Chapter 170 - 132: The Uninvited Guest from Mexico (3)
Once they were truly hugging, the situation completely exceeded Shen Yu’s expectations.
Before this, she thought she had fully prepared herself mentally. ’It’s just a hug,’ she’d thought, ’I can definitely handle it.’
But when it actually happened, she realized that wasn’t the case at all!
His pleasant scent completely enveloped her.
The powerful beat of Jiang He’s heart throbbed right next to her ear.
Through the thin fabric of their clothes, she could even feel the contours of his chest muscles.
Shen Yu’s breathing suddenly became ragged.
’This is so intense.’
It was a million times more intense than she had ever imagined!
She felt her body temperature soaring. From her cheeks to the base of her neck, even her earlobes were burning hot.
Her whole body felt like it was running a high fever—hot, limp, and utterly drained of strength.
All she could do was keep her eyes squeezed shut, maintaining the pretense of sleep, not daring to move an inch.
Meanwhile, Jiang He was also on the verge of breaking down.
’It’s getting harder and harder to control myself.’
How should he put it? If they had just slept in separate beds, he could have barely managed to keep his wild thoughts in check.
When they were sleeping back-to-back in the same bed, he was already starting to lose control.
And now, he had a soft, fragrant beauty in his arms.
’Who could possibly resist this!’
How could anyone hold the person they loved in their arms and do nothing but simply hold them!
This was a dual assault of overwhelming affection, both emotional and physical. Its power was so immense it was impossible to imagine, let alone resist!
「A few minutes passed.」
To prevent Shen Yu from noticing anything unusual, Jiang He tried to create a little distance.
He gradually began to stick his butt out.
He was trying to create a small gap between their tightly pressed bodies.
Shen Yu, still pretending to be asleep with her eyes closed, felt Jiang He’s movement.
In truth, she had no idea what was going on with him; she had no experience in that department.
From her perspective, all she felt was Jiang He, the man holding her, constantly trying to pull away.
’What’s he trying to do? Is he trying to run away?’
A wave of dissatisfaction washed over Shen Yu.
’We finally got to hug, so why are you running away!’
She craved his embrace.
The sense of security was intoxicating, and she didn’t want to leave it for even a second.
Shen Yu decided she had to be a little more proactive!
’I’m already pretending to be asleep anyway. A person dreaming isn’t supposed to be rational. As long as I’m shameless enough, I can just keep up the act!’
So, Shen Yu steeled herself.
She lifted a leg, draped it over Jiang He’s waist, and lunged forward, pressing herself against him seamlessly and wrapping herself around him tightly.
This single action...
...made both of them freeze.
Shen Yu’s mind went blank.
Her thought was: ’Huh? What’s... this thing?’
As for Jiang He, who was now tightly entangled, his mind went blank, save for a single thought:
’Screwed.’
—
—
「That night.」
Affiliated Hospital No. 1, Respiratory Medicine Inpatient Department.
Zhou Guanglin stood outside a VIP room, not looking his best.
Several consecutive sleepless nights had left his eyes bloodshot.
It was almost funny, when he thought about it.
Not even half a month after his father was saved, here he was again, keeping vigil at the hospital... ’Do I have some special connection to hospitals or something?’
The door to the room swung open, and Ke Zheng, an Attending Physician from the respiratory department, walked out with a few lab reports in hand, his brow deeply furrowed.
Zhou Guanglin immediately rushed over. "Doctor, how is Mark? Has his fever gone down?"
Ke Zheng shook his head, his expression growing even more grim.
"His temperature is still 39.2 degrees Celsius; we can’t get it down. President Zhou, go to the nurses’ station and get a surgical mask right now."
Zhou Guanglin was taken aback. "It’s just a cold... is that really necessary?"
Ke Zheng explained, "When he was first admitted, a rapid flu test came back positive for Influenza A. We started him on the treatment protocol for severe seasonal flu, even giving him Oseltamivir, but the effect has been extremely poor. His white blood cell and lymphocyte counts remain low, and the standard antiviral drugs are having no effect at all."
