"We’ll take her ho," Lu Yuze said imdiately, clearly having no intention of leaving his daughter in a hospital any longer than absolutely necessary, especially given what had just transpired in this examination room. "What specific precautions should we implent during the recovery period?"
Dr. Lin provided standard instructions about hydration and rest and warning signs to watch for that might indicate complications, professional and thorough without being condescending or overly technical.
She completed the discharge paperwork with efficient speed, asked if they needed prescriptions for anything to help with residual symptoms or discomfort, and then departed with the sa discretion she’d arrived with, the entire examination having taken less than twenty minutes from arrival to exit.
Shuyin helped Yuyan sit up slowly once the doctor had gone, supporting her weight as the girl’s consciousness began filtering back through the pharmaceutical haze, awareness returning in gradual incrents rather than all at once. Yuyan’s eyes fluttered open with visible effort, unfocused and confused as she tried to orient herself to unfamiliar surroundings.
"Yuyan?" Chen Xiao’s small voice was bright with desperate relief, his hands tightening on hers. "You’re awake! I was so worried about you!"
Yuyan’s gaze tracked slowly to her little brother’s face, recognition dawning with delayed processing as the drugs continued working their way out of her system. "Xiao? What... where am I?"
"Hospital," Shuyin said gently, keeping her voice calm and reassuring. "You were drugged. But you’re safe now. We’re taking you ho."
"Ho," Yuyan repeated slowly, testing the word like she wasn’t entirely sure what it ant anymore.
Yuyan’s unfocused gaze tracked to where Shuyin was standing, and sothing cleared in her expression, recognition cutting through the pharmaceutical haze.
"You ca," she whispered, and her voice carried surprised gratitude like she hadn’t actually expected rescue after all they weren’t related. "You actually ca to get ."
"Of course I ca," Shuyin said, moving to the other side of the examination table so Yuyan could see her without straining. "I told you I’d always co when you needed . That wasn’t conditional or temporary. I ant it absolutely."
She reached out slowly, giving Yuyan ti to pull away if she wanted to, and brushed hair back from the girl’s face with careful tenderness. "How are you feeling? Any pain, nausea, dizziness beyond what you’d expect from sedatives?"
Yuyan considered the question with visible effort, clearly trying to assess her own physical state through the lingering effects of whatever drugs were in her system. "Fuzzy. Everything feels kind of distant and wrong. My mouth tastes terrible and my head is pounding. But I don’t think anything hurts beyond that."
"That’s normal for rohypnol or similar sedatives," Shuyin assured her, keeping her voice calm and asured even though ntioning the specific drug na made fury spark through her chest all over again, rage at the n who’d done this simring just beneath her carefully controlled surface. "The effects should wear off completely within the next few hours. The doctor already checked you thoroughly and confird you’re going to be fine. We’re taking you ho now where you can rest properly."
"Ooohhh..." Yuyan’s response ca out as a soft, disoriented hum, her consciousness still too foggy to form complete sentences or process complex information, the drugs pulling at her awareness and making everything feel distant and dreamlike.
Lu Yuze moved smoothly to his daughter’s side and carefully gathered her into his arms with the kind of practiced competence that ca from years of carrying sleeping children, one arm supporting her back while the other secured her legs, lifting her weight like she massed nothing at all despite her teenage height. Yuyan’s head lolled against his shoulder with boneless trust, her body completely relaxed in his hold as the sedatives continued their work.
Shuyin bent down and picked up Chen Xiao with equal ease, settling the five-year-old on her hip where he imdiately wrapped his small arms around her neck and pressed his face against her shoulder with the kind of exhausted relief that suggested the stress of worrying about his sister had finally caught up with him now that the imdiate crisis had passed. His small body was warm and solid against hers, grounding and precious in ways that made her protective instincts flare even stronger.
They proceeded through the hospital corridors as a unit, Lu Yuze leading with Yuyan cradled carefully in his arms while Shuyin followed close behind with Chen Xiao clinging to her like a small monkey, the children’s combined weight barely registering as an inconvenience compared to the relief of having them both safe and accounted for. The sterile white walls and fluorescent lighting seed to stretch endlessly as they navigated toward the exit, passing nurses and orderlies and visitors who gave them curious glances but didn’t interfere or ask questions about why a wealthy-looking couple was carrying two children through the hospital in the middle of the afternoon.
The elevator arrived with a soft chi and they stepped inside, the small enclosed space feeling almost intimate as the doors slid closed and cut them off from the rest of the hospital. Lu Yuze shifted Yuyan’s weight slightly to press the button for the ground floor, his movents careful to avoid jostling her unnecessarily. Chen Xiao had gone quiet against Shuyin’s shoulder, his breathing evening out in a way that suggested he might be dozing off from emotional exhaustion and the comfort of being held.
The elevator descended with smooth efficiency, the subtle sensation of downward movent barely noticeable except for the changing floor numbers displayed above the door. Neither Lu Yuze nor Shuyin spoke during the brief ride; the silence felt natural rather than awkward, companionable in the way that ca from mutual understanding of what had just transpired.
The doors opened onto the ground-floor lobby, and they erged into the controlled chaos of a busy hospital reception area, people moving in all directions with various levels of urgency, visitors arriving to see patients while others departed with discharge papers and relieved expressions. The administrative desk was occupied by several staff mbers processing paperwork with systematic efficiency, their movents practiced and routine.
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