Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

The next day…

In the early morning, Luo Lixi was brought to a hospital by Sheng Ruming. They didn't have their breakfast because  Luo Lixi needed to do some tests on an empty stomach. So, Sheng Ruming also didn't eat anything except a glass of water. 

After taking a series of physical tests, both of them waited in the waiting area for half an hour. They were given the reports and told to wait. Sheng Ruming also photocopied the reports of Luo Lixi, Dr. Xiao had given him in his email earlier.

At 9:10am. they were summoned to go into the doctor's chamber. A middle-aged man with big glasses atop his nose carefully scrolled through all of her medical reports. He turned aside page after page in great seriousness. After ten minutes, he placed the report on his desk and turned towards her. 

"Show me your hand." 

"Here..." Luo Lixi did as he told her. The doctor took her wrist and carefully examined it. 

"We will do the surgery on your hand today  if you agree." The doctor loosened his grip and took back his hand.

"We have no problems." Sheng Ruming told the doctor. Luo Lixi was calm and collected on the outside but her inside was tense. She saw the doctor was writing something on a paper and after he finished, he passed it to Sheng Ruming. 

When she glanced at the paper she didn't understand a single English word. Those things were just a bunch of scribbles to her naked eyes. 

"Are you sure you didn't drink or eat anything yet?"

"Yes. She didn't." Sheng Ruming assured the doctor.

"Give this paper to the front desk. The person there will tell you what to do." Another doctor who was sitting on a chair came to the desk and took the medical files away.

After they had gotten out of the doctor's chamber, both of them went to the front desk area and gave the woman there the paper. 

After paying the bills for the surgery, both of them were told to wait in the lounge area. Meantime Luo Lixi was given some medicines to eat.

With much reluctance, she gulped down the bitter medicines. 

'My blood must have already turned bitter as this medicine.' Her helpless mind could only endure it.

"I hope it will be the last time I have to go to the operation bed." Luo Lixi murmured as she waited. The woman earlier told them to wait for one hour. 

Sheng Ruming coughed and came near her ear. "I can assure you it won't be the last time." Luo Lixi became speechless when he whispered that. Her palms were sweating as she waited for the time to pass.

"Don't wait for me and starve. Just go and eat something. I will be waiting here." Sheng Ruming didn't want to leave her behind but she urged him again and again.

"Let's eat together when you are allowed to eat after the operation."

"I can't have any food for many hours. Don't make me worry for you. Go!" 

Only After she sternly told him that he moved from his place and went to buy something to eat. Luo Lixi was left alone in her seat and waited for him patiently to return.

In the doctor's chamber, the doctor was in the middle of watching his patients when a phone call came. 

"Wait a second." He took out his phone and saw it was an unknown number. He was a doctor and knew better than anyone not to reject any call coming to him. Sometimes, it could be a life and death situation for someone. After he received it a male voice came floating from the phone.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, professor. It's me, Shaoling."

"Ah, Shao. Why are you calling me? Just come to my hospital and see me in my chamber! Today I have many cases to handle. Come and help me!"

"But, professor, I have just got down from the plane and am standing at the airport entrance. Let me at least go to my place to place my luggages and rest for some time." Feng Shaoling was talking to him while many items of luggage were piled beside him. He was talking in English while standing there, waiting for someone to pick him from the airport. 

"There is no rest time in a doctor's life. Come here right now. I will assign you some small cases." While talking on the phone, he was writing the patient's prescription. After finishing his speech, he closed the phone and placed it somewhere on his desk. Then he began to check the paper and gave it to the people before him.

"Ah, professor…" Before he could tell something more the line was disconnected. He hurriedly called his friend who was supposed to come to pick him up. 

Then Feng Shaoling saw a red car was coming towards him and stopped before him. A man came out from the car and wanted to give a bear hug but Feng Shaoling placed his hand on his chest to stop him.

"Jonas, I don't have time for this. Open your car trunk and help me to put the baggage there. Professor told me to go straight to the hospital."

"Uh, 'kay!" The man helped Feng Shaoling to move the luggage in his car trunk. After they finished, Jonas took charge of the car and went straight to the hospital. Meanwhile, Feng Shaoling took a short nap to relax his nerves for the upcoming work.

In the operation room, everything was being prepared by a nurse. When she was done, she went to inform the doctor. There she saw the doctor was giving some files to Feng Shaoling while he was reading a medical report carefully.

"Doc, everything is ready. We can begin the hand surgery of patient no.2908." Both of the men turned towards her. The doctor stood up and introduced Feng Shaoling to the nurse. Feng Shaoling stood up.

"Shao, time for the surgery." He was already wearing his white 

coat.

"This surgery is very complicated. Though I can do it in two hours, professor, I will need your guidance." The professor nodded. Feng Shaoling gave the medical report to the nurse and went out with the professor. Both of them changed their clothes and began to prepare for the surgery.

*** ***

Luo Lixi sat beside Sheng Ruming as they waited for the summon. Finally a nurse came up to them and took her to the operation room. After Sheng Ruming saw in which operation room she went, he went to sit on the chair opposite of the room. 

His sight was fixed in the room door. He saw two doctors in surgical clothes, entering the room. They were wearing marks so he didn't recognise his friend or else he would have definitely run away to get a mask from somewhere in case Feng Shaoling saw his face. 

*** ***

After they had entered the room, outside ,the light of the OR lit up, indicating a surgery was undergoing in the room.

Luo Lixi had already changed her clothes into a patient's clothes and was lying on the bed. 

Feng Shaoling came beside her.

"Give her the spinal anesthesia. The normal dose will do…" After he had told the nurse, she injected Luo Lixi with anesthetic drugs. Luo Lixi was panicking a little as she was staring at the ceiling. Feng Shaoling saw her BP was a little high.

"Miss, what is your name?" Feng Shaoling tried to make her relax by making some small talks.

"Li Xixi." Luo Lixi turned at him when she answered because he was talking in Chinese and she felt her heart's fast-beating turning slow as she found a fellow countryman was going to do her operation. 

"Try to relax. Don't panic. It will finish in some hours and you won't even feel any pain, okay?" Feng Shaoling found Luo Lixi's face very lovely. Also when her innocent yet panic-stricken eyes stared at him, he felt something stirring in his heart. It was an unknown emotion but he wasn't in the situation to think of something else now.

Luo Lixi was sweating as her forehead turned wet. He took a tissue from somewhere and wiped her forehead. Slowly her consciousness faded away. The nurse put the Oxygen mask on her. The other doctor stared at her and after she had become fully unconscious did they start the surgery on her wrist.

The skin of her wrist was torn apart and they began to do their operation. Luo Lixi's body unconsciously trembled at the familiar pain. So she was given antibiotics. Also, she lost a lot of blood during the surgery which they didn't expect in the first place. So Sheng Ruming had to go to the blood bank to bring blood bags. 

The operation was much more complicated and stressed out the two doctors a lot as they found her wound very worrisome but it was a success in the end.

*** ***

After two hour and ten minutes, the light of the operation room turned off. Sheng Ruming wasn't there then. Some minutes ago the nurse gave him a list of medicines to buy. So he went away to bring them. Feng Shaoling and the doctor went out when the operation finished. 

After Sheng Ruming had come back, he saw the light was turned off. Also, he didn't find Luo Lixi there. So, he hurriedly went to the V.I.P ward he had booked for her to stay after the operation. Earlier Luo Lixi was shifted to that room.