Chapter 441: Self-Blame
Chapter 441: Chapter 441: Self-Blame
"Zhi Han, don’t be like this. This isn’t your fault. Mr. Gong and A Feng will definitely be okay," Fang Lutian quickly said upon hearing An Zhihan. In truth, he wasn’t confident at all. The three people in surgery were all seriously injured, and the doctors had even told them to prepare for the worst.
And then there was A Xuan. Thinking of A Xuan’s death, Fang Lutian nearly ground his teeth to dust. ’Just let me find some evidence,’ he thought. ’I swear I’ll pay them back double for this.’
"Don’t worry. They’ll be fine." Su Qing narrowed her eyes slightly. ’Now that I’m here,’ she thought, ’as long as they’re still breathing, I can save them.’ So, she wasn’t worried about the injuries of Mr. Gong and the others.
As she spoke, Su Qing secretly controlled a willow tree outside to observe the scene inside the resuscitation room. Luckily, the room at Beijing First Central Hospital was on a lower floor. Otherwise, with no plants inside, it would have been impossible for her to see what was happening.
The willow tree outside the resuscitation room moved on its own, despite there being no wind. Its bare branches swayed back and forth outside the room’s window, and Su Qing took the opportunity to get a clear look at the situation inside. Three people were being treated. ’It must be Mr. Gong and the other two,’ she concluded.
Su Qing pursed her lips. With a slight twitch of her finger, three wisps of green mist, invisible to the naked eye, drifted toward the resuscitation room. They slipped through the crack under the door and silently entered the bodies of Mr. Gong and the other two men.
At that moment, the atmosphere in the resuscitation room was extremely tense. A nurse said anxiously, "Doctor Chen, the old man’s heart has stopped! His condition is critical."
Meanwhile, the situations at the other two operating tables were just as grim. The patients’ injuries were too severe, and the medical staff had little hope. Judging by the wounds, the attackers had clearly been trying to kill them.
"The patient’s blood pressure is dropping!"
"The patient’s heart rate is falling!"
The successive alarms made the lead surgeon’s heart skip a beat. He was about to tell a nurse to get a blood bag and proceed with the next emergency measure when, suddenly, a nurse gasped.
"The patient’s blood pressure is stabilizing!"
"The old man’s heart started beating again!"
"This patient’s heart rate is returning to normal, too."
...
"Hmm?" The lead surgeons at each table were stunned. They immediately had the nurses recheck the patients’ vitals, but all the data indicated that the three patients’ conditions were steadily improving.
"How strange. It’s like they just suddenly recovered," one of the nurses said, bewildered.
In fact, their conditions were even better than when they had first been brought into the resuscitation room.
This was especially true for the old man. When he was brought in, his pupils were already dilating. Doctor Chen had insisted on not giving up and continued resuscitation efforts, but they all thought he was a lost cause. Now, however, the old man had miraculously started breathing on his own, and all his vitals were steadily improving. It was a miracle of miracles.
Inside the resuscitation room, as the three patients’ conditions continued to improve, the doctors and nurses were overjoyed. The life-saving procedures continued in an orderly fashion.
Outside, after Su Qing exchanged a few more words with An Zhihan, Zou Ming stepped forward. "Excuse me," he said. "I’m with the municipal public security bureau, and my name is Zou. There are a few more things I’d like to ask you."
Fang Lutian looked at Zou Ming. "We’ve already told you everything we know."
"According to bystanders, those five men deliberately started the fight. And they were fighting to kill; they were clearly after your lives." Zou Ming stared at An Zhihan and Fang Lutian. "Let me ask you, was that really the first time you’d ever met them? Or, if you think back, can you recall any previous conflict you might have had with them?"
"We’ve really never seen them before," Fang Lutian said coldly. "As for why they attacked to kill right from the start, I’d like to know that too. One of my brothers is dead, and three more are in that room, hovering between life and death. Officer, I hope you can find the culprits as soon as possible and bring us justice."
An Zhihan sat silently in his wheelchair, his spirits incredibly low.
Zou Ming glanced at An Zhihan. He had a feeling the young man knew something, but given his obviously unstable emotional state, he doubted he could get anything out of him.
After a moment’s thought, Zou Ming turned back to Fang Lutian. "Also, the instigators reportedly had accents from the Guang City area. So, I hope you’ll cooperate with our investigation and think carefully about whether you have any conflicts with anyone from over there."
Fang Lutian took a deep breath. "Alright, Officer. We’ll think about it carefully. If we remember anything, we’ll let you know."
"Good. Thank you for your cooperation." Zou Ming asked Fang Lutian a few more questions, but seeing that he couldn’t get any more information, he bid them farewell and returned to the municipal bureau to continue the investigation.
After Zou Ming left, Su Qing gently crouched down to meet An Zhihan’s gaze. "Don’t be like this. Mr. Gong and the others will definitely be fine."
Hearing her words, An Zhihan looked up at Su Qing, his eyes red-rimmed. "Su Qing, this all happened because of me. Why am I not the one in that room right now?"
An Zhihan’s heart was filled with boundless self-reproach. A Xuan had died protecting him. A Feng had been stabbed three times shielding him. It wasn’t just the men who followed him; even his own grand-uncle had been dragged into this, and was now in that room, his life hanging in the balance.
An Zhihan hated his own powerlessness. He was just a cripple, a burden. And now he had dragged so many people down with him, causing them to be killed or injured.
Years ago, his daddy and mommy had both died protecting him, and now...
"Don’t be like this. They’re all going to be okay." Su Qing sighed internally. ’The condition of the three men in the room has already improved, but I can’t possibly tell An Zhihan that right now.’
"But the doctors said... And A Xuan... he’s never coming back." The memory of the doctor’s words sent a chill down his spine. He hatefully pounded his numb legs. He loathed himself for having cared about family ties back then. If he had just disregarded everything and taken them all down with him, maybe innocent people wouldn’t have been caught in the crossfire today.
"Zhi Han, don’t be like this. This isn’t your fault at all. If anyone’s to blame, it’s those shameless, unscrupulous people. Besides, A Xuan wouldn’t blame you. If he did, why would he have died to protect you?" Fang Lutian said softly, his heart aching as he watched An Zhihan.
What An Zhihan and Fang Lutian said made Su Qing frown. "You two... you know something else, don’t you? You know who those attackers were, right?"