Chapter 217: The Female Doctor

“What? Three people… together?” Lü Yang looked shocked, thinking he misheard.

“You think I want this? Isn’t it all your fault? Is there any better solution?” Lin Yin stared at Lü Yang with reddened eyes, a wronged expression on her face.

Lin Yin had been troubled by how to handle Xiao Hui’s situation. If all three of them could be together, wouldn’t that solve everything? She felt… she and Xiao Hui could become good friends… At least she really liked Xiao Hui…

“Yinyin…” Lü Yang felt both amused and exasperated. “The three of us together? How would you explain that to your parents? And even if I agreed, would Xiao Hui agree to such an absurd arrangement?”

“Let me think about it some more…” Lin Yin seemed to realize she was being absurd and turned back to press her face against the wall again.

“Yinyin, go sit with your father. It’s not good to leave him alone there.” Lü Yang spoke softly, advising Lin Yin.

His words pulled Lin Yin, who had been mulling over relationship issues, back to reality. She suddenly remembered the harsh truth that her mother was still undergoing surgery. How could she be thinking about romance at a time like this… It felt completely wrong!

Overwhelmed with shame, Lin Yin quickly jogged toward the operating room. Lü Yang followed her.

The craniotomy was a major procedure that took a long time. After greeting Lin’s Father, the two sat down again outside the operating room.

“I don’t know how we should handle this… Thank you for being here with me today… I’m so afraid for Mom…” Lin Yin whispered to Lü Yang, her eyes turning red again.

“Don’t worry. Stop overthinking. I’ll be here with you whenever you need me these next few days, ready at a moment’s notice…” Lü Yang made this promise to Lin Yin.

If not for the mobile phone photo scandal, Lü Yang could have helped Lin Yin purely out of friendship and guilt over their body swap. Instead, Lin Yin had brought him big trouble with Liu Hui, making it seem more her fault.

But with the photo situation, he was completely in the wrong now, purely seeking redemption.

Lin Yin’s attempt to set him up with Liu Hui was at most a case of good intentions gone awry. His photo issue, put mildly, was a moral problem, but if Lin Yin pursued it seriously, it could be considered a crime.

Lin Yin wouldn’t go to the police, of course, but even if she did, the authorities couldn’t classify the case properly. Having his own explicit photos on his own phone, striking such happy, indecent poses—who would believe someone else took them?

…

“What should you do if Xiao Hui contacts you again?” After waiting a long time outside the operating room, Lin Yin forgot about her mother’s surgery and started worrying about Lü Yang’s situation. Of course, she was also genuinely concerned about Liu Hui.

“I’ll do whatever you think is best.” Lü Yang felt somewhat numb to these issues now. He was more focused on how he would face Yi Ya in the future.

“I don’t know what to do. You decide.” Lin Yin shook her head.

The operating room doors swung open. A patient lying on a bed was wheeled out. Lin Yin, Lü Yang, and Lin’s Father rushed over…

It wasn’t Lin Mu. It was another surgical patient.

…

Three hours passed. Several patients whose surgeries had finished were wheeled out, their families called by nurses to escort them away. But Lin Mu still hadn’t emerged from the operating room…

Lin Yin grew increasingly anxious and uneasy, and Lü Yang kept trying to comfort her.

Five hours later, two more patients were wheeled out of the operating room, but Lin Mu still wasn’t among them.

Lin Yin began crying again. The foreboding feeling in Lü Yang’s heart grew stronger.

Another hour passed. The operating room doors opened once more, but no patient was wheeled out. Only a nurse called out Lin Mu’s name, asking the family to come over.

Lin Yin’s legs trembled. Lü Yang half-supported, half-carried her as they approached.

“The patient’s surgery is finished. Please sign these forms.” The nurse said to Lin’s Father.

“Where is she?” Lin’s Father asked the nurse.

The nurse hesitated, glanced into the operating room, and withdrew the forms in her hand.

“Where’s my mom?” Lin Yin asked the nurse in a trembling voice.

“We did our best.” A middle-aged male doctor who had just removed his mask came out of the operating room, took the forms from the nurse, and explained to Lin’s Father and Lin Yin…

“The patient’s condition was more complex than expected, so the surgery took much longer than anticipated. It should have been successful, but the patient hasn’t regained consciousness and lost autonomous breathing. She was transferred directly to the ICU. You need to sign these forms and then go pay the remaining surgical fees and the monitoring costs.”

“What is ICU? The intensive care unit?” Lin’s Father’s hands shook as he took the forms from the doctor. He glanced at them and asked the doctor.

“Yes.” The doctor nodded at Lin’s Father.

