“Mom, are you nervous?” Pei Ge’s anxiety eased when Zhang Manhua appeared to be comfortably sitting beside her.
Zhang Manhua felt her daughter’s worry and shook her head with a reassuring smile. “I’m not nervous.”
In the first few days, when she had just learned that she had gastric cancer, she was indeed panicking in fear.
Presently, she had none of her initial fear.
Even now, she secretly felt that her illness was not as serious as what the doctor deemed it to be, and it could definitely be treated quickly.
“Ge Ge, don’t worry; Mom will be fine,” she spoke with much confidence while holding her daughter’s hand.
Pei Ge looked at her serious look and reflexively nodded along.
“Mhm… Mom, you’ll definitely be fine!”
The two, thus, proceeded to where Zhang Manhua had her full-body checkup in the hospital while harmoniously holding hands.
The mother-daughter pair was early for their appointment, but the others were even earlier than them.
Arriving at the hospital registration office, Pei Ge joined the long queue for registering a patient.
She queued for two hours before it was finally her turn.
Once she was done with the registration, she took the medical report and followed her mother to see the same physician she had seen before to complete the admittance procedure.
Who knew that the paperwork would not be easy to complete, though?
“Doctor Wu, can my mother be admitted to the hospital now?” She looked nervously at the doctor in his white uniform who was sitting opposite her.
When she handed the medical report to Doctor Wu, she saw his eyebrow move slightly as he skimmed through the paper.
She grew even more nervous when Doctor Wu’s expression turned serious.
“Your mother’s illness…” he began solemnly.
She pursed her lips at his grave look and feared that he would say something she was unable to take.
Zhang Manhua, who was feeling at ease while sitting next to Pei Ge, began to tense up at his expression as well.
“Doctor Wu, how is my mother’s illness progressing so far?” she asked directly, unable to bear the suspense created by him beating around the bush.
“Aiii, your mother’s illness needs immediate surgery, or else… I am afraid that it will worsen.” Doctor Wu’s eyes were filled with sympathy as he looked at the mother-daughter pair.
Pei Ge’s heart tightened at his words. She felt faint, as though she had been hit on the head.
She initially thought that her mother’s illness was not as serious, but after listening to his words, the ease she had completely disappeared.
“I am feeling fine right now, though,” Zhang Manhua’s heart ached when she saw her daughter’s fearful look, which resembled someone who had hit rock bottom.
“Just look at my rosy complexion; I can even eat and drink well every day. I don’t feel sick at all. Could there be a mistake?”
Zhang Manhua voiced aloud her suspicion as she regarded Doctor Wu seriously.
“Er… that… Well, it’s not time yet,” he reasoned with a frown, his eyes shifting from the report to her and back again.
“What do you mean ‘it’s not time yet’? Do you mean that my mother will be in pain soon?” Pei Ge nervously asked at the doctor’s hesitant look.
“Mhm, your mother has gastric cancer. I’m afraid…” he trailed off as he glanced at Zhang Manhua knowingly.
Even if he did not finish his words, she already could guess what he meant.
According to her online research, gastric cancer would cause a lot of pain.
Thus, when her mother said that she was not feeling any discomfort, she began to have hope that the sickness was not as serious.
If it was that serious, her mother’s body would be unable to take it.
“Doctor Wu, please let my mother be admitted to the hospital immediately.” Inhaling deeply, she determinedly said this while holding back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
“Aiii, Miss Pei, the hospital is at maximum capacity right now. I’m afraid that there are no beds available for you.” He sighed helplessly upon telling her this.
“What?! No beds?!” Her eyes widened in shock and exclaimed agitatedly, “How can there be no beds here when this hospital is so big?!”
“You can see for yourself how many patients we see each day. No matter how big this hospital is, we still can’t fit everyone.” He coughed and looked at her helplessly.
“… Can my mom stay at home, then?” She was silent for a moment, and then, pursing her lips into a thin line, she looked the doctor in the eye.
“The… best option for your mother is to stay at the hospital,” he answered plainly.
His reply made her want to hit somebody, particularly this doctor, so badly. If this person were not her mother’s attending physician, she would really snatch the report back and stuff it fiercely into his mouth.
Damn it! If neither hospital admittance nor home confinement is an option, then what exactly is?!
All the anger she had been suppressing was about to explode, but before she could do so, the doctor spoke again.
His words caused all her fury to disappear completely.
“It’s really best to operate as soon as possible, or her condition may deteriorate,” he emphasized. Looking at her dazed expression, he continued, “Our hospital doesn’t really specialize in treating gastric cancer patients. I suggest that you go to the capital’s main hospital for a checkup as they have oncologists, who are experts in that field, there.”
She frowned at his advice.
The capital’s main hospital indeed had way better facilities and the best physicians with specializations, but the fee in that hospital was exorbitant as well.
“Doctor Wu, must my mother undergo surgery immediately?” she asked with some reluctance.
How could she afford her mother’s surgery with her current financial situation?
