Heal Me or Let Me Die

Chapter - 13

"Who were you talking to?" Sensing the presence of someone behind him, Chen asked without turning around.

"Aunt Yi called to ask about Gage.", YoNa replied, leaning over the table to see what her husband was doing.

"What has he done now?" He asked with a frown, tilting his head to one side, still in the same posture.

"Aunt said he is not picking up her call so she is asking if he is with us."

Chen gritted his teeth. "This guy!" He felt anger rose in him thinking where his friend could be at now but he didn't dare to show it. Reason, his wife's condition. "Did you call him?"

"He didn't even pick mine up." Her voice is tensed.

Chen wanted to curse his friend but did the opposite because he didn't want his wife to be more worried. "Don't worry, he will call when he sees. Maybe he is really busy to take the call." Saying this he again bent down to write something in his diary.

YoNa nodded, and then she moved closer to look at the table. There was a file with several attachments and a video of a man panting heavily on a laptop. His whole body was not moving as if he was tied to the bed, except his head which was moving violently.

"Chen what are you doing? Who is this?" She picked up the file and started reading the pages.

"That is Xiao Zhan. I am studying his medical history."

"Xiao Zhan?" Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"The patient whose case Yibo asked to study." Chen explained.

"Oh! He is...that patient?" She bent down to get a good look at the man in the video, and felt sorry for the hopeless reflection on the other's face, who seemed soaked with the burden of whatever suffering he was suffering.

"What are you doing?" Her husband grabbed her shoulders and made her stand up straight. He pulled a chair nearby and made her sit on it. She smiled at him heartily but soon after watching the video again, the brightness on her face dimmed.

"He looks....miserable." She sighed at the man's helplessness.

"Broken beyond repair - both physically and mentally! That's what we can say, isn't it?" Chen paused the video on Xiao Zhan's face.

"Hmm.. GeGe was right when he said it reminded him of himself. What worries me now is how much effort it will take to heal this man."

Chen could only shake his head at this.

"You already know that the weight of self-blame is heavy for anyone when they feel guilty for hurting those close to them. Thinking about it without reasoning for long periods of time grew their depression and breaks down to such an extent that they left with no hope of recovery until they decide to fight back against it themselves."

YoNa silently listened to her husband's every word, which made her go back to some faint memories long repressed, which had been shattered to pieces. It was sad to be reminded of them even though they had faded after a long time.

Chen continued, "Worse still is acceptance. It has both effects - positive and negative. It depends on what your reason is for accepting it- for better or for worst. In either case, people have to fight for themselves before they can fight their terror." He stoped for a moment to talk. Then taking a deep look at the paused video, he started to speak again. "What Yibo told us about him and now looking at this video and his reports what I can say is that this man also has his own acceptance and it is in a negative way. What is worrying me is that he has refused to fight back and has lost faith that he can ever recover."