Chapter 63 Lin Yulan is critically ill. On the other end of the phone, Gu Qingyan's voice sounded unusual…
In the afternoon, under the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the Shiguang Studio, Lin Yuwei was frowning slightly, focusing intently on adjusting the complex design scheme on the screen. Her fingertips moved across the graphics tablet from time to time. The only sounds in the room were the faint sound of pen nibs tracing lines and the low hum of the air conditioner.
Suddenly, a sharp, urgent cell phone ringtone ripped through the afternoon's tranquility like a blade. The caller ID flashed the words "Aunt Wu from the family." Lin Yuwei's heart sank. Aunt Wu, who was in charge of taking care of her mother, knew that she didn't like to be disturbed while she was working. Unless it was extremely urgent, she would never call at this time. Something must have happened at home!
She immediately grabbed her phone, her trembling fingers swiping a few times before she managed to answer: "Aunt Wu, what happened?"
On the other end of the phone came Aunt Wu's panicked, tearful voice, stammering incoherently: "Miss! Miss, something terrible has happened! Madam... Madam was just drinking ginseng tea when suddenly... she dropped the cup, fell backward, and lost consciousness! No matter how much we pat her or call her, she doesn't respond! Her face is frighteningly pale, and her breathing seems to be getting weaker and weaker!"
Lin Yuwei felt a chill instantly rise from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. The stylus beside her was pushed by her elbow and fell to the table with a "thud," rolling to the floor. Her mother, Lin Yulan, had terminal cancer, and her recent health condition was already precarious; every abnormal sign could be fatal.
"Did you call an ambulance?! Did you call one?!" She stood up abruptly, her voice trembling with extreme fear. Her office door was open, drawing stares from other employees in the outer office area.
"They called! They said they'd be here soon! They told us to prepare our medical insurance cards and our usual medications... Miss, I'm so scared..." Aunt Wu's voice trembled uncontrollably, and the hurried footsteps of other servants could be faintly heard in the background.
"Don't be afraid, I'll be right back! You wait for the ambulance! Keep in touch!" Lin Yuwei grabbed her bag and coat. Her assistant, Xiao Li, was already at her office door, mouthing, "Ms. Lin, is there anything I can do for you?" Lin Yuwei, her face pale, quickly told him, "I have an emergency at home and need to go back! Cancel all my plans for today and tomorrow!" With that, she staggered out of the studio, her steps weak, not even caring that the elevator was still on a high floor, and pushed open the emergency exit door, rushing down the stairs.
The journey home from Mingchuan City takes nearly four hours. It's currently afternoon, and the traffic situation is not good. Every second of waiting feels like torture.
She jumped into the car, her hands trembling with nervousness. It took her a while to start the car. The navigation showed the long road home, and every red light felt like torture.
During the journey, she kept in touch with Aunt Wu on the phone: "Have you gotten on the bus? Which hospital?... Central Hospital emergency room? Okay! What did the doctor say?... Still undergoing examinations? Let me know whenever you need to!"
When she finally arrived at the emergency room of the Central Hospital after driving at high speed and even running several yellow lights, more than two hours had passed. Her mother, Lin Yulan, had already been taken in for emergency treatment. Aunt Wu was waiting outside the emergency room in a state of panic. As soon as she saw her, she rushed over and cried as she recounted what had happened.
The attending physician came out and asked, "Excuse me, which of you is Lin Yulan's family member?"
Lin Yuwei quickly stepped forward, and the doctor called her to a relatively quiet corner. His tone was heavy: "Ms. Lin, please prepare yourself mentally. Your mother's condition is extremely dangerous. According to the CT scan and preliminary blood tests, it is possible that the cancer cells have metastasized, causing multiple organ failure, especially her kidney indicators, which are extremely poor. There are also signs of increased intracranial pressure. We have performed emergency dehydration to reduce intracranial pressure and protect kidney function, which has temporarily stabilized her vital signs. However, her condition is too complicated and requires more advanced multidisciplinary collaboration and continuous life support equipment."
The doctor pushed up his glasses, his tone becoming even more serious: "My suggestion is to immediately transfer the patient to the First Affiliated Hospital of Mingchuan University. They are the best comprehensive hospital in the province, with top-notch conditions and expert teams in neurosurgery, nephrology, and the ICU. They are best able to handle this kind of extremely complex and critical condition. However, there are risks involved in the transfer process. But if we stay here... the hope is even slimmer. If we ultimately decide to transfer the patient, we must make a decision as soon as possible!"
"Transfer! Transfer immediately!" Lin Yuwei didn't hesitate at all. Her voice trembled with fear, but it was unusually firm: "Please contact a hospital for transfer immediately! I will bear all the risks, and I will sign all the paperwork!"
The following time seemed to be fast-forwarded amidst the chaos. Contacting receiving hospitals, coordinating the transfer ambulance and accompanying medical staff, signing a whole bunch of informed consent forms and waivers... Lin Yuwei was being whipped around like a top, her brain working at high speed to process all the procedures, but her heart felt like it was being tightly gripped by an icy hand, each breath carrying a stinging pain. She forced herself to calm down, but when she held the pen to sign, the trembling of her fingertips was uncontrollable.
