The results to her body examinations turned out decent with some good signs that her body was still functioning properly. Chen Mu moved on to the scans for her right arm and discussed with Chen Nan and Lin Que, who were more familiar with damaged nerves. The scans didn't show anything abnormal in her arms, which was expected since the drug was injected through her veins.
"This part is a bit weird." Lin Que pointed to the scans where he noticed that other than her right arm, no other parts of her body had been affected. Reviewing and comparing multiple reports at once, they noticed that only her right arm wasn't performing regularly.
"Hmmm..you're right. If we take a look at other scans that we did on her, the rest of the body seems fine. It seems like only from the starting point of where the needle was injected to her fingers aren't working properly. Maybe the injection affected the upper area on her arm, but that should be the max damage it has caused." Chen Mu examined several reports and stuck it on the board using some magnets.
Chen Nan rubbed his chin and squinted at the scans, "why does this sound so familiar? I remember this from somewhere..."
"What do you mean?" Chen Mu and Lin Que's eyes followed his trail as he reached for the scans with a sense of familiarity on his face.
"I remember! The second miss had this situation before. She was attacked by an enemy years ago and a lethal drug was injected into one of her arms. I'm not sure which one, but just when we were all having second guesses and preparing for the worst scenario, she asked Ariana to follow her instructions and operate on her!"
Chen Nan couldn't give a detailed explanation because he wasn't present during the operation. All he knew was that Ariana didn't speak about it to anyone afterwards and could only say that it was a promise with Zi Yan. After that, Zi Yan recovered from the drug as well.
"If what you're saying is true, then would this drug be extractable from Susu's arm? But if this is the case, as her mother, why didn't she mention it?" Chen Mu couldn't understand what was happening because from what Zi Yan had said to him earlier, she acted very concerned about her. Then why didn't she mention anything?
"We need to ask her in private about this. If we could extract the drug from her body, chances of saving her life will be much higher than our current estimate!" Lin Que dragged them both out of the conference room and rushed to stop Zi Yan and Professor Luo Xia from leaving.
When they reached Susu's room, they were all out of breath. Lin Que's arms were so tired that he felt like he did ten years worth of exercise from dragging the other two with his arms. Susu turned her head towards the door, "what happened?"
Ariana had a fork in one hand while Lily had a knife in hers. Lily was challenged to peel an apple without breaking the skin, but when the guys interrupted the peace in the room, the skin broke. She had a smirk on her face and glared at the door, "This better be good, my three musketeers. I was so close to completing this challenge! How many more apples do I need to sacrifice to get this far, huh?!"
In the next minute, the apple was sliced to pieces, placed onto a plate and Ariana started to feed Susu. Even though Susu had already said that she could use her left arm, the girls refused to let her move. The adjustable table was brought close to Susu for convenience as Ariana slowly fed her.
"Where's Professor Luo Xia and the second miss?" Lin Que coughed from the dry air that was stuck in the back of his mouth. Tears started falling as he caught his breath and calmed himself.
"Oh. Well...this is what happened while you guys were away." Lily wiped the knife as she updated the guys on what happened in the past half an hour.
[Rewind to half an hour ago]
The guys walked out of the room and instructed everyone else to remain on high alert. After they had left, Zi Yan and Professor Luo Xia walked up to Susu's bedside. Before they could say anything, Susu made eye contact with Zi Yan and said, "you're extremely late."
"Y..You remember me?" A part of her felt very relieved, yet many knots tightened in her chest as she made an attempt in creating a conversation with Susu.
"How could I forget you? You gave me hope and disappeared on me. Many many nights... I've stared at the same door while being in bed with the same question of whether you would come that night. After a few years, it would be sad if I continued having that wishful thought." Susu let out a mockery laugh at herself.
"Susu, it's mother's fault. I know I shouldn't have abandoned you that time. I did that to protect you. If I brought you along, you might encounter danger." Zi Yan didn't know what to say with the sudden confrontation.
"Protect? Then have you ever thought of taking me with you because I was surrounded by wolves in a den? Have you ever thought of how my life would turn out when you left me unattended in that household?" Susu sounded tired of all the drama in her life and questioned how different her life would've been like if she hadn't stayed in the Yin household for years.
"I..I figured that it was the best option I had. I planned to meet up with your grandfather and then come back to get you." All the words that Zi Yan prepared to say were washed away by waves in her mind. She only wanted to make it up to Susu right now.
