“Wu Meng?” Guan Zhenglin greeted me softly. I still couldn’t sell Zhao Mingkun out so heartlessly, so I said, “I have to go home to change. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay.” Guan Zhenglin suspected nothing and ended the call. I placed the phone in my pocket and returned to the 2nd floor. I pushed the door open and realized it wasn’t locked. I didn’t think much of it and walked in. The room wasn’t that big, and it only had one room. I could see the bloodstains on the bed, but I couldn’t find Zhao Mingkun. My heart squeezed. ‘Did she leave because she’s afraid that I would sell her out? But her wound is so heavy. Plus, if she intends to escape, she could have lost me in the sewers. Why wait until now?’ Then, I was sure Zhao Mingkun was still inside the room.
I closed the door and saw Zhao Mingkun hiding behind it, holding a dagger. Her face was pale, and she leaned against the wall weakly. However, her grip on the dagger was strong. When she saw there was no one behind me, she let the dagger down. Then her whole person leaned against me. I commented softly, “You were afraid that I would bring the police with me?”
“Clearly you didn’t.” She chuckled weakly. I helped her to bed and said slowly, “I’ve gotten everything you asked for.”
Zhao Mingkun had me remove the shirt I made into a bandage. The shirt was stained red, and the blood made the shirt stick to the wound. With the grit of my teeth, I pulled the shirt off. It made Zhao Mingkun moan in pain. The moment the shirt was removed, blood started to trickle again. We both understood that if we didn’t deal with that immediately, she would die from blood loss. The depth of the wound meant that it would require stitching.
Zhao Mingkun’s shirt made the operation difficult. It was not the time for modicum, so I used the key to make a scratch through her shirt and then rip it into halves. Zhao Mingkun’s supple body was exposed before me, and it was covered in blood.
The wound went vertically from her waist down to above her crotch. In other words, she had to pull down her pants a bit so that I could examine the wound. I didn’t say a word but lifted my head to look at Zhao Mingkun. She understood my meaning. She loosened the belt and then pulled her pants off. She stood before me only in her underwear.
It was clear that she exercised often. She had the perfect physique. If this was another time, another place, and another situation, this would be a perfect enjoyment but at that moment, I didn’t have the time to enjoy anything. There were so many scars on her body. They were long and ugly. They crawled on her skin like millipedes. The longer ones were more than 10 cm long, and the shorter ones were at least several cm long. I had no idea what kind of life she had experienced to earn so many of them.
Only then did I realize she wasn’t lying in the sewers earlier. The latest wound didn’t look that serious compared to the old scars on her body. The contrast of the scars and the flawless skin did take me by surprise.
Zhao Mingkun hissed through her teeth. “Stop staring. You’ll have time to stare after you’re done with the stitching.”
I snapped out of it. “What should I do?” I had never done anything like this before. I had no field experience. Zhao Mingkun used her feet to tap at her pants. “There is a lighter inside. Use it to disinfect the needles and start sewing. I don’t think you’ve done any sewing in your life, but it’s not hard. Just sew my skin together, or it’ll hurt a lot.”
I took out the lighter as ordered. I lit it up and chose one needle from the box as instructed by Zhao Mingkun. I felt strangely protective of Zhao Mingkun, but when everything was ready, I was quite flustered. I didn’t know how to begin. Zhao Mingkun continued to explain, “Tear the towel into two and dab them in warm water, use them to wipe away the blood.”
I hurried to oblige. When I touched her wound with the towel, despite her best effort, she still groaned in pain. It humanized her in my eyes. After cleaning the blood, Zhao Mingkun’s wound was already turning white. I could even see the muscle tissue inside. My hand that held the needle trembled. Without an anesthetic, the field surgery would be intensely painful. Zhao Mingkun laid back. She grabbed a pillow in one hand and gripped the bedsheet with another.
“Pick the red thread.” Zhao Mingkun noticed my trembling hands and smiled. She said lazily, “Red is auspicious. Perhaps it can help the wound heal faster. Don’t worry, after this training, you will definitely learn how to sew already.” Zhao Mingkun sounded bright, like she was not the one in mortal danger. I had no idea whether she was consoling herself or me because we both knew that if this was not done well, she could die.
I swallowed and then picked a red thread. I focused on her wound. Zhao Mingkun nodded and bit on the pillow, signaling me to start.
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths before I pierced the needle into her skin. At that moment, I could feel Zhao Mingkun’s body shake, and her whole body tensed. I understood that I had to finish as fast as I could if I didn’t want to prolong her pain. I moved faster. I didn’t dare imagine that I would one day be stitching up someone’s flesh. And I didn’t dare imagine that human skin could be sewn together like fabric.
With each of my stitches, I could feel Zhao Mingkun’s body tensing up. Her veins were bulging, and it caused the wound to bleed again. Sweat poured out from my pores.
Zhao Mingkun bit on the pillow hard, but her groans still escaped from her nose. It sounded nasal. Beads of sweat broke out on her skin, soaking the bed. Zhao Mingkun’s feet were arched together from pain. It was only 10 cm long, but it felt like forever to me.
Finally, the last needle was completed. When I removed the thread, I felt like I had completed the world’s hardest job. I put the needle away and collapsed on the bed. Zhao Mingkun also gave out a long breath. Like me, she gasped hungrily for air. The bed was filled with sweat and blood. I had trouble believing that it took less than 1 minute.
Zhao Mingkun lay in bed, and I lay beside her. We turned to look at each other. We saw each other’s sweaty faces, and we could smell each other’s scents.
“You’ve learned how to sew.” Zhao Mingkun looked at my handiwork and praised, “Not bad, at least I didn’t die.”
I looked at her for some time before I broke out laughing. I had no idea why I was laughing. I just felt the moment was hilarious. Zhao Mingkun looked at me and soon joined me. But she couldn’t laugh too hard, or it’d irritate her wound. Seeing her in the state of wanting to laugh but couldn’t made me laugh harder. I laughed so hard that tears started to fall.
We looked at each other and then soon returned to silence. Looking into her eyes, a feeling unique to lovers burgeoned within me.
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