Waiting for You in a City

The smoke in the hospital passage had cleared, the water flowed all over the ground, the place that had been busy for many years was rarely empty at this moment.

Just after the fire drill, all personnel were evacuated. There were no patients in the wards, no doctors in the corridors, and no nurses in the nurses’ station.

It was secluded and quiet, with a strange atmosphere.

Xu Qin quickly descended the stairs with her hands in her pocket, and when she left the inpatient building, she saw everyone rushing to the street in panic. Song Yan and the others had already boarded the fire engine and were driving out.

Among the crowd against the current, Xiao Xi and Xiao Dong pulled Xu Qin and walked outside: “Doctor Xu, hurry to the street to avoid it.”

“The earthquake was so scary just now, aren’t you afraid?” Xiao Nan exclaimed.

As for Xu Qin’s memory of the earthquake just now, only everything related to Song Yan remained, his tall body, and his powerful arms.

Her perception of earthquakes was clearly vastly different from those around her.

When she arrived in the open field, she realized that the situation was serious.

The roads and vehicles were blocked, the street was crowded with people, the black mass was full of heads, and people from the office buildings in the nearby commercial buildings rushed onto the street. Everyone looked blank and panicked, asking and comforting each other:

“What just happened? It’s terrifying!”

“Our office is on the 20th floor, we were scared to death!”

“Is it an earthquake?”

“How could Di City have an earthquake?”

“Will it continue to shake?”

“So what to do?”

“No signal on your phone! Whose phone has a signal?” Someone shouted. For a while, everyone looked at their mobile phones.

“There really is no signal!”

“How so?”

“It won’t continue to shake, will it?”

The tone of the crowd was even more alarmed.

On the crowded street, there was a terrifying aura that spread rapidly.

Several doctors and nurses gathered in one place, anxiously waiting for communication to be restored.

Fire trucks were slowly driving out of the crowd, and several firefighters stuck their heads out and shouted, “Let go! Make way!”

Xu Qin heard Song Yan’s shout, looked at the fire truck, and realized what he meant by the phrase “all return to the team” shouted from the window.

For earthquake rescue, the fire department must be the first to dispatch. Song Yan had already sensed the seriousness of the situation, and he was going to rush back to prepare for standby.

The fire truck drove away little by little, the crowd was still panicking, waiting for the exact news, and finally, out of nowhere, a shout came out:

“There was an earthquake in Wangxiang!”

The crowded street suddenly fell silent for a second.

In the strange dead silence, suddenly, a girl next to Xu Qin cried loudly, crying and calling her relatives, but no one answered.

“My mom is not answering the phone—”

The girl dialed the unanswered phone over and over again, crying.

In all directions, cries were heard everywhere in the crowd.

People nearby gathered around to comfort the crying people, saying that maybe communication had not been restored there, or maybe the family did not have their mobile phones.

Xu Qin immediately looked back in the direction where the fire truck left.

Wangxiang, that was where she and Song Yan had memories.

In the line of sight, there were still traces of fire trucks.

Soon, earthquake information spread rapidly along the social networks – Wangxiang earthquake, magnitude 6.4.

Almost the entire county was razed to the ground.

Wangxiang was originally a county seat under the jurisdiction of Di City, the farthest from the city center—100 kilometers, and was later delimited from the jurisdiction of Di City and included in the jurisdiction of the Lin Province. Wangxiang County was located in the mountains, had inconvenient transportation, both ends neglected, so the county was barren and backward.

The crowd on the street did not disperse, and the discussion became louder.

When everyone was calling and swiping their phones to spread messages about the disaster and nearly crippled the internet, soldiers and doctors were the first to act.

Song Yan and the firefighters had rushed back to the camp, changed their equipment, collected their equipment, and prepared to assemble, only waiting for orders from their superiors.

Xu Qin and her colleagues’ mobile phones vibrated in unison the moment they resumed communication, and came to notify – immediately rushed to the large conference hall.

The Third Military Hospital was a military hospital, and it was imperative to send medical teams to the disaster area. The president held an emergency mobilization meeting and delivered an impassioned speech in front of hundreds of medical staff.

The doctors and nurses in the audience had solemn expressions.

Xu Qin was as usual, she didn’t listen to the dean’s high-sounding big principles such as “party members”, “love” and “feelings”. But at the end of the mobilization meeting, she went to the podium with other excited colleagues, signed her name on the petition, and chose the first team.

It was not enough to say how empathetic she was. But the word “saving people” was written in her scope of responsibility, and it could not be neglected, nothing more.

At this moment, Song Yan on the other end was ready to go. When the superior gave the order to rush to the disaster area to rescue, the fire officers and men of the Shi Li Tai Squadron had already gathered under the national flag.

