Canine Love: Angel House

Editor's note: My original story, slightly longer, but very moving. The professional sound team has produced a sound version that sounds immersive and more exhilarating. Click below to enjoy the voice version.

"Angel House" Hospice Hospital.

Wu Yue and volunteers carried their dog coffee on a stretcher to the back hill of the hospital.

The young volunteer was puzzled: "Sister, this is the first time I have seen a dog for hospice care..."

Like an answer, but also like self-talk, Wu Yue said: "Many times, people are not necessarily stronger than dogs..."

At the end of April, the hillside is already lush, and across the hillside is a lake. The surface of the lake under the warm sun is like a handful of crystals sprinkled by God, and the colorful light shines clearly in people's hearts.

This is where coffee likes to play the most, and at the moment, it lies on the grass, breathing weaker and weaker.

Not far away, two old men walked with each other in their arms, holding newly picked bouquets of flowers, and they also came to deliver coffee for the last trip...

01

Time goes back 14 years.

At that time, Wu Yue was still an ordinary married woman.

One night when her daughter was three years old, she worked in a restaurant, brushing dishes in the kitchen while praying that she would no longer meet guests who played mahjong in the private room after eating.

God seemed to have heard her prayer, and just after 9 o'clock, the boss spoke to let the bell close.

Wu Yue put the plates together, took off the sleeves, and jumped on the electric car.

I haven't seen my daughter in a day, and she thinks hard.

As soon as she heard the door open, her daughter ran out barefoot with "Mommy, Mommy". Wu Yueyi picked up her daughter, but saw that there was bright red blood under her nose.

The daughter muttered: "Mom, Meng Meng has a nosebleed, the sheets are dirty, and Grandma is not happy..."

"Mom, Meng Meng has a nosebleed, why don't you tell me?"

The mother-in-law was drying the sheets on the balcony, and her head did not return: "Don't you have a nosebleed, panic what?" Besides, as far as your job is concerned, is it useful to call you? ”

The contempt in the mother-in-law's tone made Wu Yue very uncomfortable.

After four years of marriage, the mother-in-law wanted to hold another grandson, considering the family's economic situation, Wu Yue has not let go, and this hidden contradiction between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has gone down like this.

"Mom, if Meng Meng still has a nosebleed tomorrow, you must take her to the hospital to see!"

The mother-in-law slammed the sheets and did not answer.

Wu Yue was angry, but she couldn't have a seizure. Whoever called her mother's family was empty, and her husband was working in other places, in the final analysis, this family could not leave her mother-in-law.

She thought about it, tomorrow when the shop is not busy, she will ride the tram back, and if it is cute and nosebleed, she will personally take her to the hospital.

But the next day the business of the hotel was very busy, and she didn't care about it.

After another two days, Meng Meng began to have a high fever, and taking cold medicine was not good, so the mother-in-law took Meng Meng to the community clinic.

After hanging the bottle in the outpatient clinic for a week, the condition did not improve. Later, I went to the county hospital, and the doctor of the county hospital said that the child was anemic and lacked nutrition, so he let him go home and eat more blood.

Red dates, pork liver, eggs... Wu Yue bought all the nutrients she could think of, but her cute little face was still getting more and more sallow, and sometimes she slept at night and cried out that her thighs hurt.

Wu Yue was flustered, so she called her husband Pan Gui. Pan Gui was a little worried, but her mother-in-law immediately leaned over and shouted at the mobile phone: "Little child, it is noisy during the day, and of course it hurts to her thighs at night!" Don't be nervous! ”

Wu Yue did not refute it, but she was fierce in her heart, even if the family had money in the future, she would not add more ding to the Pan family, not for revenge, but did not want Meng Meng to be more neglected.

No one could rely on it, so Wu Yue had to take another leave of absence and take Meng Meng to the city hospital.

When she heard the doctor say that she needed to do "bone piercing", Wu Yue was confused.

She doesn't know how to be a doctor, but she's watched the TV series and knows that only very serious illnesses need "bone wear."

