What lay behind the stall

The emergency room was a place for patient who required an immediate medical care upon their arrival on the hospital, regardless the condition the patient had, anyone would set their first priority to this room.

Despite the urgency of service being applied, the hospital's staff only administered the first basic help such as respiratory assistance or vitamin fluid infusion.

Thereafter, the patient needed to wait if they want to receive the following procedure, firstly they must had taken care the administration, which required fee for the sort of treatment later such as operation, patient's room, medication, even the service of the staff.

Of course, for those with deep pocket within their pants will consider the predicament as if a breeze walk on the park, the staff also would take care their necessity like a fire lit on their asses.

And to those who had the shallow one? Yeah, you must wait perhaps double hours again for the nurse to glimpse their eyes on you.

Among the many green beds separated by a thick curtain, Lee Jingjing laid on the top of the bed with her eyes closed and a breathing device covered her two organ. Her nose was strapped with a bandage thus it could be seen how hard she tried to breath. Her chest heaved, with a brown suit and black shirt supported its movement. On the side of her bed, Madam Lee grasped the hand of her only daughter, the old lady had her expression filled with anguish, the corner of her eyes turned red for some reason.

Old Lee hadn't been around, Naruto thought the old man must have been taking care some paper work's business with the staff. He glanced to right and left, many people also in the same condition with Lee Jingjing, few even far worse, yet no staff seemed busy.

"Madam Lee," he said as soon as he arrived in the front of Lee Jingjing's bed. The old woman startled and turned her head to her left, she jumped in surprise seeing Naruto's presence, the gloomy eyes became clear a little bit.

"Little brother Naruto, is good to see you here!" she rose from her seat but Naruto raised his hand and stopped her from going further.

"Yes, I am sorry for being late... and Jingjing's situation," Naruto walked to the empty space on the bed's left side, his eyes tenderly looked at the fainted young woman, her forehead occasionally knitted as if she endured some unknown pain.

"Thank you, you are too kind," she said with a faint smile, but he could see the shiver on her lips.

"How is she?" although he already knew but it was just on the general basis.

Madam Lee declined her head, the color on her face drained from the any redness and leaving only the white paper.

"The doctor said... the doctor said... Jingjing... Jingjing... might never truly recover from this..." she brought up her hand and pasted it on her mouth. A vague sob sounded out but it's like a loud ringing bell in his ears.

"That worse?" Naruto's eyebrows ascended.

"They weren't really sure, the shape of her nose was slightly change, yet the bleeding was rather slow, there are the possibility of fractured on the nose's bone, they said the lightest injury she probably suffered was just a broken nose while the crucial one was Septal Hematoma," she hiccuped in the middle of speech.

"Septal Hematoma?"

"It's when blood gather in the area between your nostril, it may block one or both the passage inside the nose, and if that really happen, it must be drained immediately or it may caused a dangerous infection.

Also... a permanent change in shape of the person's nose," she gave a mirthless smile and brushed Jingjing's hair.

"How long it takes for her nose to be treated?" Naruto observed Jingjing's attire, since she still wore her teacher's uniform and the event took place in the market, meaning the time of the incident happen either while she went to work or she went to home, Naruto thought it was possibly the later since he remembered there were several incoming call in the afternoon.

Elder brother! Your stall is missing!

Naruto tilted his head to the side while staring at her face.

Why she sent me that message instead just ask for help?

"It should be as soon as possible, but..." Ms. Lee let out more sobs, Naruto understood the words she wanted to say and how hard to convey it. The blonde sighed, he lamented how the world rotated base on a money now. If this was a corporate hospital, it is understandable, but this is a public hospital, it belong for any people not just a rich one.

While both Naruto and Madam Lee sank in the awkward environment, an old man passed through the area's gate with distress's appearance, the moment he saw a familiar blonde person ahead, he abruptly fixed his expression and assumed a temperate countenance.

