"One capsule at a time, three times a day. I brought these back from the city. Doctor, please give them to the children right away." These were highly effective fever-reducing capsules. They were very expensive, so she hadn’t bought many at the time.
Bai Jiu placed the red-and-yellow capsules into the doctor’s hand.
The doctor didn’t hesitate; he took the medicine and went right back into the emergency room.
No one outside knew what was happening inside, but knowing they had medicine brought a collective sigh of relief to the adults waiting in the hall.
Gouwa’s mother came to Bai Jiu’s side and supported her. "Don’t worry. We’re at the hospital now."
How could a mother not worry? She only comforted Bai Jiu because she wanted to ask for a few fever capsules. The doctor had just said that the hospital was out of medicine.
"Right, we’re at the hospital. We’re at the hospital," Bai Jiu muttered, forcing herself to calm down. "They’ll be fine. They’ll be fine. Zhengyang and Xiuxiu will both be fine."
Responding to the woman’s comfort, Bai Jiu repeated this like a mantra, her hands clenched tightly into fists.
Gouwa’s mother took a deep breath and mustered the courage to grab Bai Jiu’s arm. "Xiuxiu’s mother, do you have any more of that medicine? Could you spare a few capsules for our Gouwa? Don’t worry, I’ll pay for them."
She knew how precious the medicine was and didn’t expect to get it for free.
Bai Jiu looked at the woman who was just as grief-stricken as she was, which helped ground her. "Please don’t say that. If Gouwa needs it, of course he can have it. I gave all the medicine to the doctor. He definitely won’t leave Gouwa untreated."
With all three children inside, there was no way the doctor would withhold the medicine from Gouwa.
"That’s good. That’s good." Hearing this, Gouwa’s mother finally relaxed. But then it dawned on her—how had her Gouwa ended up falling into the water in the first place?
She looked at Gao Weimin. "Weimin, what exactly happened? Why did all three children fall in?"
Gao Weimin knew this couldn’t be hidden, nor did he plan to hide it. He recounted everything he had witnessed.
After hearing the story, Bai Jiu was filled with deep regret. She shouldn’t have underestimated anyone. Evil knew no age. Even a child could be just as vicious and cruel as any adult.
"It’s my fault! It’s all my fault!" Bai Jiu slapped herself hard across the face twice. "If I had just waited for the kids, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all my fault. Why did I assume children couldn’t harbor such malice?"
The Gao family... she would never let them off the hook.
"Don’t do this to yourself. We can deal with everything else after the three kids recover," Gao Weimin quickly tried to console her when he saw her distress. "Don’t ruin your own health over this, or who will take care of Zhengyang and Xiuxiu?"
Gouwa’s mother was also shocked to learn that Erzhu was the one who kicked Xiuxiu into the water.
"He’s rotten to the core! If he’s like this now, what will he be like when he grows up? He’ll become a murderer!" Normally, she wouldn’t meddle in other families’ business. But today, her own son was lying in a hospital bed because of it. This was far from over.
Bai Jiu was someone who always knew exactly who to thank and who to blame. Gouwa was only in this state because he had tried to help her two children. "I’m so sorry. It’s my kids’ fault that Gouwa got dragged into this. Don’t worry, I’ll cover all his medical expenses."
As much as she hated the culprits, she would never forget a debt of gratitude.
"You can’t blame Xiuxiu and Zhengyang for this," Gouwa’s father said firmly as he supported his grieving wife.
Did he blame them? He did want to blame someone, but he couldn’t put the blame on Xiuxiu and Zhengyang.
Both Gao Weimin and Gouwa’s father were on quite good terms with Gao Zhijun. Before Gao Zhijun left the village, the three of them had hung out together often. Although they had drifted apart somewhat over time, now that his family was in trouble, they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
In the past, when Gao Zhijun’s family hadn’t split from the main Gao household, it was hard for outsiders to intervene. But things were different now. Zhijun’s family had separated from the main household, and with Zhijun getting into an accident, they couldn’t just turn a blind eye to his wife and kids.
Gouwa’s father and Gao Zhijun were about the same age, whereas Gao Weimin was a few years younger than both. Still, they had spent a lot of time playing together as kids and remained quite close.
"Rest assured, I will definitely get justice for Gouwa," Bai Jiu said. She was not going to let this slide. If Xiuxiu and Zhengyang were fine, that was one thing. But if anything happened to them, she would make the Gao family pay with their lives.
Inside the emergency room, the doctors administered the medicine to the three children. After waiting a while and noticing some improvement, the medical staff breathed a sigh of relief. However, Zhengyang and Xiuxiu showed no signs of waking up. Only Gouwa stirred, beginning to cry and fuss.
"Doctor Zhang, look! There’s something wrong with this little girl," called out the nurse who had been keeping an eye on Xiuxiu.
"What’s wrong?"
"Her pupils are dilated." Though the nurse wasn’t a doctor, she had seen her fair share of cases. A situation like this in a little girl could mean internal injuries.
Doctor Zhang gently pushed the nurse aside, stepped up to the patient, and began his examination. It didn’t take long for him to find the problem.
"This child hit her head. She might have a brain injury. Quick, bring the machine over for a scan." Although the town hospital couldn’t compare to the county hospital, it still had basic medical equipment.
"Doctor Zhang, this little boy isn’t doing well either!" shouted the nurse watching Zhengyang.
Doctor Zhang had just finished checking the girl and hurried over to the boy. After a quick assessment, he said, "He also suffered a head injury. Quick, go get Director Huang!"
He could handle one child, but two at the same time were beyond his capacity.
Soon, the emergency room became a flurry of activity. Nurses and doctors rushed in and out, but no news was relayed to the waiting families.
Another hour passed.
Gouwa was carried out, followed by two doctors.
"This child’s fever is going down. Take him to a ward for observation overnight, and he should be fine," Doctor Zhang told the four adults waiting outside.
"Thank you, Doctor! Thank you!" Gouwa’s father immediately pulled his son into his arms and thanked the doctor profusely.
"Don’t thank me. Thank this lady here. It was her medicine that did the trick." Doctor Zhang wasn’t one to steal credit. Without the medicine, his hands would have been tied.
Just as Gouwa’s parents were about to thank Bai Jiu, she spoke up. "Doctor, what about my children? Are they okay?"
If anyone was going to say thanks, it should be her thanking Gouwa. But right now, her only concern was her own two children.
At this point, Director Huang stepped forward. "The other two children suffered head injuries and won’t wake up anytime soon. We need to keep them under observation for two days. If they wake up, they should be fine. If they don’t, you should prepare to transfer them to a larger hospital."
Head injuries were entirely unpredictable. They hadn’t bled, but sometimes an internal injury was far more terrifying than an open wound.
Hearing this, Bai Jiu’s legs gave out.
"Doctor... my babies... they’ll be alright, won’t they?" Bai Jiu asked, tears streaming down her face.
Doctor Zhang knew she was their mother. "Please try not to worry. They might be okay, but their condition is still critical. We have to keep them under observation."
After offering a few more words of comfort, Doctor Zhang and Director Huang left.
Bai Jiu was sick with worry. She knew that medicine was severely lacking in this era, but she never expected a large town hospital to run entirely out of fever reducers. She desperately wanted to transfer her children to a bigger hospital.
She asked a nurse about the transfer process. The nurse also felt terrible for the two children lying in the beds.
The hospital was short on supplies; if the family had the means to transfer them to a larger facility, it would definitely be for the best. However, since both children had head injuries, moving them recklessly right now could easily worsen their condition.
Bai Jiu felt completely helpless. What was she supposed to do?