Chapter 222: Stroke
Gu Hua’s fingers trembled as he dialed his mother’s number, his heart pounding with worry as he recounted the harrowing events at the police station. Madame Gu’s voice cracked with shock and fear as she listened to her son’s frantic words, her mind reeling with the sudden turn of events.
"Stay calm, Mom," Gu Hua urged, his voice thick with emotion. "We’re on our way to the hospital now. Dad’s in good hands, and we’ll be there with him every step of the way."
Madame Gu’s voice wavered with emotion as she struggled to comprehend the gravity of the situation. "Please, keep me updated, I am on my way" she implored, her words a whispered plea for reassurance in the face of uncertainty.
As the call ended, Gu Hua’s heart ached with the weight of his mother’s fear. He knew that they needed to stay strong for Master Gu, to provide him with the unwavering support he needed in his time of need.
With resolve in his heart, Gu Hua turned his focus back to the road ahead, his mind racing with thoughts of his father’s well-being. Together with Mr. Shi braced himself for the challenges that lay ahead, determined to stand by Master Gu’s side through the storm that threatened to engulf them all.
Gu Hua paced the sterile hospital hallway, frustrated and dreadful as the minutes ticked by with no update from the doctors. His father had been rushed into the emergency room over an hour ago after arriving by ambulance, unconscious and struggling to breathe.
Despite Gu Hua’s incessant pleas for information at the nurse’s station, the harried staff only hurried by, telling him the doctor would speak to him when they could.
At last, he heard the clicking footsteps and raised voices that signaled his mother’s arrival. Madame Gu stormed towards the nurse’s station, face like a thundercloud, and slammed her palm angrily on the counter.
"That is my husband in there!" she snapped at the poor nurse. "Gu Jianxing! I demand to know his condition immediately. It is unacceptable that I have been waiting here with my son for ages and none of you will tell us what is happening!"
The head nurse paled under Madame Gu’s blistering glare. "M-my apologies, Ma’am," she stuttered. "The doctor is still assessing Mr. Gu’s situation. Please have a seat in the waiting area and someone will update you promptly."
Madame Gu looked ready to breathe fire, but Gu Hua hurriedly took her arm, steering her away from the cringing nurse.
"Hopefully we’ll know more soon, Mother," he murmured. Inside though, his gut churned, wondering why the ER staff were so reluctant to brief them. What were they hiding?
Madame Gu’s nostrils flared with barely contained fury, but she allowed Gu Hua to guide her to the waiting area nonetheless. Her heart pounded with worry for her husband, but beneath the fear lurked a simmering anger at the hospital staff’s apparent negligence.
As they settled into the uncomfortable plastic chairs, Gu Hua glanced at his mother’s tense expression and sighed inwardly. He knew she was struggling to keep her composure, just as he was.
"We’ll get through this, Mom," he said softly, reaching out to squeeze her hand reassuringly. "Dad’s a fighter, remember?"
Madame Gu managed a weak smile, her grip tightening around Gu Hua’s hand. "Yes, you’re right," she murmured. "We just have to stay strong for him."
But even as she spoke the words, doubt gnawed at her. What if Master Gu’s condition was more serious than they realized? What if they were already too late? The thought sent a shiver down her spine, and she clung to Gu Hua’s hand, seeking solace in the warmth of his touch.
After two excruciating hours haunting the sterile hospital hallway, Gu Hua finally spotted the doctor exiting the emergency room, looking exhausted. He and Madame Gu rushed over, bombarding the doctor with anxious questions before he could even open his mouth.
The doctor raised a hand wearily, stemming the tide of frantic queries. "Mr. Gu has suffered a serious cerebrovascular stroke," he informed them solemnly. "We were able to stabilize him although his condition remains critical."
Madame Gu reeled as if struck. "A s-stroke?" she whispered. "Will...will he be paralyzed?"
The doctor hesitated before replying gently. "It is too soon to determine the extent of impairment. We are still assessing if there has been permanent damage to his brain tissue and nervous system functionality. He is being moved to the ICU now."