Fifteen minutes after the earthquake, people on the streets have not yet dispersed, and the public were still sharing and spreading information on social media.

The first batch of disaster relief medical teams from the three hospitals had been assembled and had taken the oath before departure, with seriousness and responsibility written on everyone’s face.

“I volunteer to go to the disaster area, with my conscience and dignity to practice medicine to save people, to save lives and help the wounded, and work tirelessly…”

Xu Qin calmly read the oath, and suddenly, for some reason, she remembered Professor Xu’s criticism. And the passionate oath of her colleagues still echoed in her ears, and for a moment, she seemed to see her days of studying abroad, as if she saw the vow she had made: I will uphold the honor and tradition of medical skills, and I will give the greatest respect to human life. Even under threat, I will never use my medical knowledge to endanger human rights and justice. I solemnly and voluntarily swear by my personality.

As Xu Qin muttered, the movement of her lips became smaller and smaller, and she fell silent inexplicably.

……

At the same time, on the playground of the Shi Li Tai Fire Brigade, the national flag flew under the blue sky.

“Stand at attention–!”

The officers and soldiers held their heads high.

Song Yan faced the national flag and took all the fire officers and men to take the oath before departure: “I volunteer, to go to the disaster area to fight the earthquake and provide disaster relief!”

Officers and soldiers said in unison: “I volunteer, to go to the disaster area to fight the earthquake and provide disaster relief!” ”

“Overcome all difficulties and obstacles!”

“Overcome all difficulties and obstacles!”

“Race against time to save lives!”

“Race against time to save lives!”

“Obey orders and be disciplined!”

“Obey orders and be disciplined!”

“A solemn promise to every life!”

“A solemn promise to every life!”

“We will never give up!”

“We will never give up!”

The soldiers’ loud oaths echoed over the playground.

Song Yan: “Go!”

……

……

……

The county seat of Wangxiang was in the mountains, and along the way, you could see small villages scattered in the mountains and forests, broken walls and ruins, deserted.

The road into the township had collapsed, the traffic department was rushing to repair, Xu Qin and her convoy took a long detour, and it was already dusk when they reached the center of the township.

The simple and quiet town in Xu Qin’s memory no longer existed.

The whole town was like a huge garbage dump after the end of the day, almost not a single building or shop was intact, and the winter sun hung over the ruins, dead silent.

The villagers were dressed in rags.

Some were stained with blood and sat staring blankly at their own door; Some lost loved ones, covered their faces and cried; Others lay motionless on the road, already corpses.

In ten seconds, a city was destroyed.

After the car traveled only five hundred meters, Xu Qin saw an orange color, which was the rescue suit of the firefighters. A team of firefighters worked on the rubble of a collapsed supermarket, and soldiers in camouflage uniforms were helping.

“Slow down, slow down!”

“Carry that side, carry that side!”

“Pry up over there, pull over here!”

“Be careful not to crush his legs!”

It seems that someone was rescued,

“There’s someone down there!”

Too far away, Xu Qin squinted her eyes and analysed for a while, it was not Song Yan’s team.

The further you went, the more people you get.

Soldiers of an artillery company distributed the first batch of supplies thrown from the air to the victims; another team of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) erected makeshift housing in the school playground; another wave of armed police teams went around to maintain order, guiding the victims to gather safely in the open space; more soldiers scattered around, looking for cries of help and helping victims find survivors in their collapsed homes.

At this time, at the other end of the small city, Song Yan was digging people from the collapsed hospital, and the surviving townspeople were helping on the side. Everyone rushed to the golden time of rescue, and did not dare to relax for half a second.

Unable to get on the crane and bulldozer, Song Yan ordered everyone to carry it with their bare hands and on their shoulders; More than a dozen people stood in a row, and bricks and cement were relayed out one by one. Soon, the surface ruins were cleared by them, and in just one hour, seven wounded people were dug up one after another.

But the further down the reinforced concrete block, the larger the load-bearing structure, the deeper the person was buried.

The pace of rescue began to slow.

Under the rubble came a constant cry: “Save me. Help me.” Some of them could be seen, some were buried deep inside.

Sweat and dust covered Song Yan’s head, and he shouted hoarsely: “I won’t leave you guys behind!”

“Don’t be afraid, we won’t go!”

“Save your strength, don’t fall asleep!”

Xiao Meng, the police dog, found the nearest survivor and barked with his tail wagging.

It was a young man who was stuck in the gap under the cement prefabricated slab together with a pile of rubble. The other end of the cement slab was pressed by a huge wall with a large pile of stones on the wall.