Until now, she clearly remembers that when queuing at the payment office, Meng Meng still raised her small face and asked, "Mom, are you not happy?" Is the inspection fee too expensive? ”

Yes, the "bone piercing" fee of 360 pieces is indeed not low.

That was Wu Yue's salary for three days without eating or drinking.

However, the naïve Meng Meng could not predict that on the road to future treatment, she would often spend several 360 yuan a day.

Two days later, walking out of the outpatient room, Wu Yue was heartbroken in the corridor of the hospital and bent down.

Her heart was throbbing so hard she couldn't breathe, her cuteness, and her daughter, who was less than 4 years old, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor.

Scratching her head, she asked herself if she had brought her daughter to the municipal hospital sooner, would the situation have been different?

Meng Meng leaned softly on her, helpless and full of misery.

She was startled by her mother's whimpering appearance.

Passing pedestrians, some people look sideways, some people are in a hurry, medical staff pushing emergency stretchers "dada" running by, no one pays attention, the sky of the mother and daughter has collapsed...

02

Pan Gui came back once, but only stayed for more than a week before leaving, and he was going to make money.

The mother-in-law's face became more gloomy, and she often muttered: "Evil yo, how can you get this unsaved disease!" ”

Or complaining to Wu Yue: "At that time, you should listen to me, have another son..."

These words were like steel cones stuck in Wu Yue's heart, but she couldn't refute them. In order to take care of Meng Meng, she has resigned, and the follow-up medical expenses still need to be helped by her mother-in-law.

Meng Meng lives in a three-person ward. The patient in the next bed was a girl two years older than her named Manman.

The two little girls soon got together.

Man man is also mainly cared for by his mother, but Man Man's father rushes to replace his wife after work.

Whenever I saw Man Man snuggled in his father's arms, his cute eyes were always full of envy.

After staring at it for a while, she would pout and stubbornly twist her head out the window.

Wu Yue felt her daughter's sensitive thoughts, but she didn't know how to comfort her.

The number of times this is more, even Man man feels it.

Once, Man Man's father bought a doll for Man Man, and Man Man tucked the new doll into Meng Meng's arms and said in an atmospheric manner: "Meng Meng, you play first!" We are good friends, and my dad is your dad too! ”

Meng Meng took the doll, fiddled with it silently for a while, and suddenly lowered her head and choked up: "No... I have Dad! My dad will come to see me! She jumped out of bed and tucked the doll back into Manman's arms.

Wu Yue looked apologetically at Man Man Dad and awkwardly hugged Meng Meng.

Perhaps because the thought of her father had been suppressed for too long, Meng Meng plunged into Wu Yue's arms and cried loudly: "Mom, why doesn't My father come to see me?" ”

"Dad is at work, earning money for Meng Meng's treatment!" When Meng Meng is well, she will be able to see her father! ”

"No, I want Daddy now!"

Wu Yue gently stroked Meng Meng's back, and her eye circles were also red.

During these days in the hospital, tiredness is secondary, and spiritual helplessness is the most difficult. In the dead of night, she didn't know how many times she had broken down, and she thought she could lean into a warm arms and cry.

Seeing Meng Meng crying, Man Man blinked, thought for a while, and loudly comforted: "Meng Meng don't cry, crying is too slow!" When you're well, fly to find Daddy! She walked over, like a little adult, and also learned Wu Yue to reach out and pat Meng Meng's back.

Meng Meng twitched for a moment, raised her head, and said with a stammer, "Man man, I'm sorry..."

Manman leaned over, his face against his cute face, and the two children hugged each other.

Several adults in the room couldn't help but blush.

03

Every day at four o'clock in the afternoon, it is the time for Man Man and Meng Meng to go downstairs to bask in the sun.

Wu Yue found that they especially liked to play in the flower beds behind the hospital restaurant.

It turned out that they had found a stray dog there.

It was a medium-sized, black-and-white dog with curly ears and watery almond eyes.

The dog was so clever that after the children fed him cookies once, he waited for the two children every day behind the flower beds.

