Chapter 163 - 0157: Missed

The plane arrived at Nandu airport at 9:30 pm, but now it’s 11 o’clock and the person still hasn’t arrived.

“Has the plane landed?” Mr. Ning sounded a little tired, his voice raspy.

“Arrived a while ago, Xiao Feng has picked up Uncle Nong and your brother, they are on their way to the hospital.” Miss Ning sent one more message on WeChat urging them.

“Why haven’t they arrived? This child…” Mr. Ning’s eyelids were heavy, he finished his sentence, closed his eyes, and rested.

The room was quiet, only the sound of machines. Blood was flowing in and out through various tubes.

The doctor constantly checked the machines, analyzed the returned test data, issued various medical advice. The nurses were busy carrying out the doctor’s orders, making timely nursing records.

“The blood oxygen has started to drop!” The doctor in charge of the ventilator reported.

“There is a thrombus forming, the efficiency of blood exchange has decreased!” Director Wei analyzed.

After a while, Mr. Ning said with his eyes closed:

“Qiqi, why is it so dark, don’t turn off the light!”

Miss Ning looked at the lights in the room; they were on. Her heart lurched, and she tightly held her father’s hand.

“Dad, all the lights are on, don’t be scared!”

The sound of several machines was a bit noisy, and the monitor occasionally emitted beeping alarm sounds.

“Look!”

The latest blood test results came out. Director Wei quietly called Yang Ping to take a look.

All the checked tests are shown. Normal results are in gray, high indicators are in red, low ones are in blue. Now, all of Mr. Ning’s lab tests are either red or blue.

And critical values, the critical point when a patient’s life is endangered, the lab will report a critical value. There would be a special plum blossom mark next to a critical value. Now, there are not one or two critical values on the lab test report but clusters of them.

One phone call after another rang on the nurse’s desk in the emergency ward. A nurse answered the phone, jotting down critical values while listening, without stopping.

Considering all the reported lab tests, Yang Ping and Director Wei sighed helplessly in their hearts: multi-organ failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation, acute pulmonary embolism, acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebral infarction have all started. Mr. Ning’s physiological functions as a living being have already begun to avalanche.

Time was slipping away, the candle was almost burned out, the flame was flickering in the wind of the dark night, the tiny weak flame was about to extinguish.

Life always has an end, only some people leave quietly, while others keep looking back and waiting.

—

“Xiao Feng, hurry up!” Uncle Nong kept checking his watch, clutching his pants with both hands, his palms full of sweat.

“It’s been ten years, he must have forgotten he has a son. I grew up under his scolding. In his eyes, I’m just a loser, everything I did, he hated it, looked down on it. I loved music, but he didn’t understand. Dismissive when I won a school violin award by hurling my prize – a bronze violin model – into the trash calling it a waste of time, child’s play. I can never forget that moment, never! Really, never! Since then, it became clear to me that he didn’t recognize me as his son, he gave up on me. I don’t care, I have my own life and I don’t need to live according to his will.”

Xiao Ning scoffed, shook his head, his gaze fixed outside the window. He looked exhausted, holding a bag in his arms, his curly long hair embodying his artistic temperament.

“You’re wrong! He loves you profoundly, although in a way you don’t like, he has never given up on you. When you were jailed and didn’t want to see him, on each of your birthdays, he would squat outside the prison smoking alone, regardless of whether it was raining, snowing, from dawn to dusk. You left without saying goodbye after being released from prison, he went to great lengths to search for you, even though he knew some leads were deceitful, he still rushed there without hesitation; do you remember the essay you wrote in middle school — My Dream? In it, you wrote about your most desired life, singing in a bar and playing the violin, you described that beautiful bar in your dream. Inspired by your essay, he built a bar, every brick and tile was installed by him personally. For this, he even fell and fractured his lumbar spine, and was bedridden for a whole month and a half; in these ten years, he’s been calling your name in his dreams, longing to sit down with you, face to face, and chat properly.” Uncle Nong appeared exhausted, his voice hoarse.

Xiao Ning remained silent, staring out the window, clutching the bag tightly in his arms.

