Chapter 4 Acupuncture

Chapter 4: Getting a Shot

With Chi Suiyong's guidance, Chu Yan cooperated calmly and completed all the examinations.

Chi Suiyong carefully held Chu Yan's hand as they walked out of the MRI room, ran into Chu Chenzhi, who was waiting outside.

Chu Chenzhi had gone home to freshen up and was now looking composed and proper again. His tone toward Chi Suiyong was much friendlier. "Thanks, Dr. Chi, for your trouble."

Hearing the voice, Chu Yan, who was being led by the hand, instinctively stopped and fumbled to hide behind Chi Suiyong.

Seeing this, Chu Chenzhi furrowed his brow.

Although the brothers had never been particularly close, Chu Yan's defensive withdrawal still stung him.

Suppressing his irritation, Chu Chenzhi stepped aside and quietly followed behind them.

After the test results came out, Director Xing examined the scans and finally relaxed the tension that had been hanging over him for the past two days. "Thank goodness, it's only a mild contusion with no significant bleeding. Conservative treatment will suffice."

Chu Chenzhi asked, "What does conservative treatment mean?"

Director Xing pointed to two spots on the scan. "There's some localized edema. We'll use dehydrating medication for now."

"But he can't see clearly now, and besides..." From a non-medical perspective, Chu Yan's condition seemed severe enough to require surgery. "If we go with conservative treatment, how long will recovery take?"

Director Xing carefully filtered and polished his words before speaking, but he didn't dare to be too definitive. "The occipital lobe situation is milder; I'd say maybe ten days to two weeks, his vision should come back gradually. As for the memory issue, that might take longer..."

"How much longer?"

"That depends on the individual." Director Xing regretted saying that right away, knowing he wasn't dealing with an ordinary patient's family but his boss. "Based on my experience, the edema in the temporal lobe should subside in at most three months."

Chu Chenzhi was silent for a few seconds. "Alright. Keep me posted on anything new."

After leaving Director Xing's office, Chu Chenzhi returned to the ward to check on Chu Yan briefly, then left the hospital.

It wasn't that he was cold-hearted, but given Chu Yan's current state, anyone except that doctor would set him off. He didn't want to fake brotherly love during this critical time.

Soon after Chi Suiyong brought Chu Yan to the new ward, Director Xing followed.

His main purpose was to reassure. "Xiao Chi, take it easy and just look after Chu Yan during this period. I'll get someone to cover your clinic."

Although He'an was a private hospital, its doctors were just as scarce as in public hospitals. Having worked here for five years, Chi Suiyong knew that well. "Director, for the next few days, please temporarily assign my appointments to other clinics. Once Chu Yan's mood stabilizes a bit, I'll bring him along with me."

Director Xing, getting his way, started playing humble. "But that'll be too rough on you."

Chi Suiyong let out a low laugh. "Better the poor monk than the abbot, huh? Director, I have fifty appointments today. Get someone on it quick."

After Director Xing left, Chi Suiyong glanced at Chu Yan, who was clinging to him.

Given how attached the patient was to him, he couldn't get away for a single moment, twenty-four hours a day, and his personal time would be completely sacrificed. For this period, he'd probably have to live and eat with him.

The original ward had been trashed beyond recognition, so Director Xing arranged for another high-level ward with the same layout, moving both the patient and doctor in.

The ward's amenities and size rivaled those of a top-tier five-star hotel suite, with two rooms, an oversized bathroom, and a reception area. Director Xing thoughtfully had a small bed added beside Chu Yan's large bed, effectively handing the hot potato over to Chi Suiyong.

After a long day of chaos, Chi Suiyong was already exhausted, but another challenge awaited him.

Once the test results came out, the treatment plan followed: at least two IV infusions per day were a high-intensity task for the crazy-handsome guy.

From Chi Suiyong's observation, this patient, now like a little kid, had the same fear of needles as other kids.

And now, besides himself, no one else could get near the guy, so he had to do the IVs himself.

But getting him to go along with it was a whole other problem.

The guy next to him seemed to sense his silence and worry, asking, "Yong Yong, what's wrong?"

Chi Suiyong grabbed the IV bag the nurse had left and touched the patient's arm. "Do you know what this is?"

Chu Yan recognized the feeling, and he cautiously yanked his arm back. "I don't want to..."

He knew it would be like this.

He let out a long, tired sigh.

He began using the nurses' old-fashioned tricks. "Tell you what: after you get the shot, I'll take you to the children's playground on the tenth floor."

"I don't want to..."

"I also have all sorts of candy flavors. What flavor do you like?"

"They're all too sweet. I don't like 'em."

"Then what games do you like?"

"I don't like any."

Chi Suiyong was stumped.

Since he was so hard to convince, it was time for reverse psychology.

"But other kids all behave for their shots!"

Hearing this, Chu Yan's face stiffened with resistance. "They like that stuff, but I don't."

"Nobody likes shots, but when you're sick you gotta get treatment."

"Can I just take medicine?"

"Medicine works real slow."

"Then I'll take my time getting better."

Anxiety doesn't go away; it just moves. Now, Chi Suiyong, copying Director Xing from earlier, scratched his own thick hair.

