The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 25.2

Chapter 25.2: Moon

A dense, spreading pain came over her body. She couldn’t tell where the pain was coming from, whether it was due to extreme frustration or a relapse of an old illness.

After a long time, she heard the sound of a door being pushed open.

It was soft and repressed, like a thief from outside the house.

She didn’t actually expect anyone to come see her.

Then, the sofa was kicked. “Lin Ke?”

The living room lights came on. Lin Ke opened her eyes. Duan Jiayang appeared in front of her. She closed her eyes again. “Why did you come back?”

Duan Jiayang was holding a bag of things. The transparent bag contained all kinds of snacks and a slice of cake. She dropped it on the table and said, “I ran into the housekeeper. He brought this back from a celebratory banquet. I’m full, so it would be a waste to throw it out. Since you love eating junk so much, you can have it.”

Lin Ke said, “Thank you, Xiao Yang.”

Lying.

You brought this for me. The housekeeper couldn’t have given you this. He went to Hong Kong to help my mom and your dad with the prenatal checkups and to find out the baby’s gender.

Duan Jiayang handed her a piece of cake. Her lips moved, but she didn’t move her body. Duan Jiayang kicked her hard. “Do you want me to feed you?” Lin Ke opened her mouth but couldn’t eat. Duan Jiayang noticed something was wrong. She frowned and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“My legs hurt.”

Lin Ke was convulsing, her legs trembling as if they were cramping.

Duan Jiayang paused for a moment, then immediately reached for her phone. She handed it to her. “Call your mom. Do you have any medicine? Do you have medicine to take?”

“I called. She’s not picking up now.”

Phones have radiation, so they might affect the baby. Lin Wan hadn’t been answering her phone for a long time. She also hadn’t taken her for a follow-up checkup at the hospital for a long time. “There’s no medicine for this, either.”

“It’ll be better tomorrow,” she said.

“Is your mom sick in the head?” Duan Jiayang tried to call her dad and realized he was also out of his mind. For a moment, she didn’t know who to call. She called Lan Yao. Lin Ke stared intently at her. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Sweat was beading on her face, and her lips were so tightly pressed together, it was clear she wasn’t fine.

Lin Ke said, “Call 120.”

Duan Jiayang switched to 120. The call connected. It would take twenty minutes for the ambulance to arrive. She bit her lip, got up, and went to the garage to get a bicycle. She wheeled the bike into the house and helped Lin Ke onto it. “It’s a hassle for the ambulance to drive in. I’ll take you outside to wait.”

Lin Ke nodded. Duan Jiayang put Lin Ke’s arm over her shoulder and helped her onto the bike. Lin Ke put her hand on the bike seat and pushed her out. Their house was too big. Normally, it would take several minutes for a car to drive in. She pushed the bike step by step, turning her head from time to time to look at Lin Ke. “Are your legs feeling better?”

“It still hurts.” Her legs were pressed together. The wind blew, revealing a pair of long, not-so-pale or beautiful legs.

The rain was pouring down. They only had one umbrella. Lin Ke held it close to her body, and the umbrella was held over her head. Duan Jiayang’s jacket was covering her legs. She herself was soaked from head to toe, her hair clinging messily to her cheeks. She asked, “Does it still hurt?”

The girl was not as delicate or pretty as she was on a sunny day. Lin Ke’s lips were pursed. She whispered, “Move closer. I’ll hold the umbrella for you.”

“Ah? Is it really hurting? Is it?” Duan Jiayang frowned. She looked at the curb beside them. She held the handlebars with both hands, asking Lin Ke to lie on her back. Lin Ke put her hands on her back and wrapped them around her waist. Duan Jiayang abruptly pushed the bike away. She bit her lip and carried Lin Ke on her back to a rock by the roadside to sit. She crouched down and looked at Lin Ke’s legs. “Roll up your pant legs.”

Lin Ke held the umbrella handle. “It’ll scare you.”

“Hurry up, or you’ll become a cripple.”

Lin Ke pulled up her pant legs. It was a dark, rainy night. Duan Jiayang couldn’t see how many scars were on her skin, but her fingers felt the rough, bumpy texture. Lin Ke, however, could feel the softness of her fingers. Duan Jiayang was afraid she would be crippled. She rubbed her calves with her hands, up and down.

Lin Ke kept tilting the umbrella toward her. Duan Jiayang raised her hand and pushed the umbrella back over her head, letting herself get soaked by the rain. Lin Ke quietly pushed the umbrella back to cover Duan Jiayang’s head.

