Love in the Wards

Keep loving,no matter what

A young man suffered from a lung infection after his kidney transplant surgery,and was in a less-than-ideal condition.

I went to the water room to fetch hot water and bumped into his mother.Perhaps seeing that I was roughly the same age as her son,the mother said hello to me and asked about my disease.After hearing my condition,she said with a sigh that her son was the same age as me and that his future was hanging in the balance.

Such depression and frustration occurred on this floor almost every day.My comforting words were powerless and useless.I was about to leave when I heard her murmur with a sigh,“His wife is expecting.What will she do next?”

I halted,my heart getting perplexed by the story.

Falling in love with a fatally ill young man,getting married and pregnant,what a girl his wife should be!

His mother told me that,his wife would never leave him,whether be in school uniforms or in wedding attire,through health or sickness.

They fell in love on campus.In their junior year,the young man fell ill,quit school,and intended to break up with the girl so as not to burden her.The girl refused to leave him alone and even rushed around to raise money for him.She finally raised enough for his surgery.His father donated one of his kidneys and the operation was successful.Both of them then returned to school and graduated from university.

The wife’s parents firmly opposed their marriage.The reason was quite simple: his life hung by a thread,the young man with only one kidney could hardly provide for the family.

The girl was,however,determined to marry him at the risk of falling out with her parents.She entered his family,did the housework,and made money to support the family.

In less than 3 months before her delivery,a high fever forced him into the emergency room once again.

The mother paused a little and then murmured in anguish,“If only I had known it,I should have objected to their marriage.”

当初我该反对的

那个男孩移植了肾之后出现肺部感染，情况不太乐观。

我去水房打开水，正好遇到他的母亲。也许是瞧着我和她的儿子年纪相仿，那位母亲主动问起我的情况。听完后，她长叹一声，说自己的儿子和我同龄，现在前途未卜。

这样的压抑和失落，在这个楼层，几乎每天都在发生。我的安慰，廉价而无力。我正要离开，只听见她低低地叹了一声：“他媳妇还怀着孩子呢，以后可怎么办？”

我的脚步停了下来，心被故事牵扯着。

爱上一个绝症青年，结婚怀孕，不知那是一个怎样的女孩。

故事是男孩的母亲说给我听的，从校服到婚纱，从健康到疾病，不离不弃。

两个人是校园情侣。大三时，男生发病休学，本打算断绝关系，以免拖累女孩。女孩执意不肯放手，甚至东奔西走，为他筹款，最终凑足了手术费。

父亲捐了肾，手术顺利完成。两人回了学校，安安稳稳毕了业。

女孩的父母坚决反对两个孩子的结合。原因很简单，只有一个肾的年轻男孩，难以撑起家庭重担，而且朝不保夕。

女孩铁了心要嫁，不惜与父母闹翻，进入一个陌生的家庭，操持家务、赚钱养家。

就在离临盆不到3 个月时，一场高烧又将男孩送进了急救室……

母亲说到这里就停了，最后，她嗫嚅着说：“早知如此，当初我也该反对他们在一起的。”

有你在便不惧生死

在医院，两次见到杨婆婆和江爷爷这对老夫妻，前后相距不到10 天。第一次，据说是因为杨婆婆感冒，结果刚出院回家没几天又腹泻，江爷爷二话不说，带着老伴儿，匆匆赶到医院。

When you are here,I fear not life and death

In the hospital,I saw an old couple,Granny Yang and Grandpa Jiang,twice in less than 10 days.The first time I saw Granny Yang was because she caught a cold.Later,as she developed diarrhea just a few days after being discharged,her husband had to take her back to the hospital again.

Granny Yang has been ill for many years.In her forties,she was diagnosed with kidney disease,which has lasted for more than 20 years.With the worsening illness,she got a kidney transplant,which caused several infection problems.She has narrowly escaped death many times.

She leaned on the bed and told me her story peacefully,without mentioning a word about her husband.Yet she gazed at him from time to time,with a strong sense of dependence and affection.

Granny Yang said that when they were young,they also lived a bickering life.When she got sick,she was afraid of burdening her husband and prepared a divorce agreement.But Grandpa Jiang tore it into pieces and said in tears,“Give away all we have and you must be cured.” Then he accompanied her to the hospital and they began to shoulder the uncertain future together.

For better or worse,they have reached old age together.

