The sight of a person anxiously running from the entrance into the emergency room was not quite new nor surprising in a hospital. Frantically running around directionless, the person turned around at all directions, seemingly looking for something – or someone.That person with a perspiring face and disheveled hair, helplessly not knowing what to do and where to go was Chen Linyun.
Face scrunched, he could not decipher what people around him were telling him. Sure, they were trying to ask what he was looking for or needing that very instant. Was he needing special care and immediate attention? Was he hurt?
His mind shortcircuited a few hours back. Upon hearing some bad news, they hurriedly took a cab to the airport.
Chen Linyun and Butler Lee cut their Shanghai trip short. Without bothering to return to Beijing, they took a flight straight from Shanghai to Indonesia.
The usual flight from Shanghai to Indonesia would usually take six hours and a half. Since the Xue Family had its own private jet, the flight was shortened to four hours. Still, it took four d.a.m.n hours!
Since Chen Linyun was in a state of utter shock, Butler Lee took over. He asked the triage where the Xue siblings were at, what room, if they were confined, and the extent of the damage. He introduced himself accordingly as their guardian, revealing the family"s seal as if the hospital would acknowledge it.
Shortly after they were led to a private room where Xue Guangxi was admitted. Upon seeing only the little brother, Chen Linyun broke his silence.
"Where is she?" He asked, with a raspy voice laced with exhaustion and worry.
"She"s still under observation, Sir." Butler Lee answered. "I"ll get the doctor to explain their condition." He left and returned after a while.
Chen Linyun was trembling all over. Just a few hours ago they were still sweetly talking over the phone. They were supposed to be reunited again in the morning of the morrow.
What the h.e.l.l happened?
"Chen Linyun, son!" Father and Mother Xue arrived at the hospital as well. Just like him, they were frantic.
"Butler Lee fetched the doctor. We just got here too." Chen Linyun briefed the worried parents.
The doctor greeted the family with a stoic face and then proceeded with the explanation. "The boy broke his right leg and had lacerations and open wounds on his right arm. We"ve taken care of the broken right leg with surgery, and secured it in a cast. His injuries were mild in comparison to the lady."
The crowd gasped at the doctor"s words.
"As for the lady, she was thrown out of the motorcycle and hit her head on the pavement. She"s still under observation. There is significant swelling in the brain. We have to monitor her intracranial pressure (ICP) until it drops at a manageable level. Otherwise, it means that the swelling does not subside, and may eventually lead to stroke or more fatal brain damage."
Upon hearing this, Mother Xue, Zhao Feiyan broke into wails. Father Xue caught her and supported her with his arms.
"We have sedated her to manage her agitation and pain as these two can also increase the ICP. We don"t want that to happen. To minimize the stress of the brain, we"ve put her into an induced comlike state and introduced into her system a sodium serum which will improve the flow of the blood inside her brain. Consequently, it will lead to shrinkage of her blood vessels, and in turn, lower pressure."
"Is there a probability that the ICP will not decrease?" Chen Linyun asked. He collected all his courage to ask this question. Somehow, he wanted to know the worst.
"As a matter of fact, there is."
"What will happen then?"
"We would be needing to operate on the patient – open her skull to relieve the pressure. But that procedure has its own risks. Hopefully, her ICP will decrease with the current measures that we adopted for her case."
The doctor excused himself after giving out the explanation.
Eventually, they were allowed to have a glimpse of her from the window of the intensive care unit. Mother Xue could not stop crying.
"Master, Madame, the Second Young Master has awakened." Butler Lee informed them from behind. He had been keeping tabs on Xue Guangxi, together with the bodyguards who were heavily watching the door.
"En." Master Xue acknowledged. "That brat! Always causing trouble!" He was red in the face with fury.
"Calm your nerves! Control your anger! He"s hurt too!" Mother Xue clung onto him, frightened of what he would do to her youngest child.
"He"s been causing trouble non-stop! Now he even inflicted his own sister! His own sister! They were supposed to go home! She was supposed to ONLY take him back home! She"s just helping out! My poor princess!" The mighty master whimpered a little while stopping at his tracks. Then, with clenched fists, he continued towards Xue Guangxi"s room. He was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with anger. He needed an outlet.
"Linyun, aren"t you going?" Zhao Feiyan asked.
"In a while, Mother." He said while not tearing his eyes away from the wife who was lying limply at the other side of the window. She was in a vegetative state.
Mother Xue squeezed his arm gently to comfort him. Then she walked away with Father Xue.
"Hang in there, Jinxu." He clenched his fists. What an unexpected turn of events.
Everything was surreal. "Is this even real?" He doubted. "Yes, it is." There was a stabbing pain in his chest area. It was too painful that he had to stay still to keep his throbbing heart in check.
"Wake up, Jinxu."
"Wake up."
"I"d love to see your smile again, to see you stand up, healthy and strong again."
The past hours were hectic. Although he wanted to break down, he couldn"t. Not in front of the in-laws.
Finally, he was alone in the whitewashed corridor outside the ICU. He removed his eyegla.s.ses and wept.