Chapter 21: Rumors
Liu Fuqiang told me, "Building D used to be very spooky. Strange things would happen at night."
"For example, when patrolling in the corridor at night, you would always hear footsteps following you, but when you turned around, you could see nothing. When you went to the toilet, if you stayed there for more than a minute, you would feel someone blowing air on your neck. The faucet would always break for no reason, and some people said they saw blood. The elevator in Building D had the most strange things. Building D had five floors, but a nurse reported that when they took the elevator, it would often go up to the tenth floor, or even to the seventh or eighth floor below ground. Moreover, after the elevator door opened, it was pitch black outside and you couldn't see anything. They were often so scared that they hid in the elevator and dared not go out. Sometimes, strange men and women would walk into the elevator. These people wore very shabby clothes, had sallow complexions, and were expressionless. They were not patients in Building D at all.
After that, almost no one dared to take the elevator. The nurses would rather climb the stairs to lose weight than take the elevator.
In addition to these, strange things often happen in the wards. For example, sometimes I receive a pager in the middle of the night, and when I arrive at the designated ward, I find that the bed is empty even though it is already full. Or, when I enter a ward with only four beds, I find that there are more than a dozen people lying there, and the nurses don’t recognize their faces.
Liu Fuqiang said: "The most bizarre thing is Room 404... Nurses often go to the wrong ward and accidentally enter Room 404 and then can't get out."
I swallowed and said, "Wasn't 404 blocked at that time?"
Liu Fuqiang said: "It's closed."
I said, "It's closed, how could I go to the wrong place? Besides, the door of 404 is completely different from other wards, so it's easy to tell them apart."
"No, this wrong move is not accidental. It seems to be destined by fate." Liu Fuqiang said seriously.
I asked him what he meant, and he said, "For example, it's like you were going to room 405, and before you went in, you looked at the room number, but when you went in, you found that you walked into room 404."
"How is that possible?" I was a little skeptical. "Unless there was a power outage, I accidentally saw it wrong."
"Anyway, I heard it from Liu Bin, and I don't know whether it's true or not. At that time, nurses in Building D often disappeared for no reason or died mysteriously. After that, no nurses dared to apply for the job, no matter how high the salary was. So, Xiaotian, Cao Fengjiao can come to work, and the hospital worships her as a Bodhisattva. Do you think it's useful to complain about her?" Liu Fuqiang said with a wry smile.
I thought to myself, no wonder she was so arrogant. For a hospital, even if it is Building D, nurses are a necessity.
But, is Building D really that scary?
After hearing what Liu Fuqiang said, I felt a little scared and really wanted to just resign.
Liu Fuqiang blew out a puff of smoke, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, "In short, remember one thing - never go into the wrong room."
Don't go into the wrong room?
My heart trembled: "You mean, those nurses walked into the wrong room, so--"
"That's right." Liu Fuqiang nodded. "Ward 404 is the most evil place in Building D. You must be careful."
Boom boom boom!
There were sudden knocks on the door.
"What are you talking about so early in the morning?"
Sister Sun stood outside the door, looking at Liu Fuqiang with an unfriendly face and cold eyes.
Liu Fuqiang was startled, and the cigarette in his mouth fell to the ground. He was obviously a little guilty, and laughed dryly: "No, we didn't talk about anything."
"Liu Fuqiang, I'm telling you, there are some things you can't say carelessly. If you scare Zhiyong away, you can't do this job anymore." Sister Sun said half-jokingly, but her tone was clearly threatening.
Liu Fuqiang didn't dare to say anything more. He just bowed, nodded and left.
He and Liu Bin didn't know each other well and they just worked during the day. Although Building D was a depressing place, it was okay during the day and there was no problem recruiting people, so Sister Sun was not polite to him.
After Liu Fuqiang left, Sister Sun put on a smiling face and asked me how my work was going recently.
I responded with a few words casually, but I always felt that Sister Sun was a very hypocritical and scheming person.
She knew a lot of secrets about Building D, but she kept it from me and didn't allow Liu Fuqiang to tell her.
This place is full of dangers. It would definitely be helpful to know more about it. I don't want to be like those young nurses who lost their lives inexplicably before they even understood what was going on.
