Chapter 83 - Don't Leave...

'Why are they going towards his room?'

'What must have happened?'

'Yul... My Yul…'

'Is he...?'

'No… That won't happen... He won't... He can't…'

With feeble steps, Zeng walked towards the scene.

'Yul... Please don't... don't leave me.'

His mind started depicting thoughts that he never wanted to imagine. Flashes of gritty possibilities that he never wanted to see crossed his mind. The few metres distance felt like miles.

By the time he reached the spot, his heart almost stopped beating for a moment but felt relieved the next.

"Surgery is successful. The patient is stable for now. We will be shifting him to the ICU. The relatives cannot meet him as of now. We will inform you when the situation is clear." The surgeon was narrating the situation to Yul's parents.

The couple repeatedly thanked the saviour, bowing in gratitude for saving their child's life. Mrs Wang smiled amidst crying, relieved that her son was safe. Mr Wang gave her a comforting hug and kept mumbling over and over again as they cried tears of relief in each other's embrace, "Our son is fine now."

Zeng let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding since he entered the scene. He placed a hand on his heart that seemed to have stopped beating. His fear now vanished, replaced by gratefulness. 'He made it!'

The next moment, Dr Lee Kuan emerged out of the OT. He spotted Zeng and went straight to him.

"Dr Xiao Zeng." He greeted.

"Dr Lee Kuan." Zeng greeted back and bowed, "Thank you for your hard work." He was genuinely grateful.

"Please, no need to thank me. You know it's my duty." Dr Kuan smiled. "Dr Fanxing told me that you are associated with the patient. Will you please follow me? We need to talk."

"Yes, sure."

The two doctors went to the dressing room, where Dr Kuan removed the bloodied gloves and the cap over his head. He informed,

"We have retrieved all the bullets. We had to remove the spleen as it was out of recovery. The patient is apparently stable but may not wake up for quite some time which can range to some days."

Dr Xiao Zeng nodded understandingly.

"So the reason why I called you here," Dr Kuan said in between washing his hands, "Mr Wang had a massive loss of blood. We have already transfused the required minimum amount of blood but he needs more. The blood that matches him was sent to the Gynaecology department as there was a severe postpartum haemorrhage case. So currently we don't have any blood that could match his type. We have already informed other blood banks, they will take a few hours to reach the hospital but the traffic can delay it even further."

Zeng understood the situation. He himself would have volunteered but his blood type was B+ and Yul's was A+.

He knew that even if the same blood group was available, the compatibility of the blood still won't necessarily match. So the best option would be any immediate relative's blood.

"Can his parents donate?" Dr Kuan asked carefully. "I know Mr Wang's parents are aged and they themselves can have problems if they volunteer to donate. Despite that, I am asking you because I don't want to risk Mr Yul's condition any further." The surgeon was worried. This was against his medical ethics to help another patient while stepping on some other person's health, putting them under a potential threat. However, he didn't have a choice. He definitely didn't want to put Yul at risk of hypoxia due to reduced blood volume. He was barely sustainable on the current amount and needed more to make progress. Yul's parents, if any difficulties occur after donating blood, could be managed but if Yul didn't receive blood, the situation could get ugly real quick.

"I understand, Dr Kuan," Zeng spoke. "His father is on antidiabetic drugs and is a susceptible cardiovascular case. As far as I know, his mother is not on any medications and I think the last time I checked, her haemoglobin was also in the normal range. She is in good health."

"Alright, then can you ask her but please make it soon," said Dr Kuan.

"Yes, I will. I am sure it won't be a problem." Zeng agreed as he knew there was no other option.

As he went back to Yul's parents, they had been sitting on the same bench, waiting for him. The Operation Theatre was empty and Yul's name had been erased from the OT board. The atmosphere of the current place didn't feel suffocating anymore as it had been from the past few hours.

"They shifted him to the ICU." Mr Wang said as Zeng took a seat beside them.

Zeng smiled reassuringly, "See, didn't I tell you? He's a fighter. He proved it!"

The tension in the air dissipated. Now he had to convince Yul's mom to donate blood. He felt guilty for using her to save Yul but he had to do it. He cleared his throat,

"Mom?"

"Yes, Zeng?" The older woman had a hint of worry over her face. Zeng couldn't meet her eyes but he had to do it.

"I just talked with his surgeon. Yul needs blood. They have sent notice to the other blood banks however it will take some time for them to arrive here." He paused, then continued, "Till then, can you please donate some of your blood for Yul?"

Without a second's delay, Mrs Wang replied, "Yes of course. What kind of question is that? Take me to where I can give my blood."

Zeng expected this but still felt bothered, "Mom, I don't want you to think that I am using you for Yul's sake."

Mrs Wang sighed, "Aigoo, why would I think that? It's my son who is in need. Even if you had asked me for an organ, I would have happily agreed. It's just blood we are talking about!"

Zeng felt ridiculous. How could he shamelessly assume things on his own? Now that he thought, if he was in Yul's place, his mother would have done the same. Every mother would have done the same. For her child, she could give away anything.

Zeng took her to the hospital's blood bank where Mrs Wang donated blood after the necessary initial tests.. He remained with her throughout the process while Mr Wang waited outside.