Susu's hair laid messily over her shoulders as her body trembled uncontrollably. Her eyes squinted and left hand blocked an area of her right shoulder as she asked for her wristlet. Lily rubbed her back, hoping to calm her down as Chen Mu searched his pockets for the wristlet. "Dear, breathe. Follow me. Inhale. Exhale. He will bring you the wristlet, okay?"
She bit her lips harshly as her heart rate spiked up. She could feel her stomach lurching when Chen Mu started looking for her wristlet. Her insides tangled into a tight knot as she waited. She could clearly hear Lily's words, but none of it was processing to her mind.
While hugging Susu, Lily felt her icily temperature hands, "why are your hands so cold? Are you feeling cold?" Immediately, she took the blanket that fell off the bed and covered her up. She took Susu's hands in her own and started rubbing it to warm them up. That was when she noticed that she was covering her right shoulder; the place that she had peeked at earlier.
"Dear, let me warm your left hand up. Let go of your shoulders for a little bit, alright? We'll use the blanket to cover that spot if you're feeling cold." Susu was reluctant to let go of her own shoulder even when Lily tried to persuade her.
"Found it," Chen Mu announced as he brought the wristlet to Susu. She closed her eyes and released a shaky breath. Finally, her left arm reached out for the wristlet. Seizing the opportunity, Lily adjusted Susu's button down shirt once again to find a rose shadow engraved on her skin that was not there before.
As Susu focused on the wristlet, Lily brushed away strands of her hair and took a closer look at the spot. The surface of the rose shaped print didn't feel like a tattoo and even if it did, it wouldn't have explained why she couldn't see it before. So many questions stacked up in her head but she didn't know where to start asking.
Susu inspected her wristlet once again. As she concentrated her attention on the rose design, Lily waved Chen Mu over and whispered, "there is a weird rose shadow that appeared on her right shoulder. Take a look at it."
"Rose shadow? She never had any..." His mouth dangle opened as she showed him the rose shade that only showed the petals part of the rose. From all the times that he had been intimate with her, Chen Mu has never seen any marks on her body. She had no birth marks and definitely had no interest in getting any tattoos.
Lily pointed to the mark with a raise brow. He tried rubbing the rose to see if it may be some art stuff that accidentally stained her skin, but came out to nothing. After finding no clues of any smudges or art supplies near her, he felt the fabric of her top and checked it thoroughly to make sure it wasn't stained.
"Susu, when did you get this mark?" he asked and felt her pulse. Her left hand touched the petals of the rose design as she replied, "I have no idea. I only remember having a nightmare or dream about my mom leaving me. Before she left, she had touched my shoulder and I felt a stingy sensation. I also felt it when I woke up earlier, so I covered it with my palm."
He frowned on her words, "you should always tell me when something bothers you. You are my top priority and your health is very important. Don't delay telling me these things from now on, okay?"
"Okay..Say, doesn't this rose design look awfully familiar with this shadow on my shoulder?" While he was talking, she took out her phone and took a picture of the rose mark on her shoulder. After a few more looks, Lily and Chen Mu confirmed her thoughts.
She leaned back on her pillows after a while and said, "in that dream...my mother invented a stem part of the rose. She told me that the stem and rose is one product. They need to be together in order for it to be complete. And when we reunite... that's when she will tell me everything."
"Auntie and grandpa are almost here. I informed Ariana and Chen Nan about your deep slumber situation earlier. One of them told your mom and grandpa. While we wait for them, how about we conduct some exams on your body to make sure everything is alright?"
His voice was as soothing as ever like the water flowing in a river. "Do I have to?" she asked with a concerned tone. Finally, she diverted her attention from the rose design to Chen Mu.
He sat beside her and held her right hand, "we need to make sure everything is fine with you so that nothing would interfere with the upcoming surgery."
"Oh? But I want to hear their story first about why they abandoned me and their reasons for being missing from my life. I am particularly interested in this rose and the missing stem. Can the tests wait until after they come? I'll be too tired and end up falling asleep after the exams."
He sighed and rubbed her forehead with his thumb, "fine. But right after that, you need to get your body checked and no more naughty business or excuses, okay?"
"I promise." She smiled and continued looking at the rose.
Lin Que barged into the room with one hand on his hip and the other hand holding the drug diagnosis reports. After some coughs, he excitedly said, "I knew it. We missed something. All these immunosuppressants would lower her immune system, but I always suspected that there was more to this. Why would anyone need to use over ten drugs from the same category when two is enough to perform the same effect?"
Chen Mu's eyes rolled towards Susu's direction, "they're trying to hide the real effect of the drug by using common diagnosed ones to make doctors confused..."
"That and also the fact that they are trying to confirm something. After reviewing all these immunosuppressants, I found a very minimal amount of DNA. To be exact, animal DNA."
"...You mean that someone wanted to infuse animal's DNA into Susu? What the hell? What for?" Chen Mu couldn't believe what he had just heard. Susu couldn't accept it either as her fingers wrapped around the rose on her palm.
"I can answer those questions, but before that I need to check on my daughter. Would all of you please excuse yourselves and exit this room? I need to speak to her privately." Zi Yan and Professor Luo Xia arrived just in time to hear the most updated information about the infused drug. She held her bag in an extremely cautious manner and tightened her grip around the straps when everyone focused their attention on her.
Lin Que nodded and dragged Lily, who was as still as a statue, with him as he exited. Meanwhile, Chen Mu was about to ask if he could be included and stay with Susu, but before he could say anything, Susu patted his hand. "I'm fine alone. I want to hear them out before they tell everyone else their parts. I'm sure that there are some things that they would like only for me to hear. Can you wait for me outside?"
Okay, let me know if any of you need anything." With that being said, he closed the door behind him after exiting. Susu's smile froze and her eyes were covered in frost as her tone turned neutral. "I have a lot of questions, but you two can tell me your story first."