TLDMDTBS Chapter 70
by VolareJi Ruan started to run a fever the next morning.
At five forty in the morning, Gu Xiuyi was up as usual to warm up and exercise. At that time, Ji Ruan was still in good shape, curled up in his blanket, sleeping soundly. When Gu Xiuyi came to kiss him, Ji Ruan would instinctively pout and cooperate.
But by the time Gu Xiuyi finished his workout, got dressed, and returned for a good morning kiss, he found that Ji Ruan’s temperature felt a bit off.
Ji Ruan normally had a low body temperature; even after being held in Gu Xiuyi’s arms all night, his cheeks would only be warm at best. However, now they were clearly much warmer than usual.
Gu Xiuyi’s heart sank, and he quickly grabbed the thermometer to check Ji Ruan’s forehead. 38.1 degrees—he definitely had a bit of a fever.
He gently patted Ji Ruan’s cheek, supporting his shoulder to help him sit up a bit. “Ji Ruan? Baby, wake up.”
Ji Ruan mumbled a couple of sounds and frowned, rubbing his face against Gu Xiuyi’s shoulder. “Mm?”
He felt himself being picked up by Gu Xiuyi, but his body was sore and weak, and his eyelids felt too heavy to open.
Gu Xiuyi put the external cochlear implant on Ji Ruan, lifting his arm to help him change clothes while softly coaxing, “You have a bit of a fever; let’s get up and go to the hospital, okay?”
It wasn’t that Gu Xiuyi wanted to bother Ji Ruan so early in the morning.
Although 38 degrees isn’t considered a high fever, a normal person could probably take some medicine and sleep it off. But Ji Ruan’s condition wasn’t the same; once he got a fever, it was hard for him to recover, and it could even affect his hearing. Gu Xiuyi really couldn’t be careless.
Perhaps Ji Ruan was also aware of how fragile his condition was. Even though his cheeks were flushed with fever, he still obediently cooperated, lifting his arms when told and bowing his head on command.
Gu Xiuyi helped Ji Ruan wash up quickly, rummaging through the drawer for a fever-reducing patch and gently placing it on Ji Ruan’s forehead before carrying him downstairs.
Aunt Zhao was preparing breakfast while listening to the morning news, about to go upstairs to call Gu Xiuyi when she saw Ji Ruan clinging to him like a little koala, his head buried low.
“Oh, what’s wrong here?” She set down the tray and stepped closer.
Gu Xiuyi pulled out a chair, sitting at the dining table and settling Ji Ruan on his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist to make him more comfortable.
“Nothing, just a little fever,” Gu Xiuyi said. “Aunt Zhao, could you please serve me a bowl of congee and call the driver back?”
“Okay.”
Aunt Zhao could only see half of Ji Ruan’s face, which was flushed and had a large fever-reducing patch pressed against his brow, making him look just as pitiful as her friend’s little granddaughter when she was sick.
Gu Xiuyi scooped a small spoonful of congee and brought it to Ji Ruan’s lips. “Come on, baby, you need to eat a little to settle your stomach before we go see the doctor.”
Ji Ruan’s reaction was a bit slow; after a few seconds, he slowly opened his mouth.
His awareness was probably clear, but he felt uncomfortable and lacked the energy to respond much. As he slowly swallowed, his eyes were reddened, and his eyelashes looked damp as if they’d gotten wet.
Gu Xiuyi gently kissed the corners of his eyes. “Are you feeling very uncomfortable, baby?”
Ji Ruan was utterly limp, feeling wronged by his illness, and he mumbled a soft “Mm.”
It made Gu Xiuyi’s heart ache even more, and he patiently coaxed, “Be good, just one more bite, okay? Otherwise, your stomach will hurt.”
So, he coaxed him into taking a couple of spoonfuls, but suddenly Ji Ruan turned his head and frowned, pressing down on Gu Xiuyi’s hand, gasping a few times. “I—I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable…”
Gu Xiuyi immediately set down the spoon, supporting his back. “Where do you feel uncomfortable?”
Ji Ruan shook his head, bent over, and tightly pinched the bridge of his nose, then painfully covered his mouth and dry-heaved a couple of times.
“Do you want to throw up?” Gu Xiuyi kicked the trash can beside him closer. “It’s okay, go ahead, baby; it won’t make a mess.”
He held Ji Ruan, one hand wrapped around his waist and abdomen to prevent him from collapsing, gently rubbing his back.
Ji Ruan’s pale fingertips rested on Gu Xiuyi’s forearm, and his throat rolled uncomfortably a few times. Ultimately, he couldn’t hold it in and vomited.
