Xu Mey and Ye Jie were sipping on their coffee which Xu Mey brought when Lin Shen walked out of Azalea's room. Both of them abruptly stood up.
Lin Shen looked at their anxious faces and didn't know what to tell them. Ye Jie tried to smile which was rather sad. "Don't hesitate. I believe I've already heard the worst case scenario." He said.
"On the surface, her vitals appear to be fine but her mind is irresponsive. She's in this state because of a traumatic road accident. I have checked her CAT, MRI and EEG report. And her GCS (*) shows the score of 6 which indicates that it's a coma. But I believe that she can hear everything because I've measured the level of electrical activity in her brain. 15-20 percent of people in this so-called vegetative state are fully conscious. We need to stimulate her senses of touch, sound, smell, and vision." He explained in a professional tone while use as simple words as possible.
"How can we do that?" Xu Mey asked while unconsciously she held Ye Jie's hand. Ye Jie looked at her soft hand and lifted his hand to see Lin Shen again.
"You can stimulate her senses by holding her hand but remember that we humans are sensitive to touch and a patient even in a coma can discern a person's touch. So, it's better, that the person in close proximity is someone she's comfortable with. As for the sense of sound, you can talk to her. Tell her about things like what's happening around and how much she is needed. Also, use her favorite perfume, flowers or food as a way to stimulate her sense of smell." Lin Shen turned to Ye Jie. "You'll either have to move to Imperial or you'll have to take her with you to City Star. Because she needs your company."
Ye Jie pursed his lips. "I brought her to the Imperial because First Emperor Hospital is the best in our country with the top doctors and facilities."
Lin Shen smiled. "Well, I should thank you for thinking so highly of my family's hospital but we also have a hospital in City Star known as Star Emperor Hospital. Although the doctors can't match up the facilities won't be lacking in any way possible."
"This is your hospital?" Ye Jie asked skeptically.
"Not mine... My family's." Lin Shen replied with his usual sweet smile.
"Your family's?" Ye Jie frowned. He knew about Lin Shen's own reputation as a renowned surgeon but he never pried about his family. He never felt the need to. That is why he was clearly surprised.
"Ah Jie," Ye Jie turned to look at Xu Mey when he heard her soft voice. "Shen-Ge's family controls 70% of the health department in our country. The most renowned hospitals in the country are under the Lin family's name."
Ye Jie pondered a bit and realized that he read it in a newspaper that the Lin Family of Imperial controlled the medicine and health department in most of the country. They had a history of prestigious surgeons but all of them kept a low-profile, only allowing their achievements to talk on their behalf.
Seeing Ye Jie's hesitation, Lin Shen added, "You don't have to worry at all. I'm gonna stay at City Star Emperor Hospital for the next few months until my wedding. So, I'll take care of Azalea myself. Even when I won't be able to, I'll ask Dr. Gao to make a trip to City Star from Imperial."
Ye Jie nodded. "I'll make the arrangements for her." He said but Lin Shen shook his head.
"You don't have to do anything. Leave it to me. I'll take care of everything." He said.
"Thank you!" Ye Jie was truly grateful for his help.
Lin Shen went to make the arrangements while Xu Mey placed her hand over Ye Jie's shoulder and said, "Ah Jie, you don't have to worry at all. Even if Shen-Ge's method won't work, I've asked my Sensei for help as well. I'm sure he'll come to help Azalea."
Ye Jie smiled looking at her rosy cheeks. "Do you believe that Azalea will be fine?" He asked.
"My Sensei once told me, often times, a person needs to believe in things that seem impossible at first. For you, believing is very necessary because I can tell you that your sister believes in you. And you need to keep her believe and with that, we can bring her back." She smiled a radiant smile and added, "She needs your support and she needs her family. We need to bring her family."
Ye Jie stiffened when she talked about family. Xu Mey noticed and patted his shoulder before saying, "You should talk to her, I'll be with Shen-Ge." She sauntered away from him.
Ye Jie walked inside Azalea's room and sat beside her on the bed. He took her frail hand in his own hands. "Zelie, it's not that I don't want your parents to come here. It's just that I don't have the courage to accept or deal with that truth yet. I need you to wake up and stand by my side, guiding me through all of these lies. Actually, I don't want to accept this reality unless you say it yourself. You have to tell me that I'm your brother, only then will I be able to accept that I've been living a life of lies until now."
Until now, Ye Jie was living with illusions and illusions are always pleasant and beautiful. But illusions can't bring happiness; not the real one at the very least. Realities don't just have the habit of slapping you hard in the face, they have a habit of burning you into ashes. Burning us is a way of challenging us... And when realities challenge us, we often end saying a tender goodbye to our lives and dreams. But what we need is to rise up and let that reality of present turn into a reality of past because the reality is an illusion in itself.
(*): lasgow Coma Scale: It checks the severity of brain damage. Doctors take a score of eyes, verbal and motor reflexes and 8 or less indicates that it is indeed a coma. While the rate of 9-12 indicates that the condition is moderate. As for the higher score, it means the impairment to consciousness is minor.