Chapter 270: Chapter 270 Muscles Begin to Atrophy

So she just lay there until the sky gradually brightened outside, and Xu Jinzhi couldn’t fall asleep again.

Her insomnia seemed to have worsened.

~

Before they knew it, it was March.

Even though spring had begun, City A was still cold, and there was even a little snow at night, making Xu Jinzhi’s already poor mood even worse.

However, the first day of March brought Xu Jinzhi more than just bad weather to be upset about.

Xu Jinzhi woke up in the morning, enduring a headache from a hangover, and numbly went to wash and change clothes.

Once she was ready, Xu Jinzhi came out of her bedroom and went straight into Xie Yanchuan’s bedroom. Upon entering, she saw several medical staff, all with rather grim expressions.

At that moment, the irritation at the bottom of Xu Jinzhi’s heart completely disappeared, replaced by panic, as if her entire heart had been lifted to the edge of a cliff.

Xu Jinzhi glanced at Xie Yanchuan on the bed, then turned to the doctor, her voice trembling as she asked, “What’s, what’s wrong with him?”

Seeing Xu Jinzhi’s distraught manner, the doctor truly didn’t want to break the harsh news to her. However, he couldn’t keep quiet, as the repercussions of worsening conditions were too great for them to handle.

The doctor said gravely, “Mr. Xie’s calf muscles have begun to atrophy, due to lying in bed for a long period.”

Xu Jinzhi stared blankly at the doctor, struggling to say after opening her mouth several times, “But, but we…”

“Haven’t we been taking care of him?” Xu Jinzhi managed to say with difficulty.

The doctor explained, “Even with care, muscle atrophy is hard to avoid when lying in bed inactive for such a long period.”

Xu Jinzhi suddenly felt short of breath, feeling like she should say something, but at the same time, she didn’t know what would be appropriate to say.

So they just silently looked at each other.

The caretaker dared not look at Xu Jinzhi, as his job was to massage the patient and do some cleaning.

Mr. Xu paid a high salary, but now Mr. Xie’s condition was still deteriorating, and the caretaker felt somewhat regretful, yet helpless.

After a very long time, Xu Jinzhi finally said in a hoarse voice, “I understand.”

The doctor wanted to say that the situation wasn’t actually severe at the moment and that with proper care, it might not worsen. However, seeing the woman’s devastated appearance, he couldn’t bear to say it.

This patient’s condition, after diagnosis by many authoritative experts and the doctor himself, had nearly zero chance of awakening.

Though the calf atrophy was very mild at present, continuing to lie down like this would not lead to improvement.

If that was the case, why offer comfort that could lead to hope, only for her to step by step move toward disappointment or even despair.

Thus, the comforting words the doctor might have said remained unspoken.

When Xu Jinzhi was at work, she was distracted, and even got her hand scalded by boiling water that spilled while she was getting water in the break room.

The moment her hand was scalded, Xu Jinzhi instinctively released it, and the cup fell to the ground. The splashed hot water reached Xu Jinzhi’s leg.

Fortunately, Xu Jinzhi was wearing long pants, so even though the hot water splashed, it didn’t scald her.

But, Xu Jinzhi’s mind had slipped a bit. Upon seeing the shattered glass on the floor, he actually squatted down and reached out to pick up the pieces by hand.

The pantry here was communal, and when an employee came over to get some water, he walked in and saw Xu Jinzhi squatting down picking up the glass shards.

“Mr. Xu!” the male voice shouted, sounding a bit agitated.

Xu Jinzhi subconsciously raised his head to look, and the hand that had picked up the glass shards unconsciously exerted more force. Xu Jinzhi had not even noticed when he had already cut his finger.

The employee saw the blood dripping from Xu Jinzhi’s fingertip and immediately showed panic in his eyes.

“Mr. Xu, you, you!” The man stuttered for a long while, clearly clueless about what he should say next. He was just an intern and truly did not know how to handle such situations.

Worried about escalation, the young man shouted towards the outside: “Assistant Chen!”

In the office.

Assistant Wen was squatting in front of Xu Jinzhi, treating her wound, always seeming aloof, and at that moment her brows were tightly furrowed.

Next to her, Assistant Chen also had his brows tightly knit, adding a hefty dose of tension to the atmosphere in the office.

Only after the wound and the burns were treated did Assistant Wen finally look up at Xu Jinzhi and said in a grave voice, “Try to avoid contact with water until the wound heals.”

“Okay.” Xu Jinzhi nodded in agreement, without any hesitation.

But Xu Jinzhi’s compliant attitude did not satisfy them; instead, they felt she was being rather perfunctory.

Assistant Wen furrowed her brows again. Although their relationship was that of superior and subordinate, years of working together had indeed made it different.

As Assistant Wen was about to say something, the office door opened, and a stern and serious voice came through, “What happened? Where is the injury?”

Xu Zhen had hurried downstairs. He only knew that Xu Jinzhi had been injured but did not know the specifics. Nevertheless, he had rushed over immediately.

Seeing Chairman Xu arrive, Assistant Wen and Assistant Chen sensibly left the office, giving space to the father and daughter.

“What exactly happened? How were you injured?” Xu Zhen came over and looked at Xu Jinzhi with a very serious expression.

Xu Jinzhi had by now regained composure and casually explained, “I just managed to scald my hand when the hot water spilled over accidentally. It’s not a big deal.”

“When have you ever been so careless?” Xu Zhen didn’t believe the situation could be so simple, “Is something else going on?”

Xu Jinzhi shook her head, “Nothing, I was just a bit distracted.”

“Is it because Xie Yanchuan’s condition is not good?” Xu Zhen asked directly.

Xu Jinzhi was momentarily lost for words, looking at Xu Zhen without speaking, which also confirmed Xu Zhen’s suspicion.

Xu Zhen’s expression grew even more serious. After a moment of silence, he continued, “Jinzhi, you don’t just have Xie Yanchuan, you also have me, and you have two children.”

In fact, whether it was Xu Zhen or the Xie Family, they had already begun to accept that Xie Yanchuan might never wake up and could even suddenly stop breathing one day.

But Xu Jinzhi had not accepted it. No matter how indifferent she appeared, Xu Zhen knew she had not accepted it.

She was still waiting for Xie Yanchuan to wake up.

“Xie Yanchuan wouldn’t want to see you like this; he would definitely want you to live well.” Xu Zhen spoke earnestly and with deep emotion.