Chapter 69 Emergency Care

Chapter 69 Emergency Care

Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat.

He almost caught Lin Yunshu, his fingertips brushing against Lin Yunshu's sleeve, but ultimately grasping at air.

There was a small step behind Lin Yunshu. As if all his strength had been drained, he stumbled two steps, missed his footing, swayed, and fell.

"Lin Yunshu!"

Zhou Yu pulled him into his arms.

"How are you? What hurts? Did you fall?"

Lin Yunshu hadn't completely lost consciousness. He rested his forehead against the back of his hand, head bowed low, and after a long moment, let out a soft breath.

"It's nothing," he said weakly. "I might have sprained my ankle."

"Just a sprained ankle?" Zhou Yu asked.

Lin Yunshu paused, lifted his head, and met Zhou Yu's dark, worried eyes.

Zhou Yu's lips were pressed tightly together, his gaze sweeping over every inch of Lin Yunshu.

His eyes weren't sharp, but Lin Yunshu instinctively averted his gaze.

After a moment, Zhou Yu reached out and gently wiped the fine beads of sweat from Lin Yunshu's temple, his voice soft:

"Where does it hurt?"

Lin Yunshu whispered, "Hard to say..."

It sounded like a brush-off, but it was the truth.

Lin Yunshu could no longer distinguish exactly where he was hurting.

His head ached badly, his glands were on fire with pain, and his stomach felt as if it were being tightly clenched, the slightest movement causing waves of nausea.

Compared to all that, the slight pain from his sprained ankle was almost negligible.

Zhou Yu pressed his thumb to Lin Yunshu's temple, cradling Lin Yunshu's face with both hands, making him meet his gaze.

"I..." his fingers trembled slightly, "I found an inhibitor syringe at home..."

Lin Yunshu's brow twitched slightly, a flash of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

"So you found it," he smiled faintly. "I was planning to tell you in the next few days."

"What's going on?!" Zhou Yu urged anxiously.

Lin Yunshu opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a sudden, sharp pain.

He had to bend over, curling into a ball, drawing sharp, pained breaths.

His ashen complexion made Zhou Yu's heart pound erratically.

Various frightening guesses flashed through his mind again and again, the fear of the unknown driving him nearly mad.

Without another word, he swept Lin Yunshu up into his arms and hurried toward where the car was parked. Freeing one hand, he opened the car door and bundled Lin Yunshu into the passenger seat.

As soon as he touched the seatback, Lin Yunshu curled up again, hugging his arms and breathing in short, ragged gasps.

Zhou Yu didn't waste another second. He fastened Lin Yunshu's seatbelt, flipped on the turn signal, swung the car around, and raced toward the hospital.

Lin Yunshu's vision was blurry with pain. In his lucid moments, he looked up and saw sweat dripping from Zhou Yu's temple.

In the middle of winter, he was as worked up as if he'd just run a marathon.

Zhou Yu kept glancing over at him, looking completely beside himself.

Lin Yunshu sighed. "Keep your eyes on the road, stop looking at me."

"I know," Zhou Yu's voice was tense. "I know, but I can't help myself."

For some reason, this made Lin Yunshu smile faintly. "You'd better try, otherwise if we crash—"

He paused, biting his lower lip. The veins on his neck stood out taut, and it took several seconds for him to relax, his voice growing even weaker:

"...I might really be done for here."

Zhou Yu took in his pale complexion—why was he still pretending to be fine at a time like this!

He didn't say anything, just pressed the accelerator to the floor.

"I should have called a driver," Zhou Yu muttered in frustration.

Like this, he couldn't even properly hold Lin Yunshu.

"It's okay," Lin Yunshu said softly. "It's okay..."

But he looked anything but okay.

Zhou Yu's brow was tightly furrowed. He could only keep releasing pheromones, trying to soothe Lin Yunshu.

Yet Lin Yunshu showed no sign of improvement.

"Yun Shu?" Zhou Yu took Lin Yunshu's wrist, slipping his hand down to intertwine their fingers. "Baby, talk to me."

Lin Yunshu's eyes were half-closed, his reactions extremely slow. After a long moment, he let out a faint hum in response.

"Baby..."

Zhou Yu's mind was racing.

He held Lin Yunshu's hand tightly, which felt like ice.

Lin Yunshu's fingers were too stiff to straighten. Zhou Yu's hand was sweating, but he couldn't warm Lin Yunshu up.

He could only release more pheromones, hoping it would bring Lin Yunshu some comfort.

"Baby, is this helping?" he asked nervously.

Lin Yunshu didn't respond.

He let his head rest heavily against the window, eyelids slightly open, gazing blankly out the window.

