After another week of observation, a new symptom arose from Susu's condition. For some odd reason, after her herb baths started losing its effectiveness, Susu's skin became incredibly sensitive. Other than Qian Ling, everyone else who had helped wipe her body could not touch her without leaving burn marks on her body.
Whenever someone comes in contact with her bare skin, she would groan in pain. At first, Qian Ling thought it was the effects of the herbs that made her skin sensitive to touch. Later, she realized that it only applied to certain people's touches.
This afternoon, Qian Ling took her pulse as always. Again, there were no improvements. Chen Mu adjusted her leaning position against his chest while Qian Ling fed her the bowl of herb medicine. A spoonful of medicine went down the wrong pipe as she swallowed, making her choke painfully.
Chen Mu quickly patted her back, but this action confirmed Qian Ling's suspicion. Susu continued drinking the medicine until it was all gone from the bowl. She whispered, "I'm cold."
"Cold?" Chen Mu pulled the blanket over her shoulders and started rubbed her arms to warm her up. With his body hugging her from behind, she should feel slightly better than before. As he repeatedly rubbed her arms, Qian Ling made a suggestion.
"Rub her hands too."
Chen Mu nodded as his chin rested on her bare neck while he brought their hands to his lips. As he rubbed the back of her hands together, he huffed soft breaths to increase her blood circulation. "Are you feeling better?"
"Mm.. warmer now." Listening to her drained voice, his heart softened.
He whispered, "Good. I'll hug you until you fall asleep, so you'll continue feeling warm."
It didn't take long before she fell into slumber. Qian Ling closed the windows in the room and waited her him to tuck her into bed. Gesturing with her finger, she signaled for him to follow her out.
After that, she leads him to the next room where everyone was already sitting. She had previously messaged everyone for a quick meeting today. She needed to announce some changes to her original treatment plan.
Qian Ling jumped straight to the topic. "I've confirmed that the herb treatment has stopped working on Susu. I also came up with a new treatment plan. I need everyone's cooperation this time, and nobody can object to it. Understand?"
Looking around the room for everyone's acceptance, she continued. "When the herb bath began to lose its effectiveness, I've noticed minor changes to her body. Zi Yan, Ariana and Lily are familiar with what I'm about to say. When you touch her body, she ends up groaning in pain. Her body also showed marks."
The trio nodded their heads as they recalled seeing the irritation on Susu's skin.
"The only person in this room who could touch Susu's body without irritating her skin is Chen Mu. The new treatment plan I've came up with will involve him during the baths. Instead of taking an herb bath on a daily basis, I'm going to strengthen the herbs and have her bath in herbs once every three days."
Chen Mu listened attentively and had no objections to her plans. "What do I have to do?"
"During the herb baths, she will suffer immense pain. The herbs I am going to use this time are much stronger and will force the toxins out of her body. Your job is to sit in the bath with her and hold her. She might attempt getting out of the tub, so you need to make sure she sits for the two-hour bath."
"Two hours?" Chen Mu's eyes widened slightly when he heard the duration of the bath treatment.
Nodding to his question, she confirmed it once again. "Two hours. She needs to take this bath once every three days because of the strengthened herbs. Don't worry about your bodies losing moisture. One type of herbs in the bath will maintain your skin condition. So, your bodies won't wrinkle from a two-hour bath."
"Okay." Chen Mu immediately agreed.
Everyone else also silently nodded their heads. Since this is for the sake of saving her life, Zi Yan and Grandpa Xia could only agree to the condition. Qian Ling also reminded, "During the bath treatment, nobody can go in and interrupt. I will be sitting outside the bathroom. Also.."
She turned towards Chen Mu. "No matter what screams or pleads you hear from her, you can't soften up. You can't let her leave the tub or every effort will be wasted. Once she steps in, she can't get out until two hours later. The bath water should turn a bit muddy. I'll be instructing you if anything happens."
"Okay. When can she start the treatment?" Chen Mu asked.
"Three days. You should go home and pack some necessities. Since you're the only one who could touch her, you'll be needed most of the time. Let her rest for the time being while you go home. After finishing the herb medicine just now, she should sleep through the entire night with no problem."
Once again, everyone nodded to her words. Before everyone went their separate ways, Grandpa Xia had asked, "Will she recover after this?"
"If the new treatment shows effective signs, then she will be fine."
"If not?" Zi Yan bit her lips as she questioned the consequences that may follow.
"Then I'll come up with a new plan. Healing takes time and everyone is different. Just like how some of us could stand the exotic Durian fruit scent while others would puke. It's complicated, and I can't explain why certain treatments are the way it is because it works. I'm also not sure why her body is fine with Chen Mu's touch, but it works out."
After saying everything she had in mind, she exited the room and went back to look after Susu. Chen Mu also excused himself to make a trip back to his condo.