At that time, they were both drenched. The umbrella in their hands was flipped over several times. The wind shook the leaves violently, and the raindrops hit the umbrella with a pitter-patter. Lin Ke heard the sound of rain for the first time, and for the first time… she felt a hint of warmth from someone else’s palm on a cold night.

This moment was imprinted in Lin Ke’s life. Every scene became a beautiful film reel in the carousel of her memory. Her hand, holding the umbrella, was trembling. She thought that even if she died one day, she would never forget this day.

Lin Ke was lifted into the ambulance. She tried to grab Duan Jiayang’s clothes. Duan Jiayang raised her hand and wiped her face, and their fingers just missed each other.

Lin Ke’s fingers gripped the sheet tightly. Her whole body was stiff like a corpse.

The wind was blowing too hard. Lin Ke heard the conversation between the doctor and the nurse.

When she came out of the emergency room, she opened her eyes and saw Duan Jiayang again.

She still came.

Duan Jiayang was also scared, scared that Lin Ke would die.

It wasn’t that she had feelings for Lin Ke. She just had pity for a seventeen-year-old life. She had seen her mother’s legs. Her mother had sat in a wheelchair, getting thinner and thinner, withering away.

A beautiful flower should bloom. It shouldn’t have its petals torn off and be left to wither.

Lin Ke lay in the emergency room. Two doctors were massaging her legs.

She lay on the bed, and a glimmer of light appeared in her numb eyes.

There was a painkiller in this world after all.

Duan Jiayang sat next to Lin Ke, shivering as if she had just realized how cold she was. Duan Jiayang hugged her arms and then pointed to Lin Ke’s legs wrapped in hot towels. “Does it still hurt?”

“I can’t feel it anymore.”

The doctor went out. Duan Jiayang quickly followed and asked. There was a doctor and a nurse outside. It was the first time Duan Jiayang had heard the word “domestic violence” from a doctor. She opened her lips and then covered her mouth. She turned to look at Lin Ke. Lin Ke’s face was still pale. She curved her lips and smiled at Duan Jiayang. Duan Jiayang shuddered, her legs trembling.

Burning one’s legs with fire… must be more painful than having them soaked in rain.

Would Lin Ke consider this domestic violence?

She listened to everything her mom said.

The doctor came back with a female doctor. The female doctor asked Lin Ke to take off her top, saying they would do a full examination. Duan Jiayang stood outside. She had a hidden desire for revenge. This desire diluted the regret she felt for helping Lin Ke and betraying her mom. She hoped the doctors would find evidence and have Lin Wan arrested, locked up in jail forever, never to come out.

After the doctor came out, she asked Duan Jiayang a few more questions. Duan Jiayang answered each one, saying that Lin Ke’s mom didn’t care about her and that she was a homewrecker who destroyed someone else’s family. She was vague about the relationship between the mother and daughter. She went on and on about how Lin Wan was a person with terrible character and a malicious heart.

After she finished, the doctor reminded her to go back and change. Duan Jiayang didn’t go back to the hospital room. She took a taxi back to change her clothes and also brought Lin Ke’s clothes. She also bought food and carried the bags into the hospital. At the entrance, she saw Lin Ke looking at her.

Lin Ke’s black pupils completely enveloped her figure. Duan Jiayang felt strange inside. Because she didn’t dislike it. There was a kind of excitement, like being pushed to the top of a mountain and feeling the wind blow.

She didn’t know what the hospital had done, but they had been upgraded to a better room. The doctors were changed twice, but no police came to ask about the situation. Duan Jiayang’s hope was replaced by disappointment.

Lin Ke said, “It’s all on record… I wasn’t abused by my mom.”

Duan Jiayang’s face flushed. She ran out and wandered aimlessly. Later, the weather cleared and got hotter. She could only stay in the hospital room. They ate together. Lin Ke’s clothes had been changed, and Duan Jiayang took them back to wash. When she threw both of their clothes into the washing machine, she felt annoyed and upset. How had she become Lin Ke’s nanny? She called Duan Litian. The person who answered was often Duan Litian’s secretary.

Duan Jiayang felt a deep sense of panic, worried that her dad had gone bankrupt and run away with Lin Ke’s mom, leaving only her and Lin Ke behind… During those few days of taking care of Lin Ke, she developed a sense of mutual dependence. She went online to look up Xue Tang Motors and saw negative reviews. She secretly cried a few times.

