An Junxi returned home very late that night, and by the time she finished processing the photos and sent them to the client, it was almost one in the morning.
Staying up , earning money but not knowing if I’d live long enough to spend it!
An Junxi felt sorry for herself and got up to stretch her muscles and went to the bathroom to wash up.
While washing her face, she was still thinking about when she could go and see the apartment she had her eye on. Her face was covered in foamy facial cleanser, and she reached out blindly to the faucet. Accidentally, she exerted too much force, and with a "click" sound, water splashed everywhere. An Junxi was soaking wet, and the foam on her face was washed off almost completely.
What the hell, did the pipe burst? "Oh my God!"
An Junxi reached out to try to stop the continuously spraying faucet, but of course, that didn’t work. The bathroom and kitchen faucets should have been changed long ago, and the kitchen electrical outlets too. Her senior sister had mentioned calling someone to fix them, but probably forgot. Now, they are finally on strike!
An Junxi was in a tough spot, what to do in the middle of the night?
She remembered there might be tools in the kitchen cabinet. She had to let go of the faucet and get the tools to see if she could turn off the valve.
By now, the bathroom was already flooded, with water spreading even to the living room. In her hurry, An Junxi didn’t pay attention to what was under her feet and accidentally stepped on a bottle of conditioner that had fallen on the floor. She let out a terrible scream and fell heavily to the ground.
An Junxi seemed to hear the sound of her bones breaking.
She didn’t care about the water soaking her body and tried to get up, but as soon as she moved, it felt like her bones were dislocated and it hurt terribly.
An Junxi was scared out of her wits. Dear heavens, could she be paralyzed from this?
No way, she was planning to buy a house and reach the peak of her life!
Thinking about the bright future calling to her, An Junxi gritted her teeth and lay there for a while until the pain subsided. Then, she began to slowly crawl towards the living room.
The bathroom was still spraying water continuously, and her heart ached with each passing moment. That’s money, it’s money!
An Junxi finally managed to reach her phone. She first dialed 120 for an ambulance — her life was most important, and she had two elderly parents waiting for her at home!
After explaining the situation and her address to the medical personnel, she called property management to say that there was a problem with the pipes and to ask them to stop the water supply to her unit. Doing these two things nearly drained all of her energy, and she lay on the floor waiting for the health angels to come to her rescue.
Boohoo, what a pathetic life. Luckily, she hadn’t started her shower yet, otherwise, she’d be lying there stark naked waiting for help... that would be utterly mortifying. Forget it, what’s the use of thinking about this? She better get a CT scan at the hospital and a full body check-up. It would be lucky enough if her legs and arms were not broken.
Soon she heard the sound of the ambulance, breaking the quiet of the night. Someone knocked on the door, and An Junxi gathered the last bit of strength to reach for the door handle before fainting at the entrance.
An Junxi didn’t know how she got to the hospital. When she woke up, she was wearing a hospital gown and lying on a bed with an IV drip in her arm.
The nurse saw her wake up and asked her some routine questions, then said, "Miss, you haven’t notified your family yet, have you? You need to stay for observation for a few days, and your family needs to pay the fees before twelve o’clock."
An Junxi rolled her eyes discreetly, "Okay, I’ll ask a friend to come and help pay the fees later." She could only bother her senior sister with this.
She tried to move but was stopped by the nurse, "Your arm is dislocated, and there’s a minor fracture in your calf. Don’t move around."
An Junxi saw the cast on her left calf and dared not move again, "Are my injuries serious? It looks really bad."
"The doctor will come and check the scans later during rounds. You can ask him any questions then."
"Alright, thank you."
An Junxi borrowed the nurse’s phone because hers was still in the apartment, and it was already well past office hours. Her colleagues must be going crazy trying to reach her.
Gong Xiaoyu had almost blown up An Junxi’s phone with calls, but nobody answered. An Junxi was never late for work. Could something have happened?
Just as she was about to head to the apartment to check, an unfamiliar number called. With her previous experience, Gong Xiaoyu intuitively felt this might be An Junxi’s call. She answered, "Jun Xi, is that you?"
"Senior sister, it’s me. Sorry for making you worry again." Hearing Gong Xiaoyu’s voice, An Junxi knew just how anxious she must have been.
Gong Xiaoyu straightly asked, "What’s happened to you?"
An Junxi dejectedly said, "Last night, the bathroom faucet came loose and water wouldn’t stop flowing. I accidentally slipped and fell. Now I’m in the hospital."
"Oh no!" Gong Xiaoyu slapped her forehead, "I forgot to help you change that faucet!"
An Junxi hurriedly said, "It’s okay, it’s not serious, just need to stay in the hospital for a few days."
"Don’t say it’s not serious. Which hospital, which ward?"
An Junxi gave her the address, "I didn’t bring anything with me. Can you please go to my apartment and bring some daily necessities over? And I can’t pay the hospital fees..."
"Alright, leave it to me. Just wait for me." Gong Xiaoyu felt immensely guilty. She had been very busy lately. If she had fixed the faucet sooner, none of this would have happened. She remembered the problems with the electric outlets in the kitchen too, which needed fixing soon — electrical issues could be life-threatening.
Near noon, Gong Xiaoyu rushed to the hospital with bundles of supplies. She saw An Junxi lying on the bed with her calf in a cast and her right hand in a sling, looking worse than her last hospital stay.
She didn’t ask many questions and quickly took the X-rays from the bedside table to find the attending doctor and carefully inquired about An Junxi’s injuries before returning to the ward. "Luckily, you can recover fully without any broken limbs; otherwise, how could I explain it to your parents?" She had stayed at An Junxi’s hometown farm for a few days and got along well with her parents, who had asked her to take care of Jun Xi.
After lunch, An Junxi’s complexion wasn’t as pale, "The doctor said my tendons weren’t damaged, but it will still take about three months to remove the cast."
She looked miserable, three months! How much money would she lose? She had just gotten a two thousand yuan raise and now this bloody disaster happened. Should she go to a temple to pray to Buddha for protection?
Thinking about not being able to work for three months, An Junxi felt deep sorrow, "Senior sister, please, don’t let my family know."
"Alright, I understand. You should focus on healing during these three months; bone fractures are no trivial matter. If not taken care of properly, it could lead to long-term issues," Gong Xiaoyu reassured her. "I’ll get you a caregiver. Tomorrow, I’ll ask my mom to make some pork knuckle soup as it aids in healing."
"Please don’t bother Auntie." She knew the Gong family’s daily squabbles had already exhausted Auntie enough.