Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 53

Li Nuo, who was sent into the operating room, stared at the shadowless lamp above in a daze. The nurses undressed him and restrained his hands and feet to prevent movement during the surgery, and he felt a slight sting at his ankle. From the corner of his eye, he saw the IV stand being moved over.

The lead surgeon was He Yan, who was wearing a mask and green surgical scrubs at the time. Only his eyes were visible, locking gazes with Li Nuo.

Noticing Li Nuo’s gaze, He Yan’s eyes curved slightly. “It’ll all be over when you wake up. Don’t worry.”

His comforting words prompted Li Nuo to nod. The anesthetic began to take effect, and in the blink of an eye, he lost consciousness.

……………

Li Nuo struggled to open his eyelids. He couldn’t determine his location, but his blurry vision quickly cleared.

It’s a hospital room.

The next moment, he sensed something was off. This wasn’t the hospital room he had been staying in recently, nor the one he had been in before. It was another place.

The layout and structure were different, yet strangely familiar. He instinctively knew it was a hospital room, as though he had stayed here for a long time.

He turned his head, wanting to look around, but his body was still too weak to move. He could only use his eyes to scan his surroundings.

Am I dreaming?

A dream caused by the anesthesia? But my consciousness feels so clear.

All Li Nuo could do was wait to wake up. Then he heard footsteps—someone was approaching the hospital bed.

A doctor in a white coat appeared, his face blurry, with only his moving mouth visible. He seemed to be speaking.

What is he saying? I can’t hear.

Li Nuo’s gaze drifted downward. The familiar white hospital blanket was there, and on top of it lay a hand, thin and bony. Whose hand was that?

Ah, it’s mine.

It’s my real body.

As this realization dawned on him, his vision began to spin. His consciousness felt like it was being thrown into a washing machine, the overwhelming sensation of upheaval making him almost want to vomit.

In the next moment, he woke up from the dream.

Li Nuo opened his eyes and saw the familiar ceiling. Everything from the dream was rapidly fading away, leaving only faint traces of memory.

He shifted his head slightly and saw Li Yan leaning on the side of the bed. Li Nuo wanted to call out to Li Yan, but the breathing mask was still on his face, and his finger was clamped with a heart rate monitor.

His consciousness was still hazy. Li Nuo stared at the ceiling, feeling drowsy again.

But Li Yan suddenly jolted awake, his abrupt movement dispelling Li Nuo’s sleepiness.

Li Yan, upon making eye contact with his brother, immediately looked at the monitors. The heart rate displayed was very stable.

He immediately pressed the call bell. Despite his worry, he was relieved that his brother woke up so quickly.

Li Nuo looked at his brother’s anxious expression and tried his best to smile to reassure him.

He Yan came with the nurses to conduct a thorough examination. “Your condition is better than I expected. Waking up this quickly—I thought you’d sleep for at least a few more days.”

Li Nuo managed a weak smile. He still didn’t have the strength to speak. After the examination, the quiet hospital room once again stirred his drowsiness.

He closed his eyes again.

The surgery had been very successful. Li Nuo stayed in the intensive care unit for one day and then was transferred back to his hospital room, where he remained unconscious for two more days before finally waking up.

Mo Chuan and Qin Xu visited several times, but Li Nuo was still asleep during their visits.

Li Nuo’s recovery was faster than expected. He followed the doctor’s orders rigorously, which, of course, was aided by Li Yan’s meticulous care.

To ensure optimal recovery of the wound, Li Nuo avoided unnecessary movement as much as possible. His hand remained hooked up to IV drips, leaving bruises all over, yet he never complained about the pain. Despite the bitter taste of the prescribed medication, he took every dose as directed.

Even during the painful wound disinfection process, he gritted his teeth and endured it silently. He Yan handled the procedure as gently as possible, but without anesthesia, the disinfectant directly contacting the still-healing wound caused Li Nuo to clench his teeth and break out in a cold sweat. What made it worse was that this process had to be repeated several times during the early stages of recovery.

