Chapter 23
Luu Ly
Sam makes up an excuse to step out and clear his head. He can't stand the sight of his brother's misery and is afraid he'll go crazy if he stays in the room, even to the point of forcing his mother to reveal the secret. Sam closes the door and wanders away.
All the questions about the accident swirl in his mind. The truth is playing hide-and-seek in the mess. He guesses at various scenarios, but none are correct. Sam has a headache, his mind still muddled when he suddenly sees doctors and medical staff running everywhere:
- The little girl might be somewhere in another room. Find her, quickly!
Seeing their panic, Sam stops a nurse to ask. She is busy searching:
- A little girl patient has vanished from her hospital room. We're looking for her.
Sam asks curiously:
- What's the reason for her disappearance? Has she ever disappeared before?
- This is her first time disappearing. We're just looking for her, why question the reason?
The indifference of the crowd leaves Sam speechless. Sam normally wouldn't care about finding lost children. Today is different; the children here give Sam human affection, so he can't just stand by and do nothing. If this missing little girl is one of them, he will regret it for the rest of his life. Sam chases after the nurse:
- Everyone needs to know the reason for her disappearance to find her. Is she a rich person's daughter, a leader's daughter, or whose daughter?
- You're imagining too much. - The nurse chuckles - She's just a child from a poor family."
Sam turns back and forth, scanning the area:
- No one from her family is here to take care of her?
The nurse is about to yell: "Why are you asking so many questions?!" But seeing that Sam is looking for the little girl, she calms down:
- Her mother and two older sisters took turns looking after her. No one had visited for the past few days.
He asks the little girl's age, when he is told the girl is thirteen, Sam immediately gets the point:
- No wonder. Girls at any age tend to feel hurt and sulky—especially at that 'Lemon Green Rice Flakes' age: sunny in the morning, rainy in the afternoon.
Sam lets out a long yawn and plops down onto a waiting room chair. After a while, he starts snoring. Sam is eccentric, but the nurse still can't believe he can sleep so soundly in this situation. She shakes her head in disdain and leaves immediately. Sam lets out a sigh and wanders into the darkest corner of the hospital.
Patients hope for care and comfort, but with no one visiting for days, the little girl feels sad for herself. Little boys and girls have similar mindsets; they don't like to be disturbed when they're sulking. When he was a child, he was in this hospital, and his old man was busy with military duties, so he was absent for a day. Sam then played hide-and-seek, similar to what this little girl is doing now.
The crowd searches everywhere but still hasn't found her. Sam was sure the little girl had crawled into the place where he used to hide to scare his old man. From then on, his old father never dared to leave his impish son alone. Sam lowers his head and crawls into the alcove at the bottom of the stairs.
He doesn't understand the point of building extra structures on both sides just to create this alcove. Thanks to those eccentric builders, he used to have a place to hide.
Now the petite girl sits with her knees drawn to her chest, quietly sobbing. Sam turns on his phone's flashlight to light up the spot. The little girl flinches, raises her head—then lowers it again.
- Go away, don't bother me!
Sam can't quite see the little girl's face; she lowers her head too quickly, perhaps disappointed that the person looking for her isn't her family. Sam nods understandingly:
- Go back to your room, the whole bunch is in a frenzy because of you!
The little girl replies bluntly:
- Who cares!
At that defiant age, Sam had done even crazier things. He patiently persuades her:
- Your family will worry about you!
The little girl looks up, smiling brightly:
- Have my mother and sisters arrived?
In a corner that's half-bright and half-dark, Sam hazily sees a pale, emaciated half-face. The little girl wears a hood to cover her hair loss and is wearing a patient's uniform. Even her frail, sickly body can't bury, crush, or drown the pure beauty that shines through.
Her delicate, petite nose graces her round, childlike face. Delicate brows stretch straight across eyes that sparkle with untainted clarity. Although her thin lips are pale, a smile that shines like the morning light compensates for the defect.
Sam is stunned for a moment. He has never seen someone so innocent. He's never seen someone so innocent. The guy who appreciates beauty has always been attracted to pretty girls, whether they're mature "big sisters" or cute "lolis". But facing the beautiful little girl, Sam is dazed by her flawless, beautiful smile.
He has no intention of wooing or flirting. Anyone who happens to see them would mock the idea that such a withered body could arouse a rapist—that would be the truly strange thing. Sam has heard similar words too many times before. If anyone sees him and thinks he has some filthy scheme, fuck this motherfucking world. Sam just wants to fully immerse himself in that pure smile and let his sadness evaporate.
The little girl suddenly lifts her face, startling Sam. He raises his hand with lightning speed to block her head from hitting the wall. The sound of the impact lets the little girl know that if Sam hadn't helped, there would definitely be a lump on her head.
- Thank you! - The little girl squints her eyes and asks - Who are you? You look familiar!
Sam, excited, starts to joke:
- Me? He points to himself - He waits for the little girl to nod, then grins and reveals his white teeth - I'm the Prince who has come to rescue the Princess from eternal darkness!
The little girl is dumbfounded by the joke, then shoots him a side-eye glare:
- That's so ridiculous!
Sam is dumbfounded. He has only ever heard people curse him people curse him as a pervert or a rapist; this was the first time anyone had belittled him as "ridiculous". Sam laughs wryly, trying to save face.
- Has anyone found you from then until now?
The little girl sadly shakes her head. He immediately takes the opportunity to say:
- Then, you see, only I found you. I really am the Prince!
