Lin Jie and Lin Miao rushed home to find Zhang Xiaoxiao, still in her professional skirt suit, reeking of alcohol, lying on the living room floor. Her purse and phone were tossed to one side, and she was occasionally making groaning noises.
Her face was covered in quite a bit of blood, and there was a lot of blood on the floor too, making it look quite terrifying!
Lin Jie's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly crouched down to check Zhang Xiaoxiao's head. Apart from a bump and a wound on her left forehead, he found no other lumps or deformities of the skull.
He pulled open her eyelids to check; the pupils were normal in size and reactive to light!
Continuing to examine Zhang Xiaoxiao's neck, he found the carotid pulse strong, the pulse rate within a reasonable range, and no signs of cervical misalignment, which made Lin Jie exhale in relief!
Further down the check, her chest ribs were intact, abdomen soft without any signs of congestion or swelling. Her thighs weren't fractured, her calves were intact, just her left ankle showed significant swelling.
"Brother, what happened to Sister Xiaoxiao?" Lin Miao, standing by, asked worriedly!
Lin Miao gently helped the groaning Zhang Xiaoxiao to sit up on the sofa and said, "She's fine. She probably got drunk, walked unsteadily, twisted her left foot, fell on the floor, and got dazed."
"She's merely scratched her forehead and lost some blood. Miaomiao, go fetch a basin of cold water; I'll wipe her face!"
Before long, Lin Jie fetched the surgical first aid kit, and Lin Miao had also prepared the cold water.
With the stimulation of cold water and a large glass of water, Zhang Xiaoxiao finally regained some clarity and, upon seeing Lin Jie and Lin Miao, burst out crying, "Waah... my head hurts... Am I going to die?"
"With me here, you won't die!"
Lin Jie, holding a cotton swab dipped in disinfectant alcohol, warned, "I need to disinfect the wound on your forehead and clear out the clots inside to facilitate suturing!"
"It's going to hurt, bear with it..."
"Sister, I'm not afraid of pain... Ah... Lin Jie... you bastard... it hurts like hell..."
Amidst Zhang Xiaoxiao's wailing, Lin Jie expressionlessly cleaned her forehead wound, then took out the finest No. 1 suture, needle, tweezers, and needle holder from the first aid kit, preparing to stitch the wound.
Seeing these instruments, Zhang Xiaoxiao visibly recoiled, her voice trembling, "Lin Jie, what are you going to do?"
"The wound on your forehead is quite large and needs suturing for better healing."
"You have to behave and not move!"
Still somewhat dazed from the alcohol, Zhang Xiaoxiao, perhaps awed by the professional surgical tools in Lin Jie's hands, or maybe trusting his words, nodded lightly.
But as soon as Lin Jie inserted the needle, Zhang Xiaoxiao shook her head, pitifully exclaiming, "Sss... Lin Jie... it hurts!"
Lin Jie waved the tweezers and needle holder in front of her eyes, threatening, "If you move around too much and the wound's not sutured well, you might end up with a big scar on your forehead! Don't blame me if you become ugly!"
On hearing this, Zhang Xiaoxiao obediently leaned against the sofa, not moving an inch!
To minimize post-operative scarring, Lin Jie stitched very attentively and meticulously, finally tying a lovely suture knot.
After bandaging Zhang Xiaoxiao's wound, having her swallow a few anti-inflammatory pills, and treating her left ankle sprain, Lin Jie and Lin Miao together moved her onto the bed.
Having done all this, Lin Jie found himself drenched in sweat again.
He first tidied up the first aid kit and was cleaning the bloodstains off the living room floor when Lin Miao came out of the bedroom, approached him, and softly said, "Sister Xiaoxiao fell asleep."
"Brother, is cleaning and suturing a wound something you suddenly learned how to do?"
Lin Jie sensed Lin Miao's inner unease.
Being twins, having relied on each other growing up, their understanding of each other was deeply profound. Lin Jie's drastic change, how could it not make Lin Miao uneasy?
Lin Jie stood up, took Lin Miao's hand, walked to the sofa, and sat down together, saying, "Miaomiao, I know it's indeed baffling, but things just happened this way."
"Let me tell you, this morning..."
He recounted the incident of Zhang Li next door getting hurt, not mentioning the gunshot but only that a steel rod was lodged in her stomach.
