Chapter 34 Outbreak
At this moment, Qin Suisui felt as if an invisible giant hand was gripping her heart, kneading it like dough, constantly pressing and rolling it in the palm of the hand.
She felt a slight itch on her face, raised her hand to touch it, and realized that she hadn't noticed when her face was covered in tears.
She didn't even bother wiping him; she rushed over and hugged the little guy, patting his back: "Zanzan, don't be afraid, it's okay. It's okay if you get dirty, Mommy will clean it up. Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Are you hungry? How about some porridge?"
Zan Zan raised his hand and gently wiped away Qin Sui Sui's tears. His voice was still hoarse from vomiting: "Mommy, don't cry. Zan Zan doesn't feel bad anymore. You won't feel bad anymore after you vomited. Zan Zan wants to eat porridge. You'll feel better right away after you eat it."
Qin Suisui nodded vigorously: "Okay, you lie on the bed and wait for Mommy, Mommy will be right there."
She turned around, and another string of crystal tears slid down her cheeks. She could tell that the little one clearly had no appetite, but couldn't bear to disappoint her, so he forced himself to say he wanted to eat porridge and get better quickly.
It's because she didn't do a good enough job, making the child feel insecure. That's why, even when she's sick and feeling unwell, she's still worried about doing something wrong and upsetting her, and she has to consider her feelings.
If it were someone else's child in this situation, they would have already turned the whole family upside down, and the whole family would have to chase after them and coax them.
Qin Suisui wiped away her tears, went to the bathroom to get water to clean the little guy's hands and face, changed him into clean clothes, carried him to her and Pei Jiuyan's bed, and gently comforted him: "Baby, lie here quietly, Mommy will go get some porridge."
Zan Zan blinked his big eyes, staring at the doorway even after his mother's figure had disappeared from sight. His weak little face was filled with both shyness and surprise. His mother called him baby! His mother actually called him baby! Although his mother had said before that he was her parents' precious baby, she had never called him baby to his face like this before!
God knows how envious he was every time he saw other children's mothers calling them "baby" at daycare! Now he's a baby too! He's his mother's baby!
The congee that Aunt Tang brought over had been heated for too long and had become a bit dry, so Qin Suisui added a little boiled stream water to thin it out, simmered it for another two or three minutes, and then brought it upstairs for Zanzan to eat. Even though she knew Zanzan didn't have an appetite, he still needed to eat something; only by eating could his body have the energy to fight the virus.
After feeding Zan Zan a small bowl of thin porridge, Qin Sui Sui saw that the little guy was so sleepy that he could barely keep his eyes open. She then gently stroked his head and coaxed him, "Baby, be good. You go to sleep first. Mommy will go to your room to tidy up and then come back to sleep with you."
Zan Zan's voice was muffled as she tilted her head to look at her: "Then I'll wait until Mom is done getting ready before I go back to my room to sleep."
Qin Suisui shook her head: "No need, baby will sleep with mom tonight."
Hearing her say that, Zan Zan, who was about to close her eyes from sleep, opened them instantly, her joy overflowing: "Really?" Then, as if remembering something, her tone turned a little disappointed: "But Daddy won't let Zan Zan sleep with Mommy."
Qin Suisui chuckled: "It's okay. Zanzan is sick, so he has to sleep with his mother. His father won't be angry."
After finally getting the child to sleep, Qin Suisui went to the next room to clean up Zanzan's vomit. The weather on Qiongtan Island is hot, and if it's left unattended overnight, it will definitely stink and attract all sorts of small flying insects tomorrow.
After cleaning the room and soaking the soiled sheets, it was almost 10 p.m. Qin Suisui looked at the bowl of cold red oil wontons and lost her appetite. She ate some snacks and went back to her room.
Around midnight, Zan Zan's temperature, which had finally gone down, spiked again to 39.5°C. Qin Sui Sui gave him fever-reducing medicine and poured warm water to wipe the little guy's body.
The little guy was probably feeling unwell from the fever, mumbling incoherently, "Mommy, didn't you say that children with colds shouldn't go to daycare? Why can Xue Ziming go to daycare even though he has a cold..."
Qin Suisui paused as she wiped the soles of his feet. She had always thought that Zan Zan had caught a cold because she hadn't taken good care of him these past two days, but judging from what Zan Zan said, it seemed that he had been infected.
"Is Xue Ziming also suffering from a cold?"
"Hmm... Xue Ziming has a fever, and he even vomited this afternoon... I think I caught it from him..."
Qin Suisui suddenly remembered the plot of the original book, and her voice trembled slightly: "Baby, do you have any mosquito prevention measures in your classroom?"
Zan Zan was taken aback by her mother's sudden change of topic, but after thinking for a moment, she shook her head: "No, the teacher said that burning mosquito coils can easily cause safety accidents, so we didn't burn any."
Qin Suisui's heart skipped a beat. It's here! The Japanese encephalitis virus that swept across the entire island in the original book has arrived!
Fortunately, now that she knew the cause of her illness, Qin Suisui stopped taking medication as if she had a cold. Moreover, the Japanese encephalitis virus isn't actually that scary; as long as the illness is kept mild, there won't be any lasting effects after recovery.
So Qin Suisui went into her spatial dimension again, found some heat-clearing and detoxifying pills that her grandmother had made before, dissolved them in water, and gave them to Zan Zan to drink.
Zan Zan's temperature fluctuated twice more in the middle of the night, but by the next morning it had dropped to 37.5°C.
Qin Suisui was still worried, so she took the child directly to the military hospital. Before she even entered, she heard a lot of children crying and making noise, mixed with the scolding of adults.
