never asked anyone for favors. Even relatives whose children wanted to get into good high schools or professors who wanted an edge in promotions came to her, she was always impartial and refused them...It was already late at night, and she pushed her mother to the hospital emergency room. Unexpectedly, even at this hour, the emergency room was crowded with people. There were patients having a stroke being rushed for emergency treatment, some rolling on the ground in pain from stomachaches, and children convulsing due to high fever, their parents frantically shouting for help. Every patient looked more urgent than Shu Ma's condition. Shu Ma kept coughing and had a high fever that wouldn't go down, occasionally gasping for air. Shu Tinglan was thin-skinned, especially in this environment where every patient was anxious and restless. She couldn't cut the line and could only anxiously wait on the side, glancing at the clock from time to time to see when it would be their turn.

After about an hour, Shu Ma's cough became worse, almost non-stop, as if her airways were spasming. Then her face turned red, and between coughs, she would open her mouth wide and gasp for air.

Shu Tinglan was astonished, she didn't care about her face, nor did she consider the anxiety and anger of other patients. She rushed straight into the doctor's office.

“Doctor, my mom can’t breathe. Please take a look at her.”

Her expression and voice were both panicked. She didn't care about the angry glares from other patients, she pushed her mother's wheelchair to the doctor. Mom was still gasping for air, her face even redder than before, as if she was suffocating.

The doctor, seeing this, also hurriedly stood up and walked towards Shu's mother, asking about her symptoms as he went.

"How long has it been"

"I started coughing yesterday, and tonight I have a fever that won't go down." Shu Tinglan replied hurriedly.

The doctor listened with a stethoscope for just a few seconds before his face turned pale.

"Get to the emergency room, fast."

Then two nurses rushed over, taking the wheelchair from Shu Tinglan's hands. The doctor tossed his stethoscope aside and sprinted toward the emergency room.

Shu Tinglan's mind went blank with a deafening thud, like a boulder crashing down and leaving her legs weak and unable to move. A nurse came over and gave her two papers to sign.

One is a surgical order for cutting the trachea and administering oxygen.

One is a critical illness notice.

Critical illness notice

How could this be

"Sign quickly, the patient needs surgery right away, or there's a risk of losing their life at any moment." The nurse urged.

Shu Tinglan's brain was buzzing, the four words "critical condition notice" like a curse, making her hands tremble uncontrollably. She barely managed to sign her name. Then, she followed the nurse all the way to the operating room.

"No family allowed." The nurse said coldly, shutting the door.

She leaned against the door of the operating room, completely drained of energy. She slapped herself hard, the pain a sharp reminder that this was real. Not a dream. Not a dream. How could her mother suddenly need emergency surgery Yesterday they were laughing and talking in the car.

She only vaguely remembered a few words in the document she just signed, such as influenza, pneumonia, and acute epiglottitis.

Influenza and pneumonia, she knew what those were, but what was acute epiglottitis

She searched online and found that it was an acute throat disease, with a sudden onset and rapid progression. It could block the airway in a short period of time, making patients feel like they were drowning, suffocating, and eventually dying from suffocation. If not treated promptly, it could lead to death at any moment.

How could this be

Mom didn't have any symptoms before.

She didn't know how long she had waited, but finally the lights in the emergency room went out. She rushed over, and the doctor's face wasn't good.

“She's out of immediate danger, but her pneumonia is severe. I recommend you transfer her to a different hospital. Our respiratory department isn't specialized in this area. Please contact another hospital as soon as possible.”

Another blow to her. She was unfamiliar with Hu'an City, so where could she go for a transfer Moreover, it was winter now, the peak season for respiratory diseases, and every hospital was overcrowded.

The first person she thought of asking for help was Zhuo Yu'an. No matter how their relationship ended, or whether she agreed to stop contacting Zhuo Yu'an as Process Zhimin had requested, at this moment, her mother's life was at stake. She had no choice but to put aside all her pride and ask him for help.

After all, they had once loved each other. She believed that Zhu YUAN would not abandon her in her time of need.

"Are you there"

She sent a message on WeChat, but there was a red exclamation mark with a circle in front of the two characters and a short sentence below: "The message has been sent, but it was rejected by the recipient."

He actually blocked her

Her heart ached suddenly, violently. He was too cruel, directly blocking her, not even giving her a chance to send another friend request. Right, he didn't need to keep her contact information anyway. People like him were the most heartless towards those with no connection to them.

She couldn't allow these emotions to control her. She quickly called Lin Zhicun, after all, Fu Shini was from Huai'an and might be able to help her contact the hospital. It felt like grabbing onto a life-saving straw, as long as she could get her mother admitted, she was willing to do anything.

However, Lin Zhiyao's phone remained switched off. Her video calls went unanswered. She didn't have Fu Shenyi's number either. Her heart grew colder with every impersonal voice message she heard.

Never before have I felt so helpless, never before have I so deeply felt the weight of having no money, no power. Life as a human feels as insignificant as an ant, easily crushed by any random event.

The emergency room was a constant flurry of activity, with ambulances coming and going, the anguished cries of worried family members, and the pained groans of patients. Every sound reverberated in her ears.

Mom's single bed was placed in a corner, with tubes inserted all over her body and an oxygen mask on her mouth.

The doctor urged her again.

“You need to be transferred as soon as possible. Your mother has pneumonia caused by influenza, which is highly contagious. We also can't accommodate her in the emergency room.”

Shutinglan looked at her mother lying there, barely breathing. Her heart ached, but she surprisingly calmed down. In this unfamiliar city of Huacan, leaving the hospital easily would put her mother in even greater danger. So she made a quick decision: not to transfer hospitals, but to ask the doctor to help her get admitted to this hospital.

In the face of life and death, everything else – reputation, dignity, self-respect – becomes irrelevant. If you don't help her get admitted to the hospital, she will refuse to leave the emergency room, because at least in the emergency room, there are doctors who can handle any sudden emergencies.

Embarrassed and ashamed, she had never been so brazen. Ignoring the anger of other patients, she pleaded with the doctor to admit her mother to the hospital.

"As I said, our respiratory department isn't a strong suit. Your mother being in our hospital can't guarantee treatment effectiveness." The doctor emphasized again. It wasn't that he was indifferent to her suffering, but her mother had the flu and the hospital had few related wards. Plus, her mother's condition was severe...

Shu Tinglan wasn't that she couldn't understand, she just had no choice. Even though respiratory medicine wasn't her strong suit, it was still a tertiary hospital, how bad could it be

The doctor was at her mercy. Besides, her mother's condition was indeed not suitable for further delay. Leveraging his connections, he helped her get admitted to the hospital.es from Tinglan, but when he was wheeled back to the ward after surgery, the bandage covering his wound was still clearly visible.He was unconscious for so long even under anesthesia, that when he wok...