Serena Sutton and the others were English majors, and Mondays were basically packed with classes.
After a whole morning of classes, everyone was a bit worn out.
Back in the dorm, Brandy Quinn just collapsed onto her bed. She'd drunk a lot yesterday and still felt woozy.
There were four people living in Serena Sutton's dorm room.
Brandy Quinn, Skye Morgan, and Ginger Sloan.
Skye Morgan was a very gentle girl, slim, with long straight black hair, usually wearing fresh, fairy-like dresses. She looked soft-spoken yet gracious.
Ginger Sloan had shoulder-length short hair and usually preferred sportswear—hoodies, sweatpants and the like. She was straightforward, careless about details, and usually called the guys "bro."
People called her "Timely Rain," because her name sounded the same as Jax from Water Margin.
After lunch, everyone lay on their own beds, getting ready for a nap.
Skye Morgan scrolled on her phone and read novels for a while, then slowly drifted off. Ginger Sloan, who slept on the bunk above Serena, hadn't come back yet—word was she was out playing basketball.
Serena Sutton tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so she simply took out her phone to play.
Just then, the dorm door suddenly opened and Ginger Sloan tiptoed in.
Serena rolled over, poked her head out, and lowered her voice: "It's this hot and you're still playing basketball in the gym? You got a death wish?"
Ginger was holding one hand up with the other, frowning in pain. "Serena, I accidentally fell on the stairs on my way back just now and hurt my hand."
"Hiss, what if it's a fracture? It hurts so bad I don't even dare move it."
As soon as Serena Sutton heard that, she immediately scrambled down from her bed.
Ginger was usually careless and loud, and she cared a lot about her image in front of others, always liked to act tough, so she'd been holding back tears and hadn't made a fuss.
Now her face was paper white from the pain, which showed how serious it was.
Serena quickly climbed down, took a look at her hand, put on her shoes and said, "Come on, we're going to the hospital."
-
By the time Ginger Sloan and Serena Sutton got to the hospital, it was just past one, and they could only register for emergency.
The doctor examined Ginger's hand. Ginger usually wasn't that afraid of pain, but this time it really hurt so much that tears welled up.
"Go get an X-ray first. If it really is a fracture, we'll transfer you to orthopedics."
The young doctor pushed up his glasses and handed the medical card back to Serena Sutton. "Go pay the fee first."
"Thank you, doctor."
Serena Sutton went to pay. While Ginger was getting the X-ray done, she called Brandy Quinn.
She told her what had happened and asked her to request leave from the teacher.
When the film came out, it confirmed that Ginger had a mild fracture of the right humerus. Although the fracture gap was small and the alignment good so they could opt for conservative treatment, she still needed to be hospitalized for observation.
By the time Serena Sutton finished the hospitalization procedures, and the orthopedic doctor had immobilized Ginger's arm and put her on an IV, it was already close to six.
Lying on the hospital bed, Ginger Sloan's face was pale. "Serena, thank you."
"When my hand gets better, I'll treat you to a meal."
Serena Sutton checked the time on her phone and smiled. "No need. Just be more careful from now on. You're not a kid anymore and you still manage to fall down the stairs."
"It's getting late. I'm going to get you something to eat and stop by school to grab some stuff."
Ginger nodded, then glanced out the window. "Looks like it might rain today. Go and come back quick."
Serena Sutton felt that Ginger really had a crow's mouth.
She stood at the hospital entrance, watching big raindrops pour down, and couldn't help sighing.
The September rain came in a rush. The heavens were always so temperamental—just a moment ago it'd been bright and sunny.
At this moment, Serena Sutton was deeply torn.
What now? She had no idea when the rain would stop, and the key thing was she was hungry and wanted dinner.
Just dash out there?
Forget it, she didn't have the guts. She'd better wait.
If it really came to it, she'd just have to call Brandy and ask her to bring something over.
Neurosurgery office.
When it hit six, Caleb Lockwood had already finished up the work at hand on the dot and was about to get off work.
Shut down the computer, take off his white coat, wash his hands…
After doing all that, just as Caleb Lockwood was about to leave, he heard Victor Rhodes say, "Teacher Lockwood, it's raining outside. Don't forget your umbrella."
Victor Rhodes knew Teacher Lockwood kept an umbrella in the duty room just in case.
Caleb Lockwood gave a quiet "mm," his expression as cool as ever, then strode out.
When he was almost at the hospital entrance, he suddenly saw a familiar figure.
A slender, petite back—she had her back to him, but he could still see her profile, overlapping perfectly with the face in his memory.
The girl looked down at her phone for a bit, then looked up at the sky, pacing in place every now and then.
By the looks of it, she was waiting for the rain to stop, and she'd already grown impatient.
Caleb Lockwood subconsciously glanced at the black umbrella in his hand. His handsome brows knit slightly, and his long, jointed fingers pinched the handle, as if torn about something.
If he invited her to share his umbrella and she turned him down, that'd be really awkward.
If he just handed her the umbrella, what if she felt too embarrassed to accept it?
Suddenly, the furrow in his brow eased.
He turned around and walked back.
-
Serena Sutton was indeed getting impatient. Just as she was about to call Brandy Quinn, someone suddenly tugged on her clothes.
She turned around and saw a little boy of about five or six standing behind her, looking up at her with big, innocent eyes.
"Pretty sister, here, this is for you." A chubby little hand reached out, holding a black umbrella.
Serena Sutton looked at the umbrella he was offering and hesitated.
Then she heard the little kid say, "Pretty sister, I'm not a bad person. My mom's a doctor in the imaging department. Our teacher taught us we should be ready to help others and protect the weak. I saw you standing here for a long time, so it must be because you don't have an umbrella, right?"
Serena Sutton let out an embarrassed smile. Even a little kid could see it; how awkward.
She hesitantly took the umbrella from his hand. "Then how am I supposed to return it to you later?"
"Hmm…" The little boy chewed on his finger, his eyes darting around. "Just leave it at the information desk over there."
After all, it wasn't his umbrella anyway, so he didn't really care where it ended up.
Serena followed his finger with her eyes and nodded. "Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome." With that, the little boy pattered away.
Serena Sutton opened the umbrella, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile. Kids these days really were quite considerate.
On the second floor, in front of the wide glass window.
Caleb Lockwood had one hand in his pocket, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the figure downstairs.
"Dr. Lockwood, mission accomplished." The childish-looking little boy ran up to Caleb, his voice crisp as he reported in, waiting to be praised.
Caleb Lockwood looked down at the boy grinning up at him, and the corners of his own lips lifted. "Thanks."
"Ah, Dr. Lockwood, you smiled! I'm gonna go tell my mom that Dr. Lockwood does know how to smile—and he's even more handsome when he does…" the little boy said as he gradually ran off.
Caleb Lockwood's gaze returned once more to the view downstairs. Watching that slim figure gradually disappear into the rain, a trace of tenderness flickered in his deep eyes—so faint that even he himself didn't notice it.