Chapter 2 Beauty in Tears

Chapter 2 Tears of a Beauty

Chu Chenzhi had no idea how he had made it through that night and day.

He watched with his own eyes as the young doctor led his deranged little brother to bed, coaxed him to sleep like a three-year-old, and after getting up, took off his own coat and tucked it into Chu Yan's arms.

Chu Chenzhi couldn't grasp the logic behind any of this and could only look blankly at Director Xing.

Director Xing had observed everything closely, then murmured his guess: "President Chu, earlier we speculated that Chu Yan might be temporarily blind and suffering from amnesia, but given what just happened, it's most likely retrograde amnesia—meaning Chu Yan's consciousness has now regressed to childhood."

So that young doctor had lulled him to sleep with a lullaby?

Chu Chenzhi stared wide-eyed; even his six-year-old daughter had stopped falling for that trick.

Just as Chi Suiyong was about to make his exit, Chu Chenzhi stopped him. "Hey, you're a doctor at this hospital too, right?"

Director Xing jumped in: "Xiao Chi is our hospital's best pediatrician."

Chu Chenzhi got straight to the point: "Name your price!"

Chi Suiyong looked confused. "What?"

"You've seen it. My brother won't listen to anyone right now, but with you…" As if reluctant to admit his own authority as the older brother was being challenged, Chu Chenzhi gritted his teeth but couldn't bring himself to say the last four words. "He needs treatment now, and someone to keep him calm. You're a doctor, aren't you!"

Chi Suiyong always worked in pediatrics on floors six through ten. He had come up today to see Director Xing, and getting the man to sleep had been pure chance—he had no confidence he could keep it up.

"Sorry, I'm a doctor, not a caretaker."

Seeing Chu Chenzhi's face darken, Director Xing quickly pulled Chi Suiyong aside and said softly, "Xiao Chi, that man is President Chu of our hospital, and the one in the ward is the vice president. We're all here to work. Taking care of any patient is the same job."

How was it the same?

The children Chi Suiyong usually treated were soft, cuddly little kids—easy to soothe and they listened to him. But that man just now must have been over six feet tall, and when he was being held, Chi couldn't help but feel the hard muscles under his hand. With that build, if he threw another fit, Chi might end up thrown out the window.

Besides…

Chi Suiyong frowned. "Director, my appointments for tomorrow are all booked. When would I have time?"

"That's easy. I'll find someone to work overtime to cover for you."

"Our hospital's clinics are all filled. Who would be free?"

"Then have Director Xie cover."

"..." Chi Suiyong's eyes widened in shock. "Director Xie just did five major surgeries in two days, and you want him to do clinic duty?"

"True, he might drop dead from exhaustion." Director Xing looked at a loss. "Then how about we split your appointments among the other doctors and have everyone do a little overtime?"

Seeing no way out, Chi Suiyong had to voice his concern. "Director, everyone in the hospital knows my orientation, including you. No matter what mental age the patient in there is right now, his body is an adult male, right?"

Director Xing looked sick. "Well… I trust your professional ethics."

Maybe it was desperation that made the usually cunning Director Xing say something so naive. Chi Suiyong smiled. "I think you should ask the patient's family first. If they want me to look after him, they have to accept some risks. Don't wait until something happens…"

"What could happen?"

The moment Director Xing asked, his own brain supplied the answer.

Xiao Chi was thirty-one and still single. While it was common for medical professionals to settle down late, it was unusual for someone Chi Suiyong's age to have no trace of a relationship. The consensus was that he was too picky.

And that young master inside—his overall appearance was outstanding, truly exceptional.

Director Xing, who had been trying to salvage his career, suddenly fell silent.

Chi Suiyong didn't want to see the director stuck, so he offered a suggestion. "You saw it just now. Once you find the right approach, he's not that hard to calm. Just get a pediatric caretaker. I think Brother Chen would be good. Why don't you try him?"

Director Xing thought it over and decided to try it as a last resort. "Fine."

Chu Chenzhi, who had overheard most of the conversation, felt his sleep-deprived face darken even further.

Director Xing, caught between them, felt very awkward. "President Chu, Dr. Chi liking men isn't an excuse."

Chu Chenzhi said nothing.

Director Xing continued, "President Chu, give me a chance to find someone else."

Chu Chenzhi watched Chi Suiyong's retreating back, gritted his teeth, and said nothing. "Fine. Find someone better."

The Chu brothers, neither of whom had slept for a night and a day—one was fast asleep in the ward, while the other lay on a hospital bed outside, frowning in a light doze.

This sleep lasted peacefully until nine the next morning.

Director Xing finally managed to catch up on sleep in his own break room.

Brother Chen, whom he had contacted the day before, had been waiting outside the ward since early morning. The moment Director Xing woke up, he rushed to the top-floor ward and briefed Brother Chen on Chu Yan's condition. After hearing it, Brother Chen felt uneasy.

Director Xing noticed his worry and reassured him, "You're a veteran of our hospital. Among all the caretakers, you have the most experience and skill, and Xiao Chi strongly recommended you. Don't worry—President Chu and I will be right here. Nothing major will go wrong."

"Alright, I'll give it a try. It's my first time handling something like this."

Brother Chen settled in. While waiting for the patient to wake, Director Xing carefully recounted everything that had happened with Chi Suiyong.

Chu Yan slept deeply. His overburdened body felt like it had been placed in a soft cradle, rocking and floating, until the coat he held in his arms gradually lost its scent from the warmth of his body.

That trace of scent was barely there.

Was that person gone?

Chu Yan snapped his eyes open, but still everything was pitch-black. He groped around—nothing but emptiness.

The person he had held before sleep was truly gone.