"Naruto! It feels like forever since the last time we meet," the old man softly chuckled while sauntering toward Lee Jingjing's bed. Naruto faced him without hurry, he put on a cheerful face.

"Old Lee sure like to exaggerate, it's not like we haven't met for years," he grinned.

"Oh, son, don't you know a day without you around is the same like a year?" Old Lee put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and shook it lightly.

"Please stop, I'm straight," he assumed a depressed face.

"Damn, brat! your head fill with bunch of non-sense!" Old Lee twitched his lips, he took Naruto to his bosom by strangling his neck then he rubbed his knuckle on his head.

"Ou, ou, ou, still got some spunk inside that old bony bone of yours!" Naruto closed one eye while chuckling.

"Get a room you two," Madam Lee rolled her eyes.

Naruto and Old Lee separated, they laughed in a low tone before exchanged verbal normally. Naruto once again set his eyes toward Lee Jingjing.

"Old Lee, who this ruffian who got into a fight with Jingjing?" he ruffled her black hair.

"A new scumbag after Chen Dahai no longer in power," Old Lee's face turned ugly, "their presence isn't for robbing us in the name of protection fee but to kick us away from our selling spots."

"Are you saying they work for the owner of the land?" Naruto frowned.

"I don't know, thirty years long I have sell in that place, no news I ever heard it belong specifically to someone," Old Lee's said, "it still should be the property of the government."

"Then how can they act as they wishes? Also why you are not contacting the police? I've heard the new chief of western district is just and solid."

"I did, and so the other's seller, but no further action made by the authority, and don't you know? the western's chief recently got release from hospital."

"..." Naruto's face darkened, no wonder the market side of the district suffered the injustice, once the so called guardian force of the area no longer function, many dirty hands would run in rampant.

"How Jingjing got mixed into this? As far as I know, she is a cool headed and sweet girl, why would she challenge those ruffians?"

"Base on what people said, the ruffians became too overbearing, they not just disturb the seller but also bothered the customer, their last victims was a couple and they had shamed them too much, Jingjing happened just return from the school and witnessed the act, and she couldn't stand it," Old lee sighed then he knead the young woman's leg, "silly girl, knows she was not match of those people yet didn't back down from their threat, instead wounded one of them by throwing a piece of beer's glass."

"She did?" Naruto widened his eyes.

"Yes," Old Lee nodded, his voice held a hint of a pride, "Jingjing is truly a fierce lady, it's the same like her mother."

"Hey, don't talk like I am not here!" Madam Lee drew her eyebrows and honked her mouth in discontent, "also don't compliment her, what if she tried to do the same in the future?!"

"I couldn't be more proud as her father," Old Lee said simply.

"You!" then the old lady began to raise her voice and berated Old Lee, line for line of a harsh words dauntingly came out from her mouth like a compartment of trains or a trail of smokes. Old Lee tried to calm his wife but the old lady seemed unyielding, they became the main attention of the room with a lot of glare directed at them. Naruto could only bitterly smiled in apologetic manner toward those poor people who just wanted to rest.

"Mom..." luckily before they got kicked out by the nurse, a soft voice came from the bed side which gained the attention of the three people.

"Jingjing!" the old lady startled and quickly approached her.

"You are too loud..." Jingjing said through the breather, her voice akin to a whisper that slowly dimmed.

"Sorry baby," she sobbed while also embarrassingly smiled.

Lee Jingjing moved her eyes toward the other side, the murky eyes as if received a heaven blessing because it glowed clearly the moment she saw a familiar blonde's face.

"Elder brother!" she said without holding back her voice, then she knitted her forehead as if something made her winced.

"Relax Jingjing, I am not going anywhere so soon," Naruto smiled then sat on the narrow space of her bed.

"Elder brother..." she said with a soft tone, there was a longing expression within it.

Old Lee curled the corner of his lips, then his eyes shifted to Madam Lee, giving her a meaningful stare then he strolled out from the room. The old lady hesitated for a while before she hastily followed her husband's tail.

