2 Suicide

Beijing, China (One year ago)

---

'The Ministry of Public Security has announced that they have recently solved a major case of drug trafficking. The handling of the case is believed to be a huge blow to the Italian mafia group, Lupo, famous for...'

He sighed, tearing his attention from the TV hanging on the wall. Sighing again, he leaned forward on the hospital reception desk. It was a slow day at the A&E department today. A granny came in earlier with a sore back and a little kid had sprained his ankle but otherwise, nothing had really happened so far today. Most days, it was so busy he could barely catch his breath, but today just seemed out of the ordinary, almost anticipating something big. But what could really happen at this small hospital tucked away in the corner of a big city?

"Coffee, doctor?" A bright-eyed nurse walked up to him holding 2 cups of steaming black coffee. He handed one to the doctor before drinking the other himself, almost scalding himself in the process. The doctor sighed again. "It's a slow day today, isn't it?"

"Don't jinx it." The nurse warned jokingly before continuing: "You never know, someone could come in later with a ridiculously serious set of injuries and we would be busier than bees." He lightly tapped the wooden panelling on the reception desk twice to ward off the bad luck.

The doctor hummed in reply before going on his rounds, chatting to the granny about the latest 6 pm drama.

"Doctor, doctor!" Another nurse ran up to him, barely catching her breath. "We have a serious patient coming in 5 minutes. She... she..."

"What is it?" He asked impatiently. The nurse inhaled deeply and started recounting the call the reception desk just received. "She attempted suicide by drinking concentrated hydrochloric acid, before pitching herself off the tenth floor of a building. According to the paramedics on sight, she's fractured her skull, torn ligaments in both her legs as well as ruptured one of her lungs. They're saying she won't make it past tonight. Oh my goodness, doctor! What do we do?"

He almost exploded at her lack of professionalism. "Is this your first day on the job?! Whether she survives or not is not for you to worry about. Do your job properly and contact the relevant specialists immediately." The nurse fled off to find them as the doctor turned to the granny, apologised and sped off to receive the patient. He sighed inwardly... It looked like his slow day was gone.

Lying on a stretcher, the girl looked young, about 14 or so. Her injuries made her almost unrecognisable: there was a long gash across her face, and several smaller cuts on her limbs. Two large bloody wounds on her torso and head kept bleeding despite the aid the paramedics had provided, staining her clothes and face, giving her a nightmarish look.

Immediately, the girl was taken into the operating room and after about 6 hours, she finally left. Having been cleaned of blood, her face looked pale and would have been pretty if not for the long line of fairly even stitches extending diagonally across her face. It was only after settling her into a room that the operating team could relax, with many of them heading to the break room. But before they could rest, the hospital director walked in.

"Director He!" One of the nurses stood up, just as a stout middle-aged man walked into the room, following an elderly man dressed in traditional Chinese clothing. Upon seeing them, everyone also stood up and greeted the director, who sighed before asking, "How was the girl's operation?"

A female doctor immediately replied, "It was a successful operation. The-"

"Then why is she still not awake?" The old man rudely interrupted the doctor, almost stamping his foot on the floor indignantly. "Xiao He [1], are you sure your doctors are competent?"

The doctor almost let out her temper and berated the unreasonable old man, but upon hearing him talk to the director with such a condescending tone, she reined it in and decided it would probably not be smart to offend this old man. "Sir, we have just come out of the operating room and the anaesthesia has not worn off. It is perfectly normal for her to still be unconscious at this time."

"Hmph! You better hope she wakes up soon, or don't blame me for shutting down this hospital!" Wang Jingwen then strode out of the break room in anger. Director He sighed again and timidly followed the old man out after telling everyone they had done well. Once he walked out, he was greeted by the sight of elder Wang telling his subordinates to transfer his beloved granddaughter to the best room in the hospital. Letting out another sigh, the director wondered just which god caused the chairman's granddaughter to be sent to his small hospital?

---

"Why has she not woken up yet?!" Elder Wang stormed into the director's office a week later, evidently angered. "Did your doctors not say she would be awake soon?"

The director looked exactly like a deer caught in headlights. "C-Chairman, please allow me to contact the surgeon in charge to clarify further."

The old man paused before venting his anger on the poor director, not even giving him the chance to call the surgeon. Fortunately, the doctor was nearby and had overheard the conversation. Choosing to help the director out, he knocked on the door and politely said, "Director, I was informed that you wanted a report on Miss Wang Zhiyu?"

"Yes, yes. Please come in and explain to Chairman Wang why she has not awoken yet." The director looked at the doctor like he was his saviour and immediately called him in.

"Of course. All her external wounds have been stitched up and the operations have been successful. With some extra monitoring, she should make a full recovery physically within 6 months.

As for scarring, my team and I have done our best with the stitching and the wound should not be too prominent. We will do our utmost best to ensure that it is as faint as possible. Because she hadn't regained consciousness, we were anxious that we had missed perhaps a brain injury, given the fact that her skull fractured, so we sent her for a CT scan.

Her brain does not appear to be dead, but there is significantly less activity than that of a living person. We have consulted with a specialist from the USA, who maintained that the girl is likely choosing to remain in a vegetative state.

The likelihood that she will wake up is higher than that of those who are fully comatose but he also said that this state is psychological, which will be hard to treat as she is unconscious. The most we can do now is to keep the life support running and hope for the best." The doctor spoke quickly and clearly, as though afraid that even the slightest mispronunciation of a word would incite the fury of the old man.

"You're saying there's nothing we can do." The old man said slowly. "You want me to sit here and do nothing as I watch my granddaughter slowly waste her life away in a hospital bed?" His voice rose in anger.

"Chairman, she may still wake up..." Director He tried to appease him.

"When, next month? Next year? Ten years in the future? Do you take me to be an idiot?" Pausing, Wang Jingwen then took out his phone and called his secretary. "Transfer Zhiyu to the family home. She will be staying there until she wakes up. Contact a professional nurse. I want the best for her. Once that's done, look for a specialist, the best in the world."

Ignoring the director and the doctor, he walked out of the office and went to see his granddaughter. His heart ached upon seeing her attached to multiple machines and even knowing that it was proof that she was alive, the periodic beep emitted every second or so irritated him and he even began to long for her ever-irritating whine.

[ Footnotes ]

[1] Xiao means small or little in Chinese and is typically used in front of names of people that are younger than you or to show affection.