Chapter 153 - The Dream

That night Lee Tae Yang couldn't fall asleep.

Even after going back to the resting room and getting a bath, he couldn't ward off the ominous feeling lingering in his mind. 

There is no way a patient in a vegetative state could talk, out of the blue.

That night Lee Tae Yang couldn't fall asleep.

Even after going back to the resting room and getting a bath, he couldn't ward off the ominous feeling lingering in his mind. 

There is no way a patient in a vegetative state could talk, out of the blue.

Hao Ren glanced at his friend who is sitting in front of the food with a gloomy face,

"Are you still worrying about the patient?"

"Do you think that a patient in a vegetative state could talk a few words and go back to the unconscious state?" He suddenly asked,

"Why are you thinking over and over about that incident? That patient is safe,"

"I thought the patient was a teenager boy, but it turns out to be a girl,"

"So what?" It is not the first time you are giving CPR to woman," Chi Yan commented while slurping his noodles, "Unless she is beautiful - Awwww"

As soon as Chi Yan closed his mouth, Hao Ren kicked him in the foot and glared in a warning.

"What?"

Hao Ren raised his eyebrows and gestured at Lee Tae Yang who appeared lost in thoughts,

"Tae Yang," Chi Yan nudged his shoulders, " What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Lee Tae Yang tried to shook off the thoughts from his mind and immersed himself into the instant noodles which is getting soggy,

"So how was the lunar eclipse?" Hao Ren tried to change the topic,

"It was so beautiful, I even took pictures. Do you wanna see?" Chi Yan fished out the mobile and opened his gallery to show the pictures.

"In our place, everyone believes that it is a bad omen to see a blood moon. The elders even say that bad this will happen if a red moon occurs. The temples and monasteries ring the bells and blow horns to avoid the misfortunes that are bound to happen,"

"I don't understand why we have such stupid beliefs?" Hao Ren snarled, "We have reached the moon and yet people think that a mass of rock revolving in the sky will cause misfortune to human lives."

"In our place, the monks even ask everyone to keep an eye on people who are gravely ill. Just think about it, what if such a belief existed in this place? People would have rushed into our hospital premises,"

"Well, thank God there is no such belief exists in this place otherwise we would have a died of overworking." Hao Ren said with a sneer and turned to face Lee Tae Yang, "What do you think Tae Yang?"

Lee Tae Yang took a glance at the picture of the moon glowing in a shade of faint red, however looking at the picture, the memory of frail palm covered with scarlet blood flashed in his mind, reminding him about the incident which he was trying hard to forget.

"She is just a kid," He uttered without any second thoughts,

"Who?"

"That patient, she is only seventeen," Lee Tae Yang elaborated with a concerned face, "She was so thin that I felt like I was carrying a feather,"

"They brought her in the evening," Chi Yan said in a plain tone, "The patient's mother was begging to professor Luo to save her daughter. The previous hospital which treated her informed patient's mother that there is no chance for her survival. They even began to convince the mother to organ donation. 

"How can they ask like that? Lee Tae Yang asked infuriated, 

"The patient's mother got really scared that something bad might happen to her daughter that's why she came here.

"Hmm sometimes, these private hospitals are only looking at the easiest way to make money," Hao Ren shared his opinion,

Lee Tae Yang who was silently listening to their conversation quickly finished up his noodles and stood up from his seat,

"I have to go somewhere," Even before Hao Ren could say something, the tall and muscular frame of Lee Tae Yang left the room.

Lee Tae Yang returned to the neurology ICU, in order to see the coma patient once again,

"Doctor Lee, why are you here again?" One of the duty nurses asked him. After the code blue incident, the nurses were left wide awake.

" I just came to take a look at the patient, can I visit her?" Lee Tae Yang asked them and the nurses looked at face to face before permitting him into the silent ICU room.

He walked into the last cubicle and found a fragile body lying in the bed in sleep slumber.

He pushed open the door and sat beside the person,

The medical charts stated that the patient is a girl in late teens, however on first look, he could not find any traces to distinguish the petite body frame belongs to a girl,

The oval-shaped face lacked baby fat and the lean body was nothing but skin and bones. Wrapped in a thick hospital gown, the heaving chest of the patient almost appeared flat,

"I am extremely sorry for thinking of you as a boy," 

He said in an apologetic voice, "I don't know why I did that,"

He stopped for a moment and scanned her, "Why didn't you take care of your body? You are in the age of growing and you should have eaten proper meals,"

It was just two of them in the room and Lee Tae Yang went on talking to the girl lying unconscious on the bed,

"I know you can hear me, that's why I mentioning everything to you. You might have listened to your previous doctors talk...That might not be always true. I am sure that you will wake up soon and will be able to go back to your normal life,"

Lee Tae Yang's lips curled into a warm smile, " You take rest and I will come back tomorrow,"

He once again checked the patient's vitals and oxygen inputs before going back to the resting room.

