Chapter 60

Two Sides of a Coin

The next afternoon.

Eren and Lila had asked for time off. They came in almost at a run, one on the other's heels. They were still coming to a stop when they saw Meng Xiangyang.

The ward wasn't large. A few iron-frame beds stood in a row, cloth curtains between them. Meng Xiangyang lay on the inner one, a hard board under him. Meng Shoucheng sat at the bedside, gray-green work clothes wrinkled past saving, a ring of dark under his eyes.

A nurse was handing him a clay bowl.

"For the pain. Feed him slow. And don't let him turn," the nurse said.

Meng Shoucheng answered at once.

On the bed, Meng Xiangyang's eyes were open, still a little unfocused. He heard the footsteps, dragged his eyes around with effort, saw Eren and the others, and his mouth moved.

"Brother Eren." His voice was very light, like a breath that hadn't filled. "Sister Lila."

Lila came half a step closer and put a smile on first.

"Good you're awake," she said. "How do you feel?"

Meng Xiangyang drew a breath. "Better than yesterday."

Yesterday he had barely woken at all. Better just meant his eyes were open.

He still wanted to smile after he said it. The corner of his mouth had just started up when pain pressed it back. Meng Shoucheng set the bowl down at once and bent over him.

"If it hurts, don't talk."

Meng Xiangyang drew another breath and kept going anyway. "It's nothing. Just these couple days. The doctor said we have to watch how it heals. I'm tough. I bounce back faster than most."

Lila nodded at once. "Right. Just rest. You're young. You'll come back quick."

She said it fast, afraid that slowing down would let something else show.

Meng Xiangyang heard the word "young," and his eyes brightened a little.

"That's what I think too," he said. "I'm not even twenty. Can't be finished in one hit. I'll do what the doctor says and let this heal. Brother Shoucheng, quit frowning like that. You frown any more, you'll look like an old man."

Meng Shoucheng stirred the bowl, head down, voice rough. "Enough out of you."

"I mean it." Meng Xiangyang caught two breaths, waited the pain out, and went on. "Even if… even if I don't stand again, I can still run a little stall sitting down. Town's this big. Plenty a man can do."

The smile on Lila's face stiffened.

Meng Xiangyang either didn't see it or chose not to. He talked faster than before.

"Food's fine. Needles, thread, toys—fine too. Put a little by. When the injury money comes through, I'll bring my folks here. Once they're here I won't be so scared. Brother Shoucheng, don't worry. I'm hard to kill."

He was the first to smile when he finished. A fine sweat had already come up at his temple.

For a moment nobody in the ward spoke.

Eren stood at the foot of the bed, looking at the edge of the brace.

"Don't get that far ahead," he said. "Once the injury's settled, I'll sit with you and figure it. We'll put some money in too. Work under you, boss."

"See? Brother Eren says it can work."

Eren said, "For now, just get the injury stable."

"Right. Stable first." Meng Xiangyang repeated it at once. "I'll do whatever the doctor says."

Lila looked down and pressed the quilt corner flat. The motion did nothing. Her hands just needed a place. When she looked up she smiled at Meng Xiangyang again.

"You rest," she said. "Once you can eat, I'll bring you something from East Street. Nova said it's good."

Meng Xiangyang watched the ceiling. The smile thinned, and got truer.

"It's a deal," he said. "When I can eat, you bring me some."

Lila stood a while longer. Every line out of Meng Xiangyang felt like a thin needle. At first she could still meet them. By "a little stall" and "bring my folks," the brighter he talked, the worse the ache in her chest.

She was afraid if she stood there any longer it would show on her face.

"I'll ask the nurse how the pain medicine goes after this," she said. "And get some water."

Meng Shoucheng spoke up fast. "I can go."

"You sit." Lila was already turning. "I'll be right back."

She left the ward. The curtain dropped behind her and cut off the talk inside.

The corridor was a little colder than the ward. Lime and herbal smell mixed along the wall. Farther off by a window someone was bargaining low with a clerk; by the end they had only pushed the voices lower. Lila walked to the corner, put a hand on the wall, and stopped.

Eren followed her out.

Lila had her back to him. She heard the steps stop behind her and spoke first. "He makes it sound like every step's easy."

Eren stood half a pace behind her and was quiet a moment.

"It won't be easy. We still don't quit. None of us," he said.

"I know," she said. "So I…"

Lila lifted a hand and rubbed the corner of her eye, fast, and didn't let a tear fall.

Under Eren's sleeve his left arm jumped once, light. He sat her down on the bench by the wall and sat beside her.

Lila set the water pot on the floor, head down on her chest, and stayed like that. After a while she tipped the back of her head to the wall and shut her eyes.

Eren sat there the whole time. He didn't speak.

They sat that way a while. The ward curtain opened a slit. Meng Shoucheng put his head out, looked once, let the curtain fall, and went back in.

From the ward came Meng Xiangyang's very light laugh, then Meng Shoucheng, low: "Don't talk so much." Through the cloth it sounded like a scrap of just-lit spark. Any small wind could put it out.

Lila got her breathing even, wiped the corner of her eye, and stood first, the pot steady in her hand.

"Come on," she said. "Don't keep him waiting."

Eren got up after her and went back in.

Meng Xiangyang was still awake. When he saw them, he picked the talk back up. "Sister Lila—if I do get that stall, you get the first discount."

Lila set the pot by the bed and made herself smile again.

"No need. I'll be a partner by then," she said. "Just cut me in."

This time, the ward wasn't quite so heavy.