Chapter 173: Trauma

As the giant ice block is coming towards Adrian, he suddenly felt heavy and he started to palpitate. He felt like the whole world slowed down. Adrian did not know what was happening but if a medical professional were to see then they would definitely say that Adrian is experiencing a panic attack.

Adrian's breathing became uncontrollable as he started to clutch his chest and the world around him started to spin. Before the ice block hit Adrian, his body started becoming particles of light that indicated that he was logged out of the game.

[Your party leader Equinox has been logged out of Pandemonium.]

[Levin Cloud has been promoted to the party leader position from assistant party leader.]

Mina who saw what Adrian experienced suddenly pieced two and two together. The others were wondering what just happened and Soleil looked like she was about to cry. She blames herself because of what happened to Adrian even though she was clueless on what actually happened.

"What happened to big brother Equinox?" Creepysoo asked.

Even his friends were clueless because Adrian was never the type to panic. It was so unnatural that they too started to worry about him. They all looked at Solstice for answers because she is his older sister.

"I think something happened to him but I think it is best not to worry too much about it. Worrying would only make him more ashamed if he comes back online. I will log out for now so continue with the dungeon clear. It must be something minor so do your best in his stead. The mission for clearing this is still active." Solstice said as she logged out of the game to check on Adrian's condition.

[Solstice has left the party due to logging out of Pandemonium.]

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[Beep….Beep…Beep…User is experiencing a mental episode.]

The game pod suddenly blared out words that alarmed Adrian's parents that were in his house. They immediately rushed towards Adrian's game pod as his body was having a seizure.

[The user will now be ejected out of the game pod.]

Adrian's father rushed to carry Adrian when the game pod opened its hatch. His mother was panicking but his father was trying to stay calm but even his face indicated that he was really worried. Mina suddenly rushed towards Adrian's room and saw the situation.

A few seconds later, Adrian stopped having seizures but he was still unconscious. He was also not showing signs of waking up and his breathing was not stable. The family immediately rushed to their family vehicle so that Adrian would be immediately sent to the hospital.

On the way, Adrian's mother is soothing his head and wiping the sweat tricking down Adrian's forehead. Adrian's dad is still looking worried but is keeping calm because he does not want the whole family to get in an accident. They reached Dr. Happy's hospital in no time and they were thankful that traffic is not bad.

Adrian's mother is really thankful to God as her prayers is heard that no obstacles come their way to the hospital. A stretcher is already waiting for Adrian to arrive and Dr. Happy was also outside waiting for the family. Adrian's father already contacted them when they were on the way so that medical staff could respond faster when the family arrived.

Adrian is laid down in the stretcher by his father. Dr. Happy immediately checked Adrian's pulse, breathing and his eye dilation. Dr. Happy then instructed the nurses to send Adrian to the Calming Center where patients with mental diagnosis come to get treated.

"Is my son okay, Dr. Happy?" Adrian's mother asked.

"Fortunately, it was just a panic attack this time. Can we talk inside on how he suddenly experienced this?" Dr. Happy stated as they guided the rest of the family inside towards his office.

The family then moved to the office and waited for Dr. Happy to arrive. The doctor had to check and give instructions on how to handle Adrian's case before hearing the family's story. After Dr. Happy finished telling what to do then he proceeded to his office to hear how the incident happened.

Dr. Happy entered his office and saw that the family wanted an update on Adrian. The boy's mother was clearly extremely worried as the boy's father was hugging and rubbing her shoulders to calm her down. The sister looked worried but is adopting a façade so that the mother does not freak out even more.

There are cases where emotional people become more emotional if a group of people exhibit the same strong emotions. Times like this is when a person in the group must become a pillar to hold everyone's sanity so that they will not all have a mental breakdown.

"Do not worry. Adrian is stable now as we already put him on a sedative. He already calmed down and now he is still sleeping. He might wake up after five hours and might become hungry so please get him a meal when that happens." Dr. Happy explained with a smile so that his happy energy could somehow calm the family.

Adrian's mother gave a big sigh of relief and calmed down which can be observed as she no longer shivers. Dr. Happy then asked what exactly happened and both of Adrian's parents looked at Mina as she said on the way that she might have an idea on why Adrian had a panic attack.

Mina exhaled a deep breath and recounted the events that happened inside the game. Mina told that Adrian started acting weird after he pushed his friend out of the way from an ice block that was heading towards her. Adrian could have easily dodge the ice block but he suddenly spaced out and he was logged out before he was hit by the ice block.

"Was the friend that you are talking about a little girl?" Dr. Happy asked.

"Yes! How did you know?" Mina replied.

"Then the most likely case that Adrian suffered from a panic attack due to getting a trauma related to his accident. It is very common for things like that to happen as he lost the sense of using his legs after that incident after all." Dr. Happy stated.

"But if that was the case then why is he not traumatize in seeing little girls?" Mina asked.

"When we were observing him in this hospital, he did not avoid any young girls or any young people from that matter but he did look concerned when looking out to the street from his bedroom window. We concluded that he might have become scared of the roads after the incident so we slowly but surely made him get used to seeing roads by accompanying him outside." Dr. Happy stated.

Dr. Happy then continued with a serious expression, "He might not be traumatize with the elements relating to his accident but it seems that recreating the incident no matter the medium recalled his memories of his accident."

"Is he going to be okay then? Should we stop him from playing the game?" Adrian's mother asked worriedly.

"I think you should still remember why I prescribed that Adrian enter a virtual reality right?" Dr. Happy replied with a serious expression.

"Wait…I thought you guys said that you bought him the game pod because he might get bored just hanging around the house. Is the reason much more different or are you two not telling me everything?" Mina asked as she did not know the reason that Dr. Happy was talking about.

"Adrian's accident caused a much more severe damage than we thought to his nervous system. If the ambulance came just a little bit late then he would have been permanently paralyzed from the waist down." Adrian's father explained.

"That still does not explain why Adrian is playing a virtual game. I know that you two like to advocate for more physical oriented sports rather than virtual ones." Mina replied.

"Adrian's condition was very tricky for me to repair too. When he was hit by the bus, he damaged his head and spine. His nerves were a wreck if you want it in simple terms. He was in a coma for three days and he could not move his whole body for a week after he woke up." Dr. Happy said which shocked Mina even further.

Dr. Happy then continued, "He became paralyzed from the waist down because the nerves responsible for moving it was weakened. I tried my best to restore it but the medical field is not that omnipotent yet that it could cure any type of illness. I am very sorry."

"Don't be Dr. Happy. We know that you did your best that your abilities could." Adrian's father stated.

"So the real reason that Adrian is in a virtual game is to make him believe that he can walk?" Mina replied.

"Yes. The real reason is that by always constantly thinking that he could walk then he might restart and repair the nerves that would allow him to walk. From what you parents are reporting to me, it seems to prove as a very effective method. He is now able to stand on his own and walk a few steps which is a far cry to how he was before." Dr. Happy stated.

"I see so you are basically boosting his willpower and belief which in turn would make his body follow. You are basically making a miracle come to life by how great a person's willpower is." Mina concluded.

"I have done all I could. Now it is up to Adrian himself. I just hope that this setback does not hinder him too much or worse ignite his fears for roads." Dr. Happy stated which led Adrian's family to pray that Adrian is alright.