Seeing the red vest I was wearing, Sister Sun narrowed her eyes happily and said, "That's right, wear this red vest and remember the four rules, and I guarantee you'll be safe."
"But something strange happened again last night." I said with a wry smile.
"What's strange?" Sister Sun became obviously nervous.
I told Sister Sun about the pager and Lao Zhang yesterday. Seeing her frowning as if she was thinking about something, I couldn't help but interrupt her and said, "Sister Sun, what's going on in this place? Why do I often see things that don't exist? If it's haunted, please warn me. I don't want to die in obscurity."
"No, no, Zhiyong, I'm not hiding it from you on purpose." Sister Sun quickly explained, "In fact, many things may not be true to what we see. We have to believe in science."
I laughed and said, "Science, can science explain the strange things that happened after I came to Building D? Besides, if you really believed in science, you wouldn't let me wear a red vest."
Sister Sun was speechless after my rebuttal.
"By the way , there's Cao Fengjiao. I really don't know why the hospital brought her here. Her attitude towards patients is like that of the murderer of your father... Although Building D is short of nurses, if all the nurses who come are like this, it's better not to have them." I said coldly.
Sister Sun smiled awkwardly and said, "Cao Fengjiao has some relationship with the vice president, and we can't recruit other nurses for Building D right now. I promise you that if any nurse comes to apply, Cao Fengjiao will be replaced immediately."
These words were obviously perfunctory, but seeing Sister Sun's humble attitude, I was embarrassed to say anything.
"It's okay not to change people, but you have to promise me one thing," I said.
"What's up?"
"Install a TV in every ward in Building D... These patients are so pitiful. They are already living in despair. Every night, they cry and scream. It's so miserable... If there is a TV, at least it can divert their attention." I said seriously.
Sister Sun pondered for a moment, stared at me and said, "Zhiyong, let me remind you that the last thing needed in Building D is sympathy."
"But I just don't want to lose this most precious thing of mankind...because I still want to be a human being." I answered firmly.
Sister Sun trembled, as if she had thought of something, and murmured, "The most precious thing?"
"Sister Sun, are you okay?"
"It's okay. I'll talk to the hospital about the TV."
After saying this, Sister Sun walked away somewhat dazed.
…
After get off work, I went to the hospital to bring food to my mother, and then went to visit Cheng Xiaoyan.
Just like yesterday, she sat quietly on the bed, staring out the window in a daze.
She is so unfamiliar like this.
My heart ached.
In the past, Cheng Xiaoyan was crazy in class and hung out with boys like a tomboy.
But now...
Illness can really destroy a person completely.
Seeing me coming, she smiled and seemed very happy.
We talked about school, and she suddenly became very depressed. She said self-deprecatingly, "None of my good friends in class came to see me. They even blocked me on WeChat after hearing that I had hepatitis... Haha, it was you who came here to see me."
As she spoke, she began to cry.
I walked over, patted her shoulder, and comforted her softly, saying that they were just drinking buddies and it was okay to see through them.
She gently pushed me away and said, "Thank you, Zhiyong, but don't get so close to me, it's contagious."
I didn't say anything, but I felt very uncomfortable and wanted to say I didn't mind.
But, is it really possible to not mind at all?
…
When we got to school, Chen Wei asked me about Cheng Xiaoyan. I briefly told him about it. He sighed and said, "Anyway, she is also my classmate. After school, I will go to the hospital with you to see her. If there is anything I can do to help, please do your best."
When class was about to start, I went to the bathroom. When I came out, I heard a few girls whispering about something.
"Hey, have you heard that Cheng Xiaoyan seems to have viral hepatitis?"
"Oh my god, is this true? It's contagious!"
"Then you have to stay away from her from now on. If you get infected, you're doomed."
"Humph, hanging out with a bunch of hooligans every day, no wonder he got sick, it's karma. Besides hepatitis, who knows if he has other diseases?"
"Hmm, it's hard to say, maybe he has AIDS!"
"Hahaha, you guys are so mean!"
Hearing these comments, an uncontrollable rage rose up in my heart and hit my forehead.
I clenched my fists involuntarily.
How can human hearts be so vicious?
