Chapter 127 Where there is hope, there is fear.
The smell of disinfectant entered my nasal cavity before I even realized it.
Zhu Wan felt a chill run through her body, a chill that seeped from the depths of her bones, causing her to shiver in her dazed state.
Her eyelids felt heavy, as if they were stuck together by a soaked tissue. She tried to move her fingers and touched the soft blanket.
The physical pain wasn't sharp; the feeling of floating was dispelled by warmth and a sense of reality, and her mind was gradually pulled back from the void of darkness.
Zhu Wan finally opened her eyes.
At first, the vision was blurry, a blinding white. Gradually, the vision cleared, and the smooth outline of the ceiling came into view.
The light outside the window was bright, the sunlight, the light of daytime, casting stripes of light and dark on the white sheets through the half-open blinds.
Dust particles floated slowly within the beam of light.
She slowly turned her eyes and saw a metal rod standing next to her with a transparent bag hanging from it, containing a clear liquid. A thin tube extended from there, connecting to a piece of white tape on the back of her hand.
Fragments of memories began to surge uncontrollably into my mind.
The icy touch, the suffocating despair, and the blurring of consciousness in her final moments—she instinctively tensed her body and breathed rapidly.
Is she in a hospital...?
Her breath carried a faint fragrance, a familiar scent—the scent of her mother.
Zhu Wan saw clearly her mother, who was lying by the bedside watching over her.
Meng Yin didn't sleep well; she would wake up at the slightest noise.
The moment she opened her eyes and saw her daughter, who had regained consciousness, her eyes instantly reddened.
"Ah Yuan, you're finally awake..."
She held her daughter's hand tightly, the one that wasn't receiving the IV drip, her eyes filled with the joy of having regained what she had lost, and also with heartache.
Zhu Wan's throat was dry and tight; she wanted to speak, but couldn't utter clear words.
She stared at her mother without blinking, thinking she was dreaming.
Meng Yin moistened a cotton swab and applied it to her daughter's lips.
Thinking that her daughter had woken up and could drink water, she quickly poured her some.
"Take small sips, no rush."
Zhu Wan drank the small half-cup of water for a long time.
My Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, causing a slight stinging pain.
Meng Yin pressed the call button by the bedside. Looking at her daughter's pale and thin face, she could no longer hold back her tears.
She hugged her daughter, gently patting her back. "Ah Wan, it's alright, everything's alright, don't be afraid..."
Zhu Wan was in a coma for three days.
She smelled the familiar scent of her mother in the air, and the feeling of reality overwhelmed her; she couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.
When Grandma Zhu came in, she saw the mother and daughter hugging, both with tears on their faces.
Meng Yin wiped away her tears, unable to get enough of looking at her daughter.
Zhu Wan, clutching a tissue, her eyes red, called out, "Grandma."
His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded with sandpaper.
Grandma Zhu rubbed her granddaughter's head and said, "A-Yuan, don't be afraid, Grandma is here."
Zhu Wan had never seen her grandmother and mother look so unrefined and haggard.
Those feelings of panic and fear seemed to be just a nightmare she was having.
The door was gently pushed open.
A young woman in a light blue nurse's uniform followed behind Zhu Linjun.
When Zhu Linjun saw his daughter wake up, the coldness on his face turned into a gentle smile: "A-Yuan".
Even after the nurse came in, Zhu Wan's gaze remained fixed on what was behind her father.
I didn't see my sister.
The nurse moved with practiced ease, first glancing up at the IV bag, then checking the indwelling needle in her hand and the monitoring equipment beside the bed.
Only now did the regular "beep, beep" sounds clearly reach Zhu Wan's ears.
Zhu Linjun opened the soup and food she had brought, and the room was filled with the aroma of food.
Grandma Zhu noticed her granddaughter's frequent glances outside, and she said, "Ah Yuan, your sister is abroad now, she's very safe."
Zhu Wan held the soup spoon. Hearing that her sister was safe, the redness in her eyes faded a little, and her furrowed brows relaxed unconsciously.
She looked at her father and grandmother, "Have the kidnappers been caught?"
She was being held captive by her kidnappers. Through their phone calls, which were being monitored, she learned that the mastermind behind the kidnapping had been using her to threaten her sister.
There was no fear in the little girl's eyes. Grandma Zhu was worried that her granddaughter had just woken up and didn't want to mention the kidnappers, lest she frighten her.
Zhu Linjun took the soup spoon from his daughter's hand. "A-Yuan, don't be afraid. Daddy will never let anyone hurt you or my family again. We have information on the two masterminds who escaped abroad."
Finding them will only take a day or two.
He will not let these two kidnappers get away with harming his wife and daughter while he is away. No matter the cost, he will make sure they are brought to justice.
If the law cannot punish them, then let's use overseas methods to make them receive the punishment they deserve.
Zhu Lin scooped up some fish soup and said, "A-Yuan, Daddy will feed you."
Zhu Wan lowered her head and drank the fish soup her father fed her.
Grandma Zhu told Meng Yin to eat quickly and then go back to rest.
Meng Yin barely rested for the past three days.
Zhu Linjun spoke up, "I'll take care of A-Yuan at the hospital, so no one can take her from me. Mom, Xiao Yin, you both go back and rest. Come back and relieve me when you've rested."
Zhu Wan wanted to say that she could manage on her own in the hospital.
Before she could finish speaking, she swallowed her words back after being looked at by her father.
After drinking most of a bowl of fish soup, Zhu Wan couldn't drink anymore.
Grandma Zhu arranged for a psychologist to come over.
She wasn't in a hurry to discharge her granddaughter from the hospital.
I'll recover in the hospital and go home when I'm healthy and able to run around again.
Zhu Wan wants to call her sister and see her therapist again.
Meng Yin handed her phone to Zhu Wan.
After A-Yuan woke up, she immediately sent a message to Ji-Shu, who was with Zhu-Fan.
In this kidnapping case, they all regarded Afan as their pillar of support.
Meng Yin asked A Yuan to call Aunt Shu.
Zhu Fan's phone was fitted with surveillance software by the kidnappers, and the phone was left in China.
The surveillance software had been hacked by the police, and the phone was switched off when it was returned.
Meng Yin didn't turn on her phone, planning to return it to her daughter when she returned to China.
After finishing her phone call with Aunt Shu and hearing her sister's voice, Zhu Wan felt completely relaxed.
During her conversation with the psychologist, she took the initiative to talk about the kidnapping incident.
She would be taken out of the huge glass tank every three hours, and then put back into the huge fish tank two hours later.
During this time, the kidnappers only gave her a small amount of food.
"I imagined myself as a real mermaid, swimming and swimming in the water. The water was warm, not cold. I had an oxygen tank on my back, with enough oxygen to sustain my life."
"The kidnappers lowered their guard when they saw that I was obedient."
Therefore, she was not harmed in any other way.
Zhu Wan took the water glass handed to her by the psychologist. "Doctor, I'm not scared. All of this is in the past."
The girl's voice was low and hoarse, yet strong.
The psychologist looked at the girl sitting on the bed.
As the little girl spoke, there was a chill of relief in her eyes, as well as a hint of unreal disbelief.
But his eyes were firm and clear.
"You are very brave."
Zhu Wan turned her gaze back to the blue sky outside the window, cut off by the window frame.
"Because I knew my sister would come to save me."
With hope, fear will be overcome.
The sky outside the window is a deep blue, very high and far away.
A tear slid down Zhu Wan's cheek without warning, disappearing into the hair at her temple. It wasn't sadness, but immense exhaustion and... relief.
She is still alive.
My family is safe and sound.
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