Chapter 10

The three of them walked down the corridor, passing by the doctor's office, and soon saw a duty room that resembled both an office and a lounge.

Through the open door, Yan Xiaokai and Bi Yuntao saw a beautiful woman in her thirties, with a face somewhat similar to Zheng Peilin's.

This woman, they presumed, must be Zheng Peilin's aunt, Xia Shuangju.

She was not wearing a white coat and seemed to have just taken a shower... or perhaps just washed her hair, as when the three of them knocked and entered, she was using a hairdryer to dry her long, beautiful hair.

After Zheng Peilin introduced everyone, she handed the CT scan and the emergency medical records to her aunt and recounted the events.

Of course, she could not say that she was taking a shower when Yan Xiaokai suddenly burst in and peeked, and then she hit him. She selectively recounted the events, turning the intentional harm into an accidental hit with an object.

Xia Shuangju, hearing her speak lightly, thought it was nothing serious and did not take it seriously. However, when she picked up the CT scan, she was startled and her expression turned grave. The injury was truly severe; if it were an ordinary person, they might have already been sent to the morgue. The fact that her niece's classmate was still alive was nothing short of a miracle.

While the two were talking, Yan Xiaokai did not pay much attention. He was curiously looking around, as if this had nothing to do with him. He even picked up the hairdryer Xia Shuangju had used and played with it, finding it very novel. "What is this thing? It makes a whooshing sound and can blow such a strong wind!"

Seeing his silly behavior, Bi Yuntao sighed repeatedly, and Zheng Peilin was also helpless. Xia Shuangju, however, was extremely worried and quickly pulled Zheng Peilin aside, asking, "Linyin, what were you thinking? How could you be so careless? What did you hit him with?"

Zheng Peilin replied, "It was just the basin you gave me!"

"Basin? The Huanghuali basin used by the Tang Dynasty imperial concubine?" Xia Shuangju was momentarily stunned, then became furious, "That's a thousand-year-old antique. I gave it to you to keep and use as a dowry in the future. Why did you show it off at school?"

Zheng Peilin felt extremely wronged, "I..."

Xia Shuangju scolded, "Linyin, do you know that you almost killed someone?"

Zheng Peilin's eyes reddened, "Aunt, what should we do now?"

Xia Shuangju replied angrily, "How should I know what to do?"

Zheng Peilin became anxious, "Aren't you an expert in neurosurgery? Can't you perform surgery to remove the hematoma? Don't worry about the surgery costs; I've saved a lot of money over the years."

Xia Shuangju smiled bitterly, "Brat, is this a matter of money? This is a brainstem hemorrhage, the most severe type of cerebral hemorrhage. Patients with more than 20 milliliters of bleeding almost always die. Surgery is generally not recommended for such patients because even if it can be performed, the results are usually not ideal, especially with such a large amount of bleeding."

Zheng Peilin fell into a chair, feeling utterly dejected, "Is there really no solution at all?"

Xia Shuangju looked back at Yan Xiaokai and noticed that although he looked strange and silly, his mental state was very good. Ignoring his odd behavior, he seemed no different from a normal person. She frowned and muttered to herself, "Logically, with such a large hematoma in his brainstem, he should be unconscious and unaware. How can he still be so lively? It's truly unbelievable. If his condition can remain this good, there might still be some hope."

Zheng Peilin's face lit up, and she asked, "Aunt, what can be done?"

Xia Shuangju replied expressionlessly, "My method is only a conservative treatment. The most important thing is to see how he responds. His condition is unprecedented in my neurosurgical career, far beyond the norm, with too many unknown possibilities. So you should be mentally prepared for the worst."

Zheng Peilin's heart sank again, and she murmured, "Then, what can I do?"

Xia Shuangju thought for a moment and said, "Have him admitted to the hospital immediately, give him the best care, and avoid any stress. Give him whatever he wants and try to meet all his requests. If the situation worsens, he could... at any time."

"Admitted to the hospital?" Zheng Peilin was taken aback and hesitated, "He's still in school!"

Xia Shuangju sneered, "When your life is on the line, who cares about school?"

As Zheng Peilin opened her mouth to say something, a sudden commotion of footsteps came from the corridor outside, followed by a loud shout, "Stop!"

What happened?

The conversation was interrupted, and the group immediately wanted to go out to check the situation, but a person... or rather, two people, burst in through the door.

A man in his forties with a beard held a long, sharp knife in one hand and tightly gripped a nurse with a cap in the other. The nurse was already covered in blood, clearly injured by the man.

