Yangyang turned to me with a hint of hesitation and called softly, "Sis?"
By then, the sound of footsteps from upstairs was already coming down fast.
I quickly shouted, "Hurry! Let's go check it out!"
Without waiting, I took off running up the stairs.
After just a few steps, I saw Wang Jun practically tumbling down the staircase, his face pale as a sheet and drenched in sweat—clearly terrified out of his wits.
"What happened? What's going on?" I rushed up to grab him before he fell, asking urgently.
"Lili… Lili… she's… she's having the baby!" Wang Jun was completely panicked, unable to string a full sentence together.
Just then, Sister Liu came down behind him.
When she saw me and Yangyang, she immediately shouted, "Quick! Find something we can light—boil water, we need boiling water!"
"Yes, yes—hot water! Chen Yang, where can we get hot water? Lili needs hot water, she's giving birth!" Wang Jun grabbed me by the shoulders, utterly lost.
I pressed down on his shoulder, frowning. "Calm down! This is a hospital—there's got to be something we can use, like alcohol lamps for sterilization. I remember seeing some on the sixth floor. Yangyang and I will go find them right now. You and Sister Liu hurry back upstairs. We'll be there in a few minutes!"
But Wang Jun wasn't listening at all—he only seemed to register that I told him to go back.
He was still mumbling frantically, "Hot water, hot water—we need hot water!"
Suddenly, his eyes widened as if he'd just thought of something, and he exclaimed with sudden excitement, "Suo Tian! Suo Tian! Call Suo Tian! He must know what to do—quick, I'll go get him!"
He was about to bolt downstairs, but I yanked him back hard, shoving him toward the open space beside us and shouting, "Can you stop panicking for one damn second?! Suo Tian's a man—what the hell would he know about delivering babies? If you don't get back there right now, your wife and baby will both end up dead!"
My words clearly stung him; his face twisted with anger and he opened his mouth to argue—but Sister Liu quickly stepped in, holding him back.
"She's right. Since this girl's willing to help, let's get back up there now. Meijing can't handle this on her own." She tugged Wang Jun and practically dragged him back upstairs.
I was fuming at Wang Jun's uselessness.
For a moment, I really wanted to just turn around and head back to the second floor.
But then the thought hit me—this wasn't just panic; it was life and death.
In this world stripped down to its barest survival, childbirth was walking the edge of hell itself.
Shaking my head, I called out to Yangyang, and the two of us sprinted toward the sixth floor.
Just as I'd remembered, the pharmacy room had several alcohol lamps, and miraculously, we even found an alcohol stove in the nurses' break room.
I had no idea what it had been used for before, but it was a godsend now.
We grabbed gauze, cotton, and a few metal containers, and I told Yangyang to pick up some anti-inflammatory and pain-relief medicine.
Then we raced upstairs.
As soon as we reached the tenth floor corridor, Lili's screams tore through the air—hoarse, raw, and filled with pain so deep it made my heart tremble.
The contractions had clearly reached the unbearable stage.
Suppressing the tremor in my chest, I took the supplies from Yangyang and motioned for him to find some water.
Zhao Qiuting was still there in the hallway, standing alone against the wall.
I couldn't tell if she'd been sent out or had stepped away on her own—her face was blank, lifeless, as if her spirit had long since gone.
When I reached Wang Jun's room, Liu Rumiao, Zhang Qicong, and the others were outside, all pale-faced and staring silently at the door, behind which Lili's cries kept rising and falling.
They immediately stood when they saw me carrying the supplies.
I set everything down quickly and told them to light the alcohol lamps and the stove, to get the containers ready so we could boil water as soon as it arrived.
Once I'd given a few quick instructions, I took a deep breath and stepped into Lili's room.
It must have been the master bedroom before.
There was a large bed in the center, and Lili was lying on it, legs bent and spread wide—Sister Liu was holding them apart with all her strength.
Song Meijing was beside her, helping, while Sister Liu occasionally had to free her hands to check Lili's condition.
I had read a bit about childbirth out of personal interest.
I'd gone through a few modern medical guides before—just simple ones—but at least I had some basic understanding of what to do during delivery.
Sister Liu turned her head, saw me, and shouted urgently, "Girl! Come here and help hold her down! Hurry!"
I answered quickly and ran over, taking one of Lili's legs while Song Meijing held the other.
The pain was so intense that Lili's body thrashed uncontrollably—her legs kept trying to clamp shut.
I kept talking to her, trying to calm her down, but she had her eyes tightly shut, a towel clenched between her teeth, and every few moments she let out another scream of agony—as if she couldn't hear me at all.
Barely a few dozen seconds passed, but watching her face contorted in pain and Sister Liu's anxious, helpless expression beside her made cold sweat pour down my back.
