Chapter 37: Tears outside the delivery room
Time flew by amidst anticipation and care, and Su Lingwan's pregnancy entered its final sprint. Her belly bulged, as if she were holding a precious pearl, and her movements became increasingly clumsy. Huo Linshen's anxiety, far from diminishing with the passing of the pregnancy, intensified with each passing day, reaching an unprecedented peak.
He turned down nearly all non-essential international travel and late-night social engagements, moving more of his workspace to his home. Pregnancy and childcare books were scattered throughout his villa. He even enrolled in a prenatal care course for expectant fathers at a top hospital, learning how to ease pain and properly hold a newborn. The man who commanded the negotiating table, diligently practicing his manipulator and massage techniques, was both clumsy and moving.
Su Lingwan's due date was in early autumn. As the date approached, Huo Linshen grew increasingly silent, often staring at her in a trance, his eyes a mingled mixture of joy at becoming a father and deep concern for her delivery. He privately consulted countless times with the medical team, confirming every detail and developing several contingency plans, even converting the room next to the delivery room into a makeshift command center to ensure everything went smoothly.
The signs of labor came quietly in the early morning.
Su Lingwan woke up to a series of regular and gradually intensifying contractions. She gently nudged Huo Linshen, who was lightly sleeping beside her.
Huo Linshen opened his eyes almost instantly, his gaze clear and without a trace of sleepiness. "What's wrong? Is it..." His voice was tense and hoarse.
Su Lingwan nodded, beads of sweat already oozing out of her forehead: "It seems... it's about to begin."
Huo Linshen sat up abruptly, his movements so quick he seemed almost panicky. But he took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and, as he had practiced countless times, pressed the bedside call bell to alert the on-call medical team. Then, he carefully helped Su Lingwan to her feet, trying to maintain a steady voice. "Don't be afraid, I'm here. We'll go to the hospital right away."
The entire villa was instantly ablaze with lights, and the well-trained team quickly took up their positions. On the way to the hospital, Huo Linshen held Su Lingwan's hand tightly. Her palm was slightly sweaty from the pain, while his was cool and damp. He continued to guide her with the breathing techniques he had learned, his gaze fixed on her face, as if to transfer her pain to himself.
Arriving at the private hospital's top-tier maternity suite, which had been prepared long ago, everything went smoothly. The doctor examined me and confirmed that my cervix was dilated, but I still had some time before delivery.
The next few hours were the longest and most tormenting time in Huo Linshen's life.
In the delivery room, Su Lingwan followed the doctor's instructions and the midwife's encouragement, trying to regulate her breathing and fight the waves of labor pains that kept coming. Sweat soaked her hair and clothes, and she bit her lip, occasionally unable to suppress a painful moan.
Huo Linshen stayed by her side the entire time, wearing a sterile suit, never leaving her side. He held her hand, wiped her sweat, fed her water, and repeated in a low, steady voice, "Lingwan, look at me, take a deep breath... You're great, you'll be well soon... I'm here, always here..."
His forehead was also covered in cold sweat, not much better than hers. Looking at her pale face twisted in pain, listening to her suppressed cries of pain, Huo Linshen felt as if his heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, each contraction bringing sharp pain. He would rather bear a hundred or a thousand times the business risk than see her suffer like this.
When the labor pains reached their peak, Su Lingwan was finally pushed into the official delivery room. Huo Linshen was asked to wait outside.
The moment the door closed in front of him, Huo Linshen's forced calmness completely collapsed.
The corridor outside the delivery room was so quiet he could hear his own heart beating frantically. He leaned against the opposite wall, his body rigid, his gaze fixed on the closed door, as if trying to see through it. From inside, he could faintly hear Su Lingwan's struggling voice and the doctor's encouraging words, each one like a hammer hitting his heart.
Time seemed to be stretched infinitely, and every minute and every second was like a torture.
He remembered her bright smile, her silhouette when she was concentrating on designing, the moment she looked back at him in the rain, and her tearful look of joy when she found out she was pregnant... Countless beautiful images intertwined with the pain she was suffering at the moment, almost driving him crazy.
An unprecedented fear gripped him. Fear of losing her, fear that she wouldn't be able to bear it, fear that anything might happen to the little life they had both longed for... This fear was far more intense and real than any business failure or any family strife.