Afterwards, Lin Yuwei followed the ambulance that was transferring her to another hospital, escorting her mother, who was on the verge of death and relying on various machines to keep her alive, through the bustling city traffic at dusk, heading towards the last hope, the First Affiliated Hospital of Mingchuan University.
Upon arrival at her destination, the mother was immediately taken directly to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) through the green channel. The two automatic doors closed heavily in front of her, making a soft "beep" sound, as if separating two worlds: inside the doors, life and death were uncertain, and outside the doors, there was endless waiting and torment.
Zhou Xubai, who had received the news from the office, rushed over and found Lin Yuwei sitting blankly on a plastic chair in the cold, quiet corridor outside the ICU. He quickly stepped forward, held her thin shoulders, and said urgently but reassuringly, "Weiwei! Don't be afraid, I'm here! I've already asked my dad to contact the vice president and the head of the oncology department here. They will immediately organize a consultation with the best experts! They will definitely use the best medicine and the best equipment! Your mother will definitely be alright!"
Lin Yuwei's eyes reddened, and she slowly nodded: "Thank you..." Zhou Xubai sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder: "Rest for a bit. I'll call you when the doctor comes out."
****
However, even in this hospital with top-notch medical resources, after a series of more sophisticated examinations, including more detailed blood analyses, whole-body enhanced CT scans, MRIs, and emergency consultations with multidisciplinary experts, the conclusion was still cold and hopeless.
The gray-haired chief physician of the oncology department came out with a thick stack of imaging films and reports. Looking at the young couple in front of him, he shook his head heavily, his tone full of helplessness: "Ms. Lin, Mr. Zhou, I regret to inform you that we have done our best, but Ms. Lin's condition... has indeed reached the terminal stage. This acute coma is due to multiple organ failure caused by the widespread metastasis of cancer cells, especially the kidneys and liver, which have almost lost their function. At the same time, there is also bleeding from brain metastases... We are really powerless. Any existing treatment methods can only... try to alleviate the pain and prolong the extremely limited time. Please... cherish the last time and be mentally prepared."
These words were like a final verdict, completely shattering Lin Yuwei's last shred of hope. She leaned against the cold wall, her body slowly sliding down. The immense fear and helplessness were like the gaping maw of an abyss, swallowing her whole.
Her tears had long since dried during the waiting, leaving only boundless darkness and despair enveloping her. She stared blankly at the closed door of the ICU, as if she could see her mother's life slipping away bit by bit through it, while she could only stand helplessly outside the door, unable to do anything. Zhou Xubai held her shoulders tightly beside her, constantly saying words of comfort, but those words seemed to be separated by a thick layer of glass, blurry and distant, making it difficult for her to hear them clearly.
Lin Yuwei and her mother, Lin Yulan, have never been close. Over the years, Lin Yulan's obsessive control has left her with too many indelible scars. But she knows in her heart that Lin Yulan is the only person in the world who would treat her well without regard to the cost.
At this critical moment of life and death, she suddenly understood Lin Yulan. She was just a woman whose spirit had been broken by the betrayal of her marriage. Those suffocating controls were just her desperate attempt to cling to her daughter as a lifeline in the wrong way.
Lin Yuwei understood this despair and finally admitted that the affluent life she had was a fortress built by her mother with her broken self and blood and tears. The fortress was full of sharp thorns, which pierced her all over, but it had also truly sheltered her from the wind and rain.
But understanding does not equate to agreement. Those torn-up drawings from her teenage years, those terrifying nights when Lin Yulan verbally abused her while drunk, are real and indelible wounds.
Now, the woman who gave her the utmost and caused her the most pain is about to disappear. Lin Yuwei feels not only sadness, but also a complex mix of emotions, a sense of relief, and a deep-seated sense of loss, for herself, and for Lin Yulan, who has never experienced happiness and does not know how to love.
The phone rang abruptly in the quiet corridor. Lin Yuwei took two seconds to react before pulling her phone out of her pocket. The caller ID showed Gu Qingyan. Her fingers were cold and numb, and she could barely hold the phone. She swiped to answer, her hands trembling, and held the phone to her ear, but no sound came out.
On the other end of the phone came Gu Qingyan's unusually calm voice, a voice that seemed to possess an inherent power to penetrate chaos and calm the mind, clear and direct: "Yuwei, I just heard about Mrs. Lin's situation." He omitted all the pale greetings and comforts, getting straight to the point, each word carrying a reassuring force: "I know a Dr. Anderson, a top expert in oncology and critical care in North America. He runs a very high-end private medical institution in Switzerland, focusing on receiving the most challenging cases worldwide that have been diagnosed by conventional medicine. They have mastered many cutting-edge treatments that have not yet been published, or are even in the clinical trial stage. Importantly, they have established a joint research center and high-end wards in China this year, and are equipped to implement these programs."
He paused briefly before offering the most crucial information and options: "Venucia Technology has developed intelligent diagnostic systems and core research databases for them. I'm also friends with Dr. Anderson, so we have some influence. If you're willing, I can immediately try to contact him and his team in China to request their involvement in the consultation. Although I can't and dare not guarantee you any results, this might be the only alternative we can try right now. Do you... need me to do this?"
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