Chapter 683: The Transplant Was a Success
Right then, all eyes had been focused on Leah. Only Timothy had noticed a figure hiding around the corner. He knew Mary still refused to see him. She was here to visit Leah but also still avoiding him.
"Eh? Where is she?" Mark was afraid that everyone would think he was lying and so he quickly explained, "It really was your grandma who brought me here. I had gone to Leah’s house to look for her. But I couldn’t go in. Then I met your grandma at the gate. She knew that I had gone there to see Leah, so she brought me to the hospital."
"Then why don’t I see Grandma?" Leah sounded a little disappointed.
Wendy reached over and placed her hand on Leah’s head. "Grandma probably has something she has to do," she told Leah gently. "Grandma loves you very much."
"Hm," Leah nodded her head meekly.
"Leah, what sickness do you have? Is it serious?" Mark looked at Leah’s pale ashen face, his voice filled with worry.
"It’s nothing serious. I just need to go for a small operation." Leah smiled at him.
"Don’t worry. Once I’m well, I’ll contact you again and we’ll play together."
On other days, Jake would have scolded Leah for saying that. He had never liked the idea of Leah getting too close with Mark. But now, Jake’s only prayer was for Leah to get well. As long as Leah’s transplant was a success, Jake had no other wish.
Mark nodded his head gravely. Then he took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket and handed it to Leah. "This is your favorite chocolate. I brought one along with me from home. When you’re all better, I’ll bring you chocolates every day."
"Thank you, Mark." Leah took the chocolate from his hand and held it tightly.
Paul pushed up his glasses. "You can’t eat chocolate before the operation, Leah. Let your daddy and mummy keep it safe for you. You may have it after the operation, ok?"
"I’m not going to eat it, so may I hold on to it?" She asked Paul earnestly as she blinked her large eyes.
Paul hesitated for a while and then nodded. "Ok, you may hold on to it." Later on, Leah would be placed under anesthesia. Once she went under, she would not be conscious. If she wanted to bring the chocolate along, that was fine with Paul. "If there is nothing else, we’re going to go to the operating room now," said Paul.
Mark gathered all his courage and pulled Leah’s hand tentatively. "I don’t know what sickness you have," he said. "But I will wait here for you."
"Thank you, Mark," said Leah.
Then Leah looked at Wendy and all the others and waved. "Daddy, Mummy, Great-grandmother, Jake, Zess, Aunt Jill, Aunt Isabel, Mr. York, I’m going into the operating room now. Don’t worry too much."
All those who had gathered around Leah took a few steps back and waved back at her. Everyone was praying in their hearts for the transplant to be a success. Leah’s gurney was wheeled into the operating room. Following after her, on another gurney, was Timothy.
Wendy looked over at Timothy and saw nobody was with him. She bit her lip. In the end, she walked over to his side. Wendy did not say anything. All she did was raise her hand and wave at him. Timothy blinked several times. His eyes felt a little teary as he waved back at Wendy.
At that moment, Jill was still rooted where she stood. She moved her hand slightly. It was down by her side, out of Timothy’s sight. The action seemed like she was waving at Timothy, but at the same time, it also seemed like a random movement.
...
Wendy and all the others who were there to see Leah continued walking on toward the operating room. They watched until both Leah and Timothy had been wheeled into the operating room and the doors slowly closed. Wendy saw the red light come on and took a very deep breath.
Michael walked over to Wendy. He placed his arm around her shoulders. "Leah will be fine, don’t worry," he comforted her.
"Hm, she will be fine," Wendy said, nodding her head with conviction.
Then Wendy saw Mrs. Lucas standing by the side, leaning on her walking stick.
"Grandmother, why don’t you go home first? The transplant will take a few hours.
I’m afraid your body won’t be able to bear it if you waited here the whole time," she said.
Mrs. Lucas waved her hand and said resolutely, "I can take it. Don’t worry about me.
My old bones are still strong." How could she bear to go home at such a time?
"Then you should sit down," said Wendy. She went over to help Mrs. Lucas sit on the chair along the corridor. When Wendy looked up, she saw Mary pass by in front of her. "Mom," Wendy remained standing in the same spot.
"Has Leah gone in already?" Mary asked.
"Yes, the operation has started," replied Wendy. "It should take about four to five hours."
"I’ll wait here with you then," said Mary.
"Alright," Wendy naturally agreed.
Jake’s eyes then focused on Mark. Mark’s eyes met with Jake’s and Mark subconsciously took a step back to put some distance between them. Jake looked like he had something to say, but in the end, he did not say anything.
The group of them were waiting nervously and anxiously outside the operating room.
Time ticked by. Second by second. It felt like an eternity to them. Soon it was already noon, but there was no news from the operating room.
