Free Web NovelChapter 690: The Ward Plunged into Chaos
"One week..." Wendy continued muttering under her breath.
Michael immediately turned to ask Milo, "Is it possible to produce the antidote within a week?"
"Yes, definitely," Milo answered confidently. In reality, he was not that sure of it himself. But the poison had already started to take effect. Even if it was not possible, he would have to make it happen.
Michael knew Milo very well. Though Milo had replied with such confidence, Michael remained worried.
Michael’s eyes were red. He grabbed Milo’s hand tightly, his voice had become a lot hoarser. He pleaded desperately, "Milo, I’ve never begged you for anything. But now I’m begging you, you must create the antidote. Promise me?"
Milo patted Michael’s back and nodded gravely.
"From now on, we will take turns to keep watch over Jake. We’ll then be able to act immediately should there be an emergency," said the doctor.
"All right. Thank you," Wendy said, nodding her head vigorously to express her gratitude.
Wendy, Michael, Leah, and Zess followed the doctor back into the hospital ward. This time, it was not Leah who was lying on the hospital bed. It was Jake.
Jake was still unconscious. Wendy asked the doctor anxiously, "When will Jake wake up?"
"I can’t say for sure," the doctor sighed as he shook his head. "I didn’t give him any drugs to induce sleep. He slipped into a coma on his own."
Wendy became more worried at the doctor’s words. Michael reached over and placed his arm around Wendy’s shoulders. He wanted to comfort her but he did not know what to say.
Because he was very worried too. Michael carried Leah and sat down next to the bed. Wendy joined them. They were waiting for Jake to wake up.
Zess poured some water for them. Wendy took one of the cups and looked up at Zess. There was nothing unusual about Zess, but Wendy asked anyway, "Zess, how are you feeling? Have you had any nosebleeds?"
Zess shook her head immediately. "I’m fine. My immune system is stronger."
Wendy felt a sense of relief. However, she soon saw blood flowing out of Zess’s nose.
Wendy put down her cup and stood up immediately. "Zess, your nose is bleeding too!" Wendy exclaimed loudly.
Zess put her hand to her nose. Something sticky and bloody was flowing out. She wondered if she had shaken her head too vigorously while answering Wendy.
Perhaps that caused her nose to bleed suddenly.
"Please take a look at her," Wendy said to the doctor who was still in the ward.
After the doctor assessed Zess’s condition, he immediately took out his cellphone and made a call.
A gurney appeared almost instantly. Zess saw the fuss and laughed a little awkwardly. "Wendy, I’m fine. The bleeding will stop soon."
Zess then breathed in through her nose in an attempt to suck the blood back in.
After all, she was an adult. Her immune system should be stronger than Jake’s.
Although Zess was having a nosebleed as well, hers was not as serious as Jake’s.
"Wendy, the bleeding has stopped..." said Zess.
"Even if the bleeding has stopped, you should let the doctor have a look," Wendy interrupted Zess. Judging from Wendy’s tone, she would not take no for an answer.
Zess looked like she had something to say. This time, Michael cut in, "Zess, you should get it checked. There was only one pill of the antidote and you didn’t fight forit. Now, I’d like you to go for a checkup just to give us peace of mind. Could you do that for us?"
There was no further reason for Zess to resist, so she laid down on the gurney.
...
Zess’s condition was not as serious as Jake’s. She did not slip into a coma and her nosebleed stopped very quickly.
Wendy had followed Zess and the doctor to the examination room. When the checkup was completed, the doctor explained, "Ms. Zess’s condition is also caused by the poison in her body, just like Jake. But her condition is not as serious as Jake’s, so she should still be fine for at least another two weeks."
Two weeks. That was not a very long time.
"Shall I arrange for Ms. Zess to be in the same room as Jake?" asked the doctor.
"That would be easier for us to observe them."
"Of course," Wendy nodded her head immediately.
There were only two beds in that ward, one for the patient and another for the caregiver. But the ward was fairly large, so it was easy for the doctor to arrange for an additional bed in the same ward.
Zess was not used to lying on a hospital bed and wanted very much to get off. Just as she got down from her bed, Wendy held her down.
"Wendy, I can’t sleep, and I don’t want to be lying down either. Let me peel an apple or something for you," said Zess. She had been busy serving others all her life, so she felt very uneasy about not having to do anything.
"What fruit would you like? I’ll peel it for you," said Wendy. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
As if on cue, Leah brought all the fruits over and asked, "Zess, we have apples, oranges, bananas, and mangoes. What would you like to have? I’ll peel it for you."
"I don’t feel like having any," said Zess. She was very touched by Wendy and Leah.
However, Zess felt helpless. "I just don’t feel comfortable about having to lie down and rest."
"You have to rest even if you don’t feel like it," instructed the doctor. "You may be faring better than Jake for now, but you aren’t in a good shape. You should rest. If anything happens to you, that will make it easier for us to deal with it."
Before Zess could say anything in response, Wendy’s cellphone rang.