Assistant Chen stood quietly not far away, watching his boss, anxious, fragile, and on the verge of collapse, like a trapped animal, and sighed in his heart. He had never seen Huo Linshen lose his composure like this before.
I don't know how much time passed, maybe just an hour, maybe centuries.
Suddenly, a loud and powerful baby cry was heard in the delivery room!
The crying sound was like the sunshine penetrating the haze, instantly shattering the stagnant and heavy air in the corridor!
Huo Linshen stood up straight, his heart seemed to stop suddenly, then immediately began to beat even harder. He was about to rush forward, but at this moment, the door of the delivery room opened from the inside.
A nurse came out holding a swaddling baby with a joyful smile on her face: "Congratulations, Mr. Huo! Mrs. Huo has safely given birth to a little boy. Both mother and child are safe!"
The four words "mother and child are safe" are like the sound of nature.
Huo Linshen seemed not to have heard the rest of the words, his entire attention focused on "Mrs. Huo is safe." Without even looking at the baby in the cradle, he pushed the nurse aside and almost stumbled into the delivery room.
The delivery room was still filled with the faint smell of disinfectant and blood. Su Lingwan lay weakly on the delivery bed, her face as pale as paper, her hair wet and sticking to her cheeks. She looked like she had just been pulled out of the water, so exhausted that she barely had the strength to open her eyes.
But she was alive and well.
Huo Linshen rushed to the bedside, his legs softening as he practically fell to his knees. He reached out his hand tremblingly, wanting to touch her, but afraid of hurting her. His fingers hovered in mid-air, and in the end, he only gently, extremely softly grasped her hand, which was hanging limply by the bed.
"Ling Wan..." He started, his voice broken and choked with sobs.
Su Lingwan struggled to open her heavy eyelids. Seeing that it was him, she forced a weak smile and said with a faint breath: "...I'm fine...Have you seen the baby?"
Huo Linshen just shook his head, and hot tears burst out without warning, sliding down his cold and hard cheeks and dripping onto the two people's clasped hands.
He cried.
This man who was so powerful that he seemed indestructible, Huo Linshen, who was used to controlling everything and never showing his emotions, finally couldn't help but shed tears after experiencing extreme fear and torment, when he confirmed that she was safe and sound.
Those tears were not because of joy, but because of fear, because of heartache, and because of the huge shock of losing and regaining.
He buried his face in the sheets beside her hand, his shoulders hunched slightly, suppressing and silently releasing the emotions that had been pent up for too long.
Su Lingwan looked at his trembling shoulders and the hot tears, and her heart felt like it was hit hard by something, sour and tender. She raised her other hand and gently placed it on his head, stroking his sweaty black hair.
"Silly..." she said softly, with endless pity in her voice, "Why are you crying... I'm fine..."
Huo Linshen raised his head, his eyes red and bloodshot. He looked at her, his gaze filled with relief at having survived and a deep, deep love. He leaned down, carefully avoiding her body, and placed a feather-light kiss on her sweat-soaked forehead.
"Thank you... Thank you, Lingwan..." His voice was hoarse, and he repeated it over and over again, as if it was the most important language in the world.
Thank you for being safe.
Thank you for giving me life.
Thank you for still being here.
At this time, the nurse brought the cleaned and wrapped baby over and placed it next to Su Lingwan's pillow.
The little person's skin was still a little red and wrinkled, his eyes were closed, his little mouth was moving slightly, and he was sleeping soundly.
Su Lingwan tilted her head and looked at the little life beside her that she and Huo Linshen had created together, her eyes filled with the gentle glow of maternity. She stretched out her finger and gently touched the baby's cheek.
Huo Linshen finally turned his gaze to his son. Looking at that fragile and delicate little life, a strange, indescribable emotion welled up in his heart: responsibility, emotion, and even more so, a sense of blood connection.
He stretched out his broad palm and carefully wrapped the baby's small fist. The soft, warm touch instantly melted the last bit of ice in his heart.
He looked at his son, then at his tired but smiling wife, and an unprecedented happiness called "perfection" completely overwhelmed him like a warm tide.
The tears of fear that were once shed outside the delivery room have now turned into vows of protection and gratitude.
The two most precious pearls in his life were now within his reach.
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