"Can you please call the doctor? It's an emergency!" he said panickingly to the receptionist.
The receptionist got a little shocked seeing him. She recognised him—he was Xu Yuan—but seeing him in this condition, she didn't say anything. She just pointed towards the right side of the corridor with her finger and said, "Please sir, go there."
He nodded. Then, without wasting a second, he ran towards that side, holding me in his arms.
"Just be there… be there, my silly girl. I got you. Nothing's gonna happen to you. Just be with me, stay with me," he said to me while running through the corridor.
But the corridor ended, and everyone was doing their work. Some patients were going into their rooms, some were coming out. But for him, everything was too loud.
He stopped, then fell down on his knees on the floor while carrying me in his arms like something sacred. He started crying like hell, unable to control his tears now.
"Please save her… please save my girl," he started saying continuously.
Doctors passing by stopped when they saw him like this. One doctor immediately told the staff to bring a stretcher. The doctor bent down a little, placed his hand on Yuan's shoulder, and said, "Boy, don't cry. Just give her to us. She needs treatment. Stand up quickly."
But Yuan kept crying and said to the doctor, "Please save her… please save my girl. She is very little. She can't handle pain. She gets scared very easily. But look what happened to her. Please, doctor… please," he said, sobbing between his cries.
The stretcher arrived. The doctor asked him to put me on it. He immediately placed me on the stretcher bed.
The doctor then said to the staff, "Everyone be prepared. It's an emergency. There is huge blood loss. Be prepared with everything."
The staff nodded to his orders and started taking my stretcher towards the operation theatre. But Yuan was not ready to leave my side. He held my hand tightly.
The doctor calmly said, "Sir, she needs treatment immediately. Please cooperate with us."
But Yuan didn't reply. He was completely lost, staring at my pale, colourless face and my motionless body lying there.
"Sir, please," the doctor said again.
No response.
Yuan was holding my hand like a child afraid that if he loosened his grip, the world around him would collapse.
Now the doctor got angry. He exhaled sharply and said, "Sir, please leave her. Every second of her life is crucial."
Still no response.
Then the doctor said, "Did you bring her here for treatment, or to let her die like this without treatment? Tell me."
Yuan turned towards the doctor and asked, "Doctor, can I stay by her side while you treat her? She gets scared if she wakes up and doesn't see me in front of her eyes. You don't know… you don't know."
The doctor understood from the way he was talking that he was not ready to leave my side. He exchanged a look with the staff. The staff nodded.
They immediately pulled my stretcher away from Yuan and rushed inside the operation theatre. In the blink of an eye, I was inside that room. His hands were no longer holding mine.
He stood there, numb.
Then he immediately fell down on his knees again and started crying.
The doctor went inside the operation theatre to start the treatment. The doors were locked.
Yuan was still processing everything.
While crying, he said to himself, "It was her birthday today… her 23rd birthday. She is so little to bear this pain. She can't. I know she is strong, but deep inside she is just a little girl… my little girl. And I failed. Failed to protect her."
He punched the floor with his fist.
"Why? Why did I leave her? If I hadn't, she would be in her dorm right now, sleeping peacefully. But I ruined everything. She is inside that operation theatre, with lots of machines around her. She might get scared. She isn't used to this. After all, she never visited a hospital until the day I was admitted. She fears hospitals, and now she is the one lying there, motionless, not knowing what's happening to her."
"I did this. I did everything. First, I gave her the pain of love when she was not ready to bear it at that age. And now she is here in the hospital because of me… because of me."
"But she endured the pain of that one-sided love for me before, and I believe she will endure this too. My girl is the strongest one. She knows how to fight."
"Please fight. Please fight for me… for us… for our future together, for the dreams you always imagined with me. We need to make them come true. You can't leave me like this, not on this path. You can't. You have to walk with me on it."
"I am waiting for you, my silly girl. Waiting for you. Please come back… please."
While Yuan was lost in his thoughts and guilt, everyone passing by in the corridor stopped for a moment and stared at him.
Some whispered to each other, "Isn't he the C-drama famous actor Xu Yuan? What is he doing here? Is he shooting a scene?"
"But there are no cameras," they said, then walked away.
Some hospital staff passing by saw him kneeling there. His eyes were exhausted from continuous crying. His skin was soaked with tears. His white shirt was drenched in blood, completely red now, as if he was wearing a red shirt instead of a white one.
Everything felt too loud.
Every person passing by stopped and stared. Some recognised him as a big actor, but no one dared to go near him. Seeing him in that condition made them feel it wouldn't be appropriate.
Some old people, who didn't know he was Xu Yuan, just saw him as a boy next door. They whispered to each other while passing by, "His girlfriend is inside. I hope God gives strength to this boy. He is so deeply in love."
Then they moved on.
Yuan was no longer crying.
He was just lost—lost in the image of me lying there on the road, covered in blood.
Outside, drizzling rain had started in the winter of Shanghai, making the air colder. Raindrops poured down, but inside his heart, there was only the pain of seeing me like that.
Then the operation theatre doors opened.
The doctor came out, removed his mask and gloves, walked towards Yuan, placed his hand on his shoulder, and said, "Boy, listen to me very carefully. What I am going to say now—don't panic. React calmly, okay?"
That sentence hit harder than anything.
Yuan looked at the doctor's face.
And then the doctor said…