The weather was bitterly cold, with all the leaves fallen from the trees along the road, leaving only bare, withered branches. The sky was not blue either, oppressed by heavy dark clouds.

"Baby, don’t look out the window, look at me," Zhou Yu said pleadingly, "look at me, okay?"

Lin Yunshu’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and after two seconds, he slowly turned his head, his beautiful eyes looking toward Zhou Yu.

His eyes were red, bloodshot from poor rest. Though his gaze still couldn't focus on anything solid, at least he was looking in Zhou Yu’s direction.

As long as it was toward him, Zhou Yu felt a sense of peace.

The car was moving fast, and they would arrive at the hospital in less than ten minutes.

Zhou Yu never let go of Lin Yunshu’s hand, continually releasing pheromones. "Is it helping?"

He knew Lin Yunshu needed his pheromones. As long as Lin Yunshu needed them, he would give them all—at least it proved he was still of some use to Lin Yunshu.

Zhou Yu found it ironic when he thought about it.

Just a few days ago, he had been throwing a tantrum because Lin Yunshu only wanted his pheromones. Now, he was desperate to give it all.

Lin Yunshu didn’t respond, as if his body had activated a protective mechanism, shutting out everything.

Zhou Yu kept asking tirelessly, again and again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Any better?"

"Are you more comfortable now?"

Finally, Lin Yunshu moved slightly, as if waking from a deep slumber.

Zhou Yu felt a surge of joy. "Yun Shu?! How are you? Are you feeling better?"

Lin Yunshu looked blank, narrowing his eyes slightly. "What?"

At that moment, Zhou Yu’s smile slowly stiffened on his face.

"You..." His voice trembled. "You didn’t feel it?"

Lin Yunshu was exhausted, his gland hurting so badly it felt like burning. The intense pain had blunted his five senses.

He stared at Zhou Yu’s lips, using great effort to make out what the other was saying, but his mind couldn't process.

"Feel what?" he asked in return.

He couldn’t feel anything. His heart was beating rapidly, and his chest felt as if a boulder were pressing down on it, making him breathless.

The worsening oxygen deprivation sent him into endless dizziness, as if he were floating.

Zhou Yu lost control of his expression.

He realized with horror that Lin Yunshu could no longer sense his pheromones.

The car was a closed environment. Afraid of overstimulating Lin Yunshu, he hadn’t released too many pheromones at once, but he had been continuously and steadily comforting Lin Yunshu with them throughout the journey.

Yet Lin Yunshu couldn’t detect them at all.

It was as if he had been sealed by something invisible, locked away in a glass box, isolated from everything outside.

His own pheromones couldn’t escape, nor could he receive any from the outside.

Zhou Yu’s heart sank little by little, his body temperature dropping along with it, and immense panic rose in his eyes.

·

The door to the emergency room slammed shut, the bright light above it blindingly bright.

Zhou Yu sat outside, his head bowed in silence, his fingers clenched tightly so that his knuckles turned white.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Lin Yunshu was taken straight into the emergency room. The doctors walked quickly, and Zhou Yu could only follow behind them like a headless fly.

He didn’t even have time to ask the doctors about Lin Yunshu’s condition before the cold, heavy door of the emergency room separated them into two worlds.

Zhou Yu tightly shut his eyes, feeling the sting of cold sweat on his eyelids. His mind was in chaos, completely unable to think.

Ding!

The elevator doors opened.

Chen Shuyang hurried out.

Wearing a mask and sunglasses, he jogged over to Zhou Yu.

"How is he?"

Zhou Yu lowered his head and said nothing. Chen Shuyang waited for a moment before jabbing his shoulder impatiently. "I’m asking you!"

Zhou Yu was knocked sideways, slowly raising his eyes to look at Chen Shuyang. His gaze was as sharp as an ice blade.

Chen Shuyang’s heart trembled slightly. "What’s with that look?"

"I’m asking you," Zhou Yu’s tone was icy, "what’s Lin Yunshu's situation?"

"What do you mean, what’s wrong?" Chen Shuyang was confused. "You’re the one who brought him here. He fell right before you, and you’re asking me what’s wrong?!"

"I’m asking you what illness he has!" Zhou Yu said sharply.

Chen Shuyang’s face changed slightly. "What happened to him?"

"I found out he’s been using injectable medical inhibitors," Zhou Yu said darkly. "You know what that means, right?"

Chen Shuyang stood there stunned by Zhou Yu’s words.

He wiped his face, beginning to recall. "I... I know he has some genetic problems... but he’s never had an attack or taken medication in front of me. I..."

"Genetic?" Zhou Yu pressed.

