Free Web NovelChapter 284: Chapter 284: Injury
"Su Li, Su Li, come here."
Wu Sheng called out.
Su Li was just bringing out a clay pot when she heard Wu Sheng’s call and casually placed it on the coffee table.
"What is it?" she asked. Just as she started toward him, she heard a HISSING sound from the kitchen.
"You guys, come on out! The water’s boiling," Su Li called out before running back to the kitchen. She quickly turned off the gas and lifted the kettle off the stove.
The moment she lifted the kettle, she heard Wu Sheng’s panicked shout of "Little Mo!" from outside, followed by a THUD.
Su Li heard the commotion and rushed out. The sight nearly scared her to death.
The clay pot she had placed on the coffee table had fallen to the floor.
Wu Sheng stood to the side, holding Little Tang Mo.
"Did he get burned?" Su Li rushed over and pulled Little Tang Mo toward her to check.
As she checked him, she immediately noticed marks on Little Tang Mo’s hand. "Why is there blood? What happened?"
The color drained from Su Li’s face, leaving it deathly pale.
"He bit himself. I just went in to tell him it was time to eat, and he just..." Wu Sheng explained from the side.
The two words ’self-harm’ immediately flashed through Su Li’s mind.
Little Tang Mo had shown self-harming tendencies before. She had kept a close eye on him after she came back, only relaxing when she didn’t notice anything unusual. ’Who could have expected this?’
Cradling Little Tang Mo’s hand, Su Li collapsed to the floor. "I didn’t know, I didn’t know..."
Little Tang Mo’s face was taut. He didn’t look at Su Li, but stared in another direction.
Su Li unconsciously followed his gaze and saw Wu Sheng’s hand.
The palm of Wu Sheng’s hand, hanging at his side, was covered in large blisters, and the back of his hand was dotted with red spots.
"What happened to your hand?" Su Li exclaimed in shock.
After asking, she glanced at the overturned clay pot, then at the arm he still had half-wrapped around Little Tang Mo. It all became clear.
Su Li burst into tears.
"How could you... How could you use your hand?"
She reached out a trembling hand but didn’t dare touch Wu Sheng’s blistered palm.
The moment Su Li started crying, Little Tang Mo opened his mouth and also began to wail.
"It’s fine. It just looks scary," Wu Sheng said, trying to reassure them, his head already starting to ache.
He said it didn’t hurt, but in that instant, his forehead was already covered in cold sweat.
Earlier, after he had called for Su Li, Little Tang Mo had suddenly broken free from him and bolted out of the room.
Wu Sheng had chased after him. Trying to dodge Wu Sheng, Little Tang Mo bumped into the clay pot Su Li had just placed on the coffee table.
The clay pot tipped over, falling straight toward Little Tang Mo’s feet.
"Watch out!" Seeing what was happening, Wu Sheng, without a second thought, reached out to catch it with one hand while forcefully pulling Little Tang Mo away with the other.
The pot had just been taken off the stove; the contents were still bubbling.
Wu Sheng didn’t have hands of iron. How could he possibly withstand catching it directly?
He only held it for two or three seconds before he pulled Little Tang Mo clear and let go.
The clay pot fell to the floor, but his hand had already paid the price.
Even if his hands were tough and calloused, they were still made of flesh and blood.
Su Li cradled Wu Sheng’s hand, her own hands trembling.
The parts splashed by the soup were just red; the worst was his palm, which had made direct contact with the pot.
"We need to go to the hospital, now."
Su Li grabbed Wu Sheng and started pulling him toward the door.
"It’s fine, really. Don’t panic. It just looks scary," Wu Sheng said again.
"Do you think I’m an idiot? How could it be fine? Let’s go to the hospital!" Su Li yelled, pushing him insistently.
"Alright, we’ll go. But you need to get dressed, and so does Little Point." Wu Sheng looked at Little Tang Mo, who was crying so hard he could barely breathe, and felt his headache worsen.
"Little Point, don’t cry. You’ll make yourself sick. Uncle is fine, it just hurts a little."
Su Li quickly dressed herself and Little Tang Mo.
On the way there, Su Li cried the entire time while also trying to tell Little Tang Mo not to cry.
With her crying nonstop, how could Little Tang Mo possibly stop?
The two of them cried all the way to the hospital, and they kept crying once they arrived.
Wu Sheng was sweating bullets, unsure if it was from the pain or the stifling atmosphere.
"Stop crying, both of you. My hand doesn’t hurt, but my heart does."
’What have I done to deserve this!’
’I finally understand what they mean when they say a woman’s tears are a terrifying thing.’
’Who could possibly stand this constant crying!’
"It was all to save Little Mo..." Su Li tried her best to stop crying, but she just couldn’t.
Seeing the state Su Li and Little Tang Mo were in, the doctor didn’t let them watch while he treated the wound. As a result, they just cried outside the door.
Wu Sheng started sweating again.
The doctor, both helpless and amused, said, "Don’t be nervous. It’ll be fine once it’s treated."
By the time the wound was treated and Wu Sheng came out, Su Li and Little Tang Mo had finally managed to stop crying.
Wu Sheng let out a huge sigh of relief.
But when it was time to treat Little Tang Mo’s wound, Su Li started crying again.
This time, it wasn’t like before. Her sobs were quiet and restrained, filled with nothing but self-blame.
"Why would Little Mo..."
She thought Little Tang Mo had gotten so much better, but she never imagined he was still self-harming.
’He’d bitten himself hard enough to draw blood. How much force must that have taken? How much must it have hurt!’
She had been bitten by Mrs. Tang once, so she knew that kind of pain.
Su Li was overcome with sadness and self-recrimination.
Everything had been so happy and joyful just a moment ago, but now...
Wu Sheng got hurt saving Little Tang Mo, and now Little Tang Mo was blaming himself.
And she hadn’t noticed a thing!
"Don’t blame yourself or be too upset. You haven’t found any injuries on him before, so this is probably the first time," Wu Sheng tried to console her.
Little Tang Mo had indeed been trying hard to control himself, precisely so he wouldn’t make Su Li worry.
The reason he lost control today, when it came down to it, was because of Wu Sheng.
He had wanted to stop Wu Sheng, but he was powerless.
Remembering the words he had overheard earlier and seeing Wu Sheng and Su Li together, he had tried to shout from the side—tried to scream at Wu Sheng, telling him not to hug Su Li.
But he couldn’t make a sound.
He had gone back to his room, trying to shout, screaming with all his might, but still no sound came out.
That was what ultimately led to the situation Wu Sheng discovered.
"I should have noticed earlier. The doctor specifically warned me, but I just didn’t see it..."
How could Su Li not blame herself? She was terrified that Little Tang Mo had done this before.
The doctor who had treated the wound came out, confirming Su Li’s fears.
Little Tang Mo’s self-harm... had never stopped!
Neither the physical nor the psychological.
He had simply learned to hide it.
"The wound on his hand is a small matter; it’ll heal in a couple of days. The child’s most serious injury is his throat." ƒrēewebnovel.com
A flash of restrained anger crossed the doctor’s face.
"The damage to his throat was caused by prolonged, forceful attempts to speak. Any later, and his vocal cords would have been permanently damaged. Have you been forcing him to speak?"
The doctor had seen this kind of situation before in patients who had become mute due to acquired causes.
Su Li nearly collapsed.
"No, I haven’t."
"His throat is severely inflamed. And because it went untreated, he continued to eat without any dietary restrictions, which has made the situation very serious. If you had waited any longer, the child could have collapsed. The consequences would have been unimaginable."
At that point, it would no longer be a psychological inability to speak, but a physiological one.