"Ah, is Sister Zhang okay?" Lin Miao nervously hugged Lin Jie's arm.
Lin Jie lightly patted her hand, comforting, "She's fine, just recuperating in the hospital now!"
"Listen, when I saw the steel rod in Sister Zhang's stomach, countless images and knowledge flooded my mind, all memories related to surgery."
"The situation was urgent then; without immediate treatment, Sister Zhang could have died from blood loss! Luckily, she had a surgical first aid kit at home, so I performed abdominal surgery on her..."
After briefly explaining the surgery process, Lin Jie leaned on Lin Miao, feigning unease, "Miaomiao, I don't know how I was able to perform surgery!"
"Do you think I've turned into another person, or become some kind of freak?"
He didn't tell Lin Miao about Shen Lanruo, partly because it was too fantastical a story, and partly to avoid worrying her.
He had long understood that Lin Miao had been living in immense fear and insecurity.
Before his heart transplant surgery, Lin Jie had often awakened in the middle of the night to find Lin Miao quietly tiptoeing to his bedside to check his breathing.
Lin Jie secretly vowed, since he fortunately received a heart transplant and could live healthily for a few more years, he must ensure Lin Miao leads a happy and stable life during his lifetime.
He could deceive Kong Mingqing with notions of self-taught skills, but he couldn't use the same line to fool Lin Miao, who knew him inside out.
To prevent her from delving too deeply into the matter, the only solution was to divert her focus, like shifting her concern from why he could perform surgery to caring about his changes.
As expected, hearing Lin Jie's question, Lin Miao hurriedly hugged his arm, comforting, "Brother is still the same brother, nothing has changed! I can assure you, you haven't changed a bit!"
"Brother, you must think from another perspective. Look, now you can speak German and perform surgeries; these are enviable knowledge and skills for others. This is indeed a good thing, a great thing!"
"Is it really a great thing?" Lin Jie feigned doubt.
Lin Miao nodded vigorously, her face earnestly taut, "It really is a good thing, I'm not lying to you!"
"Judging from today's two incidents, if it weren't for you, Sister Zhang might have been in life-threatening danger, and Sister Xiaoxiao might have had an accident tonight. They could only safely escape danger thanks to you!"
Seeing her sincerely persuading him, Lin Jie felt both amused and a bit pained in his heart, feigning worry, "My changes are quite big; those familiar with me will find it strange."
"Brother Kong specially came by this afternoon to thank me and asked how I learned to perform surgery!"
"I told the truth, but he didn't believe me, so I tricked him by saying I like to study medical skills at home, frequently using chickens, ducks, and geese to practice surgical skills."
"He seemed to fully believe that explanation!"
Lin Miao pondered slightly, then nodded, "What's happened to you, people are certainly going to find hard to understand and deem it nonsense. We'll stick to the story you used on Brother Kong to brush off others; it's somewhat more believable."
Having settled Lin Miao's concerns, Lin Jie secretly breathed a sigh of relief, reminding, "Then you have to be careful not to let it slip in the future. I learned German and surgery through self-study."
"Remember to say the same to Sister Xiaoxiao tomorrow."
Seeing Lin Miao earnestly nod in agreement, Lin Jie stood up with a lighthearted tone, "Alright, you must be hungry; I'll make a bowl of your favorite vegetable and shredded meat egg noodles for you!"
A dozen minutes later, Lin Miao contentedly ate the noodles, calling out, "It's still the original formula, the familiar taste; brother is still brother!"
Having tidied up the kitchen and the room, then carefully scrubbed his body with hot water, feeling exhausted, Lin Jie lay down in bed, and it was already past midnight.
Just as Lin Jie closed his eyes, Shen Lanruo's voice sounded in his mind, "I'll start giving you the first lesson on human anatomy!"
He immediately pleaded for mercy, "Sister Lanruo, today was so tiring! Could we start the lesson tomorrow?"
Shen Lanruo unapologetically criticized, "You're calling this tired? It's not easy being a doctor."
"During hospital internships, we often worked twenty-four-hour shifts while busy studying. When many patients flooded in, nonstop work for twenty or thirty hours was common."
"Also, what if I suddenly disappeared?"
Lin Jie pinched his thigh to wake himself up a bit, hurriedly saying, "Sister Lanruo, I'm ready, let's start the lesson!"