Chapter 16
“I was in gym class when I got a call from our neighbor, Mrs. Wu. She said that our mom fainted in front of her convenience store. I told the teacher that I had to leave, called for an ambulance, and came right away.”
“Mom’s always been fairly healthy. How did this happen?” Huo Mian was sick with worry.
Just then, the door opened and a doctor walked in. “Which of you is Yang Meirong’s family member? Come outside for a minute.”
“I am.” Huo Mian hurriedly followed the doctor outside.
“You’re the patient’s daughter, right?” The doctor made a guess based on Huo Mian’s age.
Huo Mian nodded.
“Were you aware that the patient suffers from high blood pressure?” questioned the doctor harshly.
“I know, but my mother has been taking her medications, and she had been making sure that she gets enough rest. I check her blood pressure whenever I have the time, and it’s been fairly stable for a while now.”
“Our guess is that the patient suffered from some kind of shock, resulting in heightened blood pressure. As her children, you really need to be more careful. The patient has heart problems on top of high blood pressure. If this keeps happening, it’ll cost the patient her life. Do you understand?”
“Suffered a shock?” Huo Mian was surprised.
She was busy with her job, and only went home once every two weeks. Her little brother was a good kid, so what else could have been the trigger?
“When the patient wakes up, you can ask her yourself. We recommend that she stay at the hospital for a week to regulate her blood pressure. What do you think?”
“Not a problem.” A nurse herself, Huo Mian didn’t dare to take chances. She knew how serious the condition was.
“Okay, you can go pay the hospitalization fees now.”
“Okay.” Huo Mian nodded. Then, she hurried downstairs and headed towards the cashier’s stall on the first floor.
“The total comes to 7908 yuan.”
“That much?” Huo Mian’s expression was troubled. Over these past few years, half of the money she had earned was spent on her brother, and the other half had gone towards the down payment for the house she had bought with Ning Zhiyuan. She only had three thousand yuan left in her bank account. Now, they were asking for more than seven thousand, all at once. She really didn’t have that much money.
“Are you paying or not? Hurry up, there are people behind you. Don’t hold up the line.”
“I’ll pay.” Huo Mian hurriedly took out her credit card. She had gotten the card last year, and she remembered that its spending limit was ten thousand yuan.
Having paid the fees, she went back to the hospital room. By then, her mother had woken up.
“Mom, you’re awake,” Huo Mian said carefully.
“What did you come here for? Get lost!” Yang Meirong seemed extremely upset to see Huo Mian.
“Mom, I was the one who called Sis.” Jing Zhixin rushed up and tried to calm her down.
“You don’t need to come and see me. I’m not sick, I don’t need to stay at a hospital. Zhixin, go fill out the discharge forms. We’re going home.”
Yang Meirong was insistent on getting out of bed.
“Mom, your condition is rather serious. They need to get your blood pressure down first. You have to stay here for a week before you can be discharged.”
“It’s none of your business. Whose fault is it that I ended up this way?” Yang Meirong roared. “Our family would have never ended up like this if it weren’t for you, you accursed thing!”
“Mom, don’t say that. It’s not Sis’s fault.”
“Shut up.” Yang Meirong was clearly very worked up. “This accursed thing killed your dad with her bad luck, and now that damned man is back too. He came to our home and strutted about, thinking he’s almighty just because he has money. Compensation? That’s a neat way of putting it. Who wants his stinking money? Can his money bring the dead back to life?”
At that, Huo Mian felt her heart sink as she finally seemed to understand what happened. “Mom, did … Qin Chu come looking for you?”