Chapter 38#
Chapter 38 Side Story — Thirteen
“Doctor, how should I take this medicine?” A middle-aged woman stared at the prescription the doctor had just written for her, but couldn’t recognize a single word.
“One pill in the morning and one in the evening, after meals,” Mo Zi replied.
Standing next to the middle-aged woman was a little girl of seven or eight. Upon hearing that she had to take medicine, she started whining: “Mom, I don’t want to take medicine.”
Mo Zi patted the little girl’s head and comforted her: “It’s okay, this medicine is sweet, it tastes just like candy.”
The little girl opened her watery eyes wide, looking at her pitifully, half-believing and half-doubting: “Really?”
“Really.” Mo Zi nodded with certainty.
“Okay then.” The little girl rubbed the corners of her eyes, sniffled, and walked out satisfied with her mother.
Mo Zi checked the time. There was less than an hour left before she got off work, so she could still see a few more patients. She stood up with her pregnant belly, planning to go to the restroom first.
The hospital corridor was very long. She had to walk from one end to the other, turn a corner, and walk another stretch to reach the restroom. Fortunately, sometimes colleagues would come over to support her when they saw her, and the patients’ families in the corridor would consciously make way for her when they saw her big belly.
When Mo Zi came out of the restroom, she heard a commotion at the entrance. She washed her hands and poked her head out to take a look. A doctor from their department was surrounded in a corner by several family members. Those family members were arrogant, spewing dirty words, and pointing fingers at the doctor.
Mo Zi recognized these family members. Their eighty-something-year-old relative had a brain tumor. The doctor recommended conservative treatment, but the family insisted on surgery. The old man passed away on the day of the surgery. They didn’t listen when the doctor gave advice, and now they were back to cause trouble?
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Mo Zi quickly took out her phone and called the director and another doctor, asking them to come over immediately.
The surrounded doctor tried to explain but to no avail. He turned to leave, but was grabbed by the hair and pulled back by a tall and burly family member named Wang in the middle. Wang muttered something, scary veins popping out on his face. He turned the doctor’s face around and punched him heavily.
The doctor was a bit dizzy from the hit. He stumbled against the wall, covering his face and crying out in pain.
At this moment, a child’s sharp cry rang out, attracting everyone’s attention. Mo Zi looked towards the sound. It was the little girl she had just seen. The child was probably waiting for her mother at the restroom entrance and was scared to tears seeing these people beating the doctor.
Another fierce-looking family member, perhaps afraid that the little girl’s crying would attract others, rushed up in two or three steps, slapped the little girl, and roared in a low voice: “Shut up!”. The little girl was knocked to the ground on her bottom and cried even louder.
Mo Zi clenched her fists on the side, her teeth grinding in anger. What kind of scum were they? Even hitting a child!
The doctor, who had been dazed by the beating, wanted to protect the child but was pulled back by Wang, who kicked him hard in the abdomen. The doctor curled up in pain, frowning and groaning.
Mo Zi couldn’t stand it anymore. The education she received since childhood didn’t allow her to turn a blind eye at this time. She came out of the restroom, walked in front of the little girl, squatted down, wiped the tears from the little girl’s face, and comforted her softly: “Don’t cry.”
The family members were also stunned. Suddenly another doctor ran out, and a pregnant woman at that. They didn’t know whether to hit her or not, and for a moment didn’t know what to do.
At this time, the director also rushed over aggressively with several doctors and security guards. While running over, a security guard shouted at the family members: “What are you doing? Stop!”
Wang’s thick, long eyebrows stood up, a ruthless look on his face. He grabbed the doctor and punched him fiercely in the stomach again, hitting precisely the most painful spot. Seeing this, several security guards rushed over to hold Wang down. The other family members went to fight the security guards. Seven or eight people were pushing and hitting each other fiercely at the restroom entrance, the scene chaotic.
Mo Zi quickly stood up, grabbing the little girl and wanting to leave. However, no matter how fast she was, she was just a pregnant woman. One of the family members caught Mo Zi’s intention and vengefully pushed a security guard hard in her direction, a fierce light in his eyes.
Before Mo Zi could take a step, she felt a powerful force hitting her from behind. She lost her balance and fell heavily on her side to the ground. The moment she hit the ground, a severe cramp came from her belly, hurting so much that she trembled all over, and sweat quickly soaked her inner shirt. Then, she lost consciousness, her vision dark and chaotic. She seemed to hear the rapid breathing of people outside:
“Make way, make way, emergency!”
“The water might have broken.”
“Dr. Mo, you have to hang in there!”
…
When Mo Xi received Xiao Jun’s call, he was playing games with Wan Tong. He had just finished his midterm exams and wanted to relax.
“Hello, Xiao Xi,” Xiao Jun’s voice on the phone was hoarse, “Can you contact your dad?”
“Yes,” Mo Xi operated the game with one hand and held the phone with the other, asking, “Is something wrong?”
His sister usually ignored his dad, and his brother-in-law was contacting his dad proactively for the first time.