After enduring it all, the wound healed well.

Li Nuo sat on the hospital bed, blankly staring at the scar on his chest.

“What are you looking at?” He Yan, noticing Li Nuo’s dazed expression, asked curiously.

“I was just thinking about how amazing the human body is…”

Li Nuo’s chest wound had already begun to heal. The pale-yellow disinfectant obscured the original color of his skin, as though his entire body had been marinated.

Although the wound was a deep incision, it had already begun to scab. Moreover, he felt that his breathing wasn’t as labored as it had been before.

He Yan smiled slightly as he reapplied the gauze. “It’s been quite a while already. You were taking painkillers for the past few days, weren’t you? Without them, you wouldn’t have been able to endure the pain of having the dressing changed and the wound cleaned—who knows, you might’ve fainted from the pain.”

Li Nuo shivered. Now that he had stopped taking painkillers, changing the dressings was still agonizing. He could only imagine how excruciating it must have been earlier.

He Yan patted him on the head. “You still need to be careful. Your body is very weak, and the surgery caused significant blood loss. You’ll need to continue taking the medicine I prescribed, and you must make sure to attend follow-up appointments regularly.”

Hearing He Yan’s words, Li Nuo nodded. After going through so much suffering, he knew he needed to take better care of his body.

Seeing the seriousness on his face, He Yan smiled. “Just be careful, but don’t be too hesitant or overly cautious. Otherwise, the surgery would have been for nothing. If you feel unwell, go to the nearest hospital immediately, and then give me a call. After emergency treatment, you’ll be transferred back here.”

He Yan patted Li Nuo’s head again and suddenly remarked, “Oh, you washed your hair?”

“Ah, I couldn’t stand it anymore,” Li Nuo replied, pouting. “It was just too itchy.”

After the surgery, he couldn’t clean himself properly since the wound couldn’t get wet. At first, he couldn’t even move, so he could only make do with a simple wipe-down.

A few days ago, Li Yan had returned to work, so there was no one to help him. In the end, he had to hire a caregiver to wash his hair while he lay flat on the bed.

If he hadn’t done that, he felt like he’d start to smell.

A week after the surgery, Li Nuo could finally sit up slowly. But without Li Yan around, even walking was difficult without the caregiver’s assistance.

After all, the wound was not only large but also in a critical area.

As his thoughts wandered, Li Nuo glanced at the pager flashing in He Yan’s pocket. “Brother He, you should go. Brother Da Wen will be here soon.”

In the past few days, he’d gotten somewhat familiar with the caregiver.

“Alright then. Take care of yourself,” He Yan said, glancing at the book on the bedside table. “It’s good to read, but if you feel tired, stop immediately. Don’t exhaust yourself over this.”

“Got it, I know.”

After He Yan left, the hospital room fell into silence.

Lying on the bed, Li Nuo shifted his body slightly. The pain in his chest made him grimace, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

“Hiss… It’s truly painful.”

He turned his head toward the books, which were just some light reading materials that Li Yan had bought to help him pass the time. After all, he couldn’t spend all day staring at his phone.

Li Nuo had only read a little since holding up a book for too long made his arms sore. “Now that I think about it, since coming to this world, I haven’t read any online novels.”

At first, he had been nervous and hesitant when he was in this situation. Now, he found himself uninterested.

Just as he was feeling bored, Li Yan called.

“Brother, what are you doing? Have you had dinner yet?”

“I’ve eaten. Brother Da Wen hasn’t arrived yet, but he should be here soon. It’s about time.”

“Good. Also, don’t spend too much time on your phone. It’s bad for your eyes.”

“I’m not. I’ve been resting properly.”

“That’s good. Brother, don’t forget to get up and walk around a bit today.”

“Got it. Aren’t you coming by today?”

“Did you forget? I told you I’m going home today. I need to clean up the place.”

“Oh, right.”

Since Li Nuo had been hospitalized, this was Li Yan’s first time going home. Someone had to take care of the house; otherwise, it would quickly gather dust.