The small bowl of congee that Gu Xiuyi had painstakingly fed him was quickly cleared out.
There was no way Ji Ruan could eat anymore, and his condition was clearly off. Even when he had a fever of nearly 39 degrees before, he hadn’t felt this bad.
Gu Xiuyi couldn’t delay any longer. He quickly picked up Ji Ruan and got him into the car, instructing the driver to rush to the hospital as fast as possible.
Ji Ruan had expelled a lot of physiological tears during his vomiting, and after getting into the car, his eyes were still bloodshot. He leaned against Gu Xiuyi, gasping for breath, his face, which was originally red from fever, now had turned pale.
Gu Xiuyi cupped Ji Ruan’s face, forcing him to look at him to stay awake. “Ji Ruan, Ji Ruan? How are you feeling now?”
Ji Ruan couldn’t even put into words how he felt.
The world spun around him, and he felt nauseous, with a painful throbbing in the back of his head and behind his ears.
“I…” he started to speak but under the pressure of pain, it turned into a whimper. “My head hurts… Wuwu, my ears hurt…”
“Ear pain?”
Gu Xiuyi’s fingers gently probed the back of Ji Ruan’s head, feeling the outline of the implant faintly protruding under his skin. Before he could ask, Ji Ruan flinched violently, instinctively dodging and crying out in extreme pain. “Um, don’t touch!”
Gu Xiuyi’s whole hand froze in place.
This hurts that much?
Gu Xiuyi’s fingertips trembled, and his heart ached.
After a while, he could only cautiously stroke the back of Ji Ruan’s neck, trying to maintain his composure. “It’s okay, don’t be scared, baby. It will feel better soon. Once we get to the hospital, it will be alright…”
The villa was close to the hospital, and under good traffic conditions, it wouldn’t take half an hour. The driver sped along, and they’d arrive in twenty minutes at most.
But Gu Xiuyi still underestimated the ferocity of this illness.
Ji Ruan’s temperature was rising at a terrifying speed, and the fever-reducing patch was completely ineffective.
From getting up to being rushed to the hospital took less than an hour, but by the end, Ji Ruan was on the verge of suffocation, his lips and fingertips showing signs of cyanosis.
The doctor hurriedly put an oxygen mask on Ji Ruan, using the most effective drugs to forcibly bring down his body temperature, and continuously pushed them through a series of examinations without a break.
Gu Xiuyi felt disoriented in the chaotic memories after arriving at the hospital. The bustle of the emergency department made him feel as if he were in a grand theater, surrounded by the myriad lives unfolding around him. Ji Ruan’s life seemed so weak amidst this, fragile enough to slip away at any moment if he wasn’t careful.
So that when the examinations ended, and they entered the quiet hospital room, Gu Xiuyi found it inexplicably hard to collect himself.
The results would take some time, and Ji Ruan lay on the bed wearing an oxygen mask. His long eyelashes lightly brushed against his lower eyelid, trembling slightly with each breath, like a beautiful butterfly that had flown for too long, needing to rest momentarily on his lashes.
When Ji Ruan first arrived, he had a high fever impacting his breathing and heart rate. Although his temperature was now under control, the doctor, for insurance, had set up a monitoring device to continuously observe his vital signs until the specific test results came in.
The ward was still the same room, decorated whimsically in a pink princess style by Song Ling. Even though he found it off-putting, Gu Xiuyi had spent enough time with Ji Ruan in this familiar place that everything felt somewhat comforting.
Yet in this seemingly safe environment, listening to the beeping sounds of the monitor, he still felt a grip of fear.
This anxiety was not defined; it was more like an invisible hand slowly and softly pulling Gu Xiuyi toward a place of extreme cold.
At noon, as the sun stealthily passed the tops of the trees, Ji Ruan tremulously opened his eyes.
Gu Xiuyi was holding a cotton swab, dipping it in water for the third time and bringing it to Ji Ruan’s lips. Upon seeing him wake, he gently smiled, setting down the cotton swab to touch Ji Ruan’s face. “Awake, little one?”
His tone was soft, just like the morning goodnight kisses he always gave Ji Ruan, showing no traces of his earlier panic.
With his temperature lowering a little, Ji Ruan’s eyes were not as red as they had been before, but still pitifully watery, looking at Gu Xiuyi with a confused gaze.
Earlier, when Ji Ruan’s ear had been hurting significantly, Gu Xiuyi had removed the external cochlear implant. Now, Ji Ruan seemed dazed, likely unable to hear well.
Gu Xiuyi wrapped his arm around Ji Ruan’s neck, pulling him closer to lean against him, and leaned down to ask softly in his left ear, “Can you hear me now?”
