252 Fight to Survive

"But, some time ago, Tang had been in a small, err… another accident and we had done a lot of scans and tests at that point of time. How come this wasn't detected then," Mr. Xie frowned and told the surgeon.

"Yes, I have seen those scans. The clot is not even the size of a small pea and since it is wedged between the two lobes, unless you are looking for it specifically, you may not spot it," the doctor hypothesised.

Privately, the surgeon thought that it had been the previous doctor's fault for not spotting the clot last time but he didn't say that to the anguished parents in front of him. It wouldn't help them in anyways, right now. He needed them to stay calm for what was about to come their way.

"So you are trying to say that a small blood clot is causing all these problems. Let's remove it then," Mr. Xie said, with some relief in his voice.

"I am afraid it's not that simple. Technically, it can be operated upon, but the clot is located between the two lobes, one wrong move and the person can turn into a vegetative state forever. There are only 5%chances of such a surgery to be successful," the surgeon said, with a tinge of apology in his voice.

Mrs. Xie's involuntary cry of anguish could be heard on the entire floor of that hospital. Mr. Xie looked like as if he had been hit by lightning.

After much deliberation, it was decided that they would shift Tang to America to be operated by the best surgeon in the world. They left for New York via a private jet by the end of the week.

In fact the day Jia Li had called, Mr. Xie was just leaving for the airport. He had been tempted to let the servant only handle the conversation but after a second, he had taken over the call. What he hadn't told his wife or anyone else was, that during his conversation with the air hostess, not only had she revealed that Tang had been happy but also that he was returning after meeting the love of his life and he was hoping that his single status would no longer be valid in the near future.

Mr. Xie surmised that Tang must have found Jia Li and patched up. So, she had called because she couldn't reach him. He could hear the worry in her voice but he was having a tough time trying to keep his tone neutral. He was tempted to tell her about the whole situation at the time but he didn't want to give her any hope when he himself had none. It was better that she was spared the grief at the moment. Hence he had sounded gruff and abrupt when speaking with her that day.

Present day

"Dad, where are you? Have you left for the hospital yet?" Chu's voice on the voicemail broke Mr. Xie's reverie.

He had lost the sense of time and place in the past few minutes.

Picking up his daughter's call, he spoke gruffly, "I am just getting ready. Your mother has left for the hospital already. I will be there soon."

This surgeon was rumoured to be near God when it came down to neurosurgery. But his calendar was near impossible to break into at the last minute. Mr. Xie had achieved it by fulfilling his demand.

"I need the best R&D team hired and to build the swankiest lab in the world. I don't care how much money needs to be put in. Buy some damn patents, if you have to. Just get it done," Mr. Xie had barked the orders in the phone to his lawyers.

This had been the demand of the surgeon in return for agreeing to operate upon Tang ASAP. Mr. Xie's lawyers had scrambled to raise funds as soon as they could in such a short time and had used whatever means were necessary, including dissolving the partnership.

Mr. Xie had told them that he had no interest whatsoever in the business or anything else. Nothing mattered except his son. Maybe at the back of his head, he was bracing himself for the worst possible outcome.

"I have already told you that the chances of a successful surgery are really slim in this case. I don't want to dole out any vague numbers because they are really not accurate. But I want you to brace yourselves for any outcome," the surgeon told the family stoically.

Chu gripped her mother's hand tightly while Ethan held onto Mr. Xie's shoulders, giving him comfort.

Both elders looked pale and their faces were etched in grief. Anguish had made their shoulders stoop really low. They didn't know whether they would be able to see their son again after today or not.