After dinner, Chen Ge laid in bed. His expression was dull as he stared silently at the theme park outside the window. Compared to the previous time he woke up, Chen Ge had become more silent. Perhaps in the doctor’s eyes, the current him fitted the hospital’s requirement more.

  Bang! The door was pushed open roughly. Two hospital workers and Xu Wan walked in. “Chen Ge, time for your medicine.”


  “Where is Doctor Gao? Isn’t he normally the one who deliver the medicine?”


  “He has something else to do tonight so I shall take his place tonight.” Xu Wan’s voice was very gentle, there was nothing strange about it. After confirming Chen Ge swallow the 3 white pills, she said again, “The hospital is lacking in open beds, so this is your new roommate, try not to scare him away again!” Two workers dragged a middle-aged man with pale face into the room and assigned him the bed previously occupied by Zuo Han.

  “Try to get to know each other. Try to rest and do not go out at night.” Xu Wan left with the workers after saying that, leaving the two patients in the room. Chen Ge studied the new arrival with curiosity. His new roommate looked about 40 plus. His face was free of wrinkles but his hair was all white. He seemed to have gone through many inhuman torture, his mental state was very weak and his body kept shivering.

  “Brother, how shall I call you?” Chen Ge actively tried to communicate with him, he suspected this middle-aged man was another type of ‘medicine’ the hospital prepared for him. Since he was a medicine, then he must have played a part in Chen Ge’s past before, thus he might help Chen Ge remember somethings.

  “Can you hear me?” He called multiple times before the man finally turned to look Chen Ge. His eyes were filled with intense fear, when he saw Chen Ge, he immediately lowered his head again.

  “Do you know something about me?” The man had completely different personality from Zuo Han, he refused to say anything and to communicate. Chen Ge had no idea what was his name and what illness he suffered from, he only knew the man appeared to be afraid of him. Night was falling but the sound of footsteps and trolley kept echoing in the hospital corridors. At around 1 am, the door of the room Chen Ge was in got knocked. The middle-aged man who slept in the bed nearest to the door sat up immediately. The door was knocked 5 times, the interval between each was very small. “They knock one more time compared to last night, the knocking represents how many days I’ve been here?”


  The corridor soon returned to normal. The middle-aged man gathered his courage and walked to the door, he pushed the door open a gap and peered out.

  “Hey, is there anyone outside?” Chen Ge suddenly spoke and startled the man. The man lightly closed the door and then shook his head at Chen Ge. “There is no one outside.”


  The middle-aged man’s throat appeared to have been injured, his voice sounded awkward. When he spoke, his expression was pained.

  “Brother, it is fate that we have been given this chance to share the same room, how shall I call you?” Chen Ge was surprised that the man would reply him, he felt this was a chance for them to get to know each other.

  “My surname is Fang.”


  “Brother Fang, why are you here? What kind of illness you suffer from?” Chen Ge asked.

  “Paranoia. I used to be a ENT doctor but after I got sick, I have this feeling there is something alien inside my body, I’m feeling it now.” The man pointed at his ear and mouth. “I feel like there is a snail crawling in my ear and there is a full syringe with drug inside my throat. I know these are just my illusion but the feeling is so real.”


  Combining that with the hospital’s various action, the way Chen Ge looked at Doctor Gang changed. He felt like these things might really exist within Doctor Fang and they were not an illusion. Doctor Fang became more talkative at night, it was unclear whether he was desperate for a friend to chat with or he had felt better around Chen Ge.

  “Brother Fang, do you mind if I look down your throat? You said you feel there is a syringe in your throat, what if it’s true?” Chen Ge climbed up from his bed. Doctor Fang looked at Chen Ge with complicated expression. The fact that Chen Ge would say something like that proved that Chen Ge was also a mental patient but strangely enough, Doctor Fang felt concern in Chen Ge’s words.

  “Is this what they call a friendship between mental patients?” Doctor Fang silently labelled Chen Ge—a kind madman.

  “Open your mouth.” Chen Ge moved to Doctor Fang’s bedside. He looked into Doctor Fang’s throat and his pupils narrowed involuntarily. The esophagus was like an endless black hole, Chen Ge’s gaze was sucked into it like his whole person was slowly being pulled into Doctor Fang’s mouth. His consciousness kept falling, when the pupils were narrowed to its smallest, he saw a human face deep inside Doctor Fang’s throat!

  Flesh enveloped that face, the face’s eyes were closed and it was hidden deep inside the esophagus. There was a person inside Doctor Fang’s throat!

  His body was pushed back. Chen Ge’s eyes returned to normal and he looked at Doctor Fang in shock.

  “Why are you looking at me like that? Is there really a syringe in my throat?” Doctor Fang sat at the edge of his bed, he was being stared at until his heart quivered.

  “There is no syringe, but I did see a human face in your throat. He looks just like you with his eyes closed and face pale.” Chen Ge tried to gesture with his hands.

  “There is a human face in my throat?” Doctor Fang first reacted with fear, then he shook his head, “Looks like you are more serious than I thought, how can there be a human face in one’s body?”


  “It’s real.” Chen Ge did not argue on this point, he returned to his own bed and started to consider the Doctor Fang before him and the Doctor Fang in the throat, which one was the real Doctor Fang. The room returned to silent and neither of the patient spoke again……

  Sun fell on his face, Chen Ge had a good night sleep.

  “The morning of this world sure is alluring.” Chen Ge mumbled something that no one understood, his eyes were glued to the theme park outside the window. Soon the door opened and Doctor Gao walked in with Xu Wan. He had not seen Doctor Gao for one night but the latter looked more worn than usual.

  “Did you have any nightmare yesterday night?” Before even greeting Chen Ge, Doctor Gao cut to the chase, he seemed to be in a hurry.

  “No, I slept soundly through the night.” Chen Ge hesitated before finally asking, “Doctor Gao, why do you keep asking me that question?”


  “A dream can often reflect a person’s mental state.” Doctor Gao ticked on a document, that appeared to be Chen Ge’s patient’s record. There was a number behind the document, Chen Ge could not see the two digits in front of the number but the last digit was the Arabic numeral ‘1’.