I forced myself to take deep breaths, trying not to panic, and racked my brain for anything I could remember from that book I'd once read about childbirth.
But my mind was a complete mess—panic and nerves tangled together—and all I could recall were bits and pieces, nothing concrete or useful.
"Sister Liu, how long has she been in pain like this?" I suddenly asked.
Sister Liu was caught off guard, still wiping sweat from Lili's forehead, and blinked at me in confusion. "What?"
"I said, how long has she been in pain?"
Now understanding, she quickly replied, "She said her belly was hurting last night, but we didn't think much of it—she's still two months early, after all! Who could've guessed it would suddenly—"
I waved my hand to cut her off. "When did her water break?"
"I… I can't remember."
I shot her a frustrated look.
"It probably broke during the night. Wang Jun only noticed this morning," Song Meijing spoke up.
I glanced at her, then asked, "How long has the contraction pain been this strong?"
"It's been quite a while. I don't know if Lili just has a low pain tolerance or what, but it shouldn't be hurting this badly so early on," Sister Liu said, wiping at the sweat streaming down her face, looking distressed.
I motioned for her to keep holding Lili's legs while I quickly checked her cervix—but I wasn't trained, so I couldn't tell much.
Judging by how frequent and intense the contractions were, though, it seemed like she was already close to delivery—unless something else was wrong.
Even though I'd read about childbirth before, reading about it and actually doing it were two completely different things.
I had no real idea what to do.
So I turned to Sister Liu and asked, "Sister Liu, can you deliver the baby?"
She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Lili and gave me a firm nod.
"Alright! I was planning to do it myself anyway. You clearly know a bit—stay here and help me."
"Okay." I nodded back, then leaned toward Lili, who had finally calmed a little, and said loudly, "Lili! Sister Liu and I are here to help you. You need to listen to us, alright? Keep your legs apart—if you hurt the baby, you'll regret it later!"
After a while, Lili trembled and choked out between sobs, "Chen… Chen Yang… help me…"
But before I could reply, she was already groaning again, lost in another wave of pain.
Seeing that, I told Sister Liu to keep monitoring her, then turned and ran out of the room.
The alcohol stove was faster than the small lamps—though the pot wasn't big, it was enough to boil two or three bowls of water.
Wang Jun's eyes were bloodshot with worry, and the moment he saw me come out, he rushed up to me, grabbing my arm. "How is she? How's it going?"
I pushed him aside, picked up the hot water, and snapped, "Just keep boiling your damn water—and get ready to be a father."
Before heading back into the room, I turned to Yangyang and ordered, "Go to the second floor—see if Suo Tian's back yet. Tell him to come up immediately."
Even though I'd told Wang Jun earlier that Suo Tian was a man and wouldn't know anything about childbirth… deep down, I couldn't shake the feeling that once he got here, everything would somehow be alright.
As soon as I stepped back into the room, Lili started screaming again. I quickly soaked a big wad of cotton in the hot water and handed it to Sister Liu so she could clean Lili up a bit.
Just then, from outside the door, Yangyang's voice shouted, "Sis! Sis! Brother Suo Tian brought Bruno!"
At those words, my mind snapped awake—right!
How could I have forgotten about Bruno?
Sure, he used to study the infected, but he was a doctor—hell, a PhD!
That had to count for more than any of us fumbling around cluelessly.
I rushed out the door and immediately spotted Suo Tian and Bruno standing in the hall.
Before I could even say anything, Bruno asked, "Has her water broken?"
I blinked, then hurriedly replied, "It broke during the night."
"How long have the contractions lasted? How frequent are they now?"
"It's been quite a while… maybe every one or two minutes now."
At that, Bruno's brows furrowed.
He turned to Suo Tian, muttered a few quick sentences in English, then started heading straight for the room.
"Hey, hey! How can a man go in there?" Sister Liu turned around and nearly yelped when she saw Bruno at the door.
"I have a license in obstetrics. I can help manage her condition," Bruno explained in fluent, steady Chinese.
"Oh, no, no, no—that's not proper! A woman giving birth can't have a man barging in like that! Brother Wang, get that foreigner out of here—what's he trying to do, be a pervert at a time like this?" Sister Liu protested, completely ignoring the waves of agonized cries coming from Lili.
I was fuming beside her—seriously?
At a time like this, she still had the energy for this kind of backward nonsense?!
When I turned to Wang Jun, I saw his face—already tense with worry—now flicker with hesitation at her words.
That was it.
I didn't even think before I snapped, shouting, "Wang! Lili's in there fighting for her life to give birth to your damn child! And you're standing out here hesitating because of some stupid outdated superstition? What the hell is wrong with you—are you even human?!"
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