Chapter 26

In the afternoon, Qian Xiaoli’s oxygen saturation still wasn’t coming up. After discussing with her mother, Tang Feiwan had the patient transferred to the EICU and placed on a ventilator. They still couldn’t find the cause of the breathing and swallowing difficulties. Even though she had finished her shift, Tang Feiwan stubbornly stayed in front of the computer, searching through case records.

“Xiao Tang, it’s nine. Are you going to keep Lin Ye and me company on duty?” Liu Zhinan made himself a cup of coffee, preparing to stay up late.

Tang Feiwan rubbed her temples and said with a smile, “I’m not tired. I can keep you company.”

Liu Zhinan said with concern, “Go home and rest early. Don’t you have injuries?”

“Much better now.” Lin Ye hadn’t mentioned changing her dressing today. At six thirty, Tang Feiwan had set aside time to eat in the rest area, then went to the treatment room to change the dressing herself.

Liu Zhinan chuckled. “That’s true. You young people recover fast.”

The two exchanged small talk for a couple of minutes. Lin Ye didn’t join in. She was also searching for related cases on her computer.

Around ten thirty, Tang Feiwan, who had been sitting for a long time, finally left her seat. She pressed her hands against her lower back to ease the soreness and headed toward the EICU. Even the duty nurse asked her, “Dr. Tang, still not off duty?”

Tang Feiwan curved her lips faintly. “Not yet. I have something to do. I’ll leave later.” She took small, slow steps. After passing the nurses’ station, she continued forward and suddenly stopped mid-stride, her raised foot frozen in the air.

Outside the EICU, Zhang Wan, clutching a power bank, had probably been psyching herself up for a long time. Finally, she walked toward Qian Xiaoli’s mother. She stood in front of the anxious middle-aged woman and said softly, “Auntie, go home. I’ll stay here and watch over her.”

Qian Xiaoli’s mother looked up at her. Her tightly knit brows relaxed slightly. “No need. You have work too. Go home early.”

“Auntie, it’s okay. I’ve already taken leave. My supervisor approved three days off. With the weekend, I can rest for five days.” Zhang Wan bravely sat down beside her.

The woman turned and asked, “What’s your name? I only heard Xiaoli mention it once, and I didn’t remember.”

Zhang Wan sniffled and introduced herself solemnly. “Auntie, my name is Zhang Wan.”

“Okay, Zhang Wan.” The woman’s tears had not yet dried, and now more streamed down her face. Her lips trembled as she murmured, “Tell me, Xiaoli will be okay, right?”

“Auntie, she’ll definitely be okay. She promised you, and she promised me.” Before Qian Xiaoli entered the EICU that afternoon, they had both seen her once. Zhang Wan had held her hand and leaned close to hear her say, “Don’t worry. I’ll come out in one piece.”

Seeing this, Tang Feiwan bit her lip and held back her own emotions. Empathy was actually hard for her. She had witnessed too many partings, and very few people or things could move her now. Perhaps because she had just come out of the closet the day before, even though she tilted her head up, her eyes reddened easily. Tang Feiwan stood frozen for several minutes, then turned right. Qian Xiaoli’s mother spotted her and rushed over in three quick steps, then dropped to her knees in front of her with a thud.

“Auntie, you…” Tang Feiwan didn’t know what to do. She reached for the woman’s arm and said urgently, “Get up. Please get up.”

“Doctor, Dr. Tang, my Xiaoli won’t have any problems, right?” In Qian Xiaoli’s mother’s understanding, entering the ICU meant one foot had crossed the threshold of death and it would be hard to come out alive. She refused to get up and collapsed on the floor.

Tang Feiwan explained, “Auntie, the patient’s condition isn’t too bad. We’ve already ruled out several life-threatening diseases. Now we’re waiting and observing. If new symptoms appear, we’ll reassess.”

Qian Xiaoli’s mother looked up at her with burning eyes. “But she’s already in the ICU.”

“Auntie, a regular ward can’t provide a ventilator, twenty-four-hour medical care, or continuous vital sign monitoring. Your daughter was moved to our emergency ICU because of breathing difficulty, not because of the other critical conditions you’re imagining.” Tang Feiwan spoke slowly and patiently.

Zhang Wan helped the woman up and repeated Tang Feiwan’s words. “Auntie, the doctor says her condition isn’t critical.”

“Is that true?”

Tang Feiwan nodded firmly. “Yes. At least it isn’t critical right now.” As a doctor, she couldn’t speak in absolutes.

Zhang Wan and Qian Xiaoli’s mother thanked her repeatedly and begged her to cure the patient.

Three meters away, Lin Ye stood watching her. She didn’t move again until Tang Feiwan turned right and walked toward the EICU.