He was a man of science and doctor who saves people's lives and somehow he felt intrigued when he heard Chi Yan's stories.

After tossing and turning in the bed in the resting area for a long time, Lee Tae Yang fell asleep,

While he was sleeping he had a dream,

He dreamt of a woman standing in the middle of a battlefield.

Like a white lotus bloomed in the murky water she stood in the gory battlefield filled with dead bodies

In a gust of wind, her long black hair was fluttering all around making a perfect contrast with her pure white Hanfu. On her hair, she wore a jade hair ornament with five coloured gemstones and a phoenix.

In a flash, a red flower bloomed where her heart is situated and it started bleeding as someone stabbed her. The white Hanfu has turned into red and it dripped blood.

She was injured and sinking.

"Save my family…" those were the final words of the queen.

Lee Tae Yang jolted awake from the dream and looked around, he was in the resting area of resident doctors,

"Ah you woke up?" Hao Ren asked him, "I was about to wake you,"

Lee Tae Yang sat on the bed with a heavy head,

"Tae Yang, get ready soon...otherwise you won't get enough time to eat your breakfast," Hao Ren reminded him, "The rounds will begin now,"

Lee Tae Yang sluggishly picked up his toiletries and dragged his body to the washroom.

While he was taking the bath, he unconsciously looked at his palm and unfortunately, he got reminded of the electrocuting sensations he had when she touched him,

He shook off the thoughts and scrubbed his palm with a little force.

After having a quick breakfast in the hospital cafeteria, Lee Tae Yang rushed towards the neurology ward to accompany his professor for the morning rounds. Professor Luo Ben Cheng was a man in his mid-fifties with an amicable face. He had a down to earth personality and was really famous among the patients and hospital staff, 

"Good morning Professor Luo," Three resident doctors who were specialising in neurology greeted him,

"Good morning everyone," He returned their greetings with a welcoming smile, "I heard that you handled a code blue situation alone, good job doctor Lee," He patted Lee Tae Yang's shoulder, "Let's go and make a quick round before sitting for outpatient consultations,"

Luo Ben Cheng lead them to the neurology ward and checked the medical conditions of the patients who were currently under the treatment. After an hour they finished their morning rounds.

"Professor, can you go and check that patient who was brought yesterday?" Lee Tae Yang interrupted Luo Ben Cheng who was about to leave the ward, "That coma patient,"

"Yes, yes...let's go and visit her too,"

Professor Luo Ben Cheng along with his mentees went towards the ICU,

"I will give you a brief introduction of patient's condition and you are free to ask the questions," Luo Ben Cheng scanned the unconscious patient and took the case sheet,

"Her name is Li Juan and she is a seventeen-year-old high school student. Three weeks ago, she fell from the school building. There was a penetrating brain injury, the skull cracked and made contusions on the posterior side of her brain. Dr, Yun can you point out the possible results of such a brain injury,"

"Yes professor," The only woman in the resident's team answered, "Since the injuries affected the grey matter, she might have troubles in remembering and recollecting her memories. There will be even chances for hallucinations," 

"Good," Luo Ben Cheng smiled and continued, "Before she was brought here, it was said that she was beyond rescuing and the family was informed to be prepared for the worst. Do you think she got a chance to live?"

"Yes, doctor," Lee Tae Yang said with a resolute face, "Even though she will have problems with recollecting her memories, that doesn't mean that she got no chance to survive. The normal time period for comatose patients goes up to five weeks. We can still wait for her to wake up before reporting her as brain dead. There are people who live without any memories of their life before the accident, so I don't think it won't be a problem if she wakes up without any memories. All we should do is to give her some time and wait until she wakes up from the coma,"

"We all wish for the same, Dr Lee, but there is something which makes me worry," Luo Ben Cheng stopped for a moment, 

"Yesterday I had a conversation with the patient's mother and she did mention something," He picked up the scan reports and closed his eyes before tossing out a statement which made every single one of his junior's mouth's open wide in shock,

"Her IQ is 135,"