"Jingjing is a terrifying person, heh? You wounded a thug like that, remind me not to anger you at some point..." Naruto slanted his lips.

"Elder brother, you tease me!" her breather was taken off, thus she could speak easier.

Naruto laughed then he ruffled her hair, the young lady enjoyed his touch as a smile grew on her lips.

"Why you do that?" he said

"Because I learned not to feel fear.

When I was mugged, I felt this... intense feeling that clutched my heart, it was binding my legs not to move, caging my mouth not to scream, and tying my hands not to struggle.

I was hopeless, my thought bred fear inside of me if the criminal knew my condition, perhaps he could have done more evil things instead of just taking my stuff away.

And then... you came, though not exactly in the way of prince charming, you came to help in the darkest hours of my life. Spending my times with you, I steeled my heart not to desperately seek your help, I don't want to be a pathetic damsel who only shout help and help.

But I guess, just determination isn't enough, because at the end, I'm still nothing but that girl who froze from being mugged," she bitterly glanced down, her eyes dimmed with brooding color.

Naruto didn't have the change on his expression, his finger unceasingly caressed her hair.

"Stupid," he simply said.

"You think so?" she glued her eyes toward him, the pair of brown eyes weakly gazed.

"When you couldn't fight, the best thing to do is run," Naruto said.

"Isn't that the act of a coward?"

"No, is the act of survival."

"So it is better for me to survive while developing the fear and shame for abandoning the helpless, then stay hold my ground protecting those who needed?" Lee Jingjing frowned.

"Let me ask you a question," Naruto shifted his position, "which category are you, the helpless or the helpful?"

Lee Jingjing startled, she didn't respond him for quite sometimes.

"The helpless are those who couldn't protect themselves, let alone protect other people, the helpful are those who could fight for their live, and carry others if they are strong enough," Naruto said slowly.

"Try to remember the event in the previous afternoon, what things that happened after you provoke the ruffian?"

Lee Jingjing stared at the ceiling of the room, the peaceful on her face diminished as she remembered the sequence of the event. Her eyes turned moist.

"Someone... step in, and he try to save me..." her voice was shivered.

"And what happen to that person?" Naruto's voice remained unchanged.

"He... he... I don't know... the last thing I see, he was wounded heavily," Lee Jingjing put her arm over her eyes, it was both pain for her heart and nose to feel the grim at this situation.

"Yes, that is the truth, that is the fact..." Naruto put his hand over hers and shared the comfortable aura with her, her jumbled emotions one by one set into their own path and once again coordinated perfectly.

"We are living in the real world, not in some novel or tv shows full of plot armor cliche, one wrong move, we may cost our live in the process, or worst, someone dear's life.

We need to be smart, and being smart sometimes mean we had to be patience and control our emotion. We let them goes berserk, and we already lose.

I am not telling you to run to be a coward, I am telling you to run to save a life. In fact, I may tell you to do nothing if that mean preserving your own life and the others.

Survival, isn't mean for those with weak hearts, but with a strong will to live and sought a solution for the present cause."

Lee Jingjing had calmed herself, she brought Naruto's hand toward her chest and put it on the top of her beating heart and she sensed his closeness. His words reverberated inside her minds, bouncing around like a naughty child within her consciousness.

"Oh by the way, why did you send me a message about my stall went missing, instead just directly ask for help?" Naruto raised one eyebrows.

"Hehe, don't you remember, elder brother?" she said with a faint smile.

"Umm? yeah sure, sure, I remember, it was about that... yeah, you know... that," Naruto dropped a cold sweat from his temple, his forefinger stretched out and rolled it around in the air.

"You forget about it, don't you?" Lee Jingjing's eyes turned moist.

"Oh, crap, don't cry! It's uuuh... it's..." he crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his head to the side while his forehead created a lot of wrinkled.

The young lady soon chuckled at his effort, her nose sparked a pain for the cost of it.

"It's fine elder brother, let me rehearse your memory..."