“How is she?” In the EICU ward, Tang Feiwan asked Qian Xiaoli’s primary nurse.

The nurse replied, “She’s been stable since intubation and ventilation, but weaning off the ventilator is definitely not possible yet.”

Tang Feiwan asked quietly, “Is she awake?”

“She was asleep after coming in this afternoon. She woke up not long ago.”

“Mm, okay.” Tang Feiwan stepped closer and called her name. “Qian Xiaoli.”

Qian Xiaoli responded with a nasal sound but didn’t open her eyes. She looked extremely weak, completely different from her earlier state of mere hypoxia and shortness of breath.

Tang Feiwan called again. “Qian Xiaoli, can you hear me? If you can, open your eyes.”

Qian Xiaoli barely opened her eyes, but her lids soon drooped again. Tang Feiwan took out her stethoscope and pen light to examine her and found no obvious problems. She then instructed, “Qian Xiaoli, lift your arm.” Qian Xiaoli struggled and raised her right arm, but it dropped as if exhausted after only a few centimeters.

Tang Feiwan asked quickly, “Do you feel weak all over? Like you can’t lift your arms and don’t even want to open your eyes?”

Qian Xiaoli nodded weakly.

The nurse, with years of experience, asked, “Dr. Tang, could it be a neurological problem?”

At the bedside, Tang Feiwan and Lin Ye, not far behind her, said in unison, “Myasthenia gravis.”

Suspecting myasthenia gravis, Lin Ye called in the neurology on-duty doctor in the middle of the night for a consult. The doctor examined the patient. Combined with a purposeful conversation with Zhang Wan, the diagnosis was basically confirmed.

It turned out Qian Xiaoli was a full-time author. She wrote during fixed daytime hours and went to bed early at night. Over the past two weeks, she had been pushing for a ranking spot for her completed novel, writing several more hours each day. That was why she felt unusually tired at night. She and Zhang Wan had both thought it was just lack of rest.

Tang Feiwan guessed she had been symptomatic for weeks, and the disease had only recently affected her respiratory and pharyngeal muscles, causing difficulty breathing and swallowing. But to be safe, Lin Ye and Tang Feiwan still felt they should confirm through tests before using medication. After all, medicine couldn’t be taken casually. Tonight, the ventilator would maintain her vital signs.

“I’m going home. Tomorrow morning, when Qian Xiaoli’s test results come out, I’ll still need you to help with the orders.” Near midnight, the two walked out of the EICU one after the other, then side by side. At night, the hospital air conditioning was turned low. Tang Feiwan shoved her hands into her pockets for warmth. She looked at their shadows on the floor, pressed close together, and the smile on her lips grew brighter.

Lin Ye raised her eyes and gazed silently through the glass at the gleaming lights outside the window, then nodded lightly.

The next day, Qian Xiaoli’s test results came back, confirming myasthenia gravis. Lin Ye promptly entered orders for corticosteroids, pyridostigmine, and other medications. That evening, Qian Xiaoli’s oxygen saturation improved markedly. The next evening, she was weaned off the ventilator and transferred to a regular ward.

This morning, Tang Feiwan, at the end of a twenty-four-hour shift, was making rounds. She had just left room 106 when Zhang Wan, standing at the door of room 107, greeted her warmly. “Good morning, Dr. Tang.”

Influenced by her, Tang Feiwan smiled. “Morning.”

“Auntie, Dr. Tang is here.” Zhang Wan’s bright laughter echoed through the ward.

“Okay, okay.” Qian Xiaoli’s mother had peeled two apples and cut them into slices. She also brought a small plate to the patient in the neighboring bed. Wiping her hands with a tissue, she stood and came over, pressing her palms together. “Thank you, Dr. Tang. Thank you.”

“It was the result of all our department colleagues working together. It wasn’t my credit alone.” Tang Feiwan waved it off and moved to the right side of the bed to examine Qian Xiaoli. She asked, “How are you feeling today?”

“Much better.” Even off the ventilator, Qian Xiaoli was still on low-flow oxygen. She turned her phone toward Tang Feiwan. “Dr. Tang, my final chapter just went out.”

“Wow, you’re already writing.” Tang Feiwan put away her stethoscope and reminded her, “Still, you need to rest. When you write in the future, don’t sit for long periods. Stand up and walk for two minutes every hour.”

Qian Xiaoli agreed readily. “Okay, thank you, Dr. Tang.”

Tang Feiwan straightened a little and carefully took a book from her coat pocket. Somewhat embarrassed, she said, “I learned from your friend that you’re the author Hai Mu. I’d like to ask for your signature.”

Qian Xiaoli took the book in her hands and looked down at the words on the cover, surprised. “When Old Begonias Bloom, my book from ten years ago?”

