Chapter 1170: The Signal
The nurses would appear regularly in Zhang Heng’s ward to feed him food and water, turn him over, and also deal with his excrement.
On the twelfth day or so, Zhang Heng basically only ate liquid food. Because he was suffering from an intestinal syndrome, his abdomen constantly growled, and the sound of fluid flowing could be heard in the Caec.u.m area. In addition, the mucous membrane in his mouth had fallen off, making it impossible for him to swallow solid food. He could only survive by eating some rice paste that had been boiled and injected with nutrient solution.
Even so, on the 14th day, he still began to have blood in his stool. It was filled with mucus and blood, and he also began to lose a large amount of hair. The female doctor had already declined other house calls and focused all her efforts on Zhang Heng.
She spent most of the day in the ward, watching Zhang Heng’s progress through the gla.s.s window and making treatment plans accordingly.
In order to stimulate the growth of Zhang Heng’s bone marrow cells, the doctor injected him with the newly developed bone marrow cells. However, just as the doctor had said when he first entered the parallel dungeon… Currant human medicine had no effective treatment for radiation because the damage was on a molecular level. All the hospitals and doctors could do was prolong the patient’s life as long as possible and treat all kinds of complications as best they could. At the end of the day, all they could do was pray that the human body’s powerful self-repair ability would help the patient overcome the crisis.
On the twentieth day, the doctor wore a protective suit and entered the sterile ward to closely observe his condition.
When she entered the ward, she found the latter lying on the bed with his eyes wide open. He did not move at all and looked like a corpse.
Shocked, the doctor quickly turned to look at the equipment beside her and saw that Zhang Heng’s electrocardiogram was still normal. When she saw that his eyes were moving again, she realized that it was a false alarm.
“You’ll be fine,” the doctor comforted him.
Perhaps because she was impressed by Zhang Heng’s heroism in the face of such pain, that the doctor had a good impression of the patient before her. Even though her mission as a doctor was to save lives and heal the wounded, she did have her own selfish intentions and likes and dislikes. At that moment, however, she had a strong desire to save the man before her.
However, because she had been by Zhang Heng’s side for a long time, her impression of Mrs. Dima had decreased. She still remembered that when they first met, Mrs. Dima had begged her with tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to part with her husband, hoping that they would be able to stay together in the ward. This had greatly moved the doctor’s heart.
She had indeed done so a few days ago, but after Zhang Heng was transferred to the sterile ward, Mrs. Dima’s true colors began to show themselves. The doctor noticed that while Dima was still in a battle for his life with the Grim Reaper, his wife was outside flipping through a fas.h.i.+on magazine. She seemed to be figuring out which coat and bag to buy. This was unacceptable to the female doctor.
Fortunately, Mrs. Dima was still very concerned about her husband’s life. She would ask the doctor about Zhang Heng’s condition almost every day.
The doctor did not know how to evaluate the couple’s relations.h.i.+p. She knew that she should not get involved in the private affairs of others, but now that she was standing beside Zhang Heng’s bed, she could not help but have an evil thought. She wanted to tell Zhang Heng what she had seen in the corridor only to quickly feel that it was too cruel.
Perhaps this man was trying so hard to survive because of his wife and child. If she told him about it now, wouldn’t it do him more harm? In the end, the doctor swallowed the words back into her mouth and turned around to leave the ward.
Zhang Heng did not know that he had almost suffered an on-the-spot split with his wife. At that moment, his attention was focused on his body and the shadow in the depths of his consciousness. Regarding the former, he had no good solution, and could only continue to receive treatment in the ward.
Considering the layout of the ward, Zhang Heng sometimes felt like an old vampire who had been dragged from a coffin into the sunlight. Fortunately, for now, he still didn’t feel the threat of death although his condition was deteriorating.
As for the shadow in the palace, Zhang Heng had his consciousness submerge a few more times. However, just like the first time, he still couldn’t get a clear look at it. He also considered entering the palace, but once this thought appeared, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. However, at every critical moment, Zhang Heng would always remember the voice that urged him to wait. Thus, he kept wandering outside the palace.
30 days had pa.s.sed since Zhang Heng was admitted to the hospital. He had also been suffering from his illness for a whole month. He had lost a lot of weight because he could not eat and had to be injected with nutrient fluids. Now, he weighed less than 90 kilograms and looked like a skeleton.
Other than that, his liver, kidneys, and other organs had also suffered some problems. Fortunately, he managed to survive. That being said, no one knew if this strong man would be able to survive the next phase.
Even the waitress who played his wife felt a sense of despair. Watching Zhang Heng’s health deteriorate, she felt that she might not be able to get her future salary and that she was getting further and further away from her dream of traveling. Perhaps the only good news was that the money she earned so far was enough to buy an imported coat.
However, from the 34th day, Zhang Heng could start feeling his body showing signs of improvement. This change was so subtle that even the female doctor who had been scrutinizing his condition didn’t notice it. However, with Zhang Heng’s current control over his body, he could instantly feel the change.
And from that moment on, Zhang Heng heaved a sigh of relief, because he knew that he had already survived the most difficult hurdle.
After another week, the doctor finally noticed that Zhang Heng’s condition was improving. This surprised and delighted her. Before this, she had been worried that he might not hold on, but reality proved that the man before her was stronger than she had imagined.
This was akin to a signal that Zhang Heng’s body, which had been pa.s.sive all this time, was finally starting to blow the counterattack horn.
In the following days, Zhang Heng started to recover rapidly. By the 49th day, he could already get out of bed and attempt walking by leaning against the wall. Four days later, he started on some solid food, enabling his body to absorb more energy. As his stomach adapted, Zhang Heng started on his road to recovery.
He healed at an incredible rate. On the 56th day, Zhang Heng moved out of the sterile ward. After another week, he even started to lift some dumbbells to recover his muscles.