At night, she didn’t dare to go home and slept in the hospital room. She heard Lin Ke turn over and let out muffled groans several times. She quickly wiped away her tears. She got out of bed and asked, “Does it hurt again?”

Lin Ke blinked.

It hurt a lot. It felt like her bones were being broken. The feeling of being beaten and abused always came back. But she hoped it would hurt like this every day. She hoped it would hurt every time Lan Yao came to see Duan Jiayang.

She thought twistedly. Duan Jiayang got out of bed, went out, and came back with a box of medicine in her hand. “Rub the medicine on yourself.”

Lin Ke looked at her, unable to move.

Duan Jiayang gritted her teeth. She violently and forcefully rubbed the medicine into her palm and then gently massaged it onto her legs.

Duan Jiayang was touching her legs… ugly, scarred legs. Lin Ke had used these legs to lie and to scare her.

Lin Ke was in a lot of pain. She grabbed the bedsheets. When Duan Jiayang touched her, a nerve twitched with excitement, making her dizzy. She grabbed Duan Jiayang’s arm. Duan Jiayang’s star-like eyes glared coldly.

“Massage down… It’s twitching there.”

Duan Jiayang immediately found the twitching nerve and pinched her excitement.

Lin Ke reached out and pinched her arm.

“What’s wrong?” Duan Jiayang turned her head.

Lin Ke shook her head again, seeing the wet marks in Duan Jiayang’s eye sockets.

She also felt bad inside: I don’t want her to cry at all.

For ten days of the holiday, four were spent in the hospital. For the first time in her life, Duan Jiayang did so many things: paying bills, getting medicine, and arranging for her to be discharged.

The weather was hot, like a raging furnace. She ran up and down, unable to tell if it was sweat or tears. She went upstairs and wheeled out a wheelchair, feeling both complex and sad.

When she pushed the door open, Lin Ke was struggling to get her pants on. She immediately pulled the door shut. She held the wheelchair and asked, “Has your mom still not come back?”

“She said she’ll be here soon.”

“Adults always break their promises.”

The cicadas were chirping everywhere. The summer was hot.

Duan Jiayang’s hand rested on the wheelchair. The two of them came out of the hospital. Lin Ke saw Duan Jiayang’s hand on the armrest of the wheelchair. The moment her hand lifted, Duan Jiayang ran forward and called out pitifully, “Sister Lan Yao.”

Lan Yao walked over in a few steps, took the things from Duan Jiayang’s hands, and reached out to rub Duan Jiayang’s shoulder. Duan Jiayang immediately linked arms with her.

Lan Yao comforted her and said, “Is there anything else? I’ll go help you get it.”

Duan Jiayang was quite good at organizing. She had already packed her and Lin Ke’s things separately. Lan Yao took the clothes hanging on the wheelchair and put them in the trunk. Duan Jiayang pushed Lin Ke forward, getting her into the back. She herself sat in the middle. Lan Yao got in and sat next to her. The two of them were talking and laughing. Lan Yao ruffled her hair.

Lin Ke clenched her hands tightly. Jealousy was driving her crazy.

Before, she could control it and not care. Now, she couldn’t ignore it.

Duan Jiayang asked, “Sister Lan Yao, is this your car? It looks very new. It’s the limited-edition model from our Xue Tang brand.”

“Yes. It’s a reward from my dad. I chose your family’s car.”

Lan Yao also said, “It rained yesterday. I helped you bring the little cats back home.”

At that moment, Lin Ke understood.

It was the feeling of not being able to be in control… it was a feeling of deep insecurity.

A vague, unclear idea became concrete.

She had an evil thought.

Duan Jiayang should be hers…

At that time, the three of them sat together. It was a hot summer day.

Duan Jiayang was in the middle.

Lin Ke’s long leg was pressing against the thin, white hem of Duan Jiayang’s skirt. Duan Jiayang couldn’t move in the middle.

Lan Yao looked down at the lace on her cuff. As the car moved, a long leg pressed tightly against her leg, and a hand grabbed her wrist.

Both of them pinned her to the seat… The three-seater car suddenly felt crowded.

The temperatures on both sides were too high. Lin Ke also secretly pinched the hem of her clothes, trying to pull it away from Lan Yao’s hand.

Duan Jiayang had nowhere to hide.

Squeezed in the middle, it was even a little difficult for her to breathe.