Madame Gu dissolved into frightened sobs while Gu Hua wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders, his own face drained of color. Their indomitable family patriarch had weathered countless storms while building his empire. That a sudden stroke threatened to reduce him to a feeble invalid was unthinkable.
"You must prepare yourselves," the doctor advised quietly. "Your husband and father’s road to recovery will likely be long and difficult...if he recovers at all."
A stunned silence followed his words, the family members clinging to each other in a lonely hospital vigil for their stricken leader, their world upended.
After delivering the devastating news, the doctor relented to allow Gu’s family brief visitation rights as he was situated in the ICU. However the ICU’s strict rules mandated only one visitor at a time for short durations, to prevent disturbing fragile patients.
Madame Gu tightened her grip on Gu Hua’s hand convulsively before looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "You should go first," she rasped, tears still slipping down her wan face. "He would want to see his son and heir right now, not his silly weeping wife."
Gu Hua wanted to argue, but the pleading look in his mother’s eyes silenced any protests. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he followed the doctor towards the looming double doors marking the ICU’s entrance, each step heavy with dread.
The stench of antiseptic hit him first as they walked briskly past machinery beeping and whooshing through the sterile, dim ward. His heart dropped when the doctor paused by a curtained-off corner room, charts in hand - his formidable father reduced to lying behind a flimsy barrier that lent no privacy.
"Only five minutes please," the doctor reminded gently, pulling the curtains aside. Nodding numbly, Gu Hua steeled himself before stepping past the curtains to confront the sight of his once unshakeable sire brought low, looking impossibly small and fragile tangled in the web of hospital tubes and wires.
Gu Hua froze just past the curtain’s edge, the breath stolen from his lungs at the sight of his imposing father looking so reduced and vulnerable amidst the machinery working to keep him alive.
Master Gu’s sturdy frame appeared shrunken against the stark hospital sheets, his skin an ashen gray. Numerous IV lines and monitors surrounded him, the only spots of color in the bleak room. The ruthless magnate’s eyes were closed, his breathing shallow under an oxygen mask. If not for that slow, even puff of air fogging plastic, Gu Hua might have believed him dead.
Blinking fiercely against the sting of tears, Gu Hua crept closer to the bedside, reaching out to gently clasp one of his father’s limp, calloused hands - hands that had casually signed billion-dollar deals now hung limply over starched sheets. At his light touch, Master Gu’s eyes briefly fluttered open, glassy and unseeing until recognition sparked for just a moment. His chapped lips moved soundlessly beneath the oxygen mask but Gu Hua thought he could make out the shape of his name.
That tiny display was Gu Hua’s undoing. A single tear traced down his pale cheek as he clutched his father’s inert hand, the enormity of their leader’s absence crashing down. He may guide his mother and sister through this catastrophe, but the family backbone was broken. Still, Gu Hua stood straight-backed, determined not to show weakness though his soul quailed behind a stoic mask. He must be strong now - for all their sakes.
Gu Hua paced outside the emergency room, his mind a whirlwind of anxiety and frustration. He desperately wanted to know what was happening with his father, but the hospital staff seemed determined to keep them in the dark.
Inside the room, Madame Gu sat beside her husband’s bed, her eyes fixed on his pale, unconscious face. She reached out to gently stroke his hand, her touch tender despite the anger simmering beneath the surface.
"You better wake up," she whispered, her voice tinged with a mix of desperation and resentment. "This is not what I signed up for when I married you."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued to speak, pouring out her frustrations and fears to the man who lay motionless before her. "What am I supposed to do with a legacy falling apart and debts looming over us?" she asked, her voice breaking with emotion.
After a moment of silence, Madame Gu stood up, her expression shifting from anger to profound sadness. She leaned down to press a gentle kiss on her husband’s forehead before turning to leave the room, her heart heavy with worry for her family’s uncertain future.
