“Yes.” Chen Zhao nodded.
“Bullsh*t.” Anse scoffed. “You know nothing about the patient’s condition.”
Faur was worried too. “Chen, do you really have a solution? Don’t force yourself.”
The first two times that Chen Zhao had come to check on Wate Leeders, he’d been clueless. This was why Faur worried Chen Zhao had purposely said this so he could get out of trouble.
“I came today just to awaken the patient,” Chen Zhao said. “Miss Suma, will you be able to accept it if your father loses a part of his memory?”
“Yes, I can… As long as he can wake up, I don’t care if he can remember me. I want him to wake up, instead of sleeping on the bed like a piece of wood.”
“Miss Suma, he’s lying to you,” Anse tried to convince Suma to be on his side.
“What if I succeed?”
“Then I’ll quit,” Anse Ronan said determinedly.
“Don’t. That’s boring. How about we do something more realistic? If I win, you give me your salary this month. How about that?”
Everyone’s expressions turned strange. You’re such a good doctor. Why do you want someone else’s salary?
“And if you couldn’t do it?”
“I’ll give you however much your salary is.”
“I don’t need your money. I just want you to never step foot inside Chantilly Hospital.”
“Sure.” Chen Zhao shrugged. ‘Can you prepare a room for me? I don’t need a surgery room. Just an absolutely silent room. And…I hope there’s no camera.”
“I’ll allow it,” Tim Waltz said.
…
Wate Leeders was pushed into an ICU room. Faur stood at the door. “Chen, are you sure you don’t need help? Or any machines?”
“No need. Please don’t disturb me before I come out.” With that, Chen Zhao closed the door.
Tim Waltz also wanted to see if Chen Zhao really could awaken someone in a coma.
“Blackie, pull his soul out.”
Blackie pulled out Whit’s soul. The wooden figure appeared before Chen Zhao.
“Blackie, give me a soul fragment.”
Chen Zhao took the fragment that Blackie gave him and started extracting the essence from it. If the soul left the body after it died, it would slowly lose its sense of self and memories.
This was different from souls left in the human world. Those were formed by human will and contained the deepest impressions. These wills greatly affected the soul’s actions. Because of these deep thoughts, their actions would be extreme or radical. This was why most souls left in the human world were known as evil spirits.
Blackie’s soul fragments were from evil spirits. They obviously couldn’t be pieced together like a puzzle to form a complete soul. However, they could be smelted and have their soul essence extracted.
To souls, soul essence was the purest nutrition, especially for damaged souls. The essence could heal their injured parts.
The essence extracted from a dozen soul fragments filled a small bottle. Chen Zhao poured it on Whit’s head and then cast a spell so the essence could quickly fuse into his soul.
Nourished by the soul essence, Whit’s soul suddenly reacted. It was like enjoying something it was addicted to.
“It’s still not fully mended,” Blackie said. “There are some cracks in his soul.”
Only one bottle couldn’t fully heal Whit’s soul. Chen Zhao created another bottle and repeated his actions. Whit’s soul suddenly woke up in shock.
It looked around. “Where am I?”
“Okay, I’ll put it back into his body.” Blackie grabbed Whit’s soul and stuffed it into the body.
“Ah!”
Suma broke through the door and rushed in at once. “Dad!” She looked excitedly at her father on the ground.
“Who are you?” Wate asked, confused.
“Dad, it’s me, Suma.”
“No way. Suma is only eight years old. Who exactly are you? Why are you here?”
Everyone stared at each other. “He lost too many memories,” Chen Zhao said. “All memories after Miss Suma turned eight are gone.”
He turned toward Wate and said, “Sir, you were in a car accident five years ago, causing you to fall into a coma until today. You’re awake now, but you lost a portion of your memories. You and Miss Suma can have a chat now. We’ll go out.”
Anse was lost and in utter disbelief. “This is impossible… How is this possible? No…”
Tim Waltz and Faur were also shocked. Chen Zhao had actually woken up someone who was in a coma for five years. Waking up someone in a vegetative state wasn’t unprecedented, but most of the time, they would be in a coma until death!
Current science couldn’t wake up someone whose brain had stopped running. Of course, a brain that didn’t operate wasn’t the same as being brain dead.
These were two different concepts. The former meant that thoughts had stopped but there were still brain waves.
Braindead in medical terms meant actual death. It was an even more direct standard for determining death than the heart stopping.
Kathiri was in shock too. Mr. Chen’s skills were too powerful. He could even wake up someone in a coma. He was practically the first in the world to purposely and actively wake up someone in a coma.
“Mr. Chen, I apologize for my words earlier,” Anse said.
“I accept your apology, but our bet still holds,” Chen Zhao clarified.
“Of course.” Anse nodded seriously. “Mr. Chen, I hope I can become your student. After witnessing your skills, I realize that I lack too much. I hope that I can—”
“Stop. I don’t have time and don’t plan on taking students either. I’m too busy for my own stuff, let alone teach students.”
“But aren’t you a professor at UCLA?”
“That’s just a title,” Chen Zhao said helplessly. “I’ve only taught one class and that was as a substitute. And halfway through the class, one student’s heart suddenly stopped… Oh, right, it’s Mr. Waltz’s son, Hoffman. Please don’t pressure me.”
“Then can I stay by your side? You don’t need to teach me. I just wish to see you treat your patients.”
“No.” Was this a joke? He was an illegal doctor. Was he going to let this man watch how he collected money?