Meng Meng is very fond of dogs. In the past, when she saw someone walking Teddy in the community, she begged Wu Yue more than once to let her raise one too.

Wu Yue had the heart to satisfy the child, but the mother-in-law felt that the dog was dirty, and sent a harsh word, saying that as long as there was a dog in the family, she would return to her hometown, and Wu Yue had to give up.

Unexpectedly, it was the opportunity of hospitalization that satisfied Meng Meng's desire to raise a dog.

In the hospital life full of the smell of medicine, injections and disinfectant water, half an hour of wind time every day can have a vivid interaction with a stray dog, which is the expectation of both children.

Only then, the smiles that bloomed on their little faces were pure, forgetting the pain and suffering of illness...

04

Soon, Manman began chemotherapy.

She lost weight at a rate visible to the naked eye, and each chemotherapy treatment triggered severe vomiting, shaking and bone pain.

When she was first hospitalized, Man Man's mother insisted on teaching her daughter to read ancient poetry and read.

Wu Yue also euphemistically expressed confusion, meaning that it was already like this, was it still necessary to pay mechanics? At that time, Man Man's mother always replied to her very firmly: "When the children are better in the future, they will always use it." ”

God knows how much Wu Yue likes to listen to Man Man's mother's muffled voice, immersed in the poetry of that moment, always makes her hope that the children's illness will always be better.

However, since chemotherapy, the sound of reading poetry has not been heard in the ward.

Two months later, the doctor informed Wu Yue that Meng Meng was also going to start chemotherapy.

Wu Yue was very afraid in her heart.

The doctor said that this was the only way to cure, and seeing Manman's reaction, Wu Yueming felt that it was a road to the consumption of life.

But does she have any other choice?

Meng Meng behaved braver than her mother, and she probably felt that she could finally accompany Man Man in pain and cry together.

However, the two children can no longer play hide-and-seek together, and can no longer meet the stray dog they named "Coffee".

When Wu Yue went downstairs and passed by the flower bed, she would sometimes bring a little food to the coffee, and then use her mobile phone to take pictures of the coffee and eat it for the two children to see.

At first, she encouraged them: "Come on! As long as you survive this period, you can go downstairs and play with coffee! ”

Later, she stopped saying such things because she didn't know how long such a day would last.

Later, she tried not to show them videos of coffee.

She couldn't stand the longing eyes of the two children— they reached out their little hands to touch the screen, as if they were touching their beloved dog.

Spring has passed, summer has come again, and after the spring flowers bloom, there are warm guava flowers, but the two children can only feel the breath of freedom through the narrow windows and mobile phone screens...

Nine months later, Manman was discharged from the hospital.

It's not that the illness is getting better, but the doctor says there's no need for further treatment.

On the day of the discharge, the two children hugged each other head to face and cried silently for a long time, and the pain of the illness was so tormented that they did not even have the strength to cry.

When Man Man's mother pushed Man Man out of the wheelchair, Meng Meng, who was lying on the hospital bed, lifted her hand up and reached in the direction of Man Man...

She said, "Manman, I'll go see you..."

Manman, who was in a wheelchair, waved his thin arm: "Meng Meng, come on together!" We can see you on Mom's phone. ”

Wu Yue's heart was also painful.

During these darkest days, the Manman family brought her a warm hug of pity for the same disease, far more than her husband and mother-in-law.

It was like going through the most brutal battle, and the toughest comrades beside her had fallen.

After Man Man was discharged from the hospital, Wu Yue and Man Man's mother did not have much contact, not because they did not want to, but because they did not dare.

As long as she didn't hear bad news for a day, she could pretend that the cute child was still alive.

In the dead of night, she couldn't help but quietly look through Man Man's circle of friends.

She saw the strong Man Man Ma, and gradually revealed the breath of collapse in the circle of friends.

"Oh my God, I really can't get through a minute or a second... Isn't there a way in this world?! I'd rather trade everything I have for my child's pain..."

"In the morning, Manman threw up again... It's been a day, and I can't feed anything..."

