Chapter 117: Waking Up  

Jing Yichen staggered, as Grandpa Mu wouldn’t let go of his ears. If some bystander were to witness this, they would doubt that this was the same suave and serious business icon, Jing Yichen. Lee Duo and his team were astonished but pretended to have not seen a thing.

“Grandpa Mu, Ning has not undergone a sex change operation. She is a girl by birth!”

“Oh, a girl! Of course, I knew that. Anyway, I would never expect the Thai doctors to be so skillful. Jing Tianyuan, the old bastard, never even told me that you were married. I’ll make sure to sever all ties with him, henceforth.”

Mu Wensheng kept chatting away with Jing Yichen. He basically just lectured him while Jing Yichen nodded patiently. It was another hour before Mu Qing walked in.

The moment the old man saw his grandson, he gave him a hard pat on the back.

“Little Qing, what have I taught you ? Be calm and stay stable, like a man, understand? What are you in such a hurry for? I am not dead yet and you are already so stressed. Don’t you dare get this anxious when you’re in the operation theatre. Have I made myself clear? Get a hold on your emotions, boy.”

Mu Qing said unhappily, “Stop it, Grandpa. I have told you repeatedly that I do not like it when you hit me, even if its in jest. I guess I’m not as smart as Master Jing because you have hit me so often. I’m sure it has affected my brain. And I just wanted to clarify that I wasn’t anxious, I was just expressing my emotions.”

“How dare you talk back to me?” said Grandpa Mu, and slapped Mu Qing’s back once again.

“What have you learnt in medicine? You didn’t even manage to win a Nobel Prize. You still call me in the middle of the night, in case of a medical emergency. How dare you claim that you are this dumb, because of my beating? Look at Little Chen. He doesn’t have a Nobel Prize to his credit as well, but he has a huge enterprise. And he likes women now! Couldn’t you just learn some good things from him?”

“Little Chen” couldn’t stop massaging his ears because Grandpa Mu had pulled them so hard. He was speechless because he had finally earned some praise from Grandpa Mu.

He took advantage of the time when Mu Qing was being sounded off by the old man, and left their office quickly.

Soon it was morning.

After a dramatic night, full of twists and turns, Shangguan Ning was lying in a sickbed, in the normal ward. An oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth. There was an IV connected to her hand. She was breathing but looked very weak.

Sitting on the chair near her bedside, Jing Yichen took her other hand, into his own. Seeing that she was right next to him and her vitals were improving, made Jing Yichen feel much better. The clouds of impending doom, over his heart, were finally making way for some sunshine.

Her face had lost its colour. Her lips, which used to be pink and moist, had no sheen. The change in her was heartbreaking, but atleast she was alive.

After several bottles of glucose and intravenous supplements, Shangguan Ning had still not woken up. It had been two days and she still lay lifelessly, on the bed.

Jing Yichen stayed by her side, fearing that something would go wrong once again, if he were to leave.

Every time Mu Qing came to check on Shangguan Ning, Jing Yichen would ask him why hadn’t she woken up yet.

He could understand how Jing Yichen felt. For once, Mu Qing didn’t laugh at his predicament. Instead, he empathised with him and pacified him, saying that Shangguan Ning had come so close to losing her life. She was lucky to have survived through this ordeal but it could be another couple of days before she would wake up.

Three days later, Shangguan Ning opened her eyes.

Her head ached and her body was numb and lacked strength.

After being in a daze for a while, she suddenly remembered the chain of events that put her in this condition.

She remembered that Jing Yiran had placed her mother’s ring onto her finger before she had passed out.

Where was the ring? Where was the ring??

She instantly raised her hand to see if the ring was still there. She wouldn’t be surprised if Jing Yiran had taken off the ring after she fell unconscious

The moment Shangguan Ning moved, Jing Yichen, who was resting by her bedside, woke up too.

“Ning!” Jing Yichen was so happy that he shed tears of joy, seeing Shangguan Ning open her eyes. “You are awake, Ning!”

Shangguan Ning stared at him in astonishment. Jing Yichen now had a beard. He hadn’t shaved for days. His clothes were creased, he seemed to have not changed them for days. His eyes looked tired. He obviously hadn’t slept. His voice sounded hoarse and weak.

Shangguan Ning’s heart ached. She asked him. “How long have I been in a coma?”

She was startled by her own voice, the moment she spoke.

Her voice was no louder than a whisper. She sounded terrible. Her throat hurt a lot.

Jing Yichen didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t think her voice was terrible. He thought that it was the sweetest sound in the whole world.

He held on tightly to Shangguan Ning’s hands and said, “You have been in a coma for four days.”

“You have been waiting at my bedside, for four days?”

“Yes, I have been guarding you. I wanted to see you, the moment you opened your eyes. I didn’t want to turn around and then realise that you’ve gone missing once again.”

Tears gushed out of Shangguan Ning’s eyes. She lifted her hand and gently caressed his handsome face. She said pleasantly, “Silly you are. You need to get a good rest, otherwise, who will take care of me, if you become tired and sick.”

Jing Yichen wrapped her hand in his and said, “Baby, you really gave me a fright. I thought that I was going to lose you. Thank you for coming back and for not disappearing from my life!”

Shangguan Ning didn’t know that just four days ago, she had been pronounced clinically dead. She didn’t know that she had been kidnapped by Jing Yiran, from the hospital, right under Jing Yichen’s watchful eyes. She had no idea how much had Jing Yichen suffered, when she was in a coma.

What she did know, was that Jing Yichen loved her from the bottom of his heart and cared for her like nobody else. She could sense how important her well being was, to him.

At this moment, she felt that her life was worth its while and that she would have no regrets, if she were to die at this very moment.

She didn’t care about anything that Tang Yun had said to her. She couldn’t imagine that anyone would love her and care for her, more than Jing Yichen did. He could love no one else, like he loved her and she finally believed that

After some time, Shangguan Ning thought of the ring again. She started to look for it,feeling for it on her bed, but her mother’s ring was nowhere to be found. The only ring she was currently wearing was her own wedding ring.

She tried to get up,but she had no strength left.

“What is it, Ning? What are you looking for?” Jing Yichen asked, seeing her stressed.

“No, I’m alright.Did you happen to see a ring on my finger? Its an old one. A gold band with a small diamond.”

Jing Yichen pulled out a ring from the pocket and gave it to her. “You mean this one?”