Chapter 657: Clingy
Chapter 657: Chapter 657: Clingy
Evelyn Ford emerged from her bedroom when she heard an alarm blaring from the vehicle bay. She hurried over to find Wendy leaning exhaustedly against the interior wall, the tricycle the base had given her parked askew and toppled to one side.
"Why are you so exhausted?"
"The temperature was high during the day, and a lot of people got heatstroke. I saw over fifty heatstroke patients today."
Evelyn Ford righted the tricycle, then pulled Wendy up from her seat.
"It’s too stuffy in here. Go get a shower. On my way out, I heard your dad say he made ice cream."
Wendy’s eyes lit up. "I’m so hungry I feel like I could eat a horse."
"You didn’t have any snacks on you?"
Wendy shook her head. "I forgot. I was so busy I got dizzy. I think my blood sugar might be low."
"Starting tomorrow, keep some candy in your pocket at all times. Drink plenty of water in this heat, and if you start to feel sick, come back and rest. Don’t force it."
"I understand, Joy Ford."
The two returned to the space. Evelyn had Wendy drink a bowl of mung bean soup to cool off first, then went to her bedroom to wash up.
By the time everyone had gathered, it was already seven-thirty in the evening.
"Zoe, come with me to the lab after dinner."
Zoe tilted her head, looking at Evelyn Ford. "What are we going to do?"
"I’m going to take care of your tooth."
The lab had some dental equipment. Zoe was still little, so her cavity had to be treated as soon as possible.
Realizing this wasn’t about playing, Zoe grew a little fearful. "Are you going to take the worm out? Will it bite me?"
"The worm won’t bite you. Your teeth will grow in strong and healthy if you don’t have cavities."
"Speaking of teeth, I’ve noticed a lot of people at the base are losing theirs."
Wendy tilted her head to look at Evelyn Ford. "Joy Ford, is it because of what you mentioned before? Insufficient salt intake, vitamin deficiencies, and the long period without sun during the polar night?"
"Exactly. It also causes osteoporosis, hair loss, and deteriorating vision."
"The polar night is even more dangerous than the polar day," Miles Vaughn remarked, and everyone nodded in agreement. "During the polar night, I felt drained every single day. We ate really well, never missing out on vegetables, fruit, fish, or meat, but we still felt so weak. You can only imagine what it’s like for everyone else."
Ultimately, it was the lack of oxygen that left their bodies so feeble.
"It’s a good thing the polar night is over. Without the sun, we couldn’t plant any crops, and without crops, we’d all just be waiting to die."
More terrifying than any natural disaster is an endless night.
"Let’s eat. It’s been a long day, and everyone has worked hard."
"Tomorrow we have to wash the medicinal herbs and start the seedlings. There’s still so much to do."
...
After dinner, Evelyn Ford took Zoe to the lab. Once she had disinfected the equipment, Evelyn had Zoe lie down and put a pair of protective goggles on her.
"I’m not going to use any anesthetic for this cavity. Your case isn’t serious—just a small part of the tooth’s enamel has been eaten away. It’ll only take twenty minutes to clean it out. You’ll feel a bit of a sore, tingly sensation during the procedure. If it gets uncomfortable, just tug on my shirt, okay?"
Zoe nodded. "Auntie, can I see the worm after you take it out?"
"What for?"
"I want to bury it and make a grave for it."
Evelyn Ford couldn’t help but smile. "I can’t show it to you. A cavity, also known as dental caries, isn’t caused by a real worm inside your tooth. It’s from a bacterial infection. We might call them ’tooth worms,’ but that’s just an expression. There isn’t an actual big worm."
"I get it." Zoe broke into a wide grin. "When my baby teeth fall out, I’ll bury them instead."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "That you can do."
"Alright, lie down and don’t talk. Open your mouth. I’m going to put in the retractor."
Zoe nodded. "Auntie, I need to drool."
"Try to hold it in for a second. I’ll get you a bib."
Half an hour later, the cavity was clear. Evelyn Ford filled the hole and had Zoe sit up to rinse her mouth.
"How do you feel?"
"I can’t close my mouth, and I keep wanting to drool."
Evelyn Ford smiled. "Go ahead and spit. Try to move your jaw a bit."
"Auntie, is my tooth super healthy now?"
"It’s healthy for now. But if you keep eating sweets and don’t brush properly, you’ll get more cavities. Let’s go, time for bed."
As Evelyn Ford led Zoe out of the lab, she saw Ronan Kendrick waiting outside.
"Uncle, you’re so clingy!"
Ronan Kendrick raised an eyebrow. "Zoe, your mom said you need to get to bed. Be careful, kids who stay up late don’t grow tall."
"That’s not true! I’m going to grow up really tall. Even taller than you!"
Ronan Kendrick chuckled. "Big talk."
"I’m going to be ten feet tall! I’ll be a giant." Zoe didn’t have a solid concept of height, but she knew ten feet had to be very, very tall—taller than Ronan Kendrick.
"Oh yeah? And what happens if you don’t grow to be ten feet tall?"
Zoe put her hands on her hips. "Then I’ll be a little piggy!"
"Right. A little piggy."
"I’m not a little piggy yet! Auntie, Uncle is teasing me! He called me a piggy!"
Evelyn Ford watched them with a deadpan expression. "Why don’t you two just fight it out?"
"I’m a kid, I can’t fight! And my mom’s calling me. I won’t be a third wheel. Auntie, Uncle, you two can get back to your date."
’So precocious.’ Watching Zoe skip away, Evelyn Ford shook her head and chuckled.
"Let’s go. We should get some rest too."
"I’ll give you a piggyback."
"Okay."
The walk from the lab to the cabin was only five hundred meters. Evelyn rested on his back, telling him about her plans for the seedlings. Ronan Kendrick listened quietly, murmuring a response now and then.
***
「The next day.」 Evelyn Ford went to the medical tent for her usual rounds. There were no deliveries scheduled for the day, and many of the new mothers had already left with their babies and belongings. Iris Miller was recovering well, and her husband visited her every morning and evening.
With little else to do, the pregnant women usually spent their time in the tent chatting, making small talk, or lamenting their fate. Everyone knew everything about one another: where the hundred-or-so women came from, how old they were, their backgrounds, and how many family members they had left.
A skeletal young pregnant woman, her belly large, was sunbathing outside the tent. Yolanda Lawrence urged her not to sit out in the dust, but the woman refused to go inside, saying she couldn’t get any sun in there and it was too cold.
Yolanda Lawrence had told Evelyn Ford about the young woman’s situation. She was only twenty-two, her husband had died in the earthquake, and she had no other family. She was carrying twins. Because of her pessimistic attitude, Yolanda Lawrence worried she might do something drastic and kept a close eye on her.
"Most of the people in here are the only ones left from their families." Yolanda Lawrence had only been there a few days, and she already felt herself slipping into depression.
"Dr. Ford, after you went back yesterday, a distraught woman ran over here, frantically searching for her child. I heard the child went missing during the earthquake. She looked for so long and couldn’t find them... she just snapped. Dr. Turner told me there are over three thousand disabled people in the base, and several hundred more who were driven mad by trauma. The base has no place to house them, so they’re just left to fend for themselves. It’s so pitiful. I can’t imagine how heartbroken their families would be if they could see them now."