Chapter 1 - Unexpected Calamity (2/2)

Two tall, skinny young men rushed through the doorway. They had tattoos, pierced ears and aggressive gazes - you could tell from just one look that they were hoodlums from bad society.

“Beat him up!” screamed Chen Chuanhu as he pointed to Xia Lei, who was lying on the hospital bed.

The two youths charged.

Ma Xiaoan used his own body to shield Xia Lei and clenched his teeth, bearing his pain as the two young men’s blows rained on his head and shoulders. He was protecting Xia Lei and also pressing him down to stop his from doing anything rash.

“What are you doing?” A nurse pushing a trolley appeared in the doorway. She was shocked for a bit, then quickly shouted, “Help, somebody! They’re fighting!”

The nurse ran to call security.

“Just you wait, you little shit!” Chen Chuanhu threw out one last threat before he walked out the door, followed by the two young men.

Only then did Ma Xiaoan let go of Xia Lei. His head was starting to swell and he grimaced in pain.

“Why did you stop me?” Xia Lei did not seem to be in the right state of mind. “I want to kill him!” he yelled.

“Kill him? He’s just one rotten person. You, on the other hand, still have your sister to take care of. He can have all the booze and partying he wants but you have yet to have one good day. Is it worth it?” sighed Ma Xiaoan. “Calm down, Lei!”

Xia Lei was not an impulsive or reckless person. His parents’ absence had made him independent and mature but the events of that day were too despairing for him to bear gracefully. There was no calming him at the thought of his eye having a 90% chance of going blind.

“I’m sorry, Xiaoan…” Xia Lei could not finish what he was about to say; his thoughts were a mess.

Ma Xiaoan patted Xia Lei in the shoulder. “Why so formal between us friends? You would do this for me too, won’t you?”

When Ma Xiaoan was bullied in the past, Xia Lei would always rush to protect and defend him at all costs.

“Want me to tell Xue?”

“No, no… Don’t tell her,” replied Xia Lei nervously. “She’s in school now tutoring someone. If she knows about this, she’ll be worried.”

“But she’ll know sooner or later.”

“When that time comes…” Xia Lei bit his lip. “When that times comes, we’ll talk.”

Just then, the nurse walked in with a security guard. The guard asked Xia Lei some questions about the incident while the nurse tended to Ma Xiaoan’s head wounds. The nurse and security guard left, but the matter was still left hanging.

Ma Xiaoan stayed by Xia Lei’s side till sometime in the night. After he left, Xia Lei was unable to sleep. Thoughts ran round and round in his head. He thought of the hospital fees, his future, his sister Xia Xue and her dream of going to Jingdu University. Finally, exhaustion overcame him and he closed his eyes.

After sleeping for some time, Xia Lei’s left eye begun to itch and he woke up. It was difficult to describe the itch - sometimes piercing, sometimes annoying.

Xia Lei called for the nurse but nobody responded. He looked for the call button on his bed and pressed it, only to discover that it was broken.

“Bad luck. Till when will I have this bad luck? What lousy hospital is this?” Xia Lei was depressed. He crawled out of bed and walked cautiously to the door.

He’d wanted to go to the nurse station but he stopped when he was by the door.

'The doctors and nurses here know I have no money, and Chen Chuanhu also came by to make a ruckus during the day. They know that I definitely can’t afford the hospital fees. They would ignore my request to check and clean my injury for sure since it’s in the middle of the night. They may even roll their eyes at me. Forget it, I’ll just bear the pain for a while longer.' Xia Lei turned back to his bed with these thoughts running through his mind.

The door to the toilet was open and Xia Lei saw his reflection in the mirror.

He was rather handsome - delicate features which were quite desirable and a height of 180cm. He had a strong, defined body and was considered a bright and dashing young man. Unfortunately, this was all in the past. If his left eye went blind and he was left with a huge scar, women would surely keep their distance from him.

His reflection made him feel sad.

A wave of itchiness suddenly hit him, interrupting his thoughts. He pondered, 'An itching wound is a sign that the wound is healing, but I was injured during the day. Why is it itching at night? No… This is my eye. I have to see what’s happening with my eye.'

Xia Lei entered the toilet and stood before the sink, facing the mirror. He reached to unravel his bandages.

Layer after layer of bandages fell away, till the last layer was gone and Xia Lei could see his left eye. He was shocked by what he saw.

His left eye was covered by a thick layer of white ointment, which seemed firmly glued to his eye. What was strange was that when he observed his left eye, he faintly felt that it had seen the toilet light through the thick layer of ointment, but what it saw was very blurry.

“How… How is this possible?” Xia Lei was stunned.

Under normal circumstances, even if his left eye had not been injured it would have a thick layer of ointment covering it, making it impossible to see anything. However, he had seen the light!

What’s happening here?Next Chapte