"At four o'clock in the morning, Manman was struggling in my arms, and she was crying: 'Mom, I have a lot of needles in my body, you hurry up and save me!' My heart is broken..."

Man Man's last circle of friends was: "I'm sorry, Man Man, Mom let you go too much pain and hurt too much..."

When brushing that message, Wu Yuegang calmed Meng Meng, who woke up from the pain in the early morning.

She clutched her mobile phone and crawled next to Meng Meng, crying silently.

Man man is like a mirror, and he also sees the fate of Meng Meng.

She didn't know how to comfort Man Man's mother, and the tears wet the mobile phone screen over and over again, but she only typed down one line: "Man Man Ma, you have to mourn." Believe it, Manman went to a world without sickness..."

She thought that the grief-stricken Mother Man man would ignore her.

But soon, Man Man's mother replied: "Sister, listen to my advice, and make plans for the child."

"While the child is still in good spirits, find a hospice hospital for her." Don't be like me, the child's desire to go to the playground again, I did not complete it for her. I can't forget what Man man looked like when he left...

"In this life, I will not be happy again..."

05

Wu Yue began looking up information about hospice hospitals online.

She has to race against time, to find a quiet place for Meng Meng to leave before she is expelled from the hospital.

Making such a decision is not easy.

It is the mother's instinct to keep her child alive, but a deeper love also drives her to prepare for the departure of her child...

At that time, Meng Meng had already undergone two surgeries.

After each operation, lying in the ICU, her small body was full of tubes, and the acid tubes were inserted from the nostrils to the throat and then straight to the stomach.

She couldn't talk, she couldn't drink water, she couldn't eat.

Wu Yue almost sleeplessly leaned outside the glass wall of the ICU and waited, just so that when Meng Meng opened her eyes, she could see her for the first time.

The only house in the family has been sold.

Two surgeries, more than three hundred thousand.

Wu Yue became a sinner in her mother-in-law's mouth - instead of adding a male to the Pan family, she gave birth to a broom star and ran out of money.

The postoperative indicators of Meng Meng are not good, and the cancer cells have metastasized from the abdominal cavity to the lymph.

Wu Yue asked her husband for help again, and she wanted to take her daughter to the hospice hospital in Linshi.

Meng Meng has always been her care, Pan Gui has never seen her daughter tortured by bone pain and cold sweat, nor can she imagine the helplessness of parenthood when Meng Meng can't eat.

Wu Yue took a lot of effort to explain to Pan Gui what hospice care is and why Meng Meng needs hospice care.

Speaking of the sores, she burst into tears several times. Pan Gui also choked up, after all, it was his bone blood.

However, when it comes to money, Pan Gui is embarrassed: "I borrow everything I can borrow around me." Wages were also paid two months in advance. If not, you should ask your mother..."

Wu Yue had to call her mother-in-law hard.

Since selling the house, her mother-in-law has not contacted her for half a year.

Sure enough, halfway through the conversation, my mother-in-law was hysterical: "I'm an old rural lady, don't tell me about hospice care!" All I know is that the living can't ask the dead to drag them to death! You either cure it or you just go home and wait!

"The house is already in vain, and I can't put the coffin in!" You're going to have to regenerate, right? Even if you don't think about me, you have to think about Pan Gui and yourself! ”

The phone hung up.

Leaning against the side of the hospital's flower bed, Wu Yue felt like her heart was immersed in an ice cellar.

Coffee came out of nowhere, creeping at her feet and whimpering, as if sympathizing with her helplessness.

The mother-in-law's sentence "The living cannot ask the dead to drag them to death" stung her deeply.

Her cuteness is not a dead person!

Cute and still feel! Know everything yet!

Wu Yue picked up the phone and finally called up the number.

She had long anticipated this day.

In the face of her daughter's life and death, her stubbornness that she has insisted on for decades is nothing more than a meaningless pretense.

That number connected to the person she hated the most.

The man abandoned her and her mother when she was 6 years old and followed another woman to another city.

The man she should have called "Father" became the vaguest shadow in her memory.