Tang Feiwan nodded. “Yes. It was published online ten years ago, and the physical book came out seven years ago. I was busy with work and couldn’t get a copy.”

“Dr. Tang, how much did you pay for it secondhand?” When Old Begonias Bloom had been released seven years ago in a limited run of three thousand copies. Qian Xiaoli knew some of her books were priced outrageously on Xianyu.

“Teacher Hai Mu, don’t worry about that. As long as I could find a copy, I was willing to pay anything.” Tang Feiwan handed her a pen.

Qian Xiaoli uncapped the pen as asked. “Dr. Tang, may I write a personalized message?”

“Yes, please. Thank you!” Tang Feiwan understood the significance of a personalized autograph and added, “Please make it out to Lin Ye.”

“For Dr. Lin?” Zhang Wan, who had paid Qian Xiaoli’s fees, knew that the doctor who had entered the orders yesterday was Lin Ye.

“Yes. She’s a loyal reader of Teacher Hai Mu.” Ten years ago, Lin Ye had read Qian Xiaoli’s novel online. Seven years ago, Lin Ye and Tang Feiwan had both waited on the website to grab the first physical book. Unfortunately, work had suddenly gotten busy for both of them, and neither succeeded.

“The honor is mine.” Qian Xiaoli opened the physical book to the first page and wrote two flowing lines, then signed her name, Hai Mu. She asked Zhang Wan to take the stamp from her backpack and stamped it. Then she handed the book back to Tang Feiwan. Tang Feiwan put the book away carefully. After a few more mutual thanks, she left the ward. In her heart, she began planning how to give the gift to Lin Ye tonight.

But she had only taken two steps when Qian Xiaoli’s mother, who had followed her out, stopped her.

“Dr. Tang, a word in private.” Qian Xiaoli’s mother said mysteriously.

“Auntie, what is it?” Tang Feiwan didn’t understand and stood still.

Qian Xiaoli’s mother pulled a red envelope from her bag and stuffed it into Tang Feiwan’s white coat pocket. “Dr. Tang, thank you for your hard work.”

“No, Auntie, I can’t accept that.” Tang Feiwan pulled the red envelope out and put it back in the woman’s bag. She insisted, “This is a matter of principle. We don’t accept red envelopes.”

“Then can you accept fruit?” Qian Xiaoli’s mother had actually guessed Tang Feiwan wouldn’t take the red envelope, so she had bought three boxes of fruit in advance.

Tang Feiwan encountered this for the first time and didn’t know how to handle it. She could only say, “Actually, having the patient sign a book for me as an author already counts as a gift…”

Qian Xiaoli’s mother wouldn’t accept that. “One thing is one thing. I asked your Director Gao, and he said fruit is allowed. Dr. Tang, please take it and share with your colleagues.” After speaking, she turned and told Zhang Wan to move the boxes. So one box of apples, one box of mangoes, and one box of kiwis were carried into the emergency office.

Tang Feiwan and Lin Ye had originally been scheduled to work the same shifts, but a few days earlier, Lin Yangyang had been sick and Lin Ye swapped shifts. So this week, their work schedules differed by two days.

Today was Lin Ye’s birthday, and it happened to fall on her day off. Tang Feiwan worked the day shift. She hoped to leave work early and shamelessly drop by for a piece of cake. But things didn’t go as planned. The patients weren’t about to let her go. Near six o’clock, an ambulance rushed in with a severe car accident victim. She was busy until eleven thirty at night before the patient was stabilized.

“Dr. Tang, your orders didn’t go through.” The nurse reminded her, then sent another message. “Dr. Tang, why are you so distracted today?”

Tang Feiwan replied, “Something’s on my mind.” After she finished documenting the patient’s course, she left the hospital at 11:42 p.m. The streets had fewer cars late at night. Tang Feiwan rode hard, almost at the speed limit. At 11:55, she dismounted from her motorcycle and without pausing, dialed Lin Ye’s number. But three calls went unanswered. Just like the birthday message she had sent right at midnight, it sank without a trace.

Tang Feiwan was sure Lin Ye wasn’t asleep. The first time she called, the light in Lin Ye’s room was bright. But by the second call, the light had suddenly gone out.

So… maybe she has crossed a line with some of her actions…

The night was heavy. Tang Feiwan stood beneath a plane tree, the clear moonlight reflecting her lonely shadow. She lowered her head, pulled a square gift box out of the bag, and tucked it into her backpack. Then she sent Lin Ye a WeChat message.

[Birthday gift. It’s not expensive. I’ve hung it on your security door handle.] Tang Feiwan waited until she got home and closed the door before sending the message. By then it was past midnight. Maybe if the gesture wasn’t so loaded, she could accept it more easily?