Midnight rounds: Encountering a mysterious female patient

She's Sleepwalking

I instructed the nurse to inject a certain dose of sedative for a woman named Li Yun and then returned to the duty room. I admit, I was beginning to take a keen interest in this attractive patient. Not just because of her beauty, but more so because I was curious about why she was considered an extremely dangerous patient.

Li Yun slept peacefully. I sat in the duty room, staring listlessly at the flickering computer screen. Curious, I asked the caregiver who brought Li Yun here, and she told me, "Her? She lay under her bed for a whole month. If the neighbors hadn't smelled the stench, who knows how long she would have stayed there. You know? She even cooked and ate most of that woman's body. When the police forced open her door, there was an arm cooking in the pressure cooker, chopped into pieces. Sadly, they've never found the head of the woman she killed, maybe she ate it. Oh, she looks beautiful but truly has a heart as cold as a snake's!"

Listening to this, my hairs stood on end. It seemed unimaginable how ruthless a woman could be. Thankfully, since I didn't have a girlfriend, I felt a bit relieved.

Because Li Yun suffered from long-term schizophrenia and was not legally responsible, she was sent to the Orchid Grass Hospital, where I became responsible for her long-term care. It was alright since glimpsing a beautiful female patient in a mental hospital occasionally surely served as a distraction for my monotonous days.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The weather gradually cooled, and as I saw the first sycamore leaf fall in the hospital's courtyard, I realized autumn had arrived.

Under active treatment, Li Yun's condition improved day by day. Every afternoon, I wheeled her out into the courtyard to soak up some sun. Each time, she remained silent, gazing at the lines on her palms as if devoid of thought. I tried to find topics to discuss, but she always treated me as if I were invisible, allowing me to perform stand-up comedy alone.

Wanting to give Li Yun a gift, I secretly checked her file and discovered her birthday was in a few days. I wanted to surprise her, even if she might not care about my gesture.

Another late night, it was my shift. I didn't feel like using the computer; ever since Li Yun arrived, my online friends gradually faded away, and the solace of online chats was no longer there. I opened a book about treating schizophrenia, genuinely dedicated to curing Li Yun's illness. Of course, I had selfish reasons too, wanting to get closer to her.

I'm not sure how long I read—perhaps two hours or maybe five. My eyes started to sting, so I closed the book, shut my eyes, and began eye exercises.

Suddenly, a faint voice sounded beside me, a woman's voice: "What time is it now?"

I looked up to see a woman standing outside the medication window. Due to the backlight, I couldn't see her face clearly, but her figure seemed familiar.

Out of habit, I checked the time on my phone and replied, "Four thirty."

The woman murmured, turned, and walked slowly towards the elevator. Her long hair cascaded down her back, gently swaying in the draft, her knees seemingly unmoving, almost floating. I hurried out of the duty room and saw her unabashedly stretching out her limbs, standing boldly in front of the green elevator doors, hands pressed firmly against the cold metal. I ran up behind her and tapped her shoulder. As my hand touched her, I heard a faint snore.

Her body shook violently, she turned around, and I saw her face. Ah! It was Li Yun!

Her eyes half-closed, facing me. Only a few centimeters separated her face from mine, and I felt her warm breath distinctly.

As her eyes opened, they suddenly began to shake. She collapsed in front of me, fainting.

At that moment, I suddenly realized she was sleepwalking!

Sleepwalking was not uncommon in our hospital, but what was happening to me today? My mind was in a fog. Sleepwalking patients should never be awakened; it could worsen their condition. I quickly lifted Li Yun and took her back to her room.

Pushing open the wooden door, I laid her on the bed. The room was dark, with moonlight streaming through the iron window bars, casting a silvery veil over her. Li Yun's chest rose and fell rhythmically. Her face had a flush like a tide. I stood there, mesmerized, unintentionally lost in watching her.

Swallowing hard, I suppressed my desires and left her room, carefully closing the door behind me.