上海安全生产监督局

Chapter 68

At the entrance of the emergency room, Lu Yanhua sat on a chair, head lowered and unusually silent. Lu Lingchen kept staring in the direction of the emergency room door, while Lu Lingchuan leaned against the cold wall by the emergency room entrance, eyes closed, his emotions unreadable.

Not far away at the corner, Shen Nian stood there, gazing blankly in the direction of the emergency room, waiting in a daze.

Finally, the lights in the emergency room went off, and the door opened. A doctor came out, and the father and sons immediately rushed over.

Lu Yanhua's eyes were red as he hurriedly asked, "Doctor, how is my wife?!"

The doctor took off his mask, his expression not looking too good. "There is no immediate danger to her life at the moment."

"Then why did my wife vomit blood?!"

Earlier when Li Mingshi vomited blood, Lu Yanhua felt like his world was crumbling.

Five years ago, he lost his only daughter. He could not imagine what a fatal blow it would be if anything happened to his wife again.

"This..."

Seeing the grave expression on the doctor's face, Lu Lingchuan said in a solemn voice, "Please speak frankly if there is anything."

The doctor sighed heavily. "Based on my years of experience, this is just a speculation for now. I cannot make arbitrary claims before the accurate results come out. My suggestion is to conduct a full body check-up for the patient first."

"........." The doctor's grave demeanor indicated that the situation was heading in an unfavorable direction.

...........................

Shen Nian left only after seeing Li Mingshi coming out of the emergency room.

She went straight into a public restroom.

Standing in front of the sink, she looked at her own reflection in the mirror.

She looked a bit disheveled, with her elbow scraped from bumping onto the ground while trying to stop someone earlier.

Her peripheral vision caught something, and she glanced sideways to notice an eyebrow razor left on the adjacent sink, probably forgotten by someone who had been doing makeup and the cleaning lady had not yet gotten around to removing it.

Shen Nian picked it up, unfolded the razor, turned on the faucet, and held it under the water stream.

She stared at her left wrist and placed it under the water stream as well.

The blade touched her delicate skin, and with a forceful stroke, a gash quickly appeared, with fresh blood oozing out before being washed away by the water.

Shen Nian kept her hand in the sink, watching impassively as the clear water turned a pale red before draining away...

"Heh..."

She suddenly started laughing, closing her reddened eyes, unable to stop her laughter.

...........................

Following the doctor's advice, the Lu family had Li Mingshi undergo a comprehensive medical examination, and the results came back soon.

In the office, Lu Yanhua sat on a stool next to the doctor, while Lu Lingchuan and Lu Lingchen stood behind Lu Yanhua, the father and sons staring at the doctor.

After reviewing all the test reports, the doctor's expression turned grave as he uttered two words: "Stomach cancer."

Those two short words struck the father and sons like a sledgehammer!

Lu Yanhua's body swayed, nearly falling off the chair, but Lu Lingchuan managed to steady him in time.

"How is that possible!" Lu Lingchen widened his eyes, refusing to believe the doctor's words. "How could my mom have stomach cancer?!"

His lips quivered as he said the word "cancer."

"The test results are here. I have no reason to lie to you."

"Most early-stage cancer patients are asymptomatic, with only a few experiencing mild discomfort like bloating, indigestion, and so on. During the progression stage, stomach cancer may cause abdominal pain and weight loss. In the late stage, patients may also experience anemia, loss of appetite, and emaciation."

"......" Over the years, Li Mingshi had become much thinner, but they had always thought it was due to the severe grief from losing Lu Lingrui, never imagining it could be cancer...

Lu Lingchen felt like his body had turned soft, standing there in a daze, still unwilling to accept the reality.

He had heard his medical student friends mention stomach cancer before, saying that globally, stomach cancer ranks second in terms of cancer incidence and third in terms of mortality rate.

...Lu Lingchen dared not think any further.

Keeping his emotions in check, Lu Lingchuan calmly asked the doctor, "So my mother's vomiting blood was also due to the stomach cancer?"

"Yes." The doctor nodded. "The gastric mucosa is affected by the tumor, becoming thin and fragile, so it cannot withstand any irritation. If irritated, localized blood vessel ruptures can occur, leading to vomiting blood."

Sensing the heavy atmosphere, the doctor quickly added, "The relatively good news at the moment is that it was discovered relatively early, and the cancer has not yet progressed to the middle or late stages, which means there is still a good chance of a cure."

"No one wants to encounter such a situation, but since it has happened, you, as the patient's closest ones, cannot wallow in despair. You should stand by her side and encourage her to overcome the disease. The disease itself is not that formidable; the most important thing is the right mindset. I once encountered a patient whom we determined would not live beyond six months, but he maintained a positive attitude, and I witnessed him persevere year after year with my own eyes. So when faced with problems, do not let your mindset crumble."

"Yes... yes..." Lu Yanhua had never looked so haggard and disheveled before.

At this moment, he was like a soulless child, muttering repeatedly, "It will be fine, it will be fine..."

He and Mingshi had been together for 27 years, but it wasn't enough. How could she be so cruel as to let go of his hand and leave him?

"So currently, the most pressing issue is adjusting the patient's mindset."

"Based on my observation, the patient's mental state is quite poor."

The doctor dropped another bombshell.

He took out the brain CT scan results from the various test reports. "This is the patient's brain CT scan result. Depression can severely impair memory function and cause brain dysfunction. According to the feedback from the results, the patient's depression is quite severe. If her mental state is not stabilized promptly, even without stomach cancer, depression alone could drive her to take extreme measures."

"..........."

Another massive bomb exploded in front of them, leaving them battered and wounded.

In truth, the heavens have always been unfair – the fortunate become even luckier, while the unfortunate grow increasingly unlucky.

................................

Li Mingshi lay unconscious on the hospital bed, her complexion pale.

The sickroom was utterly silent.

They had arranged the highest level of VIP sickroom for Li Mingshi, which, apart from the bedroom, also had a living room, dining room, and kitchen, fully equipped.

Lu Lingchuan stood by the window in the living room, chain-smoking one cigarette after another, quickly littering the floor with cigarette butts.

He lowered his head, brushing aside the stray strands of hair from his forehead, his face full of worry.

Lu Yanhua sat by the bedside in the bedroom, tightly gripping Li Mingshi's hand that was not hooked up to an IV drip.

So thin, too thin.

He could feel her protruding bones.

Suddenly, he recalled the first time he saw her over twenty years ago.

Back then, when she was still a young girl, she stood amidst a sunflower field, her smile captivating his gaze.

He approached her and struck up a conversation, and she blushed.