“Mom, are you nervous?” Pei Ge’s anxiety eased when Zhang Manhua appeared to be comfortably sitting beside her.
Zhang Manhua felt her daughter’s worry and shook her head with a reassuring smile. “I’m not nervous.”
In the first few days, when she had just learned that she had gastric cancer, she was indeed panicking in fear.
Presently, she had none of her initial fear.
Even now, she secretly felt that her illness was not as serious as what the doctor deemed it to be, and it could definitely be treated quickly.
“Ge Ge, don’t worry; Mom will be fine,” she spoke with much confidence while holding her daughter’s hand.
Pei Ge looked at her serious look and reflexively nodded along.
“Mhm… Mom, you’ll definitely be fine!”
The two, thus, proceeded to where Zhang Manhua had her full-body checkup in the hospital while harmoniously holding hands.
The mother-daughter pair was early for their appointment, but the others were even earlier than them.
Arriving at the hospital registration office, Pei Ge joined the long queue for registering a patient.
She queued for two hours before it was finally her turn.
Once she was done with the registration, she took the medical report and followed her mother to see the same physician she had seen before to complete the admittance procedure.
Who knew that the paperwork would not be easy to complete, though?
“Doctor Wu, can my mother be admitted to the hospital now?” She looked nervously at the doctor in his white uniform who was sitting opposite her.
When she handed the medical report to Doctor Wu, she saw his eyebrow move slightly as he skimmed through the paper.
She grew even more nervous when Doctor Wu’s expression turned serious.
“Your mother’s illness…” he began solemnly.
She pursed her lips at his grave look and feared that he would say something she was unable to take.
Zhang Manhua, who was feeling at ease while sitting next to Pei Ge, began to tense up at his expression as well.
“Doctor Wu, how is my mother’s illness progressing so far?” she asked directly, unable to bear the suspense created by him beating around the bush.
“Aiii, your mother’s illness needs immediate surgery, or else… I am afraid that it will worsen.” Doctor Wu’s eyes were filled with sympathy as he looked at the mother-daughter pair.
Pei Ge’s heart tightened at his words. She felt faint, as though she had been hit on the head.
She initially thought that her mother’s illness was not as serious, but after listening to his words, the ease she had completely disappeared.
“I am feeling fine right now, though,” Zhang Manhua’s heart ached when she saw her daughter’s fearful look, which resembled someone who had hit rock bottom.
“Just look at my rosy complexion; I can even eat and drink well every day. I don’t feel sick at all. Could there be a mistake?”
Zhang Manhua voiced aloud her suspicion as she regarded Doctor Wu seriously.
“Er… that… Well, it’s not time yet,” he reasoned with a frown, his eyes shifting from the report to her and back again.
“What do you mean ‘it’s not time yet’? Do you mean that my mother will be in pain soon?” Pei Ge nervously asked at the doctor’s hesitant look.
“Mhm, your mother has gastric cancer. I’m afraid…” he trailed off as he glanced at Zhang Manhua knowingly.
Even if he did not finish his words, she already could guess what he meant.
According to her online research, gastric cancer would cause a lot of pain.
Thus, when her mother said that she was not feeling any discomfort, she began to have hope that the sickness was not as serious.
If it was that serious, her mother’s body would be unable to take it.
“Doctor Wu, please let my mother be admitted to the hospital immediately.” Inhaling deeply, she determinedly said this while holding back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
“Aiii, Miss Pei, the hospital is at maximum capacity right now. I’m afraid that there are no beds available for you.” He sighed helplessly upon telling her this.
“What?! No beds?!” Her eyes widened in shock and exclaimed agitatedly, “How can there be no beds here when this hospital is so big?!”
“You can see for yourself how many patients we see each day. No matter how big this hospital is, we still can’t fit everyone.” He coughed and looked at her helplessly.
“… Can my mom stay at home, then?” She was silent for a moment, and then, pursing her lips into a thin line, she looked the doctor in the eye.
“The… best option for your mother is to stay at the hospital,” he answered plainly.
His reply made her want to hit somebody, particularly this doctor, so badly. If this person were not her mother’s attending physician, she would really snatch the report back and stuff it fiercely into his mouth.
Damn it! If neither hospital admittance nor home confinement is an option, then what exactly is?!
All the anger she had been suppressing was about to explode, but before she could do so, the doctor spoke again.
His words caused all her fury to disappear completely.
“It’s really best to operate as soon as possible, or her condition may deteriorate,” he emphasized. Looking at her dazed expression, he continued, “Our hospital doesn’t really specialize in treating gastric cancer patients. I suggest that you go to the capital’s main hospital for a checkup as they have oncologists, who are experts in that field, there.”
She frowned at his advice.
The capital’s main hospital indeed had way better facilities and the best physicians with specializations, but the fee in that hospital was exorbitant as well.
“Doctor Wu, must my mother undergo surgery immediately?” she asked with some reluctance.
How could she afford her mother’s surgery with her current financial situation?