This sudden situation startled everyone, and they instinctively huddled together. Only Yan Xiaokai, who seemed to be oblivious, stood there with a hairdryer in his hand.

However, when Zheng Peilin and Bi Yuntao saw the nurse's face, they both paused, their eyes involuntarily turning to Yan Xiaokai, as this was the nurse he had said would have a bloody disaster.

Yan Xiaokai had a calm expression, though he did not speak, his face clearly said, "See, I told you, but you didn't believe me!"

The man was extremely tense, his eyes bloodshot. After entering the duty room and looking warily at the people inside, his gaze suddenly fixed on Xia Shuangju's face. "Doctor Xia, you're here, that's great, that's great! You have to prove it, you have to prove it! You have to tell everyone that I'm not sick, I'm not crazy."

Xia Shuangju carefully examined the man and took a while to recognize him as a former patient named Bi Hai, who had suffered a brain injury in a car accident, leading to schizophrenia. After his physical injuries healed, she recommended that his family transfer him to a specialized psychiatric hospital.

When he was discharged, Bi Hai's mental state was already poor. Xia Shuangju had advised his family to take him to a psychiatric hospital for systematic treatment and to keep a close watch on him. Who would have thought that less than a month later, Bi Hai had become like this.

Through the door, everyone saw a group of police officers approaching with their guns drawn, the black barrels pointing directly at Bi Hai, who was holding the nurse.

Seeing the approaching police, Bi Hai became even more nervous, pressing the knife tightly against the nurse's neck and shouting, "Don't come closer, all of you, step back, all of you, or I'll stab him!"

The police, seeing this, did not dare to approach further. They took a few small steps back but did not let Bi Hai out of their sight.

The lead officer called out to Bi Hai, "Bi Hai, calm down, we can talk this out. Put the knife down first."

Bi Hai shouted angrily, "What is there to talk about with you? You all say I'm sick, that I'm crazy, that you hate me and want to lock me up. None of you are good people."

The officer tried to calm him down, "Bi Hai, calm down, you can't keep doing this. You've already killed one person, do you know that?"

"I didn't kill anyone! I didn't kill anyone!" Bi Hai shouted, "That bitch was cheating on me, and her lover tried to hit me. I was defending myself, I was defending myself."

The officer adopted a conciliatory tone, "Alright, you were defending yourself. Put the knife down now, release the nurse, and let's talk this out. If you keep this up, even if you're innocent, it won't be clear."

Bi Hai suddenly laughed bitterly, "Talk this out? It's too late for that. Even if I had a thousand mouths, I couldn't explain it. I have nothing more to say to you. I want to die with you all!"

At this point, everyone could see that although the man's logic was still coherent, his mental state was clearly abnormal.

The nurse he was holding was already terrified, her face pale and her legs trembling, sliding down. There was a puddle of water under her feet... clearly from being scared out of her wits.

During this time, Bi Yuntao quietly called Yan Xiaokai over, telling him not to stand there so close to the mentally ill man, but Yan Xiaokai seemed to have selective hearing and ignored him.

After several attempts with no response, Bi Yuntao could only smile bitterly, thinking that this boy must be crazy again!

Suddenly, Bi Hai shouted again, "Doctor Xia, Doctor Xia, tell them, am I sick or not? When I was discharged, you told me I was fine, that I was all better, and that I should be at ease."

Everyone's gaze turned to Xia Shuangju.

Xia Shuangju, although a neurosurgeon, had never experienced such a scene before. She was already terrified, and recalling what she had said to him when he was discharged, she could not help but smile bitterly. How could he be fine? She had only been comforting him.

But at this moment, she could only go along with him to prevent him from becoming more agitated and doing something even more terrible. So she said, "Yes, Bi Hai, you are not sick, you are fine!"

Bi Hai immediately cried out, "But no one believes me, no one believes me."

The officer, seeing that Xia Shuangju's words were effective, quickly gave her a meaningful look.

Xia Shuangju understood and continued, "Bi Hai, others may not believe you, but I do. Listen to me, put the knife down first, and I will vouch for you. I will tell everyone. Now, can you release our nurse?"

"No!" Bi Hai shook his head and shouted, "I can't let her go. If I let her go, they will come and grab me, and they will kill me!"

Xia Shuangju said, "No, Bi Hai, people have hearts. As long as you don't harm others, they won't harm you."

Bi Hai shook his head repeatedly, "No, Doctor Xia, you are too kind. You don't know how cruel the world is. I haven't harmed anyone, but they all want to harm me."