Chapter 1163 - Self-Perception (2 in 1) (1/2)

“What I need you to do is very simple. If any doctor or nurse comes to inspect the room after I leave, you only need to pretend to be asleep.” Zuo Han did not place much hope in Chen Ge. “Do not give away any extra information. No matter what they ask you, just tell them you do not know anything.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes. Oh, other than that, when I return, remember to open the door for me.” Zuo Han lay in bed and stopped talking to Chen Ge. About ten minutes later, Zuo Han glanced at Chen Ge, got out of bed, and walked to the room door. He quietly pulled the door open slightly. After ensuring that there was no one else in the corridor, he snuck out of the room.

“This person is highly suspicious of everything. His various actions and words are consistent with the diagnosis that he suffers from paranoia.” Chen Ge sat up in bed. “Should I help him or not?”

Without even thinking too much about it, Chen Ge realized that Zuo Han had not left the room that night just to explore the hospital only. It was also a test for him. He did not trust Zuo Han, but Zuo Han also did not trust him fully. Inside the world of patients with delusional paranoia, the whole world was dangerous, and every corner was hiding a potential enemy. Without moving an inch, Chen Ge sat in his bed for about ten minutes, but Zuo Han still had not returned.

He glanced at the slightly ajar door. He got out of bed. Dragging his leg that was encased in plaster, he slowly moved to the door. Pulling open the door, Chen Ge glanced outside. The corridor of the hospital was not fully dark. The corners of the corridor and the nurse stations had lights.

“This is different to my memory of the hospital. Could it really be true that I completely imagined that eerie and dark midnight hospital?” Chen Ge had managed to work out a way to think about things. As long as he did not venture deep into any contemplation, as long as he did not try to think about the past, the pain would not assault his brain like it was trying to tear it into pieces. “When I think back what happened in the morning, the headache will not come, but whenever I try to think back to what happened before I fainted, the intense pain overwhelms me. This in itself is very strange. What is the meaning of these former memories to me? Why would the pain come just because I wish to remember them?”

Even under the influence of heavy medication, his body’s incredible weakness, and the torment of pain, even with all that, Chen Ge still maintained the ability to think for himself.

“In a way, I am rather similar to Zuo Han. He believes that everyone in this world is trying to harm him, and I also think everyone in this world is lying to me. Does that mean that we are really sick?”

Since he had such similar symptoms to a diagnosed mental patient, then the simple conclusion was that he must be a mental patient as well.

“To be able to realize that I might be sick, this means that I still have some ability to assess my own condition. My power of self-perception has not been weakened… Wait a minute, self-perception?”

The sudden term that burst through the fog of his brain stunned Chen Ge.

“Why does the word self-perception feel so familiar to me? This thing appears to have very great importance for me. I need self-perception or rather something that will be able to help me become self-perceptive!”

Pain rushed at him like waves. Chen Ge appeared to have triggered his former memory again. Different memory fragments collided in his mind, and the pain was so intense that he almost fell unconscious. Chen Ge gripped the edge of the bedpost with both of his hands and gritted his teeth firmly. Blood leaked out from the gums of his teeth, but he still did not make any noise. “Why would I have such a deep impression of the term self-perception‽”

His consciousness started to flag. If Chen Ge continued to focus on this, the headache would escalate, and he might just faint on the spot. Taking a deep breath, Chen Ge tried his best to make himself calm down. He followed the breathing method that was taught to him by Doctor Gao. He tried it several times before the pain in his brain slowly faded away. In a short few minutes, Chen Ge’s back was already soaked in cold sweat, and he felt even more drained than before.

“If I’d fainted then, would the other me have appeared? Would I be able to communicate with him?” Just as Chen Ge prepared to return to his own bed, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the corridor. “Zuo Han does not make any sound when he moves, so this should be the hospital worker.”

Chen Ge still remembered what Zuo Han had asked of him. He hurried back to his bed and pretended to be asleep. After about ten seconds, the sound of footsteps stopped at the door. Narrowing his eyes, Chen Ge glanced toward the door. He was not nervous and did not feel any anxiety. It was only then that he realized how strong his heart really was.

Knock.

Someone knocked lightly on the door. Then, as the sound of footsteps picked up, the person outside the door left.

“What is the meaning of this? The person came to knock on the door just once at three to four am in the morning and then left just like that? Is this a prank by one of the workers?” The person outside the door did not come in or even open the door. This was what confused Chen Ge the most. “Who knocked on the door? The hospital worker? Zuo Han? The doctor? Or another patient at this hospital?”

After some time, the door was pushed open, and Zuo Han walked in frostily.

“So, how did it go?”

“This hospital is enormous. It is a general hospital. The third sick zone where we are located is just a very small part of the whole structure.” Zuo Han walked to Chen Ge’s side and gestured with his hands. “If we assume this pillow is the hospital, I believe we are right about here.”

“Are you confident that you can escape from this place?” Chen Ge was more concerned about that. The strange knocking on the door earlier gave him a sense of urgency. It was as if his instincts were telling him that if he stayed there any longer, something worse was going to happen.

“No.” Zuo Han did not hide the truth from Chen Ge. “There are cameras installed at the start of every corridor, and our floor itself has three hospital workers and two nurses working twenty-four hours a day. The door to leave the hospital is also locked, and I have no idea who might have the key.”

“A key?” With the mention of the key, lightning flashed in Chen Ge’s mind. He was like a drowning man finding a floating log drifting toward him. “I need to find a key!”

“Yes, without that key, we won’t be able to escape from this place.” Zuo Han thought Chen Ge was acting quite strangely, so he did not communicate further with Chen Ge and returned to his own bed.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Chen Ge realized Zuo Han was still wearing his clothes and shoes. He leaned to the side and did not look like he intended to sleep at night.

“I do not wish to die in my sleep.” Zuo Han closed his eyes. He hid one of his hands inside his shirt. His palm appeared to be hiding something.

Could it be a knife? It does not look like it, but it should be something sharp. Where did he get it? When he was outside? Based on what the doctor said, Zuo Han is a patient with serious paranoia. Staying inside the same room with such a dangerous character who has access to a possible sharp weapon is very dangerous. Just the thought of it is quite scary.

Chen Ge’s rationality told him that he should be afraid, but to be honest, his heart did not feel any tension at all.

Turning to a more comfortable position, Chen Ge closed his eyes and slept.

…

The door opened, and Chen Ge slowly opened his eyes. The sun outside the window fell on him, and he stretched comfortably.

“This kind of life is not so bad. As long as I do not go and force myself to think about those horrible memories, my life is not much different from that of a normal person.” Chen Ge turned his head around. Zuo Han was still lying in bed. The young man appeared to have fallen asleep only after the sun came up.

“Looks like you got a good sleep last night.” Doctor Gao stood at the door. He did not stop to inspect Zuo Han but strode directly to Chen Ge’s bed. “Did you have any nightmares last night?”