"Yong Yong…"

"Yong Yong, where are you?"

Chu Yan called out several times until the door opened. The sound, which he hadn't made himself, snapped him back into a defensive posture.

Someone was approaching—light footsteps, cautious. Chu Yan held his breath, relying entirely on his hearing to identify the person.

"Awake? Thirsty? Want some water?"

The brief hope that had lingered in the silence was shattered by the stranger's voice. Chu Yan's fury flared up again, and he almost roared, "Get out!"

Why wasn't it that person?

Chu Yan couldn't understand no matter how he thought. He brought the coat he was clutching to his nose. The faint, almost imperceptible scent only made him more agitated. He wandered and fumbled, his head hitting the wall, his knee knocking against the bed frame. These dull aches slowly turned his restlessness into the feeling of being wronged and abandoned.

It was so dark all around,

The more time passed, the more terrified he became.

Chu Yan gripped the railing at the foot of the bed, dragging the entire hospital bed around the room as he felt his way, until he reached a corner where the wall turned. He crouched down slowly, then positioned the bed sideways, carving out a safe zone in the corner where he was.

Crouching in the corner, Chu Yan once again crumpled the clothes in his hands and buried his entire face in them, as if trying to drown himself in the fabric.

He still couldn't remember anything. Every unfamiliar sound around him triggered his resistance.

The person who had come in earlier kept saying something afterward, but Chu Yan couldn't take it in, much less understand the meaning. He just kept repeating the word "get out."

Half of Chu Yan's face was hidden by his long, loose hair. When silence finally fell around him, something warm trickled from his eyes, turning cold as it touched the air, soaking his hair.

He sobbed quietly, unable to stop the hiccupping sobs from his throat.

All that restless energy drained away little by little with those tears.

Chu Chenzhi watched the scene before him, his heart clenched in pain. The top-notch caregiver Director Xing had gone to great lengths to hire couldn't even get close to his brother—instead, he had brought out a pitiful side of Chu Yan that had never been seen before.

He couldn't even remember the last time his brother had cried.

"Where is that doctor now?" Chu Chenzhi asked Director Xing.

Director Xing made several calls before finding out where Chi Suiyong was, then led Chu Chenzhi to the tenth floor of the pediatric inpatient building.

When they arrived, Chi Suiyong was making his rounds.

Chu Chenzhi and Director Xing waited by the door for a while. Inside the ward, a child with a retention needle taped to the back of his hand burst into clear, cheerful laughter—not the kind that came from a patient—in response to Chi Suiyong's questions.

Seeing Chi Suiyong about to leave, the child jumped up from the bed and hugged him tightly. "Doctor Yong Yong, can I come play with you during your lunch break?"

Chi Suiyong smiled and tapped the little patient's forehead. "No can do. Kids need to take a good nap, or they'll get stupid."

His smile might have looked like camaraderie to the child, but it stung Chu Chenzhi, who had come to plead with him.

His precious little brother was huddled in a corner crying right now, while this man was here having a merry chat with a gap-toothed kid.

Chu Chenzhi felt both the jealousy of someone imagining his brother in that child's place and the hatred of a man who couldn't get the medicine he needed.

He wished he could just tie this man up, throw him into a furnace, and refine him into a pill for his brother to take.

When Chi Suiyong came out, Director Xing patted him on the shoulder, his expression troubled. For a moment, he didn't know what to say, so he simply looked at Chu Chenzhi.

Chi Suiyong turned his head and met Chu Chenzhi's hostile expression.

The smile on his face stiffened.

Impatient as he was, Chu Chenzhi knew he had to ask for a favor, so he forced down his aggressive demeanor. "My brother woke up, but he's in a very bad state now."

Director Xing stepped in to explain the details. "I hired Caregiver Chen at noon, but Chu Yan is still the same as before—he won't listen to anything. We're really at our wit's end."

"..."

Chi Suiyong couldn't understand why the seasoned Brother Chen had hit a wall with Chu Yan.

Thinking of that beautiful madman's combativeness, Chi Suiyong asked considerately, "So... is Brother Chen hurt?"

Director Xing replied, "Director Chu and I kept watch the whole time. No."

Chu Chenzhi pushed Director Xing aside and faced Chi Suiyong. "If you're willing to look after my brother, you can name any condition, as long as it's within the Chu family's power." With that, he bowed solemnly. "Also, I apologize for my attitude yesterday."

Chi Suiyong admitted that he was really annoyed by Chu Chenzhi's overbearing attitude yesterday, and that was one of the reasons he had refused.

But now, meeting Chu Chenzhi's pleading gaze, that displeasure quickly faded, and his heart involuntarily softened.

If he completely set aside Chu Yan's size, age, and status, he was no different from the little children he treated.

As for his own sexual orientation, because the other party was an adult, there were some misgivings there.

Chi Suiyong thought it over and said, "Director Chu, you heard what I said to Director Xing this morning. If you don't mind, then I can give it a try."

You can't let a little thing like this kill you. If avoiding the potential complications caused by a doctor's sexual orientation led to delayed treatment and worsened illness, that would be a real lose-lose situation.

Chu Chenzhi nodded. "Go see him."

The three of them went up to the top-floor ward.

Two burly security guards stood at the door of Chu Yan's ward. The door was still wide open. Chi Suiyong looked inside—the room was even messier than when he had first visited.

And the beautiful madman, as if released from Pandora's box, was now huddled in a corner, clutching his own white coat, his expression dazed. His temporarily blinded eyes stared vacantly into the unknown. His eyes and nose were red, and there were still undried tear streaks on his face.

What a pitiful sight—how was he any different from the little patients Chi Suiyong had cared for?