“Do you remember this place? The old factory area, which has now been demolished. You and Qiqi lived here when you were children. When the factory closed, everyone was laid off. I started venturing into business with your father, do you know the hardships we went through then? Of course you wouldn’t know, because your father never told you. Let’s not talk about that anymore. After your mother passed away, he never remarried, why? For fear of you being aggrieved! Given his status, would it be difficult for him to remarry? He not only didn’t remarry, he didn’t even have any scandals, why? All to take your sister’s and your feelings into consideration! If he didn’t care about you or you two, he could have 10 or 8 sons, why would he need to wait so eagerly for you to return now? For the child you injured, he sends money over every month, beyond compensation, every Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and the child’s birthday, he personally visits. What is he doing? He’s atoning for you, atoning for you!” Uncle Nong started to cough from getting too emotional.

Xiao Ning took a deep breath, feeling a tightness in his chest, a dull pain. The old factory area was now lined with tall buildings, the buildings of his childhood no longer existed, but some childhood memories were still vivid.

“Daddy, my stomach hurts a lot!”

“Don’t be afraid, daddy is here, we’ll be at the hospital soon.”

When Xiao Ning was five, he had acute appendicitis. He had abdominal pain and a high fever in the middle of the night. Coincidentally that night a typhoon hit, it was stormy and the buses stopped running, there was not a single car on the road. The ambulance might have been obstructed on the road and was still not there. His father wrapped him in a raincoat, held him, and ran to the hospital in the storm.

“Son! There are some things, if you miss them, you will regret it for a lifetime; some things, once lost, will never have a chance to be made up for!”

Uncle Nong handed Xiao Ning a tissue. Wiping away his tears, Xiao Ning continued to stand in silence, gazing out the window.

Uncle Nong’s phone rang, a lump formed in his throat, a wave of dread washed over him.

“Uncle Nong, father’s condition is deteriorating rapidly!” Miss Ning’s voice trembled over the phone.

“Hurry up, Xiao Feng!” Urged Uncle Nong, tears streaming down his face, the Rolls-Royce hurrying through the darkness of the night.

“Your father is deteriorating–” Uncle Nong spoke gravely, incessantly gripping his thigh, gazing out the window.

Xiao Ning sniffled, “Faster–”

—

Suddenly, Mr. Ning started fumbling for something under his pillow. Miss Ning reached in to help him and retrieved a small, exquisitely crafted, copper violin model.

“When you see him, give this to him and tell him that I love him and that he is the best!”

The frail, trembling hand placed the small violin in Miss Ning’s palm.

He then maneuvered himself to a semi-supine position, lay still, and turned his head to one side, towards the door.

Mr. Ning closed his eyes. His voice was barely audible, he muttered:

“Qiqi, leave the door open. You stay, send the doctors out. Thank you, thank you, Doctor Yang, for all your hard work!”

Time silently slipped away, such is life!

After a long while, Mr. Ning let out a sigh. His voice was even softer.

“The boat has arrived, it’s time for me to go, this child–”

“Qiqi, it’s dark outside, go call your brother home–”

His head remained turned towards the door. He fell silent; two streams of tears cascaded down his face.

“Father!”

Miss Ning knelt beside the bed, clenching her father’s hand, which was chillingly cold.

The wave pattern on the cardiac monitor fluctuated wildly, then straightened to a flat line.

—

As the elevator doors opened, Miss Ning’s secretary stepped forward to greet them. Without waiting for her to speak, Uncle Nong dashed in with Xiao Ning. The secretary immediately alerted the security to let them through.

“Hurry! The last room!”

Their footsteps echoed hurriedly. Xiao Ning, burdened with his bag and struggling to catch his breath, followed behind Uncle Nong’s hefty figure who kept urging them forward, pointing towards the last ward.

Reaching the entrance, they found the door open and the room empty save for the cleaning staff inside. He recognized his sister sitting calmly at the bedside.

Xiao Ning walked steadily towards his father’s empty bed and asked blankly:

“Sis! Where’s dad?”

“He’s gone. He asked me to wait for you here!”

She handed over a small copper violin model.

“He has kept this under his pillow for ten years, he asked me to give this back to you!”

“Before he left, he said he loves you, and you are the best!”