Zhou Guanglin didn’t understand the technical jargon, so he just focused on the main point. "So what do we do now?"
"This morning, his blood oxygen levels started dropping, so we put him on a nasal cannula for oxygen. A chest X-ray shows multiple patchy infiltrates in both lungs with blurred edges. This is typical of progressive severe viral pneumonia."
Zhou Guanglin’s heart dropped, and his face paled. "It couldn’t be..."
"We’ve already checked for viral antibodies. They were negative, ruling out SARS and highly pathogenic avian influenza," Ke Zheng said, cutting off his speculation. "But we absolutely cannot let our guard down. The department head has already reported this to the hospital’s infection control department, and they’re conducting an emergency epidemiological screening. Let’s hope it’s nothing."
With that, Ke Zheng strode quickly toward the next room.
Zhou Guanglin stood frozen, turning his head to look down the hallway.
A janitor was mopping the floor with a high-concentration chlorine disinfectant. A few patients’ family members hurried past with thermoses, one of them covering their mouth as they let out a series of violent coughs. At the nurses’ station, a nurse on duty was taking the temperature of a newly admitted patient.
A sense of tension seemed to hang in the air.
Zhou Guanglin immediately walked to the nurses’ station, asked for a mask, and put it on.
Leaning against the cold wall, he remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he pulled out his phone and decided to call Jiang He.
Zhou Guanglin, as he made the call, had no idea he was interrupting the young couple’s intimate moment.
That’s why Jiang He’s tone on the other end of the line was a bit cold. "President Zhou?"
Zhou Guanglin said, "Dr. Jiang, I’m so sorry to disturb you this late. It’s about our visit to the High-Tech Zone. I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it tomorrow... so I wanted to let you know in advance."
Jiang He frowned. "What’s wrong? Is there a change in the old man’s condition?"
"It’s not my father; he’s recovering very well. A situation came up on my end. I have an important client from Mexico. He was supposed to return home a week ago, but I convinced him to stay and look at some samples. He ended up catching a cold. He tried to tough it out at the hotel at first, but three days ago he suddenly developed a high fever, so I brought him to Affiliated Hospital No. 1."
On the other end of the line, Jiang He was silent for a moment.
"A client from Mexico?" Jiang He asked.
"Yes, a buyer from Mexico. It’s so strange. It’s just a cold, but he’s been in Affiliated Hospital No. 1 for three days. They’ve given him a ton of medicine, but his fever just won’t break. Today the doctor said it might be developing into pneumonia. I was the one who insisted he stay, so I have to keep an eye on him here. About the site visit, maybe we should postpone it?"
Jiang He didn’t answer right away.
In his mind...
The timeline, location, person, and symptoms—several scattered fragments—instantly pieced themselves together.
’It can’t be, can it?’
As a top-tier surgeon, Jiang He had an instinctual sensitivity to major global public health events.
Although in his memory, the full-blown outbreak of the H1N1 influenza pandemic that swept the globe occurred in the spring of 2009.
But what about before that?
No pandemic ever appears out of thin air.
’If the butterfly effect from my rebirth has caused Patient Zero to appear in the country ahead of schedule... then I have to take responsibility for this and make it a priority to resolve.’
"What department is he in?"
"Respiratory Medicine, seventh floor of the inpatient building, VIP bed 3."
"Besides the high fever and signs of pneumonia, what other specific symptoms does he have?"
"Uh... the doctor said the test showed Influenza A, but his white blood cell and lymphocyte counts are low. He also said before that his whole body ached, he felt weak, and he was coughing a lot. What’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing. I’ll be at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 in about half an hour."
Zhou Guanglin was a bit bewildered by Jiang He’s tone.
"Dr. Jiang, you’re... coming over? It’s so late. Why not wait until tomorrow?"
"Right now. We’ll talk when I get there."
The call ended.
Zhou Guanglin stared at his dark phone screen, completely baffled.
’Are Dr. Jiang and the hospital’s doctors overreacting a little? It’s just a common cold. There’s no need to be so serious about it, is there?’