The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 29: Eyes Closed

Shanqing Third Hospital, one o’clock in the morning.

Gao Yang rushed into the lobby of the emergency department to see his sister sitting on a blue chair in the public area. She was still dressed in pajamas with a pair of slippers on her feet. Her hair ran messily down her shoulders. Her face was covered in tear streaks.

As soon as she saw Gao Yang, she rushed up to throw her arms around him and burst into tears again.

Gao Yang petted her on the head. “Where’s Dad?”

“Second floor. I’ll take you.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

Gao Yang had heard about what happened on his way here.

His father was talking business with a client until late at night. Since he had had a few drinks, he called a chauffeur to drive for him. However, the chauffeur turned out to be working overtime and collided with a small truck.

The chauffeur was killed then and there. Gao Yang’s father managed to escape death in the back seat with seatbelt on, but he suffered serious injury too. He was rescued from the car and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. The nurse found his wallet and ID when sorting out his clothes and called Gao Yang’s mother.

His mother almost fainted. Without changing her clothes, she rushed to the hospital with his sister in tow. His grandmother had health issues and was already asleep. The mother and daughter didn’t dare wake her up, let alone tell her what happened.

Gao Yang and his sister rushed out of the elevator. The first thing he saw was his mother. Wearing pajamas and slippers, she looked devastated with her messy hair and swollen eyes as she sat outside the operating room. The moment she saw her children, she shot to her feet and pulled them into her arms.

“I’m scared, mom...” His sister’s voice cracked.

His mother didn’t say anything, but her hands were shaking.

Gao Yang wrapped his arms around his mother and sister. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Dad will be fine.”

...

The surgery continued well into midnight.

The surgeon emerged from the operating room covered in blood. Wearing a surgery mask, he said in a tired voice, “Patient is now under no immediate threat to his life. However, the prognosis isn’t looking good. We’ve done all we can. The rest will be up to him. You’ll have to be prepared. Even if he lives, he may be bound to a wheelchair the rest of his life.”

“Thank you, Doctor! Thank you. All that matters is he lives...” Gao Yang’s mother said with grateful tears in her eyes. She could wish for nothing more.

“I’m only doing my job,” the doctor said a few more polite words before excusing himself.

Then Gao Yang and his family waited outside until five o’clock in the morning. Only when the doctor told them that his father had stabilized did his mother allow herself to relax.

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Seeing the tired look on their faces, Gao Yang told his mother and sister to go home and rest, but they refused to.

“All three of us have stayed up overnight,” Gao Yang said patiently. “We’ll have to take shifts taking care of Dad. You two should rest at home so that you can take over in the afternoon. Besides, both of you are still dressed in pajamas. That’s not how you should look in public. Please go home now.”

That finally got his mother to agree to go home. She looked up at him and said contently, “Our Yang Yang has grown up.”

Gao Yang paused. “Really?”

“Yeah, especially recently. Although you’ve been coming home late these days, it feels like...you’ve become much more mature.”

Conflicting feelings warred in his head. Gao Yang wouldn’t say he had matured after awakening. He had simply become more cautious.

Soon, his mother returned home with his sister, and Gao Yang stayed outside the ICU. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep with all the thoughts in his head. A childhood memory came to him, unbidden.

He and his family used to live in the rural area surrounding the city. His grandfather was still alive then, and all six of them lived together in a two-story cement building they built themselves. There was a front yard, outside which they had planted a maidenhair tree. Every autumn, it would cover the ground with golden leaves.

His family ran a small store called ‘Happy Mart’ selling snacks and everyday items. They were able to support themselves, but they would never make big money with it.

His father was smart and a shrewd businessman. In their house there were a lot of books on how to be successful. His father always said that once he had saved up enough capital, he would establish a factory with his friends and earn enough money to move the family to the city. He would buy a house in a good school district and a car, building a good life for his family.

When Gao Yang graduated from primary school, his father did earn a small fortune, enough to move his family to Li City.

His father established a food processing factory with his friend, which mainly produced bean products. To promote their products, his father was always out meeting clients. In his phone, he had accumulated the contact information of several thousands owners of supermarkets at various scales. The better his business was doing, the more social functions he had to attend. He spent half the time every month on drinking with his clients, and he always got really drunk.

Gao Yang’s thoughts were interrupted by approaching footsteps. He tensed up immediately.

Looking up, he saw the attending physician who had just saved his father. He had taken off his white coat and mask and changed into casual clothes.

“Here.” The doctor sat down next to Gao Yang with two cups of coffee. He offered one to Gao Yang. The warm smell was inviting.

“Thank you.” Gao Yang didn’t turn down the offer. His body felt much warmer after he took a sip.

Gao Yang observed the doctor from the corner of his eye. Although the man held himself with the presence of a middle-aged man, he looked young, like someone in his thirties.

He was tall and slim with pronounced facial features and a sculpted face. His hair was a little wavy, and he wore a pair of bookish black glasses, dark gray preppy cardigan, long khaki pants, and brown oxfords. He had an old-fashioned quartz watch on his wrist, and there was a simple silver band on his long ring finger.

Without his white coat, he looked more like a melancholy hipster.

He put both hands around his cup of coffee and took a sip before tilting his head to look at the window at the end of the hallway. The first ray of morning sun streamed down, casting the hallway in a soft, almost holy glow like the light had come from heaven.

“This is my favorite time of day,” the doctor said in a low but gentle voice.

Taken aback, Gao Yang realized belatedly that the man was talking to him. All he managed to say was, “Because...the morning sun fills one with hope?”

The doctor chuckled. “No, because I can finally get off work.”

