He did not want this volatile woman to have the opportunity to accuse him of any further misconduct behind a closed door. With the door open, the steady stream of staff passing by served as his silent witnesses.
As they sat down, the doctor wasted no ti on pleasantries and imdiately delved into the dical reality of the situation.
"Then... can you at least tell when she will wake up?" Sang Yuling asked, her voice cracking with a fresh wave of anxiety.
"Your daughter’s vital signs are stable for the ti being. Her heart rate is steady, she is breathing normally without assistance, and our initial exams show absolutely no signs of physical trauma or struggle. However, she remains in a state of deep unconsciousness for reasons we still cannot determine through standard observation. We need to arrange for a comprehensive blood panel, a brain scan, and 24-hour neurological monitoring to see if there is any hidden seizure activity or chemical imbalance." The doctor explained, his pen hovering over his chart.
"At this specific point in ti, we cannot promise anything." The doctor answered with a blunt clinical honesty. "The human brain is a mystery. She may wake up in a few hours, a few days... or perhaps much longer. It depends entirely on the underlying cause of the coma."
Sang Yuling’s legs felt as though they had turned to lead, and she nearly collapsed onto the floor. She only stayed upright because her hands were gripping the armrests of the chair with white-knuckled intensity. This uncertainty was a special kind of torture, far worse than any direct, negative answer. Her daughter was lying in a hospital bed, adrift in a sea of silence, and no one could tell her when or if she would ever open her eyes again.
"My daughter... she is supposed to take the Gaokao exam this year. There are only four months left." Sang Yuling whispered, as if the deadline of the exam were more important than the dical mystery itself.
The doctor paused, noting the statent in his files. He began to form a working theory. Perhaps the girl was suffering from an extre psychological break due to the imnse pressure of the upcoming examinations, causing her body to simply shut down in a catatonic state.
"May I know what your daughter was doing before she collapsed like this?" The doctor asked, wanting to know the situation.
"She told that she was having a discussion about her studies with her friend in the library." Sang Yuling stated.
"Ma’am, on that note, may I ask about your daughter’s academic life and her recent study habits?" The doctor inquired.
"Her studies? What does her schoolwork have to do with her being unconscious in a hospital bed?" Sang Yuling asked, her defensiveness returning.
"Well, sotis, when a young person is under a massive amount of psychological stress, the brain can trigger a protective shutdown. I need to know if she was feeling overwheld." The doctor explained patiently.
"My daughter is a brilliant student! She has always held first place in her entire grade." Sang Yuling bragged, a montary flash of pride cutting through her grief. "She is a top achiever. I don’t think for a second that she was ’stressed out’ by her studies. She’s stronger than that."
The doctor listened to her bragging and made another note. He realised that Sang Yuling’s towering expectations and her refusal to see her daughter’s potential struggle were likely a major factor in the girl’s condition. He could see the invisible weight the girl must have been carrying for years.
"Well, we still need to wait for the official test results. I will inform you as soon as they are processed. For now, you should go and stay by her side." The doctor said, effectively ending the consultation.
Sang Yuling, who had just been puffing out her chest with pride over her daughter’s rank, felt as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over her head. Her pride was a hollow shield. Her daughter was still in a coma. Deep down, she knew the scientific explanation was only half the truth. She knew exactly what had caused this, yet she had no idea how to fight a spiritual parasite with modern dicine.
She walked out of the office with heavy steps and headed toward her daughter’s ward. Entering the room, she saw her daughter lying there, pale and quiet under the harsh, sterile lights. At that mont, a tidal wave of guilt finally surged through Sang Yuling, drowning her arrogance.
If only she had not trusted that man, Master Chunwei...
If only she had not been so blinded by a toxic cocktail of greed and desperation...
Sang Yuling stared at her daughter. Ji Gu Niang lay motionless, looking like a porcelain doll that had been discarded. Wires snaked across her chest and forehead, and the rhythmic, heartless beep-beep-beep of the machines was the only sound in the room.
Seeing her child reduced to this, a shell kept alive by electricity, Sang Yuling finally broke. The dam burst, and she rushed to the bedside, seizing Ji Gu Niang’s limp, cold hand and pressing it against her face as she dissolved into racking sobs.
"Niang’er... Wake up... Please, please wake up..." Sang Yuling sobbed, her tears wetting the hospital sheets. "Mother was wrong... I was so, so wrong..."
Her desperate cries echoed softly against the cold, white walls of the sterile room. But Ji Gu Niang remained perfectly still, her eyes closed, as if she were drifting in a place so deep and silent that she could no longer hear a single word of her mother’s late-coming apology.
***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that ans it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shaless author, ZerahNeko***
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