〈Parallel Universes〉 平行時空

10、〈借身還魂〉
「公證結婚」後，原本規劃帶著新婚妻子去趟歐洲蜜月旅行，可計畫趕不上變化，不巧遇到「八仙樂園塵爆」，院裡一晚上抬進來三十來個燒燙傷患者，我雖不是皮膚科專科，也被主任派去支援，協助處理患者清創和植皮，而且還得兼顧外科手術檯的工作，一時間忙得不可開交，蜜月旅行當然就取消了。

妻子是我醫學系學妹，從大二跟我拍拖到現在，每年寒暑假我們都會去偏鄉支援醫療實習，順便趁假日遊山玩水。妻是個多愁善感的小女人，陰性的性情跟一隻貓似的，大學時代沉浸在文學裡，自行去選修新詩和小說，經常在副刊和文學雜誌上發表作品，活脫脫就是個文藝青年。跟我鬧彆扭時，就在詩行或小說裡暗罵我。選科時妻挑了精神科，問我意見，記得當時我只回應她三個字：「不意外」。

塵爆發生當晚，妻下班後趕來急診處，看見我忙得團團轉，立即主動穿上醫師袍過來幫我。當晚，第一個全身燒燙傷超過90%的小女孩，嚴重吸入性嗆傷，在燒燙傷病床上失去呼吸心跳，我盡力施救了，但仍回天乏術。妻表情哀憐，伸出手幫小女孩闔上眼皮，隨後坐在一旁掩面啜泣。

我和妻忙到次日深夜，兩人已經精神恍惚，急診科邵主任要我們先回去休息半天，下午兩點才回來。回到家門口，親友祝賀的鮮花擺滿走道。兩人蓬首垢面，妻先進浴室洗澡，等我洗完澡，她已經睡得連打呼聲都跑出來，梳妝台上擺著一杯喝剩的開水。我知道她一遇到突來的精神壓力就容易失眠，必須短暫依靠安眠藥助眠，也就不以為意。
我躺上床拉來被子，沉沉睡去。
次日接近中午，我被哭泣聲吵醒，尋聲來到客廳，妻邊講電話邊啜泣，我繞到她面前，她卻轉過臉去，但我已瞥見她淚流滿面。
我關切地問：「妳怎麼了？貓咪…」貓咪是我喊她的親暱稱呼。
妻不理睬我繼續講電話：「爸媽，我暫時借住在一個大姐姐的身體裡面，我好想你們，好想見你們…我應該聽你們的話不要去八仙的…」。
「蛙哩嘞！這馬是在演哪齣啊？」我滿頭霧水。
「貓咪，妳按怎了？」我伸手想去摸妻的額頭，卻被她一手撥開。
「醫生，請你的手放尊重些！」妻竟然對我怒目相向，嗆我。
我驚訝到登時變成皮諾契特：「我，我是兔子老公啊？妳別鬧我了，好不好！」
「我連男朋友都沒有，哪來老公？你，昨晚為什麼跟我睡在一起？你有沒有對我怎樣？你離我遠一點啦！色北北，你很噁耶，…」妻指責我時一臉認真的表情，我被她嚇唬得目瞪口呆。
我按照她的指令，和她保持距離，等她講完電話。然後，她跟我要求送她去醫院太平間，說她跟她爸媽相約在那裡，我聽得一愣一愣的，只能說「好」。
她轉身回臥房，大聲喊我：「醫生北北，你老婆到底會不會穿衣服啊？都是些大嬸套裝洋裝款式，你就不會幫她打扮得漂漂亮亮些嗎？」
「你挑一套衣服穿上吧？先別抱怨了。」我邊回她話，邊想著這是不是傳說中的借身還魂，如果是，那麼我妻子的靈魂又跑哪兒去了？如果她一直這樣，我該怎麼跟同事還有雙方的爸媽解釋清楚？
我開著房車把妻送回醫院，進到太平間，果然一對夫妻和一個小男孩在那裡等著。
妻主動上前跟他們說話，然後哭泣著相互擁抱，被她晾在一旁的我，簡直呆成木頭人。接著，妻向管理員要求打開冰櫃，一家人圍著冰櫃裡的女孩哭泣拭淚，喃喃說了一些話。整個道別過程裡，管理員納悶地望著我，直到她們一家人離開後，管理員拉住我問：「陳醫師，死者是你的家人嗎？」
我乾咳兩聲為難說：「是，是我老婆，的堂妹，堂妹啦。」
管理員說：「不好意思，陳醫師，請節哀。」
我趕緊轉身離開太平間，追上妻他們「一家人」。
在醫院門口，妻目送三人離開後，轉身向我招手。我隨即風一般飄到她身旁。
妻臉上露出陽光般的笑容說：「兔子，我們一起去餐廳吃午餐吧？我想喝碗牛肉湯，你也該喝一大碗，補充體力。」
我驚喜地問：「貓咪，你回魂了？」
妻笑罵著：「大笨蛋，我一直都在啊！又沒離開你過。」
「可是，可是剛才妳…」我一臉疑惑問。
妻淡定說：「小玲妹妹昨晚擠進我身體，跟我要求暫借七天，讓她去完成一些事情。助人為快樂之本嘛，我就答應她囉。」
看著妻神采奕奕，我真不知該說些什麼，心想：「還好，只有七天，忍耐一下吧！」
「用餐後，我刷卡買半打白蘭氏雞精，給你帶去急診科，三個小時記得抽空喝一瓶喔。」體貼細心的妻，果然回魂了。