“Well, that’s it then. Remember to eat when you’re home—don’t just focus on cleaning.”

“I know. You don’t have to worry about me. Call me right away if anything happens.”

After hanging up, Li Nuo held his phone and continued staring blankly at the ceiling.

Brother Da Wen hadn’t arrived yet, and without someone to talk to, he felt quite bored.

His eyes darted around when he heard the sound of the hospital room door opening.

It should be Brother Da Wen, right? He turned his head to confirm the visitor.

The person who opened the hospital room door was Mo Chuan.

“Huh?”

“That’s not really an appropriate greeting, is it?”

“I’m just surprised to see you here at this hour, especially since you just got off work,” Li Nuo said with a smile, greeting the visitor. Mo Chuan usually came with Li Yan, but this was the first time he had come alone.

Li Nuo craned his neck to glance behind Mo Chuan. “Are you here by yourself?”

“Yes, I heard Secretary Li was going home today, so I thought I’d come over instead.”

“It must be boring for you to stay here alone,” Mo Chuan said as he removed the flowers from the vase and replaced them with a fresh bouquet he had brought.

“But the flowers aren’t even wilted yet.”

“In that case, I’ll bring an extra vase next time, so you can have two bouquets.”

“What’s that?”

Hidden beneath the flowers was a bag in Mo Chuan’s hand.

“A laptop. You can use it to entertain yourself when you’re bored. The screen on your phone is a bit too small, isn’t it?”

“There’s no need. Didn’t I tell you that there’s no need to buy expensive items?” Li Nuo shook his head in refusal.

He had said it so many times already—flowers and fruits were enough. But Mo Chuan never listened, always bringing something extra. Since Li Nuo couldn’t stop him, he had no choice but to request inexpensive items instead.

“Just use it for now. I already bought it anyway.”

“You can still return it.”

Li Nuo consistently declined Mo Chuan’s gifts, but Mo Chuan would always play the same card. “If you don’t want it, I’ll just throw it away. There’s no way I’m returning it.”

At moments like this, Li Nuo could only begrudgingly thank him, and Mo Chuan would respond with a triumphant smile.

For instance, at this moment, Mo Chuan directly unpacked the laptop and took it out. “With this, it’ll be much more convenient for you to look things up online.”

“Every gift I’ve given you is heartfelt, so please don’t reject them. I may seem like a cheerful person, but I’m actually very sensitive.”

Li Nuo looked at him with a complicated expression. Those who had been hurt by Mo Chuan in the past really ought to hear these words. This man, who had once been so heartless, was now here acting pitiful.

“Could you manage your facial expressions a little? Your disdainful thoughts are practically written all over your face,” Mo Chuan said with a wry smile, noticing Li Nuo’s expression.

“…I wasn’t thinking anything,” Li Nuo replied, averting his gaze.

“Don’t lie to me. Your thoughts are written all over your face.”

Mo Chuan chuckled and opened the laptop. It was the latest model, lightweight, high-performance, and carefully selected. He had even specifically asked Liu Ming to purchase it.

If it was for Li Nuo, it had to be the most suitable option.

“Do you know how to use it?”

Li Nuo shot him a look. “I’m not an idiot. I do live in the digital age, you know.”

“Then give it a try.”

Mo Chuan sat on the edge of the hospital bed, unfolded the small overbed table, placed the laptop on it, and adjusted the bed to the proper height.

“Have you thought about what you want to do after being discharged?”

“Hmm, I’m still considering it. The three-week secretarial job doesn’t seem very suitable for me. Maybe I’ll just look for a waiter job instead.” Speaking of this topic, Li Nuo became animated. Even though he hadn’t fully recovered yet, he was already imagining his future plans.

“But it’ll probably take quite some time before I’m in any condition to work again,” he added with a sigh. Even after being discharged, Brother He had advised him to recuperate at home for a while.

“Sigh, having poor health is such a hassle.”

He sighed deeply, a sentiment coming straight from his heart.