"Yes," Chen Shuyang said. "His mother lacked alpha father's pheromone support while she was pregnant with him, so he was born with a slight genetic defect... But from what I understand, it only affects fertility—"

He suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed intently on Zhou Yu as if remembering something. "You damn, you damn didn’t force him to have a child for you, did you?!"

"Am I insane?!" Zhou Yu immediately denied it.

"I already said I didn’t!" Zhou Yu shoved Chen Shuyang away.

He was also panicking, his voice unsteady. "I admit I brought it up once, but I explained afterward—"

"You dare bring that up?!"

Chen Shuyang saw red, and drew back his fist to throw a punch.

Click!

The door to the ER opened, and a doctor hurried out, scanning the area. "What's going on? You're fighting in the hospital?"

Zhou Yu: "..."

Chen Shuyang: "..."

The two alphas, at each other's throats, reluctantly checked their aggression.

"Who is the family member?" the doctor asked.

Chen Shuyang bolted forward. "Me!"

Feeling the heavy pressure beside him, he paused for a moment, then reluctantly pointed at Zhou Yu. "Him too, I guess."

"I am his alpha," Zhou Yu said.

The doctor's eyes lit up, looking Zhou Yu up and down. "So you're the one."

"How did I—"

"Never mind," the doctor waved his hand. "Let me give you the basics. He has a congenital genetic defect. This illness isn't a problem if it doesn't flare up, but once it does, the survival rate plummets. When he first came to see me, his immune system and genetic chain were on the verge of collapse."

"Was it three months ago?" Zhou Yu asked urgently.

Doctor: "Yes."

Zhou Yu's head spun as he remembered Lin Yunshu handing him the request for a pay cut three months ago. So, back then, it had already... already...

He felt like he was choking.

"But he's quite lucky—he found someone with a hundred—" The doctor glanced at Zhou Yu. "Aren't you a hundred percent compatible pheromone-wise? I noticed his condition had been stabilizing well lately. He was originally scheduled for surgery at the start of the year. What happened?"

"I... I was out of town on business for a while..." Zhou Yu said distractedly.

The doctor scowled. "That was your mistake."

Zhou Yu nodded, taking it on the chin.

"Wait, Doctor!" he suddenly remembered something and stepped forward anxiously. "When I brought him in earlier, I... I..."

He tripped over his words, pausing to steady himself. "I realized I can't smell his scent anymore, and he can't receive my pheromones either. When I tried to calm him down with my pheromones, he couldn't feel it at all..."

Zhou Yu grew more panicked as he spoke, like he was being cast aside.

"It's due to overuse of inhibitors," the doctor explained knowingly. "I was just about to mention that. He has been using high-strength inhibitors for years, and his gland has basically shut down. So now, we'll be replacing it with an artificial gland."

"Ar... artificial?" Zhou Yu staggered slightly.

Chen Shuyang, feeling for him, patted his shoulder. "It should be fine. Artificial gland replacement surgery is highly developed in medicine now."

"Exactly," the doctor nodded approvingly.

Zhou Yu stood frozen to the spot, his soul seemingly gone. "So... does this mean... I'm useless to him now?"

Doctor: "What?"

Zhou Yu shook his head and brushed it off.

Replacing the gland with an artificial one meant the body could no longer produce pheromones autonomously. In that case, would Lin Yunshu still need him?

Just the thought of Lin Yunshu no longer needing him felt like a void opening in Zhou Yu's heart.

"Using an artificial gland does lessen the physical bond between partners," the doctor explained. "That's why we don't recommend this surgery for Omegas unless it's absolutely necessary. But now, it is necessary. He will also undergo a genetic correction procedure later. Replacing the gland with an artificial one is the safest and most effective way to ensure the success of his future surgery."

"Have you made a decision?" The doctor handed the operative consent form to Zhou Yu. "If you have, please sign here as the family member."

Zhou Yu stared at the thin sheet of paper.

It was practically weightless, yet it made his hand tremble uncontrollably.

He gripped the pen tightly, his eyes stinging, the tip of the pen hovering shakily over the paper.

"What's taking so long?" Chen Shuyang urged impatiently. "Hurry up!"

He wished he could grab the pen and sign it himself.

Zhou Yu looked up, meeting the doctor's gaze seriously. "Is this the best treatment option available now?"

"Well," the doctor hesitated, "it's certainly not the only one, but—"

"Just tell me if it's the best for him."

The doctor met Zhou Yu's bloodshot eyes and nodded firmly. "Yes."

Zhou Yu squeezed his eyes shut tightly before opening them again. The blurred words on the paper came into focus.

"...Okay."

He took a deep breath and, trembling, painstakingly signed his name.