Ch187 - Leave a Message (iii)

To avoid alerting Southcross Law Firm, Fitz didn’t stay at the lab for long.

“Let me know when the dean gets better.” She patted Gu Yan, telling him before hastily leaving Spring Ivy. 

Fitz punctually entered the office, punctually clocked in, but never received any updates from Gu Yan.

Nothing in the morning; she reassured herself by saying—Maybe the situation has already turned for the better. Gu Yan only forgot to inform her out of sheer happiness.

Nothing in the morning; she pepped herself up again with the thought that—Maybe the doctor is the more conservative sort, not daring to give a guarantee though the situation has turned, even saying stuff to scare Gu Yan a bit, which is why he’s waiting for Yan Suizhi’s condition to stabilise first.

It was the afternoon. Her smart device was still silent. And at last she was unable to contain her agitation. 

-Gu? How’s the dean doing?

She couldn’t resist sending Gu Yan a message.

Yet there was no response.

Still, her smart device quietly circled her wrist like an exquisite piece of jewellery.

Fitz’s imagination started to spiral, the fright induced by her own thoughts causing her to break out in discomfiting chills.

Any one of her colleagues could see that her complexion was terrible. Even the senior manager, Adams, who had come to retrieve some documents from her, couldn’t help but pat her shoulder, asking in concern, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Fitz raised her head and looked at him. Besides Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi, she was the closest to Adams in the law firm.

That was the way people were. When alone, one’s tenacity was like a bottomless gulf capable of devouring any amount of emotion. But the moment a loved one or friend cast a look over, all of a sudden, the floodgates would open. 

Fitz feebly shook her head, then suddenly slumped over the table.

Adams got a shock. “Is it that uncomfortable? Are you ill? Do you need me to get medicine for you?”

Fitz shook her head without even looking up.

Adams was at his wits’ end. “But lying here won’t do you any good. Do you want to get it checked out at the hospital?” 

And this reminded Fitz.

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Fitz stared at him, considering it for a few seconds with her lips pursed. She nodded, saying, “Alright…” Then, she picked up her bag, scanned her iris, and disappeared like the wind.

And so the ‘I happen to have a pocket of time now, would you like me to accompany you?’ died in Adams’ throat.

He looked to the heavens, standing speechless for five minutes in the admin office, then rapped a knuckle against his temple in vexation. He told the other assistants, “I believe Fitz forgot to write a slip when she left. Help her do one up. If a partner comes in later, tell them that she’s sick and has gone to the hospital.”

It felt almost uncanny to return to Lin Yuan’s lab.

The people within the glass room were still hectic while Gu Yan was still standing motionless outside; the scene a carbon copy of how she had left it in the morning.

It was as though she had only made a brief trip out and came back, when in actuality it had been more than seven hours since.

She initially wanted to question Gu Yan about the lack of replies to her message, but there was no need to ask this now. 

Let alone reply, despite the five minutes that she had been standing in the lab, Gu Yan failed to even register that there was now an additional person next to him.

The situation was much worse than she expected.

This emergency operation lasted until the twilight outside dimmed and the lights around the hospital premises were back on, only concluding as the deep night crept in again.

On the machine’s projected screen, all the red alerts had disappeared, but the basic data representing the vital signs did not return to the standard mild blue. 

Lin Yuan motioned to the researchers, instructing in a muffled voice through the respirator hood, “The private patient ward upstairs is unoccupied, right? Move him over. Ready a four-hour aseptic hood, an oxygen mask, and infusion pump no. 3. Connect him to an alert system and automatic updates every 24 hours, and sync his real-time data to the machines here.”

As the ward upstairs was specially designed to supplement this lab, there was a lift leading directly to it from inside the lab.

The researchers immediately started preparations as directed.

They swiftly changed Yan Suizhi’s bed, which came with a decontaminating hood, like a glass vessel. The man who lay silent in it appeared exceptionally sickly. 

In no time, Yan Suizhi was pushed into the internal conveyor lift that was similarly transparent, escorted by several researchers upstairs.

Fitz watched wide-eyed as Gu Yan took a step forward, only to be blocked by icy cold glass.

He was momentarily stunned, as though startling from some heavy and suppressed emotion.

From her perspective, she could see Gu Yan’s deeply etched side profile. His lowered gaze gradually rose with the rising of the aseptic bed. 

