Chapter 38 — After Doctor Diep Disappeared

He wasn't sure if this child wanted him to touch him or not. 6 hours 47 minutes. The hospital room door was pushed open. Co Han Chau raised his head. Diep Nam Sanh stood outside the door. She wore a long beige coat, her hair was loose around her shoulders, and there was no expression on her face. Co Han Chau's pupils suddenly dilated, he stood up from his chair, his lips trembling.

"Nam Sanh... I'm here."

Diep Nam Sanh did not look at him. Her eyes passed Co Han Chau and fell straight to the hospital bed. Co Tu Mac heard the noise and turned around. The moment he saw Diep Nam Sanh, the boy's eyes immediately filled with tears.

“Mom.”

The boy's voice was both light and hoarse, the oxygen tube made these two words compressed and blurred.

“Mom, you're here.”

Diep Nam Sanh walked to the bed. She stood there, looking down at this thirteen year old boy with the eyes of a superior. Co Tu Mac reached out his left hand to grab the hem of her shirt, the gauze on his wrist was still bleeding. Diep Nam Sanh did not raise his hand. Her eyes glanced over the wound on the boy's wrist, then back to his face.

"This miserable tactic, your father used it in the past."

Her voice was as flat as words written on a white piece of paper, without emotion, without warmth.

“It won't work.”

Co Tu Mac's hand stiffened in mid-air. Co Han Chau stood next to him, opening his mouth to say something, but Diep Nam Sanh raised his hand to stop him. Her index finger pointed straight at him, her eyes not looking, but the meaning of that gesture was extremely clear. Shut. She moved her eyes to look at the child on the hospital bed again.

“Co Tu Mac, the bento box I made for you, how did you handle it?”

A flash of panic flashed through Co Tu Mac's eyes.

“You threw the lunch box in my face, saying Aunt Tham's food was delicious, and the food I cooked for the dog didn't even want to eat it.”

"That winter, I brought you a bowl of hot porridge to pick you up after school. You brought the bowl and threw it straight at me, saying I made you lose face."

"At the parent meeting, you stood in front of all the parents and announced to the teacher that I am not your mother, your mother is Tham Moc Ngung."

She talks about each thing one by one, her speaking speed is neither fast nor slow. Each task is like comparing a debt settlement. Co Tu Mac's lips began to tremble, tears fell from the corners of his eyes onto the pillow.

"At that time... I was still young..."

“Still young.” Diep Nam Sanh repeated these two words.

She nodded, as if confirming something.

“So now that you're older, you probably know how to read.”

She took out the file bag from her pocket and placed it on the bedside table.

"The paper severing the relationship between mother and child, you can sign it yourself when you are fourteen years old. I will transfer the alimony money to your father's card every month."

She stood straight and adjusted her coat collar.

“From today on, the grudges between us have been settled, and kindness is broken.”

Opening his mouth, Co Tu Mac gasped, the sound coming out was like being forcefully forced out of his lungs.

“Mom… Mom, don't go…”

The boy wanted to sit up, but the arm with the needle inserted used force, the adhesive bandage was torn, blood flowed out along the infusion line. The nurse ran in from outside and held the boy tightly. Diep Nam Sanh turned around and walked out the door. She never looked back. The rhythmic sound of high heels moved away farther and farther away. Co Tu Mac cried bitterly on the hospital bed, that sound like the sound of a small animal having its leg broken, shrill and trembling. Co Han Chau's legs couldn't stand anymore, he slowly slid down, his back leaned against the wall and he sat on the ground. … Five years later. On the old street in the Northwest Thanh area, there is another crazy guy. His hair was matted into patches, and his beard and whiskers covered half of his face. He was wearing a vest, but the shirt's original color was no longer visible, the sleeves were torn, and the back had a slit that exposed the inner lining.