Granny Yang said,“He used to weigh more than 70 kilograms,but now...”

While we were talking,Grandpa Jiang brought in a basin of warm water and said to his wife,“Time to soak your feet now.It’s good for your blood flow.”

As the lights of the ward turned off,only a small wall lamp lit beside their bed.Yet a sense of warmth enveloped the whispering couple.

I will give you a kidney

The kidney being transplanted into her body was her husband’s.

When he learned that his wife was ill,her husband squeezed her hands silently and said softly,“Don’t be afraid.I will give you a kidney.”

We two were the only patients staying in the quiet ward.The silence of the night concealed her face.I heard her voice with a little choking.

She was a high school teacher.So was her husband.When they were young,both of them taught the same class.They came and went,igniting the spark of love.They married,had children,and life went on as it was.

The serious illness came unexpectedly.She fainted in class,and when she woke up,it seemed she had entered the afterlife.At that time,she was in her prime and her only daughter had just entered junior high school.The sadness and sorrow of life has changed her completely.

At the very beginning,she strongly opposed the kidney donation proposed by her husband.Knowing that she was burdensome,she could not convince herself to accept the gift of life from this man.But he was determined to consult the doctor alone.Learning that the effect of organ donation by husband and wife was second only to that of parent-child donation,he was so ecstatic that he mobilized all his friends and relatives he knew to persuade her.

The respect for life and the practice of love make this story of a man saving his wife magnificent.Before entering the operating room,he held her hand and whispered,“I’ve given you roses and rings.Now,it’s just the turn of a kidney.That’s no big deal,for my life is yours.”

Tearfully,she lay down on the operating table,thinking about how his kidney was about to enter her body.From then on,they became part of each other,inseparable throughout their lives.

(FromWhat Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger,Democracy and Construction Publishing House.Translation: Qing Run)

杨婆婆已经病了许多年，四十几岁时，肾病缠上身，断断续续20 多年，病情恶化，换了肾，中间几次感染排异，无数回死里逃生。

她靠在床上，平静地说给我听，只字不提老伴，但她不时看向他的眼神里，有浓浓的依赖和疼惜。

杨婆婆说，年轻时，他们也是吵吵闹闹过日子的。发病时，自己怕拖累丈夫，拟好了离婚协议书，却被江爷爷一把撕碎。他红着眼睛，只说了一句：“砸锅卖铁，也要把你治好。”然后陪着她四处颠沛流离，一脚踏进命运的凶多吉少里。

日子过着过着，竟然也走到了白头。

杨婆婆说：“他原本有70 多公斤呢，现在……”说话间，江爷爷已经端了洗脚水进来，口中说道：“该泡脚了，对血脉畅通有好处。”

病房的灯已经熄了，他们的床边亮起小小的壁灯，昏黄的温馨，笼罩住窃窃私语的两个人。

我给你一个肾就是了

被移植到她体内的那个肾脏，来自她的丈夫。

得知妻子患病时，丈夫握紧她的手，轻声说了一句：“别怕，我给你一个肾就是了。”

只住了我们两个人的病房，静悄悄的，沉寂的夜色遮住了她的面容，我听见她的声音带了一丝哽咽。

她是一名中学教师，丈夫也是，年轻时，两人同教一个班级，一来二去，擦出了爱情火花，结婚、生子，顺应自然。

病魔来得突然而迅猛，她在课堂上晕倒，醒来时，仿佛下一世已在仓促间开始。那时，她还不算老，唯一的女儿刚刚上初中。生死未卜的凄惶，让她完完全全变了模样。

对于丈夫提出的捐肾，一开始，她是极力反对的，深知自己已是累赘的她，无法说服自己接受这个男人的生命馈赠。可他铁了心，独自咨询医生，得知夫妻捐献器官效果仅次于亲子捐献，他欣喜若狂，发动了所有认识的人前来劝她。

对生命的尊重，对爱情的信仰，将这个救妻的故事渲染得轰轰烈烈。进手术室前，他握握她的手，轻声说：“我送过你玫瑰花、戒指，再送你一个肾，又有什么大不了的？我的命都可以给你。”

她泣不成声，躺上手术台前，心里想着的是，他的肾脏马上要来到她的体内，从此以后，你中有我，我中有你，一生一世，再不分离。

（摘自《那些打不败你的，终将让你更强大》民主与建设出版社）