It was Mary. Leah was discharged earlier today, so Mary had gone to rest at Wendy’s the night before.
Mary had been at the hospital the entire time taking care of them, so she had not been resting well during this period. But she thought it would be wonderful to have a feast waiting for them when they got home. So she had prepared a lot of food.
Then she waited for them to return home. But none of them had come home, and the food had turned cold. Finally, Mary decided to give them a call to find out what was holding them back.
As soon as Wendy answered the call, Mary asked, "Wendy, when are all of you coming home? I’ve already prepared food. I’m waiting for all of you so that we could have a meal together."
"Mom..." There was a small catch in Wendy’s voice. "Something has happened to Jake..."
Wendy told Mary what had happened. After ending the call, Mary hurried back to the hospital.
Mrs. Lucas called after Mary did to ask if they have arrived home safely.
Wendy considered keeping the news about Jake from Mrs. Lucas. She was old, and Wendy did not want to cause her further worry. But Wendy realized that she would not be able to hide this from Mrs. Lucas for long, so she decided to tell the truth.
Both Mary and Mrs. Lucas had arrived at the hospital. The ward was crowded once again.
Wendy had wanted to persuade Mrs. Lucas not to come, since she and Michael would be at the hospital to watch over Jake. But she knew Mrs. Lucas would insist on making the trip down, so Wendy let Mrs. Lucas have her way.
The sight of Jake looking pale and lying on the hospital bed made Mary and Mrs Lucas weep. They wiped the tears from their eyes.
One had just recovered, and now another had fallen ill. When it rains, it pours.
Fortunately, Jake woke up about half an hour later. He opened his eyes and saw that many people were in his ward. He felt very guilty. He had hidden his nosebleeds from everyone because he did not want them to worry about him. In the end, his efforts had come to naught.
...
"Jake..." Wendy realized that Jake had woken up. Everyone trained their eyes on him.
"Mommy, Daddy..." Jake looked around at every one in the ward.
The doctor came to check on Jake immediately. There were no abnormalities. The doctor heaved a sigh of relief.
The tension was was thick in the ward. The mood was gloomy. Everyone was worried. They all looked at Jake.
However, the poison was not done with Jake. The next day, Jake had another nosebleed, and it got worse during the night. The doctor failed to stop the bleeding, so Jake was placed on the gurney once again. This time, he was rushed to the emergency room.
The doctor knew that Wendy and the rest of the family were very worried. Before going to the emergency room, the doctor quickly explained, "Mr. and Mrs. Lucas, if we can’t stop Jake’s nosebleed, we’ll have to do a blood transfusion. As long as the bleeding doesn’t stop, we can only keep transfusing blood. But don’t worry. We’ll do our very best to save Jake’s life." With that, the doctor went into the emergency room.
Mrs. Lucas was waiting anxiously outside the emergency room. She used her walking stick to knock on the floor several times, lamenting, "Dear God, what wrong have we done? Why are you doing this to the Lucas family?
"His grandfather had done terrible things. If you must punish someone, punish his grandfather. Why let a child suffer?"
Anthony Lucas had done many wrongs, but he was very much alive and well. Though Anthony was Mrs. Lucas’s flesh and blood, she wished it were him lying in the emergency room instead. Wendy and her two children had not done any wrong. Why were they the ones who were suffering?
Mrs. Lucas became so angry thinking about it that she raised her walking stick and hit Michael.
Michael got hit squarely by his grandmother’s walking stick. He did nothing although he had no idea why she had hit him out of the blue.
"You can’t even protect your own children! You’re useless!" Mrs. Lucas was so worked up that she hit him again.
Michael could not say anything in retaliation. Because his grandmother was right. He had failed to protect his wife and children.
This time, Jake spent over an hour in the emergency room. When he came out, his face had become even paler. He seemed to have lost all color.
The doctor sighed, he looked tired. "We managed to save his life. But if this were to happen again, I’m afraid he would not be able to make it."
Mrs. Lucas started gasping for air when she heard that. Thankfully, the maid who was next to Mrs. Lucas caught her in time, or she would have collapsed onto the floor.
When everyone returned to the ward, Jake was still in a coma. Michael looked at Wendy and saw that she was not looking good either. "Wendy, why don’t you rest in the next room? Jake is sleeping. I’ll call you over when he wakes up, how about that?"
Wendy was pregnant and had been walking around the hospital. He was afraid that she would collapse too. He had seen Wendy walking a little unsteadily several times.
Her body was probably pushed to the limits at this point.
Wendy shook her head and kept her eyes on Jake. "I’m fine. I want to wait here till Jake wakes up."
Michael wanted to continue persuading her. Suddenly, Wendy felt light-headed.
Everything went blank before she collapsed. Fortunately, Michael noticed it and caught her in his arms.
"Wendy..." Michael called. She did not respond.
"Doctor!" Michael started yelling for the doctor like a madman.
Jake had not recovered, and another had gone down. Michael was going crazy.
The ward plunged into chaos.
