At first, it was because of William that Jane had asked Rory to come and treat him. She never thought she would need his help again, this time for Carl… she really felt like she was bothering him.
Nana lowered her head slightly and gave a self-deprecating smile. Just then, the door knocked twice and Tracy’s voice could be heard from outside. “Nana, are you awake? Come out for breakfast.”
Tracy was worried about Nana being mistreated by the Waters family so she had decided to stay with her during this period of time in order to take care of her daughter.
Nana answered with a sound and walked out of the room. At the dining table, there was an eerie silence in the air. Mrs. Waters didn’t even give Nana a good look while Mr. Waters occasionally spoke to her.
“Nana, eat more food! You’re eating for two now so don’t neglect yourself.”
Nana smiled and nodded before taking another bite of steamed dumpling. She only put down her fork after finishing all the porridge in her bowl as she had been experiencing severe pregnancy symptoms lately which might have been due to Carl’s influence.
“I’m full now but Mr. and Mrs. Waters, Mom, Rory is coming over today so I need to go pick him up.”
“Rory?” Tracy paused for a moment before realizing that it must be referring to that skilled doctor whom Nana mentioned earlier like some sort of recluse expert.
“Oh… okay then hurry up! Don’t keep him waiting,” said Tracy with sudden realization.
“Okay I know,” replied Nana as she nodded before rushing out wearing her coat. Mrs. Waters just ignored their conversation altogether by giving them both an icy glare before slamming down on top of their plates loudly saying “I’m going back into my room!”
At the airport:
As soon as Nana got off from the car at airport entrance, she quickly walked into lobby looking around for Rory’s figure until finally spotting him walking towards here along with other people flow direction from southeast corner. She stood on tiptoe waving vigorously at him saying, “Rory!”
Rory heard someone calling his name, turned around and saw it was a woman he recognized immediately. It was none other than Nana herself. He walked over nodding his head politely.
“Rory… I’m sorry if I am causing you trouble again,” said Nana apologetically.
“It’s okay,” replied Rory. He didn’t expect that they would meet again under such circumstances but life always had its own way sometimes. “Let’s go straight to the hospital then. I heard that person needs urgent medical attention.”
“Okay.” Nana nodded eagerly and let out a sigh of relief. With Rory by her side, she felt more confident.
Nana brought Rory to the hospital and once they entered the ward, Rory put his bag aside and went to check on Carl. After carefully examining Carl’s eyes and body, he checked his pulse before turning to Nana.
“He has a strong will to survive, but due to the car accident, there is still blood clotting in his brain that cannot be relieved. This is why he hasn’t woken up yet. However, this clot may not last forever but it will take time.”
Upon hearing this news, Nana became anxious. She had heard that pregnancy lasts for nine months and as her due date approached day by day; if Carl didn’t wake up soon, she didn’t know what she would do with herself carrying around guilt and remorse for the rest of her life.
She grabbed onto Rory’s sleeve desperately pleading with him, “Rory, please I beg you save Carl! It’s because of me that he ended up like this; I can’t just leave him alone…”
After looking at Nana for a while, Rory finally let out a long sigh, “Forcibly dispersing blood clots in the head through acupuncture carries certain risks; given his condition right now, all I can do is try my best but there isn’t 100% certainty it will work.”
At this moment, Mrs. Waters also arrived at the hospital. When she saw Rory, she was taken aback but before she could say anything else, Nana frowned slightly as whispered softly, “Mrs. Waters, he’s Mr. Rory Newton, Jane’s teacher who happens to be an expert physician whom I specifically invited over here today so he could treat Carl.”
Mrs. Waters only snorted upon hearing these words but did not say much else since her son had been lying in hospital for quite some time now; anything was worth trying if it meant waking him up again.
“I’m going to give him acupuncture,” said Rory as he took out his own acupuncture kit from his bag after disinfecting each silver needle one by one before inserting them into several acupoints on Carl’s body.
Nana furrowed her brow anxiously clasping both hands together while Mrs. Waters watched her son with great concern written all over her face.
Suddenly, something seemed to have stimulated Carl, causing his right index finger twitched involuntarily, followed by several coughs where black blood came spewing out from within himself. Then, he immediately lay back down on bed exactly how he was previously.
Rory furrowed his eyebrows, slowly removing each needle one-by-one while Mrs. Waters looked surprised when seeing black blood come spewing out from within their son’s mouth. Nana quickly wiped away any traces of blood using tissues nearby them both.
Rory let out a sigh of relief. “The blood he just coughed up was stagnant blood. Since it can be relieved, there is still hope.”
Mrs. Waters was about to erupt, but upon hearing Rory’s words, she paused for a moment before turning her sorrow into joy. “Thank you… thank you so much, Master! When will my son wake up?”
Rory turned to her and truthfully replied, “I don’t know. It depends on how quickly the stagnant blood is expelled. However, the later it gets, the more difficult it becomes as there are many nerve points in the head that need to be treated with acupuncture needles carefully.”
“Okay okay… we understand… thank you so much,” Mrs. Waters said gratefully.
Although she was still worried after hearing this news, Mrs. Waters had seen Carl coughing up blood and his finger twitching earlier which made her feel slightly relieved compared to before.
After returning home with Mrs. Waters, Nana had been uneasy watching the woman’s back all along. However, Mrs. Waters’ complexion improved significantly compared to earlier even though they hadn’t spoken during their journey.
Nana changed her shoes and thought for a moment before tentatively saying to Mrs. Waters, “I’ll go upstairs first and see if there are any medical books…”
“Wait,” Mrs. Waters stopped Nana.
Nana turned around looking puzzled.
Mrs. Waters pursed her lips, hesitated for a while, and then asked calmly, “What do you want for dinner tonight? I’ll go out later and buy something. You’re pregnant, and really need some good nutrition.”
Nana felt relieved instantly. Her whole body relaxed. She smiled slightly at Mrs. Water and said, “Anything is fine, Mrs. Water. I like whatever you cook.”