“I want to borrow some cash from him. Your sister, she…” Xiao Jun fell silent for a moment, then whispered, “She is in the emergency room now.”
Mo Xi stopped what he was doing, his eyes widening in disbelief: “What did you say? My sister is in emergency? Or is she saving someone else?”
“She was pushed down by a patient’s family member at the hospital today and is being resuscitated. The doctor said neither the mother nor the child is guaranteed to be saved.” After speaking, Xiao Jun buried his head in one hand, his eyes suddenly turning red, and he began to sob softly.
Mo Xi felt like he was struck by lightning, his mind going blank. It took him a long time to react before replying with a trembling voice: “Okay, I’ll call my dad right away.”
As soon as he hung up, tears burst out. Mo Xi opened his contacts with trembling hands, scrolling up and down the list but couldn’t find his dad’s name.
“Damn!” Mo Xi slapped his phone hard. Why is this thing so useless at critical moments?
Mo Xi wiped his tears with his sleeve and finally found his dad’s name and dialed.
With a “clatter”, the phone fell to the ground. His hands were sweating profusely due to nervousness. Mo Xi wiped his palms hard on his pants and picked up the phone again.
“Beep, beep, beep…”, no matter how he called, his dad didn’t answer.
He found Uncle Li’s number and called.
“Sorry the number your trying to reach has been disconnected or no longer in service.”
“Fuck!” Mo Xi cursed for the first time in his anxiety.
“Dad, reply to me when you see the message.”
Just after he sent a WeChat message to his dad, he suddenly remembered that the location Uncle Li posted on his Moments a few days ago was in Africa.
If they were in Africa now, it was possible that they couldn’t be reached for several days.
Mo Xi forced himself to calm down. He transferred all his RMB to Xiao Jun, less than ten thousand. He was really a poor student and had no money left.
He thought if worse came to worst, he would borrow money. As long as she could be saved, he would borrow any amount.
Calm down now, calm down.
Mo Xi called Xiao Jun again, wanting to ask clearly how much money was needed.
“I don’t know exactly how much is needed. The doctor comes out every now and then to notify me to pay,” Xiao Jun scratched his head irritably, “I’ve already paid over a hundred thousand, and it’s almost used up.”
Mo Xi knew that his sister and brother-in-law really didn’t have much money. Both relied on salaries for food and had to pay the mortgage. They had given him a hundred thousand for his studies before. Xiao Jun being able to take out over a hundred thousand now was already his best effort.
“If you contact Dad, tell him I will definitely find a way to pay him back within a week,” Xiao Jun’s eyes felt sore, “I can sell the car and house later, but now we mainly need cash.”
In his and Mo Zi’s plan, having a baby would cost at most ten or twenty thousand. Plus the confinement nanny and milk powder, maybe thirty to fifty thousand at most. So they kept less than fifty thousand in cash. How could he have thought such a thing would happen?
Now money was flowing into the hospital like tap water, but the hole was still so big.
“Brother-in-law, don’t worry, I’ll figure something out here.” Mo Xi hung up the phone and sighed quietly.
He hadn’t paid back the money he borrowed from Da Bai last time, and now he had to ask him for money again. Since he went abroad, Da Bai had been helping him in various ways, and he was embarrassed to ask.
But in the face of human life, dignity meant nothing.
He still brazenly sent a WeChat message to Da Bai. Da Bai quickly transferred tens of thousands to him and advised him not to worry too much.
Mo Xi looked at the account balance, regretting for the first time that he chose to study abroad. If he worked in China, he could accompany Mo Zi often, and maybe she wouldn’t have encountered such a thing. And even if she did, he would have more money to transfer to Xiao Jun now.
If something really happened to his sister this time, he would never be able to forgive himself.
He quickly made a decision, sent emails asking for leave to his boss and professor, and used his few remaining dollars to buy a flight ticket back to China that day.
At this time, he must be by his sister’s side.
Pei Hao and Mo Xi were halfway through a game when Mo Xi suddenly went AFK and disappeared. He sent several messages in a row but got no response.
He waited by his phone for a few hours, getting more and more uneasy. If he had disconnected or something else, Mo Xi would definitely tell him. No reaction for so long, could something have happened?
Coincidentally, a message popped up on his phone at this time: Pei Hao, something happened to Xiao Xi’s sister, do you have money?
Pei Hao was stunned by this sudden message. He immediately called Da Bai back with his phone:
“What happened to his sister?”
“I don’t know the details, anyway, she is being resuscitated in the hospital emergency room now. Xiao Xi just asked me to borrow money. I only had thirty thousand, gave it all to him, but I’m afraid it’s not enough,” Da Bai paused and said, “It seems quite serious.”
Pei Hao’s face darkened, and he asked uneasily: “Which hospital?”
“Ren’ai.” Da Bai replied.
“I’ll go over and take a look now. Don’t let him know yet.” Pei Hao hung up the phone, walked to the entrance in three steps, put on his shoes, grabbed his trench coat, and left.