Chapter 88 - I Will Be Here

Zeng answered all his family's questions one by one.

"Yes, he is out of danger now... His parents are here... Yeah, he's in the ICU... No, you don't need to worry, he's alright... he will wake up soon..."

"Thank God!" The woman on the other line replied. "Sorry, we couldn't come as Yuan's exams are going on." Mrs Xiao apologized as they couldn't come because of her younger son's UG examinations.

"Are you ok?" She lastly asked. She could tell by Zeng's voice that he had recently cried and why wouldn't he? The love of his life was on death bed this entire time.

"Yes mom, I am okay now," Zeng answered confidently.

He told them not to worry as everything was alright and asked her to deliver an 'all the best' to his younger brother.

Ending the call, he glanced over at the phone.

'Am I really okay?'

……….

It had been two days since Yul's operation. According to the doctors, his condition had been improving and he would wake up anytime soon.

The schedule was that Yul's parents would stay for the entire day in the hospital and Zeng would stay for the entire night. At least this way, his insomnia could be of some use.

Now, they could wait inside Yul's room as he would wake up anytime soon and needed to be monitored.

Once, Zeng was reading a medical magazine sitting in Yul's room. It was about 4 am, yet he was wide awake. He still kept his distance and sat on the furthest chair in the room, taking a glance every now and then to see any response in Yul.

Suddenly, he saw Yul's fingers twitch slightly. He was gaining consciousness. Zeng immediately called the doctor. Dr Lee Kuan who was on duty that night. He arrived with Intern Fanxing and a nurse. Zeng waited outside, some strange fear building up within him while the doctor checked Yul's vitals and conducted a few necessary tests.

"How is he?" He asked as soon as Dr Lee Kuan came out of Yul's room.

"He is fine now," the other doctor reassured, "He has regained consciousness. His heart rate was slightly above normal and there was some expected disorientation. As he may start feeling pain, we have given him some painkillers and muscle relaxants. He would have to sleep for some 2 hours more and then he will wake up feeling much better. Everything else is normal." Lee Kuan said, smiling, "... oh, and one more thing, Zeng."

"What is it?" Zeng tensed up a bit.

"The patient has been calling your name."

Zeng felt the familiar heartache emerging. His throat dried up hearing the words and he could not will himself to feel nothing after that. He cleared his throat to hide the ache, "I see."

Dr Kuan left as soon as Fanxing and the nurse came out. The intern flashed him a bright smile despite the lack of sleep in his eyes as he left.

Now Zeng had to go back in and face something that he had been running from all these months. He got into the room and crossed the distance that he had been maintaining for these days. He sat on the chair near the bed.

The medicines did not take effect yet, so Yul was still awake. He couldn't move his eyes much but with great efforts looked at Zeng.

"Z- Zeng." He spoke in a barely audible voice.

Zeng immediately hushed him, "Shhh. Don't speak or it will strain your throat. We can talk later."

Hearing the voice after so long, Yul closed his eyes as a tear escaped down his temple.

He lifted his hand a bit and moved his fingers with great burden. He wanted to check if the other person was really there.

Seeing the efforts, Zeng held his hand. Yul immediately held on even tighter as their skins made contact.

Feeling the grip, Zeng tried to soothe him, "Rest for now. Don't put too much strain on your muscles." But Yul still didn't listen. He held on as if the other person would vanish if he loosened the grip even a little.

Zeng guessed it. He placed his other hand on top of Yul's. His voice was gentle and reassuring. "I am not going anywhere. Sleep some more. Look, you have caught me now, so I can't run away," he said smiling softly.

Yul's eyes were beginning to drift toward slumber. Zeng whispered to him before he closed his eyes,

"Don't worry, I will be here."

……...

In the morning, Zeng called up Yul's parents, who were overjoyed to hear that their son had regained consciousness.

When they arrived, Yul was still asleep. "He will wake up soon. You both can stay with him. I will go now." Mr and Mrs Wang stayed behind while Zeng went out.

He then called his parents and informed them about Yul.

He went back to his rented apartment. Readying himself in half an hour, he quickly took a few bites of chocolate to save time and came back to the Hospital. Instead of going to the ICU, he decided to visit Dr Lee Kuan's cabin to discuss regarding Yul's condition.

Dr Lee Kuan handed him the reports and started explaining his observations.

"Septicemia is under control. His body is not showing any rejection reactions. He had a neck sprain so we have placed a cervical collar around his neck. Fortunately, there was no fracture or spinal injury. However, he should avoid talking for 2 to 3 days more. Other than that, everything seems fine. All reports are normal. He will be on antibiotics and we have also given him cough suppressants so as to not put pressure on his abdominal organs. He will be shifted to the General Ward today later. We will discharge him after 14 days. He can have solid foods only after 1 month as his jejunum would be recovered by then. Overall it will take him three months to completely recover but he can go back to work after one and half months if everything stays normal."

Dr Xiao Zeng nodded, closing the X-ray and CT scan files after careful examination.. He sighed in relief that Yul was fine and could go on with his life as he desired.