice again. Coach Yong will surely cut my vacation time off.

***

"…he is really waking up?!"

"Yes, that's right, sir. Last evening, Mr. Jiang's data showed signs of waking up. This is a very good news. Please wait for some time, he should be waking up in a day or two."

Dad? He wondered in befuddlement. He hadn't seen his father since two years ago. To sum it up, Jiang Huocheng always provided everything he needed without fail, but he wouldn't show his face unless necessary. His condition must have been quite serious for his father to come.

"Uncle…Jinyan is waking up…"

"Yes." Jiang Jinyan's father, Jiang Huocheng sighed. "Fortunately…fortunately he is fine…"

This time, his heart lightened at the familiar feminine voice. Xiaxia…he called out inside his heart, but his mouth remained shut.

There was the sound of faint sobbing and Jiang Jinyan was so anxious that he wanted to spring up and comfort his girlfriend. Alas, the heavy feeling that pressed down on him was like a mountain, rendering him unable to move.

His fingers twitched, but he had expended all his effort to do so.

"I see Jinyan's fingers moving!"

Jiang Jinyan was sure that Wei Xiameng must be crying. How he wanted to wake up and tell her that everything would be fine. Unfortunately, his consciousness started to drift off again and he gave up to the darkness that awaited him.

***

Indeed, as Doctor Chun predicted, Jiang Jinyan woke up the next day.

It was raining lightly and the weather was cool. The curtain was half-drawn and when he opened his eyes, the first thing that caught his sight was his father who was sitting on the couch while dozing off.

Jiang Jinyan blinked and he tried to speak with a very hoarse voice. "Dad…"

Jiang Huocheng jolted and his eyes snapped open. Seeing his son's bleary eyes, he jumped forward, his voice anxious. "Jinyan?! Are you conscious now?" He pressed on the nurse button and peered down to Jiang Jinyan's face worriedly. "How do you feel?"

Jiang Jinyan was half-astonished and half-confused.

When was the last time he ever saw his father this worried?

Instantly, his heart felt warm and he cleared his throat weakly. "I'm fine…"

The door opened and an elderly doctor with two nurses came in. "Good evening, Mr. Jiang. I see that you have regained your consciousness." The nurses proceeded to take off his oxygen mask and proficiently fed him a few mouthfuls of water. He immediately felt better afterward.

Doctor Chun checked on his stats for a while and hummed. "Very good. Youngsters' constitution should be like this. You recover quite fast."

Jiang Jinyan blinked for a while, his head was still a little fuzzy. "Right, what happened? What date is it? I have practice up to Saturday…"

The room instantly fell silent.

Jiang Jinyan was still feeling very weak, he kept his gaze on his father and took no notice of his own condition. In every teenager's weakest state, the person that they relied on first and foremost would be parents. Jiang Jinyan rarely spent time with his father, thus this kind of occasion was so hard to come by that he couldn't peel his eyes off..

When no one answered, Jiang Jinyan's head sobered up a level.

He turned his gaze to Doctor Chun but in the middle of doing so, his eyes fell upon his suspended right leg, and…the bandages that were wounded heavily around his stump knee.

It was as if he was plunged into a deep, bottomless abyss. His blood froze, and his already pale face turned ashy. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Subsequently, it was Doctor Chun's words that sentenced him to the cruel reality. "Mr. Jiang Jinyan, two weeks ago, a truck crashed into you and we almost couldn't bring you back. It's a miracle you can survive but...we are very sorry to deliver this bad news to you." The elderly man sighed heavily. "We couldn't save one of your legs."

Jiang Jinyan's head rang and his ears buzzed.

For a while, he couldn't make out the sound around him.

His heart felt blocked, so constricted he couldn't breathe, as if his blood had coagulated inside his veins.

Finally, a tinge of warmth spread through his icy cold body. He followed the source of it, only to find Wei Xiameng holding his hand tight, her beautiful face withered in tears. He didn't realize when she came, nor did he register what happened for the next moment.

He stared at her crying face blankly and all words lost in his throat.

He couldn't say it.

He couldn't say that everything would be fine.