To stare into the void is to know this feeling. Waiting for a person or an event that stubbornly refuses to arrive. The more desperately you wait, the more it plays hide-and-seek, until your impatience burns away all those initial beautiful fantasies, and the wait transforms into sheer torment. The afflicted individual becomes like a soul cast into the netherworld, enduring exquisite, heart-wrenching torture.

Wang Jue vanished immediately after that passionate declaration and those solemn promises. No one inquired about my condition; no one discussed my discharge. Save for Wenshu, who would visit with stories and comfort when she wasn't busy, my world remained confined to this nine-square-meter room. I asked her to help contact my older sister, but every call—to home or her mobile—went unanswered. Recalling the scene when Li Xiaoshu B brought her over that day sent a chill through me. Had something happened to her? Had they taken her for some sacrificial rite? A flood of conjectures and questions erupted incessantly in my mind.

Knock, knock, knock… A frantic knocking echoed.

“Come in.”

Creeeeak… Wenshu pushed the door open, sweat beading on her brow, gasping for breath. “Your sister and Doctor Wang are in trouble!”

I started in shock and scrambled out of bed. “What happened to them?”

“The hospital approved your discharge, but a guardian needs to complete the paperwork. Since they couldn’t reach your sister, Doctor Wang went to find her. Apparently, she had returned alone to the old hometown. Doctor Wang requested a few days off and drove there to look for her. He found her, but they were in a car accident on the way back, and now they are both hospitalized…”

“How bad are their injuries? Is my sister alright?” I jumped up instantly. If Wenshu hadn't held me back with all her strength, I would have charged straight out the hospital entrance and smashed the doors down to run.

“I don’t know the details yet. Don’t panic; I’ll keep in contact with that hospital. I’ll tell you the moment I hear anything.”

The waiting that followed was absolute agony. I couldn’t sit still, riddled with anxiety, irritable and restless; nothing looked right, and everything made me want to lash out. Even Wenshu seemed frightened to speak, minimizing her contact with me. Yet, she was the one person I desperately needed. No matter the time, the moment I caught her, I interrogated her relentlessly, like some neurotic patient. Perhaps I was the patient; what else was I, residing here, if not an inmate of a mental ward?

After several days spent churning like ants in a hot pan, Wenshu still had no news. I cornered the director, the deputy director, and the department head. They confirmed Wenshu’s report was true, but they all stated they were waiting for updates from the other side. Clearly, this was no small matter.

Just as I was worrying myself prematurely gray-haired, someone arrived at the visitor’s lounge. Wenshu said it was Li Xiaoshu. Li Xiaoshu A and Li Xiaoshu B were identical twins; I had no idea which one had arrived today. Whichever it was, I intended to demand an explanation, to get the whole story straight. I couldn’t allow myself to be manipulated again as I had been the previous two times.

I straightened my clothes and went to the lounge. Li Xiaoshu A or B was lounging on the central sofa, legs crossed. Seeing me enter, he smiled, pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, and placed it on the table, gesturing for me to look.

Wondering what new trick he was playing, I tensed my nerves, picked up the phone. A video was playing. The image was blurry and shook constantly; there were shouts and the sound of driving. Leaning closer to examine it carefully, I saw that Wang Jue was driving, appearing frantic and caught off guard, as if encountering sudden peril. A person flickered in and out of view beside him, shouting loudly. I paused the frame and squinted: it was my sister!

Heavens! This was the video footage from when they had their car accident!

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