“We had to give her a sedative when she woke up earlier. She was emotionally unstable so we had to put her down,” the attending doctor explained shortly while referring to his chart. “She won’t be awake until a few hours later.”

Xiao Shan nodded her head mutely, all too aware about sedatives and its effects. After all, she has encounters with it when she watched the doctors put her mom to sleep. A nurse pushed a patient in wheelchair past them both and she stopped to look at the withered old man in the chair. He wasn’t too happy and she knew exactly why. No one is happy in the hospital; unless it’s the maternity ward.

“What about the test results? My parents said it’s inconclusive, the first one.”

This time, it was the doctor’s turn to shake his head. “I’m sorry, Miss Lee, I cannot give you a definitive answer right now until the second results are out.” He stopped short and finally looked up from his papers. When he saw the usual worry look he’s seen for the past years on patients’ close ones, he sighed.

“What you have to know, Miss Lee, is that our body is actually a complex thing. It differs with each person and with that, our healing and recovery rates.”

“Wasn’t it a minor accident? I heard the other driver wasn’t even injured,” she rebutted quickly.

“Yes and so have I heard. But fragments of the car hit her abdomen and some even reaching her spinal cord. We managed to remove all of it but…”

“But what?” she demanded, fear again gripped her. A burst of cries echoed in the background, temporarily pulled her attention away. A woman was wailing at the corridor while another doctor explained to her. That could have been her, she thought.

‘No, I have to be strong… I’m not the old Lee Xiao Shan anymore.’

She turned back to the doctor. He answered slowly, carefully to not reveal too much or too little, “The injury to her spinal cord is slight. With rest and physiotherapy, she can walk again.”

For a moment, she thought she heard the doctor wrong. His voice wasn’t really loud to begin with and with each word he uttered, it seemed his voice was slowly fading away. At least it felt that way to her. The grim look on his face seemed practiced as well. And she found herself wondering if he’s trained to break bad news to people.

Shaking her head furiously, she dispelled all the nonsensical thoughts. “Is that a sure thing?”

The doctor now looked uncomfortable. “Well, like I said earlier, Miss Lee, it really differs with each person. If she performs well during physiotherapy, I’m very hopeful that she’ll make full recovery.”

“And what about the other test?”

“Well, we haven’t gotten back the result but the tear around her uterus was pretty bad. All we can do right now is to wait.”

“And what does that mean?”

“In the worst case scenario, Miss Lee, your sister may never be able to conceive.”

Shock took over immediately, and this time, it’s to stay. Nothing the doctor said could pull her out of it. Even the inner strength that she thought she has had disappeared. She blinked furiously at the doctor. Hot tears burnt the back of her eyes as her body trembled.

“Are… Are you saying that…?” she choked out.

“Nothing has been conclusive, Miss Lee,” the doctor interjected hastily. “There are still tests to be done and treatments we can do. Anyhow, what’s important now is we see to it that Miss Ann is well rested and on its way to recovery.”

Bile rose up in . A sense of dread dawned on her, the exact same feeling when she heard news about her mother’s passing. She bit her lips, hard. Pain shot through her skin and slowly, she tasted blood. She ignored the cut.

“Thank you, doctor. If it’s possible, I’ll like to see my sister.”

The doctor shook his head. “She’s heavily sedated so she wouldn’t even be aware that you’re there. But if you insist, her room is at the end of the corridor.”

She thanked the doctor shortly and dragged her leaden feet towards the room at the end of the corridor. Careful to avoid other people around, she wiped her tears with the back of her hands. With each breath she took, her chest constricted more, her heart heavier than her feet.

What is going to happen now, she thought. And her mind wandered to her parents, already grief stricken with her accident. The news about the severity of her injury will break them.

She arrived at the door quickly, the room easily distinguishable with the golden ‘VIP’ letters on it. Shadows seemed to lurk behind the white door, like a portal to another world that Xiao Shan knew she’ll hate. But still, she grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

“Ann…” she called out softly and stepped into the cool but dark room. The curtains had been drawn, she noticed. And on the bed, her sister was sleeping soundly under the influence of a tranquilizer. She had called her out, knowing full well she couldn’t hear. She did anyway because she felt compelled to. She felt the need to treat it as if Ann was just sitting there, waiting for her.

A lone figure sat by the bed, the face unrecognizable from the lack of light in the room. Xiao Shan took another step further; the light from the corridor lit the way. The person moved in the shadow.

“Ann? Are you awake?” she asked quickly. She turned to throw on the lights; the switch was just by the wall. But a pair of arms grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug from the back.

In a reflex, she swung her elbow around and was satisfied when she heard a soft thud. Her attacker didn’t as much as utter a cry but the grip on her loosened. She turned to launch another attack. The person pulled her into another hug.

“Xiao Shan, is that you?!! Is that really you?!”

She froze on the spot.

Lu Han broke apart and looked at her carefully. Xiao Shan noticed that he had been crying, the eyes red and slightly puffy. And his hair was disheveled, the clothes crumpled with tie loosened. He had not been home at all. But the tears he’s shedding now, she didn’t know it was for whom.

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Again, it's been a long time. Unexpectedly I got off work early today so I thought I will update another chapter. I just realized now that some readers thought it was Luhan in the accident. I never thought of that. But it's too late now. Wonder if it's better if it's Luhan in the accident?

But anhyhow, Luhan has finally met Xiao Shan and the war can officially begin. Lolx.. Hope everyone reading this chapter. Again, it's kinda boring but it's essential for the story. Next, I'll bring Kris to Beijing!! XD

P.S: I've started another story. It's Kyungsoo's and it's only the foreword but please feel free to drop by and check it out.

#project365 - Starring Kyungsoo & OCs

Cheers! ^^