“What does ‘brainstem death’ mean…” Lin’s Father looked at the form and asked the doctor.

“It means brain death. The chances of waking up are almost zero… If the family agrees to remove life support, the patient is officially declared dead.” The male doctor explained expressionlessly to Lin’s Father.

“What’s wrong with my mom? What do you mean ‘declared dead’?” Lin Yin frantically rushed forward and gripped the doctor’s arm tightly.

“Brainstem cells are non-regenerative cells. When they die, no other cells divide to replenish them, so the chance of recovery is very slim. Brainstem death also means loss of autonomous breathing; the patient must rely on a ventilator to survive…” The male doctor explained professionally to Lin Yin.

“Doctor, please tell me directly… is my wife dead?” Lin’s Father was confused by the technical explanation and asked the male doctor again.

“Will you admit her to the ICU?” The doctor didn’t answer Lin’s Father’s question but instead asked him one.

“Yes! We’ll go pay the fees immediately.” Lü Yang stepped forward, looked at the forms, and had Lin’s Father sign them.

“Is my mom dead?” Lin Yin was completely stunned, her face frighteningly pale, without even a tear.

“Yinyin, not yet. Don’t give up! A miracle can still happen!” Lü Yang held onto Lin Yin and patted her cheeks firmly.

The middle-aged male doctor shook his head, handed Lin’s Father a few more forms, then turned and left with the nurse.

“I’m okay, Dad. Let’s go pay the fees quickly.” Lin Yin urged her father with a vacant look in her eyes.

Lü Yang wished she would cry instead; her current state was very worrying.

But in such a situation, Lü Yang couldn’t offer much comfort.

They needed to pay over thirty thousand yuan in remaining surgical fees. The ICU cost over eight thousand yuan per day. The hospital asked Lin’s Father to prepay for three days, totaling nearly sixty thousand yuan. But Lin’s Father only had five thousand yuan left. Lü Yang took out his own bank card, swiped it to prepay the fees, but the balance on his card was still over nine thousand yuan short. He used ten Money Cards which just covered the difference.

“Yangyang, I’ll pay you back as soon as I get the money together.” Lin’s Father said apologetically to Lü Yang.

“Uncle, please don’t mention it. Saving her is the priority.” Lü Yang waved his hand at Lin’s Father.

Suddenly, Lin Yin rushed to the wall, leaned against it, and started dry heaving. Lü Yang quickly went over and gently patted her back.

He had no memory of losing a mother, but when his maternal grandmother, who he relied on, died, he felt like his world had collapsed.

That gray despair and helplessness were even more terrifying than the Mysterious Domain.

Many people couldn’t understand Lü Yang’s deep feelings for the Yi sisters, Yi Yi and Yi Ya—how he could grow so attached in just one year, or even half a year, willing to risk his life for them.

Because they hadn’t experienced the despair and helplessness of having no relatives left in the world, they couldn’t comprehend his profound longing and cherishing for family bonds after such extreme despair.

…

Lin Yin didn’t cry anymore, not even when she saw her mother covered in tubes through the glass partition of the ICU. But her body kept trembling constantly, her face growing paler, making Lü Yang increasingly worried.

“Yinyin, it’s okay. You still have me.” Lü Yang held Lin Yin in his arms, continuously patting her back.

After a while, Lin Yin finally let out a loud ‘wail’ and cried, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. She grabbed at Lü Yang’s clothes randomly, even biting his shoulder… Lü Yang had no choice but to hold her tighter, softly comforting her until she finally calmed down again.

The female doctor who had been sitting on the empty bed in Lin Mu’s room earlier came over, stood beside Lü Yang and Lin Yin, watching Lü Yang quietly, a faint look of sadness on her face.

“Do I know you?” Lü Yang asked the female doctor curiously.

Lin Yin looked up at Lü Yang. “You… who were you talking to just now?”

“Her…” Lü Yang looked toward the female doctor again but found she had disappeared.

She wasn’t in either direction of the hallway…

Did she go into the ICU?

Lin Yin looked around but found nothing unusual, then buried her head back in Lü Yang’s chest.

They weren’t allowed to stay long in the hallway outside the ICU ward. After being shooed away, the three could only sit on the bench in the corridor of another hospital wing opposite the elevator. This area appeared to have been a patient ward before but now had no patients. The rooms stored old equipment and machinery, and the hallway benches were empty.

Seeing how exhausted Lin’s Father looked, knowing he had been through a lot lately, Lü Yang wanted to suggest he rest at the rented room in Jing’an Residential Area, but Lin’s Father firmly refused. He just sat silently on the bench, not making a sound, as if stunned.

In most families, the man is the pillar and backbone, but the Lin family was different.