10“Borrowed Body, Returned Soul”
After our civil marriage, I had originally planned to take my newlywed wife on a honeymoon trip to Europe. But plans could not keep up with changes, and unfortunately, the Formosa Fun Coast dust explosion occurred. About thirty burn patients were brought into the hospital in a single night. Although I was not a dermatologist, the department director assigned me to provide support, helping with wound debridement and skin grafting while also having to cover duties in the surgical operating room. For a while, I was so busy that I could barely catch my breath. Naturally, our honeymoon was canceled.
My wife was my junior at medical school. We had been dating since her sophomore year, and every winter and summer vacation, we would go to medically underserved rural areas to assist with medical training, while also taking advantage of our days off to travel and enjoy the scenery. My wife was a sentimental young woman, with a gentle, sensitive temperament like a cat. During college, she immersed herself in literature and took elective courses in modern poetry and fiction. She often published her work in newspaper literary supplements and literary magazines, the very picture of a young literary enthusiast. Whenever she was upset with me, she would secretly curse me in the lines of her poems or in her novels. When it came time to choose her medical specialty, she chose psychiatry. She asked my opinion, and I remember that all I said to her was, “No surprise.”
On the night of the dust explosion, my wife came straight to the emergency department after work. When she saw me running around frantically, she immediately put on a doctor’s coat and came over to help me. That night, the first little girl brought in had burns covering more than ninety percent of her body and severe inhalation injuries. She lost her breathing and heartbeat in the burn unit. I did everything I could to save her, but there was nothing I could do. My wife looked heartbroken. She reached out and gently closed the little girl’s eyelids, then sat down beside her, covering her face with her hands as she quietly sobbed.
My wife and I worked until late the following night. By then, we were both mentally exhausted and dazed. Director Shao of the emergency department told us to go home and rest for half a day and return at two in the afternoon.
When we arrived home, the walkway was filled with congratulatory flowers from relatives and friends. We looked disheveled and exhausted. My wife went into the bathroom to take a shower first. By the time I finished showering, she was already fast asleep, even snoring softly. On her vanity was a glass of water that she had only partially finished. I knew that whenever she experienced sudden psychological stress, she had trouble sleeping and sometimes needed to rely briefly on sleeping pills to get some rest, so I thought nothing of it.
I climbed into bed, pulled up the covers, and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, close to noon, I was awakened by the sound of crying. I followed the sound into the living room. My wife was sobbing as she talked on the phone. I walked around to face her, but she turned her face away. Even so, I had already caught a glimpse of her tear-streaked face.
Concerned, I asked, “What’s wrong, Kitty...?” “Kitty” was the affectionate nickname I used for her.
My wife ignored me and continued talking on the phone. “Mom and Dad, I’m temporarily staying inside the body of a big sister. I miss you both so much. I really want to see you... I should have listened to you and not gone to the Formosa Fun Coast...”
“What the hell! What kind of drama is this supposed to be?” I was completely bewildered.
