266 Hemiplegia

"Chu and Ethan were really hoping that they wouldn't have to change the date of their wedding. It's a good thing that you decided to wake up and give everyone enough time to make the preparations. I can only handle one stress at a time, you know, right?" Mrs. Xie tried to lighten the atmosphere.

She couldn't understand the weird vibe in the room.

Deciding to get to the bottom of it, she continued to talk brightly, "Chu, just stay with your brother and see that he doesn't try and run away. I need to visit the chapel downstairs with your father for thanksgiving. We'll be back in a few minutes."

Chu nodded with a small smile. She came forward and sat at the seat which her mother had just vacated.

Mrs. Xie pivoted as soon as they were outside the room.

"What's wrong? What did the doctor say?" she demanded to know.

Mr. Xie gave a defeated sigh and walked further to sit on one of the benches kept in the corridor.

"Our son has woken up but apparently some nerves were touched or pressed during the removal of the clot. As a result, he has something called Hemiplegia of the left side. That means his entire left side is paralytic, starting from his face to his hand and legs. As a result of this, he would probably be unable to perform basic operations like standing, eating, getting ready, even using the bathroom by himself," his voice was laced with pain.

"But.. but this is temporary right? Paralysis is curable," her words trembled as she uttered them.

"Yes, with a lot of physiotherapy and medication, it is. But whether he would recover all his motor skills, is not something the doctor is willing to give us the assurance of. Nor is he ready to give a fixed time frame in which this recovery would occur. It depends a lot upon Tang and his will power. The point is that a tough road to recovery lies ahead of him," Mr. Xie said with a tired sigh.

Inside the room, Tang gestured that he wanted Chu to hand over her mobile to him.

She gave it to him but said, "Uh, I don't think you should be calling anyone right now."

He attempted to smile at her words but found that his mouth was unwilling to follow his command, like it has been since the time he woke up. He had also discovered that he couldn't feel any sensation in his left limbs. They felt like dead weight. The doctor had poked and prodded him all over but hadn't said anything.

Tang had started to panic when he couldn't form the words to speak but his mother had come in to the room and looked at him with such happiness, that he had tried to hold his fretting at bay. Now, he couldn't! He needed toknow everything.

He took Chu's phone and typed with his right hand, "what's wrong with me, exactly? Where are we and what day is it? And don't bother giving me a bullshit answer. I don't want to argue via messages with you."

Chu read it and gave him a wan smile. She was a forthright person and believed in straight forward interaction.

"Ok, so you can't freak out upon hearing this nor slip into coma or any such nonsense. Understood?" she said.

He joined his thumb with the index finger indicating that he was ok with that.

"The story goes like this. You had a blood clot in your brain which started forming six years ago post your accident in New York, which is where we are today as well, incidentally. This clot kept growing in size and finally became strong enough to knock you unconscious. You were on your way back from London when you collapsed on the flight. I was told that you had gone there for Cousin He's work. Are you with me so far?" she asked him.

He showed his thumb up and gestured with his hand for her to continue.

"Post that, a bunch of neurosurgeons scanned you, and gave their different opinions. A surgery was the only solution but the survival chance was… well, never mind that percentage You are alive and that's what matters. It's been three weeks since your surgery and you have opened you eyes today for the first time after a month. But your nerves are upto mischief and are unwilling to cooperate. You… your body is paralysed on the left side, affecting your speech and motor skills. What this means is that we will have to find you a hot physiotherapist and a hotter nurse. Hopefully, they would be motivation enough for you to get all better," she tried injecting as much humour as she could in her grim words.

Tang typed again, "how long will it take for me to completely recover?"

He paused before showing the phone screen to her and typed further, "will I recover fully?"