When Song Yan led people to come up with a solution, the young man under the ground cried out in fear: “Is it possible that I can’t be saved? Don’t leave, please.”

“I won’t go, I will definitely save you.” Song Yan unscrewed a bottle of water and passed it in from the mouth of the ruins, “Don’t cry, drink some water first.” After speaking, he wiped the dust from the young man’s face with his hand.

The wall was too big and heavy to be moved and pushed.

There was no way, so Song Yan called a few team members to dig up the ruins first, and everyone jumped into the pit to support the prefabricated concrete slab together, and then asked the team members above to smash the wall with a hammer.

The hammer fell to the ground, and Song Yan, Yang Chi, Xiao Ge, Xiao Fei firmly held on to the cement slab to prevent it from collapsing and smashing the survivors.

The manpower above had some reservations, and didn’t go full strength.

Song Yan couldn’t bear it: “Jiang Yi, you didn’t eat?! How many people are waiting here?”

Jiang Yi and the others had to smash the hammer ruthlessly.

Dust debris fell on their faces, and Song Yan clenched his teeth fiercely without saying a word.

The young man knew what they had endured for him, so he burst into tears.

“Don’t cry!” Song Yan wiped the tears from his face for him, “There’s nothing to cry about.”

The young man raised his left hand to wipe his tears, but he became more and more sad. His right hand was pressed under a stone, dripping with blood.

Song Yan tapped him on the shoulder, chatting with him distracting him, lest he get emotional and bleed more: “What do you do?”

“Doctor.”

Song Yan stopped for a second: “What subject?”

“Surgery.”

Song Yan was silent.

“I can’t get my hand back.” The young man cried.

“Today, there are many people whose lives cannot be saved.” Song Yan panted slightly and said, “You can’t do this, you can change careers, you are still young, and living is the most important thing.”

The young man wiped his tears.

“Being a man, if he falls, he has to find a thousand ways to get up.”

The young man cried and nodded.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the wall was finally smashed, and Song Yan and the others’ shoulders suddenly felt light.

“One, two, three!”

The cement board was lifted. Song Yan and the others immediately lifted the gravel from the young man’s body and lifted him up from the bottom of the pit, the people above stretched out their hands in unison, picked him up, carried him down the ruins, and sent him to a stretcher.

The townspeople immediately took him to the makeshift emergency center.

Song Yan and the others climbed out from the bottom of the pit, not caring about the injuries on their shoulders, and immediately went to save the next person.

Half an hour ago, Xu Qin had already rushed to the temporary emergency center and quickly began to work.

Emergency centers were temporary for military personnel. Before Xu Qin and them, three medical teams had arrived. Due to the different ways of working and the fact that there were too many injured people, the scene was a little chaotic for a while, but fortunately, everyone was conscientious and responsive, and there was no delay in the circumstances of the patient’s condition.

Several major surgeries were underway in the makeshift operating room, and Xu Qin received the injured in the consultation hall with other doctors for initial medical treatment.

For simple skin trauma, nurses cleaned and bandaged, and severe cuts and lacerations were performed on the spot for minor surgical suturing. Just after stitching and cutting the thread of a wounded patient with a torn back, someone outside shouted: “Serious injury! And are there any surgeons?! It’s a doctor of internal medicine in the Second Academy of the Army.”

Xu Qin immediately walked over: “Over here!”

The doctor led a group of townspeople and carried a young man with a crushed right hand, blood-stained stretcher.

Xu Qin: “Leave it to me.”

The young man was carried into the improvised operating room, where he was cleaned before the operation. The young man was weak and crying sadly.

Xu Qin was doing disinfection work on the side, the young man kept crying, Xu Qin didn’t hear it, until when she put on the gloves, she said lightly: “Don’t cry.”

Xiao Dong and Xiao Xi was frightened at the same time, exchanging glances, Doctor Xu is this comforting?

She never chatted with patients in front of the operating table.

The young man asked: “Doctor, are you very good?”

Xu Qin: “Hmm.”

“Then can you keep my hand? Let it be back to its original state?”

Xu Qin put on a mask: “Can’t.”

Xiao Dong and Xiao Xi: “…”

“Today, many lives have not been saved.” Xu Qin’s voice became even more flat through the mask.

The young man’s lips were pale, and tears flowed even more: “I am also a surgeon.”

The nurses present were stunned.

Xu Qin’s eyes were serene, and she walked to the operating table: “You are still young, after today, live well.”

“I know,” the young man sobbed, “the firefighter who saved me just now said the same.”

Xu Qin was speechless, took the anesthesia needle handed over by Xiao Nan, and injected it into his arm. Above the mask, her eyes were dark, unusually calm, and unusually focused.