It was only when the hospital bed vanished completely into the upper level, out of sight, that he blinked.

It was a soft, muted action. Yet inexplicably, upon seeing it, Fitz could feel his distress.

As a friend, her heart clenched.

Lin Yuan tapped the keys of the analyser and looked up, checking the display, before striding out. 

“How is he doing?”

Gu Yan had stubbornly stood outside the glass room for twenty hours. Now, when he suddenly spoke, his voice was hoarse, and his heavy fatigue was palpable.

Nonplussed, Lin Yuan checked around, then pointed at the waiting area, saying, “There are lounges where you can rest over there. You weren’t standing here all this while, were you?”

Despite his surprise, he himself had busied about for twenty hours and was also in poor shape. His voice was even hoarser than Gu Yan’s, as he had to talk non-stop, directing the surgery. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Gu Yan didn’t even spare those soft chairs a look, glossing over the long wait.

Lin Yuan patted him on the shoulder. “Considering the circumstances, I won’t feed you the ‘there’s good news and there’s bad news’ crap. You probably won’t want to hear the diplomatic nonsense.”

When Fitz heard that there was still ‘bad news’, her heart dropped.

She peeked at Gu Yan, but found that his shoulders were still squared and his voice deep. “Tell me.” 

“When he was brought in yesterday, I had two conjectures in mind.” Lin Yuan said, “The better one is that the genetic modifications had expired; that this is just a more intense backlash than normal before his original appearance is restored. The worse one is that… the ticking time bomb has finally exploded. That the various hidden pathological responses of that gene segment have started to manifest.”

Lin Yuan looked at the two fingers he raised, and he hesitated for a beat. Then, he bent them down. “Now, his situation is… both colliding together.”

“…What responses will this collision cause?”

“You understand, there’s been interference to the effective period of the genetic modification surgeries.” Lin Yuan crossed the two fingers. “I’ll put it this way. Normally, the transition when the modifications expire takes place over a few hour to half-day period. He will experience fever, headache, shock, and other such responses. But after that, he’ll be fine. Now, this transition period is being continually disrupted by that gene segment, causing it to randomly shorten or lengthen.” 

A moment passed before Lin Yuan carried on, “This means that the length of the transition period cannot be predicted. It’s possible that it’ll only take a short while for his original appearance to be restored. It’s also possible that… the transition period will extend for as long as the gene segment exists, until the inference is gone.”

It was but a description, yet Fitz already found it hard to take.

She involuntarily asked, “If… I’m saying if, it turns out to be the second case. How long will it take to remove the gene segment?”

Lin Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s what we’ve been pulling extra hours to find out. While it isn’t slow-going, we’re now stuck at a bottleneck. Depending on the results of the simulated trials tonight, if it succeeds, it can soon be made ready for clinical use. But… if it fails, we’ll have to find an alternative method. So, I’m really sorry, but it might take time.” 

Fitz hastily asked, “Then are there any medicines that can alleviate these responses? Painkillers or stuff like that that can ease the dean’s condition?”

Lin Yuan shook his head. He studied Gu Yan’s expression, and it took him some effect to speak. “That brings us to another problem…”

Noticing his expression, Gu Yan seemed to get an ominous premonition, and the hands resting by his side clenched. “What is the problem?”

“Didn’t I say just now that the dean’s condition is caused by the collision of two factors? The pathological responses to the gene segment will manifest in him.” Lin Yuan wavered, setting his jaw. “You know what the Manson brothers have been trying to achieve. So, even the immature product from their early research is bound to contain some characteristics. Like… he might develop an excessive craving for certain drugs.” 

This was probably the mildest way that Lin Yuan could think of putting it.

Even Fitz, who had recently learned of the inside story, understood what he was getting at.

But Gu Yan’s complexion instantly changed.

Lin Yuan said at once, “Don’t be like this, don’t panic yet.” 

Despite saying so, even he himself felt powerless. But the sight of Gu Yan’s expression drew forth an impulse to make a promise—even if the words rang somewhat hollow.

Or else, the guilt would consume him.

He looked Gu Yan in the eye. “I assure you that for every day that the dean hasn’t recovered, I will not step out of the lab. I will do my utmost to treat him. Just like before, he will smile and chat with me, and then walk out of here.”