CH 189

Yan Suizhi slipped in and out of consciousness a few times.

The research team under Lin Yuan didn’t believe it either at first until they saw it with their own eyes; only then did they exclaim—the amount of willpower that some people had was terrifying. 

It was obvious that there were no significant improvements to his physical indicators. It was obvious that the domineering gene segment was still kicking a riot, even becoming more and more active. It was obvious that the complications that had arisen were blaring red on the monitor…

Yet Yan Suizhi remained conscious for longer and longer each time; what started out as several seconds ticked up to several minutes…

The longest duration was close to half an hour. Even when researchers changed his dosage and kept the aseptic hood, still he didn’t shut his eyes.

Lin Yuan looked at the data being synced to the machines in the lab downstairs, completely baffled as to how on earth this guy was staying awake. 

Laura dropped in to see Yan Suizhi once during which but was unable to remain in the ward. The moment she saw the dean’s obsidian dark eyes, as warm and as bright as before, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

She was first afraid that her tears would flood the room and second unwilling to disrupt Yan Suizhi’s rest. So, she sat for a while, rubbing her eyes, then left in a haste, looking for Eunice so that she could be kept busy with something.

While lil’ Young Master Joe didn’t go as far as dropping tears, fearing that Gu Yan would tire himself out, he stubbornly stayed in the ward for slightly less than half the day. He initially intended to hole up here for a few days, but this plan unexpectedly ran into a speed bump midway.

When he took Ke Jin to the garden behind the hospital for a breather, startled by something or other, Ke Jin’s condition abruptly flared without warning.

The onset was fierce, forcing Joe to have a special ward provisionally set up for Ke Jin. Again he was sedated and again his attention was diverted, yet it turned out ineffective despite their best efforts.

At 11:30 a.m., word came from the hospital department where victims of the Elderly Bobblehead case were admitted that the organs of 23 more elderly people were failing. Taking the previous batch into account, the situation didn’t look good.

Notices of the critical conditions were being sent by the minute, and the media attention was brought to new heights.

Yan Suizhi, Ke Jin, the Elderly Bobblehead case… 

Under threefold pressure, it was as though Lin Yuan and his team were sitting on a powder keg. They were all tightly strung, and the atmosphere in the lab weighed down more heavily than ever before.

It was also at this time that the simulation they were pinning their hopes on reached a snag. The experimental results oscillated between two extremes, never stabilising.

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They were the ones carrying the heaviest burdens today, yet for a multitude of reasons, their undertakings were unsung. All their work was done in absolute silence.

They could swallow down their own silent disappointment and frustration, but it was impossible for them to face the patients, wrecked by agony, whose hope was snuffed out so silently. 

An hour later, the landlord Mervyn White arrived at Spring Ivy Hospital with a team of researchers that Yves had urgently transferred over, formally joining Lin Yuan’s research team.

“Uncle Braids, we might have to look into the research approach you previously proposed.” Lin Yuan shared a collection of research papers onto the screen, telling Mervyn White, “It’s the vision that your research team had twenty years ago, using the greyfinch’s powerful calibrative mechanisms to reverse genetic disorders.”

The thorniest issue with this approach wasn’t in the research itself but in proving the result. 

Not only was it based on simulated trials, but it also had to pass at least one in-vivo study. Only then would it be approved for therapeutic use on patients.

At 5:21 p.m., the sun was once again sinking in the west. The full protocol was signed and stamped on, and the larger and more specialised team re-entered the race against time.

In the interval as they waited for a reaction to complete, Mervyn White stared at the morphing images on the screen next to the petri dish, lost in thought.

A thought seemed to occur to him, and he suddenly asked Lin Yuan in a low voice, “Where’s that bratty kiddo?” 

With his mind cluttered with genetic diagrams and interspecies’ biological reactions, it took Lin Yuan a while to work out who the ‘bratty kiddo’ referred to. He paused, blankly holding an electronic pen for a good few seconds, before saying, “You mean Jack? He’s been busy. All the projects under him seem urgent so he’s been working many days and nights without rest. He took a few days off to rest and hasn’t been coming to the hospital lately.”

Mervyn White made a soft note in response. After a while, he then said, “He won’t be participating in this project, then.”