Gao Yang laughed too.

“How old are you?” the doctor asked.

“Eighteen.”

“Ah, eighteen. So you’re taking your entrance exams soon?”

“I am.”

“Which school do you want to enter?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Your father...” The doctor sighed softly. “I think it’d be best for you to consider a local college. University of Li City is a good choice, and it’s one of the best schools.”

Gao Yang began to feel suspicious. The doctor was being way too friendly to him. He lowered his cup of coffee and shifted a little to the side.

That didn’t escape the man’s keen senses. With a faint smile, he said, “You’re scared of me, aren’t you?”

Gao Yang felt his heart tighten. Discreetly, he scanned the hallway for the elevator, emergency exit, and windows from the corner of his eye. He played dumb and said, “Scared? Why would I be scared of you?”

“You’re worried that I may be a monster,” said the doctor.

Gao Yang almost jumped, but the doctor quickly grabbed his wrist to hold him down. He wasn’t forceful, no, but his grip was firm. Gao Yang tried to break free and couldn’t. The man had exerted the right amount of force to make sure his grip was always a little stronger than Gao Yang’s struggle.

He smiled again. “Don’t be scared. You would have died already if I wanted to kill you.”

Gao Yang thought for a moment and realized that the man was right. He settled down somewhat and managed to put up a composed front. He asked without beating around the bush, “Are you an awakener, or a monster?”

“What do you think?” the doctor asked, still smiling.

“I don’t know,” Gao Yang admitted. The more he knew about monsters, the less he was able to tell them apart from humans.

“Talent: Red Eyes, serial number 131. I differentiate between humans and monsters based on their body temperature. In general, monsters run a little hotter than humans, and the distribution of body heat differs in a subtle but consistent way.” He turned to Gao Yang, his brown eyes suddenly glowing faintly of red. “That was how I was able to tell that you’re human.”

Gao Yang sighed in relief. Good thing it was only a false scare.

The doctor offered a handshake. “I’m Baili Yi.”

“Hello...Mr. Baili. I’m Gao Yang.” Gao Yang took the man’s hand and relaxed noticeably.

“You haven’t awakened for long, have you?” asked Baili Yi.

“How do you know?”

“You seem more scared of monsters than awakeners.”

Gao Yang paused. “Shouldn’t I?”

Baili Yi gave him a loaded smile. “What is there to be scared of monsters? As long as you play by the rules and keep up the pretense of an innocent lamb, they pose no danger to you. They aren’t so much pretending to be human but having the bodies and souls of both humans and monsters. As long as you avoid the trigger to awaken the personality and physical form of the monster, they are no different from us, and we can coexist.”

Gao Yang thought about it for a moment. That was similar to Officer Huang’s way of seeing things.

Baili Yi adjusted his posture and leaned forward. Morning light fanned out on his back, adding a rim of golden light along the frame of his glasses. “In comparison, humans are much scarier than monsters.”

Gao Yang ruminated on the statement. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

He decided to change the subject. “You’re a surgeon and operate on patients every day. Most of them are monsters, aren’t they? Won’t they be exposing themselves that way?”

Baili Yi shook his head. “Without transforming, monsters’ physiology is no different from that of humans, only their metabolism, ability to recover, and immune system are a little stronger, and their reproductive organs seem a little fake. However, I’ve seen some with almost perfect imitation of human physiology. I would’ve been fooled without my Red Eyes.”

Gao Yang immediately thought of Officer Huang’s pregnant wife. Perhaps she was a monster who perfectly mimicked humans.

Baili Yi continued to nurse his coffee and said in a tone one would talk about the weather with, “Monsters have a life cycle like humans too. They are weak when they are young, strong when they are at their prime, and decline steadily as they enter the last stretch of their lives. Since they behave like humans twenty-four seven, their abilities are always deteriorating. The older the monster, the weaker they are. Some elderly monsters may be no stronger than an adult human even when they transform.”

Gao Yang was reminded of Auntie Ho, the monster who attacked him and Qing Ling in the love hotel. Officer Huang had said back then that Auntie Ho had weakened quite a lot, or she would’ve been a greater threat.

“Then are my family humans...or monsters?” Gao Yang both wanted and dreaded the answer. The moment the question left his mouth, his throat constricted, and his heart pounded faster.

“I can’t tell you. It’s against the rules.” Baili Yi gave him an apologetic smile. “In fact, I’ve already broken some rules by talking to you today. Please keep this a secret between us.”

Ironically, Gao Yang actually let out a sigh of relief. Then something else came to mind, and he asked, “Are you a member of the organization as well?”

“Organization?” Baili Yi mused. “I would say I belong to an organization.”

“Mr. Baili, I’ve only awakened recently, and there are many things I’d like to ask you.” Gao Yang couldn’t let this chance slip. All the questions he had been agonizing over poured out from him.

“I heard that monsters don’t have a real reproductive system. Then how did they come about? How did humans come about? Why let humans into their mix, and why playhouse with us humans? Why do we only acquire Talents when we discover the truth of the world?”

“And why do monsters come after humans the moment we awaken like a switch has been flipped? How many kinds of monsters are there? Are they all bad? Can humans and monsters have babies? Are things only like this in this area, or is the entire world in the same state...”

Baili Yi smiled with amusement. “Poor boy. You’ve been keeping it all in.”

Gao Yang felt like crying. His head had been filled with all the questions since his awakening, and he was on the verge of losing his mind.

“My apology. There are many questions I don’t have an answer to, and those I can answer, I cannot share the information with you.” Baili Yi thought for a moment. “How about I give you a few words as a parting gift?”