Chapter 40: Sleepless Winter Night
The chill of a winter night in Pasadena felt sharper than during the day.
David Mitchell and Leonard Hofstadter walked out of the Physics Department building, simultaneously pulling their coat collars tighter.
The constant temperature and humidity inside the lab building almost made them forget the season; only by stepping into the silence of the deep night could they feel the true temperature of Pasadena in early January.
"Finally... that's a wrap." Leonard exhaled a puff of white air, his voice hoarse and relieved after working for over ten consecutive hours.
They had just completed the most crucial round of data collection for the 3D scanning experiment, and the massive dataset was now resting quietly in the server, awaiting subsequent analysis.
David took a breath, enjoying the sobering sensation of cold air filling his lungs. Deep within his exhaustion, a sense of satisfaction also resided.
Applying future knowledge to the present and personally witnessing it spark into life—this feeling remained thrilling no matter how many times he experienced it.
Their car was parked in a roadside spot several hundred meters away, and there was hardly anyone visible on campus.
During winter break, most students and faculty had left; only those "kidnapped" by their experiments remained. The streetlights cast lonely, dim yellow circles on the ground.
"Look over there," Leonard suddenly pointed with his chin toward a nearby building, where a single window was stubbornly lit, standing out against the dark structure. "Looks like 'lab rats' exist in every department. Winter break is truly our shared 'Academic Hell Week'." He chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"Which department is that?" David asked casually.
"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Churchill Building." Leonard knew the campus like the back of his hand. "Probably another postdoc or grad student fighting a losing battle with a reaction flask."
The two chatted about the preliminary trends of the experimental data as they walked toward the parking spot.
Just as they were about to reach Leonard's car, a clear, sharp, pain-filled "Ah!" echoed from the lit window, instantly shattering the night's tranquility.
The two stopped dead in their tracks and exchanged an alert look.
"Did you hear that?" Leonard asked.
"I heard it, from that window." David pointed toward the solitary light.
Without another word, they immediately changed direction and jogged toward the entrance of the Churchill Building.
Fortunately, building security was lax during winter break, and the side door opened with a push.
Following the direction and light they remembered, they quickly moved through the quiet corridor, finally stopping in front of a slightly ajar laboratory door.
David pushed the door open first, and the scene inside came into view.
Various glass instruments, apparatus, and equipment were arranged in a disorderly yet organized fashion, and the air was filled with a faint smell of organic solvents.
In the center of the floor, a young woman wearing a white lab coat was sitting collapsed on the ground, surrounded by scattered pipettes and some printed data sheets.
Her right hand was tightly gripping her left forearm, and her face was contorted in pain and covered in cold sweat.
"Are you okay? What happened?" David quickly stepped forward, squatted down, and spoke with concern.
The woman looked up, revealing a delicate face currently etched with pain; her brown hair was somewhat messily stuck to her sweaty temples.
"I... I slipped and fell... and I tried to break my fall with my hand..." She gasped, her voice trembling.
David's gaze fell upon her left wrist. The wrist area was noticeably swollen and held at a slight, unnatural angle.
"I'm David Mitchell, and this is Leonard Hofstadter. We're from the Physics Department." David introduced himself briefly, signaling Leonard to help. "What's your name?"
"Sarah... Sarah Blake." The woman tried hard to remain calm, but her eyes were filled with panic and helplessness.
"Sarah, listen, your wrist is probably fractured."
David's voice had a calming strength. He maintained his distance, avoiding touching the injury, but observed it closely. "We need to get you to the hospital immediately. Leonard?"
"The car's right outside!" Leonard quickly responded. "Can you stand up? Be careful, we'll help you."
Supported by the two men, Sarah managed to stand, but the agonizing pain shooting from her wrist made her nearly faint.
She slowly moved out of the lab with them, locked the door, and then, enduring the pain, struggled toward the parking lot.
Leonard carefully settled Sarah in the back seat. He and David quickly got into the car and started the engine. Since the campus health center was closed at this hour during winter break, they decided to head straight for an off-campus hospital.
"Go to Huntington Memorial," David told Leonard. "It's the closest."
"Got it." Leonard turned the wheel, and the car drove out of the silent campus, merging into the sparse traffic of Pasadena's night.
Inside the car, the atmosphere was silent for a moment. After the pain slightly subsided, Sarah calmed down a bit, but worry resurfaced.
"Thank you... really, thank you so much." She whispered, her voice choked. "If it weren't for you two, I don't know how I would have gotten to the hospital on such a cold night."
"Don't mention it. Anyone would have helped," Leonard reassured her, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "Campus is like a ghost town during winter break. Why were you in the lab so late?"
Sarah sighed and said helplessly, "My experiment hit a critical point, and the data hasn't been great. I wanted to try one more parameter set tonight, but now..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but the anxiety in her tone was obvious.
She paused, then added, "This is my postdoc exit project, and the most critical one. This result will directly determine whether I can stay at Caltech as a research scientist after my fellowship ends."
"What area are you researching?" David turned his head and asked politely, trying to distract her and ease her pain.
"Electrocatalysis," Sarah replied. "Specifically, designing oxygen evolution reaction catalysts. It's a combination of computational chemistry and experiment."
"Oh?" David grew interested. Computational chemistry—that hit exactly on his expertise from his previous life. "That's a very cutting-edge area. What problems are you running into?"
Perhaps the pain had lowered her defenses, or perhaps the vulnerability of the deep night made her yearn to confide, but Sarah began to explain in detail...
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