“I suppose not.”

At that moment, Mervyn White couldn’t describe the emotions he felt. 

There was a trace of regret. Because fighting shoulder to shoulder in a clutch situation like this only came by once in a lifetime. Let it slip by and it would be forever gone.

This bratty kiddo had always been obsessed with such stuff, he mused. The more challenging it was, the more he’d want to tackle it. It was truly a pity that he wasn’t able to partake in this.

But at the same time, there was also a trace of relief.

If possible, he hoped the foster child that he had watched grow up would never be ensnared in such complicated affairs. 

Evening came. It was 9 p.m.

After the third dose of sedatives, Ke Jin gradually stabilised. The day’s ordeal had taken its toll on his already depleted energy. He nestled in a corner of the ward, his chin resting on his knees, staring soundlessly at a spot on the carpet until his exhaustion hit and he nodded off.

Joe, who had been soothing him all this time, breathed out in relief. He found a blanket to gently wrap around Ke Jin and took him back into the space hovercar. After moistening his raspy throat with half a bottle of water, he hurried upstairs to let Gu Yan know that he was leaving.

Gu Yan had caught about an hour of sleep with his head pillowed on Yan Suizhi’s bed. He pinched the bridge of his nose to dispel his drowsiness. Having heard Joe, he asked, “Why did his condition suddenly flare up? Have you found the cause?” 

“I was too shocked and devoted my attention to calming him.” Joe shook his head with a weary expression. “Didn’t notice the rest of the world. When I thought about it later, I couldn’t find anything.”

He carefully carded through his recollection and said sullenly, “Maybe a greyfinch happened to land on the fountain? He’s been triggered by those birds a few times before. There was also a gravely ill patient in the garden at the time who suddenly went into convulsions. It was quite a frightening sight; maybe that was it. But we scared quite a few others, too. I was a bit slow to respond. Ke Jin’s episode scared several patients in wards that had windows open for fresh air, so much that they shut them.”

Joe smiled wryly, then said, “Nevermind, let’s not talk about this. I only wanted to tell you that I’ll come back later after taking Ke Jin back to the hotel.”

Shortly after Joe departed, Yan Suizhi woke up again. 

But this time was unlike before. More than half the day had passed, and it seemed as though he was only half-conscious, the confusion shrouding his eyes lingering unremittingly like fog over still lake waters.

He stared at Gu Yan for a long time, then suddenly frowned and buried his face into the pillow, the hand that grabbed Gu Yan’s fingers struggling a few times.

The hand was white, almost deathly so, much less able to muster up the least bit of strength. A long moment passed before Gu Yan registered that Yan Suizhi was actually pushing him away; he seemed to want him to leave his side and the room.

Why? 

This observation kept Gu Yan frozen until he felt a sudden chill pass through Yan Suizhi’s hand, which was even starting to shake.

He looked unable to suppress his shivering, which was accompanied by wave after wave of chills and cold sweat that instantly seeped out. Yan Suizhi’s tense shoulders hunched in, and it took all of a heartbeat for the fabric of his shirt to be stained with dampness.

His bloodless lips were pursed tight, his eyes shut and his brows locked together, his breathing harsh and heavy.

This was a side that Yan Suizhi had never shown. In actuality, he had a will of iron so strong that no amount of pain could pull a sound from him. It was unprecedented for him to shake as uncontrollably as this. 

Gu Yan immediately realised. He wasn’t in pain.

Instead, it was the genetic segment that had finally set off the drug addiction.

Gu Yan hit the call button. He didn’t know who answered the bell, and despite how it was obviously not Lin Yuan, he couldn’t tell at all. He said without raising his head, “Dr Lin, come up!”

He smoothed out Yan Suizhi’s fingers, which were digging so hard into his palms that they almost broke skin. He offered his hand for him to hold, then felt Yan Suizhi pushing him away again. 

Yan Suizhi’s lips moved, but his murmur could barely be heard.

Bowing down, Gu Yan strained to catch words from his sharp, laboured breathing.

Yan Suizhi said, “Don’t look… it’s not pretty…”

In an instant, Gu Yan’s heart was dizzied with excruciating pain, as if someone had unapologetically torn a gaping wound into its surface.