“Kitty, what’s wrong with you?” I reached out to touch her forehead, but she brushed my hand away.
“Doctor, please keep your hands to yourself!” My wife glared angrily at me and snapped.
I was so shocked that I practically turned into Pinocchio. “I... I’m your Bunny Husband! Come on, stop messing with me, okay?”
“I don’t even have a boyfriend, let alone a husband! You—why did you sleep with me last night? Did you do anything to me? Stay away from me! You pervert, you’re disgusting...” Her expression was completely serious as she accused me, leaving me staring at her in stunned disbelief.
I followed her instructions and kept my distance while waiting for her to finish the phone call. Then she asked me to take her to the hospital morgue, saying that she had arranged to meet her parents there. I was so confused that I could only say, “Okay.”
She turned around and went back into the bedroom, then shouted loudly, “Doctor, does your wife even know how to dress? All she has are those old-lady suits and dresses. Couldn’t you at least dress her up nicely?”
“Just pick an outfit and put it on. Stop complaining for now,” I replied. At the same time, I wondered whether this was what people meant by borrowing someone’s body and returning to life. If so, where had my wife’s soul gone? If she continued behaving like this, how was I supposed to explain everything to my colleagues and to both sets of parents?
I drove the motor home and took my wife back to the hospital. When we entered the morgue, sure enough, a married couple and a little boy were waiting there.
My wife walked up to them and spoke to them first. Then, crying, they embraced one another. I was left standing off to the side, completely dumbfounded, as if I had turned into a wooden statue.
Next, my wife asked the morgue attendant to open the refrigerated compartment. The family gathered around the girl’s body inside, crying and wiping away their tears while murmuring a few words to her. Throughout the entire farewell, the attendant kept looking at me with a puzzled expression. After the family left, he stopped me and asked, “Dr. Chen, is the deceased a member of your family?”
I cleared my throat awkwardly and said, “Yes. She’s my wife’s... cousin. Her cousin.”
The attendant said, “I’m sorry, Dr. Chen. Please accept my condolences.”
I quickly turned around, left the morgue, and caught up with my wife and her “family.”
At the hospital entrance, my wife watched the three of them leave. Then she turned around and waved to me. I immediately floated over to her like the wind.
A sunny smile spread across my wife’s face. “Bunny, let’s go to a restaurant for lunch together. I want a bowl of beef soup. You should have a big bowl too. You need to replenish your energy.”
I asked excitedly, “Kitty, have you come back to life?”
My wife laughed and scolded me playfully. “You big idiot! I’ve been here all along! I never left you.”
“But... but just now, you...” I asked, looking completely confused.
My wife calmly explained, “Little Ling squeezed into my body last night and asked to borrow it for seven days so she could take care of a few things. Helping others is the source of happiness, right? So I agreed to let her.”
Looking at my wife, who was now full of energy and vitality, I truly did not know what to say. I thought to myself, “Thank goodness it’s only seven days. I guess I’ll just have to put up with it for a while!”
“After lunch, I’ll use my credit card to buy half a dozen bottles of Brand’s Essence of Chicken for you and take them to the emergency department. Remember to find time to drink one bottle every three hours.”
My thoughtful and considerate wife had indeed returned to herself.