I gritted my teeth and tried to straighten up, but within seconds, my vision darkened, and I collapsed. Before losing consciousness, I seemed to catch a glimpse of Chen Qiao Luo walking onto the train alone, his figure solitary and forlorn.
When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. Li Zi, her face streaked with tears, was by my side. Seeing me wake, she sniffled and said, “Yun Hao, you’re finally awake. Wait here, I’ll go get the doctor.”
Before I could respond, she dashed out of the room.
I struggled to reach for my phone on the bedside table. The date on the screen told me that 24 hours had passed.
I thought of Chen Qiao Luo. I didn’t know how he must have felt leaving without seeing me. A dull ache filled my heart as I wondered how I would explain things to him.
Li Zi returned with a young doctor. I quickly put down my phone as the doctor asked, “Do you feel any discomfort right now?”
I shook my head. He made a few notes in my chart, then turned back to me and asked, “Have you experienced fainting spells like this before?”
Pressing my lips together, I replied, “Fainting, no, this was the first time. But I’ve had frequent stomach pains recently. I thought it might be due to irregular eating habits.”
The doctor frowned deeply. After a long pause, he sighed and said, “Is there anyone from your family you can notify to come take care of you?”
Take care of me?
A growing unease crept into my heart. Trembling, I asked, “Doctor, isn’t this just a normal stomach condition? Why are you making it sound so serious? Why do I need my family here?”
“Normal stomach condition?” he repeated, his voice rising slightly. “The final test results aren’t in yet, but based on our preliminary diagnosis, it’s highly likely to be stomach cancer.”
Stomach cancer.
Those two words felt like a crushing weight, suffocating me.
Li Zi’s sharp cry pierced through the air. In disbelief, she shouted, “That’s impossible! Doctor, you must have made a mistake! How could my friend possibly have stomach cancer?”
Hearing her outburst, the doctor furrowed his brow slightly and replied, “We don’t make mistakes. The final test results should be out this afternoon. In the meantime, you should notify her family. I’ll come back later to discuss the specifics.”
After the young doctor left, silence fell over the room like a heavy blanket.
I don’t know how much time passed before Li Zi suddenly broke into loud sobs, each one crashing into my heart. She ran to me, threw her arms around me, and cried, “How could this happen? Why did it turn out this way?”
Perhaps this is what they mean by life’s cruel twists of fate. Just as I thought I was nearing happiness, it was yanked far, far away.
Stomach cancer. It was something I’d never imagined.
Growing up, I was rarely sick, and I never thought that when illness did strike, it would be this severe.
I hugged Li Zi tightly as her cries continued, and a fog of tears began to gather in my own eyes.
That afternoon, the young doctor returned, this time with my medical report. The diagnosis was clear: my condition was terminal.
In that moment, the world seemed to fall deathly silent. Li Zi, mindful of my emotions, sobbed quietly.
It took a long time before I finally closed my eyes, which had grown sore from the tears threatening to fall. “Li Zi,” I said softly, “can you please contact my dad for me?”
Forgive me, Dad. Forgive me for not having the courage to tell you this terrible news myself.
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