The Greek alphabets

Drunken state

It had been a long night. Gu Wei took off surgical cap with heavy heart. His patient just died on the operating table and it was all his fault. The young boy's life depended solely on his handiwork; but still, he couldn't have saved him no matter how hard he tried. Gu Wei sighed heavily as this tragedy had weighed down on his spirit. If only the boy was brought to him earlier even by an hour, if only his hands could move faster and if only, he could have powers like those of God... It was useless anyway. It wasn't going to help anyone. His hand trembled as he wiped away his tears from falling over his face.

"Time of death. 11.53pm." That was the words that he had to utter.

But even then, he didn't believe it... not really. Even when the sound of a flatline rang out on the cardiac monitor, he couldn't accept that he had failed to preserve a young innocent boy's life. He had failed.

He shook his head, he didn't want to think about those things right now. He wanted to forget everything for a while; so, what he did was he dropped by a convenience store and bought himself a half dozen packs of alcohol. This was more than enough to numb the pain of loss. At least for tonight. He sat on a bench in a dimly lit park across the hospital and opened the tab of one of the cans.

As he drank, the memory of listening to those heart wrenching cries of parents of the fallen boy filled his mind.

He drank another can as he recalled how the mother beating her hands on his chest out of grief. "Bring back my son! Please! I beg you!" Gu Wei remembered the mother crying out hysterically before she broke down completely on the cold cement floor. She sobbed until her voice cracked while the father silently cried with his back against the wall. He kept on crying without stopping, his shoulders shaking with despair.

Third can and Gu Wei could feel those memories started to fade a little bit. As if they would disappear if he drinks enough of it. So, he drank one more can. And another.

It was already midnight and the sky outside seemed to be covered in stars, but there were few people walking around this part of city so it wasn't that noisy.

"Ah, I should go home now." Gu Wei looked at his phone screen and realized it was almost midnight, "But who am I kidding... it's not like I can sleep anyways...I'm going to take a shower first though."

He lived at the condominium across the street. As a surgeon, it was the most convenient place for him as it was just ten minutes' walk to the hospital. Or five if he runs.

He got up, his body swayed a little. After five cans of beer, of course he was drunk. He saved the last one for later because he still wanted to drown his sorrow.

Just cross the Zebra walk and you'll be home, Gu Wei.

Gu Wei felt his feet drag on the ground. The lights and sounds of the city faded out gradually as he continued down the path to his apartment. His eyes blurred and he could barely see straight, which wasn't good.

He waited for the crossing signs to turn green like he usually would.

5 seconds.

4 seconds.

3 seconds

2...

1.

The light turned green.

Time to cross!

And he took his steps forward.

He was in the middle of the road when he heard a really loud honk and a screeching sound coming from his left. When he turned towards it, he saw a truck suddenly flying towards him and Gu Wei instinctively put his hand up in front of his face, hoping to shield himself and lessen the impact. Well, it was a huge truck, there was no way he could've survived that. He closed his eyes and braced for impact...