Sam suddenly realizes he has touched upon her sorrow. He watches the pitiful little girl crying sadly. He has always been a glib talker, but he is speechless in the face of a little girl's tears. He scratches his head and his ears, his mouth—which is usually more lively than a jumping shrimp—now fumbles for comforting words.
- Good girl, don't cry! Your mother and sisters will come tomorrow!
The little girl wipes her tears, looking sullen:
- No one has come for two days!
Hearing her mention two days, he feels like a drowning man grabbing a life preserver:
- Heh heh, they say things don't happen more than three times—I'm sure they'll come tomorrow!
Sam has always been indifferent to such boring things, yet he is inexplicably spending his time on this little girl. He has so many things to worry about, but he just can't bear to leave her alone.
Perhaps Sam sympathizes with someone who shares the same fate. Or maybe it is the miracle that reappears in her eager eyes. Sam is immersed in admiring her pure face, letting his soul sink into a mood of ease and tranquility, forgetting all his worries.
The little girl squints, frowning as she looks at Sam's half-closed eyes, covering her mouth and laughing at his confused and silly face. Sam's slip-up leaves him flustered. He has never been at a loss before, and the beauty-loving guy is startled to realize he broke two of his "nevers" within just a few minutes.
This can't go on. So caught up with the little girl here, he has no idea how many more 'nevers' he'll end up breaking. Sam tells himself he must find a way to get out of this "dangerous" situation. He looks at the little girl's frail body and immediately finds a reasonable excuse:
- You should go back and rest early. Your family will be so happy to see you healthy!
The little girl smiles brightly, nods in agreement, and fumbles her way out of the hiding place. Sam instinctively raises his hand to shield her head. As she is about to leave, Sam remembers something important:
- Wait, I still don't know your name?
The little girl smiles:
- I am Luu Ly.
Sam murmurs the name, remembering it and praising:
- A beautiful name!
Luu Ly smiles gently and thanks him. The little girl puts her hands behind her back, leans toward the dark corner, and looks at him:
- You look familiar! - Luu Ly puts her index finger on her chin, puffs out her cheeks in thought, and then exclaims loudly - You're Sam, right?
Sam chuckles, enjoying her cute appearance:
- You've got the wrong person. Sam is a specialist in cursing people; have I cursed anyone? Sam is as healthy as a buffalo; why would he be in a hospital?
Luu Ly looks up in thought and nods in agreement.
- You're right! Well, goodbye then!
Sam waves goodbye, but then remembers he is in a dark corner where Luu Ly can barely see him. He clicks his tongue, not understanding why he has been acting like an idiot the whole time.
- Goodbye!
Sam waits until the little girl walks away before he comes out to avoid any misunderstanding. He counts every one of her footsteps when he suddenly hears a strange noise. Sam rushes out, startled, and sees Luu Ly lying on the ground. He is terrified, hurries over to check her breathing, then picks her up and frantically runs to the emergency room, screaming and cursing as if he wants to tear the hospital down:
- Damn it, where are the doctors?! Come and save her!
Most people run out, and the doctors and nurses are stunned, watching Luu Ly lie motionless in Sam's arms. Her face is pale, with no color left. He curses the group of people, who are as slow as turtles:
- You bunch of whore mothers, what the hell are you looking at?! Hurry and save her! - Sam curses as he runs at full speed to the nearest emergency room - Hurry up, you bunch of turtles!
Sam gently places Luu Ly on the bed. He is afraid his presence will put pressure on the doctors, so he leaves the room to let them save her. Sam paces back and forth nervously outside, occasionally peeking through the glass window on the door, but he can't see anything. Sam impatiently looks at the crowd surrounding him. He frowns and waves his hand:
- What's there to see?
While shooing away the crowd, Sam walks toward Hoang Kim's room:
- Crowding together will hinder the doctors from saving people. Go to sleep!
Sam's father walks over from a distance:
- What happened?
Sam briefly tells him the story and asks about Hoang Kim and his mother. The old man says in a sleepy voice:
- Stop screaming. They'll be fine.
Sam curls his lips and mutters:
- In a life-or-death situation, I have to yell louder than a house on fire for the doctors to panic and perform emergency treatment.
The old man nods, admitting Sam is right, but tilts his head and looks at his son. Sam raises his eyebrows as his father narrows his eyes, frowns, and looks at him with suspicion.
- What's going on, old man? What are you so suspicious about?
Even a gifted old man like a saint can't figure out what Sam has gone through. But before his father can say a word, Sam's bristles stand up like a porcupine, acting like he has something to hide. The old man chuckles, making Sam's ears itch.
- How do you know I'm suspicious? What the hell am I suspicious about? - The old man puts a hand on his son's shoulder, and with a deadpan look, he teases Sam to relieve stress - Do you have a guilty conscience? Come on, tell me. We're father and son. What the hell is there to be shy about?
Sam raises his lip, mocking the old man:
- So foolish, yet you play word games and insert Western languages into your speech. It sounds disgustingly splatter bullet. Are you afraid it's not luxurious enough?
The old man is delighted and claps his son's back hard:
- You're the only son in the world who is this insolent!
The old man wants to lighten the mood, so he and his son begin to joke around with each other:
- You're an unprecedented old man!
The father and son laugh together, not caring about the people staring at them with wide eyes. Sam grins at the kids, saying he and his father are just joking. They giggle, watching Sam and his father banter. The 'muddy' father and son keep teasing each other until they reach the door of Hoang Kim's room, where the joyful laughter dies down, and gloom takes over the air.
This place has only sadness, no joy. This place has only tears, no laughter. But this painful place brings Sam and his father faith and hope.
When you lose faith and hope, all joy and laughter are meaningless.