Ji Ruan nodded, blinking, instinctively wanting to grasp Gu Xiuyi’s hand, but Gu Xiuyi stopped him touching his wrist. “You have an IV; be careful not to pull it out.”
Ji Ruan could only give up on that idea, his eyelashes drooping in disappointment.
Gu Xiuyi leaned in to kiss the corners of Ji Ruan’s eyes to reassure him. He wanted to touch the skin behind Ji Ruan’s ear but lifted his hand hesitantly and withdrew it, landing gently on Ji Ruan’s shoulder.
“Does your ear still hurt?”
Back in the car, the pain was indeed abnormal, but now it felt much better; the pain had completely vanished, although there was still a bit of numbness.
Ji Ruan thought for a moment and gently shook his head.
Knock, knock—
There were two quick knocks at the hospital room door, and Li Sui’an entered.
The results of the examinations were due soon, but the doctor who initially treated Ji Ruan wasn’t Li Sui’an.
Gu Xiuyi raised an eyebrow. “Why are you here?”
Li Sui’an replied, “Just came to check on the little patient.”
Ji Ruan caught a glimpse of Li Sui’an and instinctively nodded in greeting, calling out, “Doctor Li,” but due to still being on oxygen, his weak greeting turned into a white mist hitting the oxygen mask.
However, Li Sui’an could see the situation clearly; he walked over to check Ji Ruan’s condition and saw his pale and tired face. “Poor thing…”
He sighed and quietly asked Gu Xiuyi while pointing to Ji Ruan, “Can he hear anything now?”
Gu Xiuyi nodded. “If you speak close and slowly, he can generally understand.”
“That’s good…” Li Sui’an murmured, biting his lip and motioning for Gu Xiuyi to step outside.
His face had an easy flow, and his eyes were narrow, giving off a frivolous charm. However, now his demeanor was entirely serious.
Gu Xiuyi keenly sensed something was off, and his expression darkened slightly. He then casually helped Ji Ruan lie back down on the bed.
Li Sui’an stood to the side, hesitating to say something, before turning back to Ji Ruan’s bedside, speaking to him in a tone suited for a pediatrician. “Little Ji Ruan? You just stay here and lie down for a while.”
“It’s best not to move around. If you need anything, just press the bell for the nurse.”
He paused before adding, “Um… whatever you do, don’t get out of bed on your own. Wait until Gu Xiuyi comes back. Can you do that?”
Ji Ruan, still sick and a bit dazed, didn’t think too deeply about the implications of the words and nodded obediently.
Gu Xiuyi stood at the door, feeling a heavy sinking in his heart at the string of instructions he had just heard, and his grip around the doorknob instinctively tightened.
In the hallway, Li Sui’an patted Gu Xiuyi’s shoulder lightly, speaking calmly. “Let’s talk in my office.”
But that tone didn’t feel like the casual talk between friends; it was the kind of calmness a doctor maintains toward a patient’s family—professional but deeply unsettling.
Li Sui’an’s office was downstairs, and as the elevator opened, they happened to bump into Song Ling, who was accompanied by bodyguards and coming to report on work matters.
Song Ling didn’t step out of the elevator with them, but he turned to speak to Gu Xiuyi from behind. “We just got back from the psychiatric hospital. Everything is arranged with Lin Qing, so there’s no need to worry.”
He flipped through his phone, but by the time he looked up, the two had already created a noticeable distance, walking remarkably fast.
He quickened his pace, continuing, “Bai Yue’s family business has completely collapsed. The seizure notice just came down, and the airport customs have also restricted his parents from leaving the country…”
Li Sui’an opened the office door.
Song Ling followed Gu Xiuyi in. “And then there’s the funeral—”
“No need to mention that.” Gu Xiuyi interjected. “None of it is important.”
The office was brightly lit, and Li Sui’an pulled out a few report sheets, and only then did Song Ling notice the unusually serious expressions on their faces, falling silent all of a sudden.
This atmosphere could only mean something had gone wrong with Ji Ruan.
But it was just a fever, right?
Song Ling felt uncertain, waving to the bodyguard outside. “You stay out here.”
The bodyguard, a tall man dressed in black uniform, expressionless, nodded towards the three before turning to close the door with smooth efficiency.
Song Ling pulled a chair over, sitting down with Gu Xiuyi opposite Li Sui’an.
“I’ll tell you the conclusion first.” Li Sui’an said, tapping a pen on the report sheets in front of him, looking at Gu Xiuyi. “Ji Ruan needs to have surgery.”
Gu Xiuyi’s brows unconsciously twitched, and he leaned forward slightly, interlocking his fingers on the desk. “What do you mean? Did the fever affect something?”
