He has to be alright. Not only did he promise to look after our son and I for the rest of his life, he also swore to protect us and make sure that we are safe, carefree, and cheerful. Thus, he has to be alright!
As Madam Han thought to herself, she tightened her arms around little Han Qing and slowly closed her eyes.
Finally, several firefighters rushed out of the fire with Han Qing’s father. When Madam Han saw her husband who was almost burned beyond recognition, she felt a huge lump in her throat; she could only stare at her husband helplessly with Han Qing in her arms.
Han Qing seemed to have sensed something. He tried to turn around and take a look, but Madam Han pressed him against her bosom with all her might.
“Don’t look, Qing, don’t look. Your Daddy promised us that he would be alright, so we have to wait until he’s safe and sound, okay?” said Madam Han as she patted little Han Qing on the back of his head. Then, she continued in a voice that was almost reduced to a whisper, “He’ll surely be alright.”
When the ambulance arrived, Han Qing’s father was placed onto a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance. Just as they were about to leave the scene, Madam Han dashed forward with little Han Qing and said, “Doctor, we’re the family of the injured.”
As such, they were allowed to come along in the ambulance. Since Han Qing’s father was severely wounded, only a handful of emergency treatments could be carried out on him before they reached the hospital. Han Qing did not have a chance to look at his father at all, for his mother continued to keep him pressed against her bosom.
Madam Han protected her son very well, yet her bloodshot eyes were glued to her husband’s body.
As the paramedics in the ambulance kept trying to rescue his father’s life, Madam Han hugged little Han Qing throughout the entire time to prevent him from seeing how his father looked at that moment.
As soon as the ambulance reached the hospital, Han Qing’s father was rushed into the emergency room while both Madam Han and Han Qing waited outside. When a medical staff walked past them, Madam Han immediately stood up and said, “I’m sorry to bother you, but my son’s hand is wounded.”
Upon taking a glance at the kid’s hand, the nurse realized that Han Qing’s hand was so badly mangled to the point that one almost couldn’t stand the sight of it. She immediately said, “Oh my God, how did you get so badly wounded? It must hurt a lot, right? Hurry up and come with me so that I can treat your wound.”
As the nurse spoke, she came over and tried to hold Han Qing’s hand, but he huddled into Madam Han’s arms while shaking his head vigorously. “No! I’m not going with you. I want to wait for Daddy here.”
The nurse thought of the injured person inside; she dared not recall how the person looked, for he was so severely wounded that nobody knew if his life could be saved.
“Little boy, your Daddy is being rescued by professional doctors and paramedics inside; there is no use even if you keep waiting around here. Come with me to get your wound treated, and I’ll bring you back once we’re done, okay?”
Little Han Qing was about to say something else when Madam Han gave him a push from behind and said in a voice as gentle as the wind, “Behave, Qing. Be a good boy and follow the nurse to get your wounds treated. Once Daddy wakes up and sees you, he might be worried if your wound gets infected.”
Madam Han’s last sentence probably moved little Han Qing’s heart. Although his lips quivered slightly, he nodded his head and followed the nurse to have his wound treated in the end.
Before he left, he kept looking back at Madam Han.
Madam Han maintained a gentle smile on her face as she said, “Go, Qing. I’ll be here waiting for you to come back.”
With that, Little Han Qing left with the nurse while looking back repeatedly.
Madam Han looked at Han Qing’s tiny figure, her eyes full of guilt. As a mother, she should have accompanied her son while he had his wound treated—after all, it was only right for a mother to stay by her son’s side when his hand was so badly wounded. However, she chose to be selfish at that moment. With her husband hanging between life and death, she already had quite a lot on her plate.
The reason why Madam Han had restrained Han Qing with all her might in the ambulance a while ago was because she didn’t want him to see how horrifying his father looked.
The instant she saw the shape he was in, she felt like a knife had dug into her heart; she could never let her son witness such a scene as she was truly worried that it would cause him emotional trauma.
Little Han Qing was taken by the nurse to have the wounds on his hands treated. As his hands had been so badly mutilated that no part of it was intact, the nurse had no idea where to begin when she first saw his wound; although she had worked as a nurse for many years, she felt deeply sorry at the moment when she saw the kid compressing his thin lips without uttering a sound despite being so badly injured himself.
Because of that, the nurse was very gentle toward little Han Qing. She spoke to him in a soft voice and said, “Little boy, it must hurt a lot since you’re so badly wounded. I’ll be extra gentle, so don’t you worry. Tell me if it hurts, and I’ll be softer.”
Han Qing did not utter a word.
With that, the nurse began treating his wound. In the beginning, she kept a close eye on him for fear that he might shout or cry suddenly. As she continued, however, she was quite astonished. Han Qing neither complained nor cried about the pain; he did not even utter a sound.
Such astounding endurance from Han Qing rendered the nurse stunned and speechless, but she was soon overwhelmed with pity for him; she had guessed that he was probably worried about his father.
As the thought came into her mind, she reached out to stroke the back of little Han Qing’s head and said softly, “Don’t worry. Your Daddy will surely be alright.”
Upon hearing her words, little Han Qing looked up and stared straight at her with a look that almost broke her heart. She could only say, “I’ll pray together with you so that your Daddy ends up fine, okay?”
Little Han Qing wasn’t quite in the mood to talk to a stranger, but the nurse was talking about his father. In the end, he twitched his lips and said sincerely to the nurse, “Thank you.”
The nurse responded by stroking his head once again.
After a while, little Han Qing asked, “Aunty, may I go back to see my Daddy?”
The nurse thought about it for a moment before she nodded her head. She stood up and said, “Let me take you there.”
Now that little Han Qing’s wound had been treated, the nurse took him to the emergency room using the route they had taken earlier. Just as the two of them arrived, the door to the emergency room swung open.
The nurse’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the emergency room’s door open at this very moment.
Madam Han stood up at the same time. She scuttled over to the doctor and asked, “Hello, doctor. How is my husband?”
Madam Han’s hands were balled into tight fists as she asked the question. Her fingernails weren’t long, yet they sank deep into her flesh at that moment. She looked quite composed, but nobody else besides her knew how anxious, restless, and disturbed she was deep down inside right then.
The doctor took off his mask. He was followed by several medical staff who came out from the emergency room behind him one after another.
He looked at Madam Han with a look of apology on his face. “I’m very sorry. The family of the injured may go inside to see him one last time.”
Madam Han felt as though something had crumbled in her head with a loud boom before it disappeared.
