85: Chapter 85 Li tide's Hospital Room

Li Xi had been on duty for thirty-six consecutive hours.

She sat at the nurses' station in the temporary ward, clutching a cup of soy milk that had long since gone cold, her eyes fixed on the patient bed area, not daring to close them.

Jiangbei Hospital had never been this chaotic before.

After the Old District was sealed off, over a dozen patients with similar symptoms were sent in one after another.

They had no obvious external injuries, and their vital signs were relatively stable, but the things they said after waking up grew stranger one by one.

"Has it arrived at the station?"

"Did I sign for it?"

"What time is it now?"

The most severe case was an old man who would suddenly grab the bed rails in the middle of the night, crying and begging the nurses not to let the bus leave.

The first time Li Xi heard it, a chill ran down her back.

The second time, she forced herself to record it.

By the third time, she could press the old man back onto the bed with a blank expression.

It wasn't that she wasn't scared.

It was just that even if she was scared, there was no one to cover her shift.

The explanation given by her superiors was post-traumatic stress disorder.

Li Xi slammed the medical record book onto the table and cursed under her breath, "Which post-traumatic stress disorder makes people collectively ask if they've signed for something?"

The intern nurse beside her was startled.

"Sister Li, keep your voice down."

"Will it be normal if I lower my voice?"

The intern nurse didn't dare to speak.

Li Xi knew she was short-tempered.

She hadn't slept for too long, her eyes were aching terribly, and there was medical tape on the back of her hand.

She had been scratched by a patient while drawing blood last night, and it still hurt.

When Xu Minglan arrived at the ward, this was the scene she saw.

She wasn't wearing a white coat, only a regular mask, with Shen Qinghe following beside her.

Both of their identities had been handled by Gu Xingzhou's side, claiming they were medical observers assisting with the investigation.

Li Xi didn't believe it at first glance.

She had seen too many people come to "observe," ask a bunch of questions, fill out a bunch of forms, and then leave the patients to the nurses in the end.

"Which one do you want to see?"

Her tone was unpleasant.

Xu Minglan glanced at her without getting angry.

"Let's first look at the old man who keeps asking about the station."

Li Xi led them over.

The old man was lying on a bed against the wall, his wrists secured by soft restraints, muttering repeatedly, "The bus is here, the bus is here."

As Xu Minglan reached out to examine him, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed at her cuff.

"Don't let the bus leave!"

Li Xi's movements were faster than Xu Minglan's; she pressed down on the old man's shoulder.

"Uncle Zhang, look at me, not at the door."

Her voice was fierce, but her hands were steady.

Xu Minglan noticed a faint red mark on her wrist, looking like it had been constricted by a thin thread, or as if something had gently wrapped around it.

Pure Flame Vision briefly activated.

A cold white flame flashed across the depths of Xu Minglan's eyes.

She saw that the red mark on Li Xi's wrist wasn't a wound, but a residual trace left behind from prolonged contact with contaminated patients.

It hadn't gone deep yet, but it was already slowly crawling beneath the skin.

"Have you touched any of the patients' old tickets or mobile phones recently?"

Li Xi froze for a moment, then frowned.

"I have. When the patients were brought in, no one was looking after their belongings; if I don't touch them, who will? Will it spread to the patients?"

She wasn't asking about herself.

Xu Minglan suddenly found herself unable to speak.

She had seen many people who were afraid, and many whose first reaction was to ask if they were going to die.

It wasn't that Li Xi wasn't scared; she just pushed her fear to the back of her mind.

"You are fine for now."

Xu Minglan softened her tone.

"But don't touch those things directly again. Old tickets, old mobile phones, express delivery slips—seal them all in bags."

Li Xi stared at her.

"How do you know it's these?"

Shen Qinghe handed over a temporary authorization document.

"We are here to handle this type of special contamination."

After reading the document, Li Xi's face was full of disbelief.

"Special contamination?"

She pointed at the old man on the hospital bed, her voice lowered but unable to suppress her anger.

"He hasn't slept in three days, and every time he wakes up, he asks if he's arrived at the station. His son is in the hallway, crying so hard he can't even stand up. You call this special contamination?"

Shen Qinghe did not refute her.

Xu Minglan didn't spout platitudes either.

She simply took out a Guardian Lamp talisman and placed it under the old man's bed.

A faint light spread out like a cover, and the old man's clenched fingers finally relaxed, bit by bit.

"We are late," Xu Minglan said.

Li Xi's anger got stuck in her throat.

This sentence was more effective than any explanation, because she, too, felt that everyone had arrived too late.

In the following half hour, Li Xi assisted Xu Minglan in sealing seven mobile phones, three old tickets, and one express delivery slip with no sender.

Her movements were efficient, but she didn't stop talking.

"How long can this bag isolate it?"

"If the patients' families ask, what should I say?"

"Do you have anyone to take over your shift? Don't tell me it's just you."

Xu Minglan was getting a headache from the questions.

Shen Qinghe, for once, showed a hint of sympathy.

"She is suited for the logistical medical line."

Xu Minglan said in a low voice, "She is suited for sleeping first."

As soon as she finished speaking, one of the patients' mobile phones suddenly lit up on its own.

There were no incoming calls or text messages on the screen.

There was only an electronic ticket.

Passenger Name: Youth.

Departure Time: 00:13.

When Li Xi saw those two words, her expression changed.

"I've seen this kid."

Xu Minglan looked up.

"Where?"

"He came to look for the family of a missing patient."

Li Xi grabbed the sealed bag.

"Has he also been targeted by that bus?"

Li Xi actually didn't like it when people praised her for being responsible.

The word "responsible" sounded very light, as if as long as one was earnest enough, one could carry all the messes.

But she had seen too many things that couldn't be solved just by being earnest.

Not enough hospital beds, families breaking down, doctors being called away for emergency resuscitation, the nurses' station phone ringing over and over, and in the end, everyone asking her what to do.

She also wanted to ask others what to do.

But when a patient grabbed her hand, she couldn't pull away.

When sealing the third old ticket, Xu Minglan noticed that Li Xi's hand had been trembling.

It wasn't trembling from fear, but a slight tremor from extreme exhaustion.

"How long has it been since you slept?"

Li Xi finished labeling the sealed bag, her tone firm: "I can still stand."

"I asked how long."

"Are you here to investigate contamination, or to investigate my shift schedule?"

Xu Minglan was retorted, but instead, she laughed.

"Both."

Li Xi rolled her eyes.

Shen Qinghe watched from the side without interjecting.

She could tell that Li Xi and Xu Minglan were similar to some extent; both were the type of people who would complain about not being able to take it, but wouldn't abandon their patients.

The difference was that Xu Minglan already knew the anomaly was real, while Li Xi was still holding on using her real-world experience.

When the Guardian Lamp talisman lit up and the old man finally quieted down, Li Xi stood by the hospital bed, a look of bewilderment appearing on her face for the first time.

It wasn't that she hadn't thought there might be things in the world that couldn't be explained.

But when the inexplicable was truly pressed down by a ball of gentle flame, she instead felt more like cursing.

"So, those people from before, could they actually have been saved?"

Xu Minglan didn't lie.

"Some could."

Li Xi looked down at the old man's loosened hand, her voice dropping.

"Then you really came late."

Xu Minglan was silent for a moment.

"Yes."

No one answered.

Because at the end of the ward corridor, a very faint station announcement had already begun to sound.