Li Sui’an shook his head. “Currently, it seems that his fever is primarily caused by emotional fluctuations along with exposure to cold. He might have got scared last night, which initially isn’t serious. But having such a high fever for a short time, along with the intense spasmodic pain behind his ear, isn’t quite normal.”
As he spoke, he pointed at the report sheet on the table. “After examination, we found that the implant in Ji Ruan’s right ear has shifted.”
Gu Xiuyi was at a loss for words. “…What?”
“Yes, I suspect that it happened after he fell and hit his head yesterday with Lin…” Li Sui’an covered his mouth. “Ahem, when he fell on the cruise ship. His current dizziness, vomiting, and severe headaches are all because of this…”
He deliberately omitted mentioning Lin Qing’s name, carefully observing Gu Xiuyi, worried that he might rush to the psychiatric hospital to give Lin Qing a beating.
Gu Xiuyi sat there motionless, but his fingers, which were turning white from gripping the edge of the desk tightly, and his tense jaw were telling a different story.
Song Ling felt a chill run down his back, knowing he would have to make another trip to the psychiatric hospital later to have the bodyguard give Lin Qing another good talking-to.
Gu Xiuyi took a deep breath, forcing himself to rein in his thoughts within legal boundaries. “What kind of surgery?”
“To….” Li Sui’an swallowed nervously. “To remove the current implant and replace it with a new one.”
That sounded like an operation Ji Ruan’s small frame couldn’t bear.
Gu Xiuyi unconsciously rubbed the ring on his ring finger, seeking some kind of comfort.
It was rare for him to show such anxious emotions. “Can’t we try to move it back to its original position?”
“Of course, it’s possible, but I don’t recommend it.” Li Sui’an’s expression was grave.
“Why not?”
“The implant in his ear right now is an old model from ten years ago, and the quality is subpar. There’s a possibility it could get damaged.” Li Sui’an explained. “Even if we perform a minor surgery to move it back, it might require another operation in a few months to replace it with a new one, which means he would suffer through two operations.”
Gu Xiuyi fell silent.
His brows were furrowed tightly, and from Li Sui’an’s perspective, it looked as if two mountains were pressing down on his eyes, heaviness suffocating.
After a long while, he slowly spoke. “Is it dangerous? Ji Ruan’s condition…”
Li Sui’an smiled wryly. “This is the tricky part. Your little friend’s current examination report lacks criteria to meet any surgical indicators.”
“It’s not that it can’t be done completely,” Li Sui’an carefully added, “it’s just that recovery post-surgery might be a bit challenging, and the risk of infection is very high.”
Gu Xiuyi licked his parched lips. “…Then what’s your suggestion?”
Li Sui’an leaned forward, adopting a professional demeanor. “My suggestion is that the surgery must be done, but we can take some time to stabilize the indicators.”
Gu Xiuyi nodded, indicating for him to continue.
“His dislocation isn’t severe yet. If we wait and care for him for a month before doing the surgery, the recovery process should be much easier.” Li Sui’an said.
“But the risk in this approach is that extending the time increases uncertainty. If he experiences another bump that causes a more severe dislocation and starts to compress his nerves, it would be troublesome.”
“This is why I insisted that he shouldn’t move around.”
Li Sui’an spoke while closely observing Gu Xiuyi’s expression. He reassuringly patted his arm. “It’s okay; there’s no rush. You can discuss it with him, and let me know your decision tomorrow.”
Knock, knock, knock—
Someone was carefully knocking on the office door from outside.
Both men beside him remained motionless, serious expressions on their faces, and Song Ling stood up to open the door.
“Brother Song…” The bodyguard stood outside, looking hesitant.
“What’s wrong? If there’s nothing, speak up.”
The bodyguard nodded. “I… I think I just saw Mr. Bai.”
Gu Xiuyi abruptly turned his head, his gaze causing the bodyguard to feel a chill run down his back, hastily explaining, “But I’m not sure. He was a bit far away, and I’ve only seen him once on the ship. It’s possible I mistook him.”
The hospital had a square layout, with offices on one side and a half-height glass wall on the other. If someone had taken the elevator from downstairs, it was indeed possible for the bodyguard to have seen him.
“Why does it matter if he’s recognized or not? Let’s check quickly!” Song Ling urged.
Ji Ruan was already Gu Xiuyi’s precious treasure, and now with his fragile, crystal-covered state, even the slightest security risk around him was unacceptable to Gu Xiuyi.
“Old Li, hurry and ask the nurse’s station to check—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a gust of wind passed before him, and by the time he realized what was happening, Gu Xiuyi had already dashed out ahead with the bodyguard far away.