Silent and lonely world (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Book 1)

Chapter 29

Mo Xuanyu was gently swinging on a swing and wondering for the umpteenth time how all of this was even possible. Not only had he been offered ice cream but he was told to play and have fun. He could not believe his luck. His stomach was pleasantly full and he could still taste the ice cream's flavour on his tongue. The swinging motion was making him a bit sleepy, all content in the morning sun. If he could, he would have stayed like that for the rest of his life.

But of course, he knew that it was impossible, just as his teacher did remind him a second later: "A-Yu, are you now feeling any better?"

Mo Xuanyu did not know what he should reply, if he should apologize for causing trouble or just say he was fine. After a second of careful consideration, he chose to only nod his head. It seemed to have been enough because his teacher smiled at him kindly while continuing:

"You know the hospital is not all that bad. Everyone there will want to help you and they will have a look at your injuries and treat them properly. No one wants you to be in pain so they will have to check. It will not hurt, at least not too much, they all know what they are doing, I promise." There was a short pause and then his teacher asked, sounding somewhat a bit alarmed: "You were to a doctor's before, right?"

"No..." Mo Xuanyu shook his head. For some reason he felt embarrassed revealing this particular piece of information. He knew that there were periodical health exams at school but he had not been to those, that was part of the reason he had been so scared of the hospital. He did not know what to expect.

His teacher only nodded, kindness and understanding in his eyes: "It is fine, nothing to be ashamed about. I assure you that even if some doctors may be a little bit scary, just like for example Wen Qing, they want to help people recover. They will give you medicine for your wounds and make sure you have no other injuries or illnesses. If you would like to, I will stay with you at all times. If you do not like something, you can just say so and we can talk to the doctor about it, alright?

Once the examination will be over, we can come back here if you would like. We can also take A-Yuan and A-Yi and you can learn how to have fun from them, not from an old adult like me."

His teacher smiled even more and winked at him, probably to show him that he really had meant everything he had said, most importantly, that he really would stay with Mo Xuanyu every step of the way. He knew that his teacher had no reason to lie to him, he had never done that. Mo Xuanyu believed him so he nodded his head, still a bit reluctantly.

"Would you like to hear some stories about hospitals and doctors I have experience with?"

This time, Mo Xuanyu did not even need to think too hard about it. He really wanted to know more still, he was not yet fully convinced that a hospital was not a place where they would forcefully keep one against his will like some of the children at school used to say.

"Alright, you remember the doctor from yesterday, Wen Qing is her name. She is an old friend of mine, she went to the same school as me and was classmates with my sister. Well, she wanted to become a doctor already during her school years. Once, I had scraped my knee and she offered to treat it. She had been so afraid to hurt me at that time that she did not wrap the bandage tight enough and the second I got up, it slipped right off of my leg and ended up being tied around my ankle instead. She was so red at that time, and so flustered too. She redid the whole thing and this time, tied it all around my leg and thigh, all the way up to my waist where she fastened it so it would not slip down anymore. I looked like a true mommy!"

Mo Xuanyu could not help but smile at the picture his imagination supplied. It really did not look like doctors were all that scary if they could make mistakes like that too. And just out of concern that it could hurt their patients. He wondered if the doctors at the hospital would be anything like the Wen Qing he had just heard about.

He stood up from the swing and nodded his head: "Thank you, teacher. I think I am ready to go." A bit uncertainly though, he asked in a small voice: "Will you stay with me at all times?"

He got a pat on the head and a blinding smile in return: "Of course I will, I promised, did I not?"

Then, everything went quickly. Mo Xuanyu followed his teacher back into his car and sat down on the back seat. As they were driving off, he had one last look at the playground and the children running around and laughing. He had to wonder if he would ever come back there. But his teacher had said they could play there with A-Yuan and A-Yi, so that meant he was thinking of taking him there again, right?

Mo Xuanyu knew he should not have these kinds of thoughts. Even if his teacher and his family were this nice to him, treating him as if he was not a bad boy who needed to be disciplined and kept on a short leash, they could still change their mind. They could still get to know just how horrible he was, just as his aunt never forgot to remind him, and they could send him home.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. It was pointless to stress himself out at this point. He would just have to do his best to behave himself and hope that his teacher would continue to be nice to him and would not abandon him just like his parents had. He only ever asked his uncle about them once and after a short shouting session, he got one of the worst beatings of his life. His aunt explained to him that he should not ask about them and that he had been abandoned for his aunt and uncle to take care of him. He had never inquired about the topic after that.

Mo Xuanyu shook his head again, he had just told himself to not think about painful stuff and here he was, remembering his parents and how much it had hurt learning that they had abandoned him.

Luckily, before his mind could spiral to any more negative paths, the car had stopped and it was time for the hospital visit. He got out and his mouth fell open seeing the giant buildings in front of him. He would have never thought that the hospital would be this big, a whole complex of buildings really. There must have been so many injured people inside, and now he would be one of them. He felt already overwhelmed and they did not yet go inside.

Not thinking at all, he reached out and took hold of his teacher's hand. Before he could realize what he had done and worry that his teacher would shake him off, the other squeezed his hand and smiled down at him.

"Everything will be fine, A-Yu, I will stay with you."

Mo Xuanyu wondered if this was how having parents was supposed to feel. He smiled back and nodded, determined.