Chapter 124: The Intensive Care Unit, the Final Three Draws

The doctors in the emergency room were in a constant state of activity. Occasionally, a doctor would emerge with a grave expression, and though Tongtong would look up, hoping to ask for news, she never dared to interrupt them.

Hospital President Zheng Taihua had stopped by earlier with two police officers. Zhang Wuyong, the only man present, had asked his mother to look after Tongtong while he spoke with the President and the officers, finally piecing together what had happened.

The incident originated in a downstream village where a power outage had been caused by the previous day’s floods. While the rain had stopped in the city, a light drizzle continued in the countryside. Three children, left at home alone, had no television to watch and their mobile phones had run out of battery. In the darkness of their room, they found a kerosene lamp and used it to light their card game.

Midway through, the lamp was knocked over, and one of the children was severely burned. The other two were terrified; after frantically extinguishing the flames on their friend, they used their only remaining phone to call the emergency services. The call was relayed to the hospital, which dispatched an ambulance.

Normally, with emergency center doctors assigned to the ambulance, Zhu Yuwen would not have needed to go. However, because the flood had caused emergencies elsewhere, other vehicles from the emergency center were already deployed. As part of the citywide disaster response effort, the municipal hospital was required to contribute to the emergency rescue team, and Zhu Yuwen happened to be one of those assigned. It was standard procedure for the municipal hospital to take charge of a case involving injured children.

The problem lay in the rural geography—the roads were winding, the house numbers were disorganized, and the children could not clearly describe their location. The ambulance pulled to the side of the road, unable to find the house. Zhu Yuwen stepped out, searching the area while trying to call the children, but their phone had finally died, leaving no way to reach them.

Meanwhile, the two children had carried their burned friend out of the house, trying to avoid the rain while waiting anxiously for help. When they spotted the ambulance and the doctor, they didn't think to have one child stay with the victim while the other ran to get help. Instead, they carried their injured friend directly into the rain, attempting to cross the street toward the ambulance.

Just then, a heavy truck fully loaded with steel pipes sped by. The three children suddenly darted out into the road. The driver, unable to avoid them, jerked the steering wheel, causing the massive truck to overturn and skid toward the ambulance.

It was a freak series of events, but one tragedy triggered another. The burned child was still in critical condition. The truck driver was injured but not in mortal danger. The ambulance was crushed; the nurse sustained minor injuries, and the ambulance driver was also seriously hurt.

Zhu Yuwen had suffered the worst of it. The accident had happened so suddenly that she had no time to react or evade the impact.

"Rest assured," President Zheng told them. "Dr. Zhu is one of our own. No matter the cost, we will do everything in our power to save her."

But everyone could see that these were merely words of comfort. His expression alone betrayed that the situation was dire.

They waited for a long time before the doctors finally emerged.

"Doctor, how is my mother?" Tongtong asked, watching him with fearful eyes.

The doctor hesitated, as if struggling to find the words.

"How is she?" Tongtong gripped Zhang Wuyong’s arm, her face streaming with tears.

"Mom, please take Tongtong," Zhang Wuyong said, handing her over to Song Mei.

He walked to the side with the doctor. Tongtong tried to follow, but her legs gave way, and Song Mei held her, urging her to sit. She could only sit there, sobbing as she watched the silhouettes of Zhang Wuyong and the doctor.

"You're the boy who lives next door to Dr. Zhu, aren't you?" the doctor said, turning to Zhang. "Dr. Zhu has mentioned you quite often. I heard you and her daughter are close, and that you did very well on the college entrance exam..."

Zhang Wuyong cut him off. "Doctor, what is the situation?"

He could see the doctor was weighing his words.

"Very well. The situation is extremely grim. You should prepare Dr. Zhu's daughter for the worst." The doctor sighed helplessly. "Her injuries are severe—cerebral hemorrhage and multiple internal organ ruptures. We have done everything we could, but we have reached a point where her vital signs are extremely weak. We cannot proceed with further surgery.

"We are barely maintaining her vital signs now, but this cannot go on indefinitely. We are the best hospital in the city. In a major metropolis, there might be a chance, but in her condition, she cannot be transferred. For now, we have paused the surgery and are keeping her alive with life support in the intensive care unit while we consult with specialists from the provincial capital, but it is likely..." He shook his head wearily.

Zhang Wuyong could tell he had truly done all he could.

Soon after, Zhu Yuwen was transferred to the ICU. Tongtong tried to go in to see her mother, but the nurses wouldn't allow it. Zhang Tao arrived, and Zhang Wuyong told them to take Tongtong home to rest while he stayed behind, just in case of an emergency.

But Tongtong refused, determined to stay. It wasn't until the head nurse came to tell them that their presence served no purpose and that they should head home since they lived nearby, that they wavered. The ICU was monitored 24 hours a day, and if anything happened, the hospital would notify them immediately.

However, Zhang Wuyong knew that if the hospital called, it would likely be to witness her final moments.

The atmosphere was suffocating. It wasn't just them; the doctors and nurses coming and going were equally crushed. After all, this was not a stranger, but a colleague they saw every day—and despite their best efforts, they were powerless to change the outcome.

The President and the department director came by several times, but all they could do was offer help and urge Tongtong to go home and rest, so as not to worry her mother.

"Wuyong, what about you?" Song Mei asked, supporting Tongtong.

"I’ll stay here for a while," Zhang Wuyong said in a low voice. "I’ll head back soon... I’ll just stay here." He reached out and held Tongtong. "Go home with my parents. I’ll keep watch here. If you collapse from exhaustion, what will your mother do when she wakes up?"

Once they had all left, Zhang Wuyong sat alone in the corridor outside the intensive care unit. His face was expressionless, his eyes dull, as if he had turned into a wooden puppet. In reality, he was frantically cycling through the magic potions, materials, weapons, and cultivation techniques he had collected... searching for anything that might help.

Nothing. Not a single thing.

His designation was that of a "Demonic Cultivator"... he possessed no means to heal or save lives.

He looked at his remaining points: 1,110.

Only enough for three draws.