Have so many children already been infected? Qin Suisui frowned, took out five mosquito repellent sachets from her spatial storage, tied them securely to Zanzan and her, and then carried the child inside.
There were many sick children and not enough medical staff, so everyone was overwhelmed. When Qin Suisui came in carrying another child, the nurse didn't even listen to what Qin Suisui had to say and immediately directed people to line up at the infusion station.
Qin Suisui frowned and raised her voice a little: "Comrade, my child doesn't have a cold. I suspect it's Japanese encephalitis virus. I need to have his blood tested."
The nurse was getting impatient: "What virus? Are you the professional or am I? You just said it yourself, it's just fever and vomiting, right? Dozens of children here have the same symptoms, it's just the flu. If one child catches it, the whole class will get infected. Stop talking nonsense and get in line, I'm busy, you're just wasting my time..."
After saying that, she pushed Qin Suisui aside with her bottom and went to attend to the child who was vomiting on the other side.
Qin Suisui asked several medical staff members, but received the same answer each time. She was a little annoyed, but Zanzan in her arms was already drowsy, and the environment was indeed not suitable for the child to rest. Helpless, she took him back.
By noon, Zan Zan's temperature had not risen again; in fact, it had dropped by 0.2 degrees Celsius. Qin Sui Sui was overjoyed and cried tears of joy. As long as the temperature did not fluctuate or rise again today, it meant that the virus was under control.
After feeding Zan Zan something and putting him to sleep, Qin Sui Sui went to the hospital alone again. The pediatrics and fever wards were already packed with children and parents, even more than in the morning. Qin Sui Sui found one of the nurses and asked her to take her to see a doctor. She said any doctor would do, as long as they knew a little about medicine; she believed they could quickly diagnose the virus and the hospital could then develop a timely treatment plan.
Unfortunately, all the nurses were too busy to pay attention to her.
Helpless, Qin Suisui thought for a moment and went directly to the physical examination department to find Sister Liu. After explaining the situation, she asked her to take her to see Dr. Zhao, who had previously performed a premarital physical examination for her.
Upon hearing that it was Japanese encephalitis virus, Aunt Liu immediately panicked: "Sui Sui, are you sure you're not mistaken? It really is a virus, not a cold?"
Qin Suisui nodded: "It's absolutely true, sister-in-law. Besides, if you don't believe me, take me to see Dr. Zhao. We can just have a blood test done on one of the children in the pediatric ward, and we'll know the result!"
Aunt Liu slapped her thigh in panic: "Oh no! My Xiaoli must have been infected too! Quick, quick, I'll take Xiaoli with me to see Dr. Zhao!"
Because it was the weekend and Xiaoli hadn't gone to school, and he was sick, Aunt Liu was worried about leaving him alone at home, so she took him directly to the hospital, got some fever reducers, and then let him rest at her workstation.
Xiao Li was slumped over the table, half asleep. Qin Suisui went over and felt Xiao Li's pulse, confirming that he had the same symptoms as Zan Zan. She nodded: "He has indeed been infected!"
Upon hearing this, Sister Liu burst into tears and, along with her child and Qin Suisui, went to find Dr. Zhao.
Dr. Zhao knew Qin Suisui's identity and family background, and knew she must have some medical knowledge and wouldn't speak without reason. After listening to her, Dr. Zhao took Xiaoli and checked her vital signs, then decisively decided: "Let's go, take her over for a blood test!"
After confirming that Xiaoli had been taken for a blood test, Qin Suisui said goodbye and went home. She was worried about Zanzan being home alone. Besides, once the blood test was done, the cause of the illness would be determined, and there would be no further trouble for her.
When we got home, Zan Zan was still sleeping, but fortunately his temperature had dropped to 37.2°C, which was basically normal.
Once she relaxed, Qin Suisui felt a little dizzy. When she came to her senses, she realized that she had only eaten half a bowl of spicy wontons since last night, and she had barely slept at all last night.
It was too late to go to the cafeteria now, so Qin Suisui grabbed some snacks and fruit, changed her clothes, and fell asleep next to Zan Zan.
The hospital, however, was in complete chaos.
Xiao Li's blood test results came back positive for IGM antibody, confirming a diagnosis of Japanese encephalitis virus.
Dr. Zhao quickly reported the results, and soon, patients in the pediatrics and fever clinics were all taken for blood tests, and without exception, all the results were positive.
This caused panic throughout the entire hospital. In this day and age, such a large-scale public health emergency is a major event, especially since those infected are mostly children, whose immune systems are weak and whose illnesses progress extremely quickly.
In just over half a day, more than a dozen children had developed severe illnesses and had to be urgently transferred to higher-level hospitals for treatment.
Following the precedent set by the military hospital, other local hospitals also rushed to bring in children with fever for blood tests, and the number of confirmed cases increased by dozens every minute...
Qin Suisui was completely unaware of the chaos outside. After waking up, she stayed by Zanzan's side, feeding him medicine to clear heat and detoxify. She also tried to make some bland and unpalatable tomato and egg noodles using tomatoes and eggs from her space. She frowned as she ate it, but Zanzan ate it with relish.
Around 4 a.m., Qin Suisui wiped Zanzan down, changed his clothes, and put the little guy to sleep again. Then she prepared to go to the company cafeteria to get some edible food to eat. She thought she should buy more food and store it in her space, and ideally, she could also stock up at the state-run restaurants when she went to town sometime, so that she and Zanzan would have food to eat in case of emergencies.
Before she could even leave the house, Sister Liu rushed into her home carrying Xiao Li and knelt down before her with a thud.
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