Zess had gone to buy lunch for everyone and was handing them out. "Come, let’s eat a little. Even if you don’t have an appetite, we should all eat some." Wendy took the sandwich but she was not hungry.
Michael saw her put the sandwich aside. "You should eat some," he said gently.
"Plus you’re pregnant. Even if you don’t feel like eating, the little baby wants to eat."
Michael proceeded to pull out his sandwich, broke off a bite-sized piece, and placed it in front of Wendy’s mouth. She did not feel like eating at all, but since the sandwich was already right in front of her mouth, she ate it anyway. So Michael continued to feed her bit by bit so that Wendy had some food. But he didn’t force her to eat too much. He knew that Wendy was not in the mood to eat much.
The longer one waited, the harder it got. Finally, at 2:07 in the afternoon, the light above the operating room was switched off. Everyone outside the operating room immediately stood up and crowded in front of the door.
The operating room door opened and Paul walked out. Wendy and Michael rushed to him and asked in unison, "How is Leah?"
Paul removed his mask, revealing a wide smile. It was obvious what he was going to say next. "The transplant was a success," Paul said with a smile.
"That’s great!" Wendy was so touched by the news that she started crying. She turned and hugged Michael. She was so emotional that she started rambling, "It’s a success. It’s a success. Did you hear that? It’s a success, Michael..."
"I heard it, the transplant was a success." Michael lowered his head and kissed Wendy on the forehead. His heart was also beating faster from the excitement.
Mrs. Lucas walked over with her walking stick. Her face was also covered in tears.
She and Mary looked at each other and both saw the joy in the other’s eyes.
...
Everyone who was waiting outside the operating theatre was overjoyed. Soon, Leah exited the operating theatre on a trolley bed. Everyone crowded around the bed to see her. She was still unconscious and her eyes were closed.
"When will Leah wake up?" asked Wendy.
"The anesthesia has yet to wear off. She’ll probably wake up in two hours or so."
Paul then glanced at Timothy Woods, who was being pushed out after Leah, and continued, "As for Mr. Woods, he will probably regain consciousness earlier, maybe in about an hour."
"Thank you, thank you very much." Wendy gave Paul a grateful bow.
Paul quickly replied, "Miss Swift, it’s my job, no need to thank me."
Mary smiled as she looked at Leah. However, her smile slowly faded as when her gaze settled upon Timothy on the other bed. Wendy noticed her mother’s expression. She knew Mary did not wish to see Timothy.
She intentionally slowed down and fell into step with Milo. Quietly, she asked, "Mr.
Lawrence, could you please arrange for Timothy’s room to be further away from Leah’s?"
To facilitate today’s operation, the hospital had arranged for Timothy’s room to be next to Leah’s the day before. Mary was not around then, and the proximity of Timothy’s room had not bothered Wendy. Now that Mary was here, Wendy had to be considerate towards her mother’s feelings.
"Okay." Milo nodded.
The two trolley beds soon went their separate ways. Mary watched as Timothy was pushed into a room far away and sighed in relief. She followed Leah’s bed to her ward.
Leah lay quietly on the bed, her little figure still and her arm attached to a drip. Her small arm was all bruised by the drip needle and Wendy’s heart ached as she looked at her daughter.
Mark saw that the chocolate in Leah’s hand was gone and frowned. He turned and quietly left the room. Everyone else’s attention was on Leah and no one noticed there was one less person in the room.
After a while, Mary looked around and realized Mark was gone. Anxiously, she asked, "Did anyone see Leah’s classmate? Where did he go?" Mary had brought Mark along with them when they came to the hospital. What would she tell the boy’s parents if she lost him?
Mary’s exclamation alerted everyone to the fact that Mark was missing from the room.
"Go look around for him," Michael immediately instructed Mr. York. Mr. York nodded and left the room straight away.
Mark returned on his own after a while though.
"Mark, where did you go?" asked Wendy worriedly.
Wendy had a good impression of Mark. She had heard that he was a smart boy whose results were second only to Jake. When she had met him outside the school previously, he had been very polite too.
Mark had a bar of chocolate in his hand. He went to Leah’s bedside and stood on tiptoe, then stuffed the bar of chocolate into one of her hands.
Blinking innocently, he said, "Leah’s chocolate is missing, and I only brought one with me, so I went to get her a new bar. I thought she might be upset if she woke upto find her chocolate gone."
No one expected that the reason Mark had left was to get Leah another bar of chocolate. He was so young, yet so thoughtful.
"I’m sorry, I made all of you worry." Mark lowered his head apologetically.
He had wanted to leave quietly and return before they noticed. He didn’t want to disturb their time with Leah.
"It’s okay." Wendy leaned down to pat his head tenderly. "Leah will be so happy to see the chocolate when she wakes up."