Once he got his brain going, the ideas started flowing. Chi Suiyong thought of another idea. "Chu Yan, can you answer a question for me?"

"Go ahead."

"The past two days, lots of people came by, but you won't let any of them near you. Why?"

"I hate them."

"You hate them, but you don't hate me, right?"

"Mm..."

"Can you tell me why?"

Chu Yan thought for a moment, then acted on it directly.

He reached out and felt around, touching the other's shoulder before slowly leaning his head over. Just as his face was about to press against the other's chest, he whispered, "Yong Yong's scent smells good—doesn't stink."

"What about the scent on others?"

"Doesn't stink, but doesn't smell good either."

"Do you know what that scent is?"

"Rust and wood."

Tsk, he's got a keen nose.

Chi Suiyong didn't call him on it; instead, he gently coaxed, "Do you want to know what I look like?"

A figure suddenly appeared in Chu Yan's mind, but it was facing away from him, about to walk away, getting farther and farther. This image only flashed through his mind for a second and was quickly gone, but it stirred Chu Yan's emotions, making him feel urgent, "What do you look like?"

"If you want to know, you need to use your eyes to see. But your eyes are sick now, aren't they? Only when you get better can you see my face clearly."

That urgent desire to pin down his appearance pushed Chu Yan to reply, "Then I want to find out quickly."

"So if you want to see what I look like fast, we'll do the quickest treatment. You can endure it, right?"

As if cornered by him, all his objections hit dead ends in his mind. Only that 'reward' made him straighten up and face his fear, "Alright..."

Chi Suiyong let out a long sigh, finally relieved.

"Then, Chu Yan, should I have someone come in to give you the IV?"

Before Chi Suiyong could get up, his shoulder was forcefully pressed down. "Yong Yong, you do it."

"But my technique isn't as good as the nurses'—I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

Chu Yan was firm, "It hurts either way. Same difference."

The IV catheter requires more precision than a steel needle. Though Chi Suiyong knew how to do both, but his practical skill couldn't match a nurse's. To prevent him from backing out mid-procedure, Chi Suiyong reminded him again, "If it hurts too much, let me know, and I'll call a nurse."

"Okay, go ahead!"

Chu Yan sat up straight on the bed, his body tense, his right hand gripping the corner of the blanket tightly, clearly nervous.

Chi Suiyong really treated the big guy in front of him like a fragile child. Before starting, he squeezed Chu Yan's hand and, to distract him, said, "Chu Yan, your fingers are really long—you'd be great at playing piano!"

Chu Yan's fingers gave a little tremble. "I did learn, but I didn't like it."

Chi Suiyong thought back a bit. He said 'don't like' more often than anything else. Nothing that kids or adults usually liked seemed to appeal to him. If this was a reflection of Chu Yan's childhood personality, then he must have been a tough kid to handle.

"Then what do you like?"

At that, the figure from before reappeared in his mind.

Chu Yan felt this figure was annoyingly persistent, so he quietly waited for it to disappear again, then slowly searched his memory for things and activities that could match the word 'like.'

The slight sting on his hand was drowned out by his concentration.

"Like... things that smell good."

On Chi Suiyong's first day taking over Chu Yan's care, he got off to a perfect start with the IV.

After the medication to reduce swelling was finished, Chu Yan said he needed to use the restroom.

Speaking of which, that insanely handsome guy's kidneys were working great—it had been half a day already.

Chi Suiyong led him to the urinal in the bathroom, but here came the awkward part.

Chu Yan felt that he had stopped moving, so he asked softly, "Yong Yong, where should I aim?"

Chi Suiyong lowered his head and realized Chu Yan had already taken it out, holding it lightly in his hand.

"Uh..." To avoid direct contact, Chi Suiyong gently held Chu Yan's wrist with two fingers and adjusted the direction toward the urinal, then quickly averted his eyes. "Now you can go."

Then the sound of running water went on for quite a while.

Though Chi Suiyong deliberately avoided looking at the movement, he couldn't help but catch a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. After Chu Yan finished, he paused for a few seconds, then shifted it to the left with his hand before putting his pants back on.

Sure enough, even with amnesia, such specific physical habits don't disappear.

Speaking of which, not every man has this habit—it mainly depends on size. If you're on the larger side and don't adjust it, it sticks out. Though it's a male advantage, it also draws attention, doesn't it?

"Yong Yong, where's the sink?"

Chi Suiyong snapped back to attention. He led him to the sink and squeezed some hand soap into his hand.

Chu Yan washed his hands very carefully, his movements so precise they could rival a doctor about to enter the operating room. He seemed like a bit of a clean freak in daily life too.

No sooner had Chi Suiyong guessed that than Chu Yan proved him right.

After washing his hands, Chu Yan lifted his collar to sniff it, then frowned slightly. "There's a smell. I need a shower."

Chi Suiyong had been standing very close to him the whole time and hadn't smelled anything.

Then he remembered his dog-like sense of smell, and that he'd bled a lot from the forced IV removal the day before, getting blood all over himself. He needed a change of clothes.

"Stay right here. I'll get someone to bring a clean gown."

With that, Chi Suiyong went out and contacted the nursing station using the call button.

When he got back to the bathroom, he found Chu Yan already completely naked.

Caught off guard by the sight, he said, "What are you doing?"