"And somehow days became weeks, months and now, years. I'm surprised that you remembered that you had a daughter here. Did you have any idea how much I've gone through because of the adults around me? Have you ever asked me for my opinion before you left after teaching me the rose design? I was a kid, but it doesn't mean that I don't feel as much as adults do. It still hurts to get abandoned by a loved one."
Susu looked strictly into her eyes with anger. No matter how many apologies or explanations Zi Yan had on her mind, she was persuaded that it would be useless against Susu's words. The last thing she would ever want is for their first conversation to end up in an argument. Therefore, she listened to what Susu had to say before responding little by little.
More importantly, Susu's condition was their top priority, so no matter how bad the conversation goes, Zi Yan would never stubbornly argue with her. Throughout their conversation, Susu let out many thoughts that she couldn't say to anyone about her childhood. Some were faded scars on her body and others were incidents that led to her now stoned heart for the Yin's.
Professor Luo Xia stood silently as he listened to how Susu's life had been since young. Every tear that dripped down her face made his heart turn sour and a bitter taste spread to his mouth. It was also his fault for not coming for her sooner. Even though they had enemies out there, no reason is good enough to cover their mistakes.
They could have come sooner, but whenever they prepared the plane tickets, something else would interrupt their plans. Professor Luo Xia held Zi Yan's arm and would squeeze lightly at certain points of the conversation to make sure she doesn't mention anything yet. With Susu's condition, there will be no way for her to understand and carry the same burden as they have for the past years.
The conversation between Susu, Zi Yan and Professor Luo Xia ended in fair terms as Susu acknowledged the fact that she had family outside of the Yin's household. She understood that there were many unspeakable reasons and she wouldn't question it if they didn't want to mention it. Even so, Susu couldn't accept the fact that there should be any reason for her them to not come for her earlier.
Perhaps they may be closer in the future, but right now, she only wanted to rest in peace with no chaos for a while. After waking up, all she heard were negative news that she could barely process. Professor Luo Xia spoke for the first time in their conversation, "take good care of yourself. We'll be here with you if you need us. Don't feel pressured by our sudden appearance. Everything will go at your pace, alright?"
Kitty regained consciousness at the perfect timing when their conversation was wrapping up. She had fallen unconscious after Ariana took mirrors and forced her to take a look at the nasty scar across her cheeks. Lily didn't leave Kitty any time to relax as she took alcohol pads and slapped it on the deep wound.
The pain and disfigured face of hers knocked her out almost instantly. The girls had more in their minds, but thought that it would only be appropriate for Susu to decide what punishment she deserves for being a dumbass.
This time, Kitty saw Professor Luo Xia and Zi Yan standing with their backs towards her. She tried to scream through the cloth around her mouth and call for help.
"NNghghghpphh!!" Kitty interrupted their conversation and slammed her tied legs and arms to everything around her. When all eyes were concentrated on her, she realized that she made another naive move.
Zi Yan stared at her hatefully, "you're the bitch who switched my daughter's medicine. We haven't gotten up to you yet, and you're already looking forward to meeting Karma, huh? How dare you interrupt us?"
Professor Luo Xia looked friendly on the outside, but when he opened his mouth to speak, Kitty's last hope diminished. He calmly made a suggestion, "Susu, you should get some rest. Let us take care of her for you, okay?"
"What are you planning to do?" Susu didn't bother looking at Kitty for an extra second. She never liked violence to being with, but this time, she wouldn't interfere with their decisions because it involved her health.
"Do you have any preferences?" he asked her with a soft tone.
"She maimed my arm." Susu's left hand subconsciously squeezed her right hand as her eyes darkened.
"Got it." Zi Yan walked over and grabbed a chunk of Kitty's seaweed hair.
Ariana said, "the room next to this one is empty. There are trays of used tools that needs to be taken care of by the garbage truck. It would be a pity if we let it go to waste, don't you think?"
"Obviously, it would be a pity to not reuse them. Let's go." Zi Yan dragged Kitty across the room while Professor Luo Xia took out Zi family's badge and followed from behind. The way she was taken out of the room was exactly how Ariana treated Kitty in the hallways earlier.
Lily shouted, "no use in struggling. You reaped what you sow. The more you move, the worse Karma is going to bite your disfigured ass."