Chapter 258 - Doctors Inclinations (1/2)

Commander An let out a breath and said, ”There are two patients here you need to see...The Emperor asked for you to see them.” He swiftly added when Doctor Lou frowned.

As Commander An expected, Doctor Lou's face immediately lit up at the Emperor's mention and he happily went, ”Of course, lead the way~”

Since Madam Chen's current condition was more serious, he took Doctor Lou to see her first. As soon as they entered, Chen You who was sitting on the floor by her mother looked up with bloodshot eyes.

Commander An quickly explained, ”This is a renowned Doctor. The Emperor asked me to bring him...”

Chen You immediately got up and shifted to the side to give Doctor Lou better access. But Doctor Lou just stood where he was at the center of the room, not moving and leisurely scrutinizing the woman on bloodsoaked sheets.

”Doctor, please go ahead and ch-check on her...” Chen You shakily said, thinking that Doctor Lou was waiting for her to give permission.

Doctor Lou glanced at Chen You and then sighed and finally said, ”There is nothing I can do...It is her time. You should pre-”

”What?! You didn't even check her! How can you say that?! What sort of doctor did you bring?!” Chen You barked in annoyance, glaring at Commander An.

Commander An tried to mediate the situation and so he said to Doctor Lou, ”At least check her condition. You won't know until y-”

”I don't need to check, I can already see it. She has always been frail and so her body cannot handle an injury like this. The bleeding will continue which means the wound won't close. Eventually, it will fester and become infected. If she does make it that far then she will die in immense pain...” Chen You became even paler as Doctor Lou went on.

Doctor Lou then sighed, ”If she were a bit stronger perhaps...” Doctor Lou paused and knit his brows.

”Perhaps?” Chen You swiftly asked, seeing hope. All the other doctors who came were useless and completely bleak but he said ”perhaps” so maybe he had something.

When Doctor Lou still did not respond, she fell on her knees and pleaded, ”Please, please. if there's any way, I'll try...wh-whatever it is, I'll give it to you - I a-apologize about just now, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. She's my mother so please save her, whatever you want! Please -”

Doctor Lou raised a hand up and Chen You immediately closed her mouth and looked up at him with teary pleading eyes.

”As I said, her time has come. I can't save her. But I can give something to ease her pain and make her wake her up for you so you can have a few more moments with her...It will only be a few more days at most. That is all I can do.” Doctor Lou said, calmly looking down at Chen You.

”Whatever it is! We'll try. She'll wake up...Thank you!” Chen You said as she kowtowed. All the other doctors had said she won't wake up and that she would expire by the next day, but he said a few days. There was still hope, she would get better.

”I'll have it sent over.” Doctor Lou said and then swiftly turned and left the room, with Commander An promptly followed behind him.

Commander An curiously looked Doctor Lou over with new respect. He was truly skilled to be able to decipher a patient's condition just with a glance.

When they got outside, Doctor Lou suddenly stopped and sighed as he looked up at the sky.

Commander An stopped next to him and asked, ”Is there really nothing that can be done?... The idea of her death weighs heavy on the Emperor's mind.” He said trying to see if mentioning the Emperor's suffering would propel Doctor Lou to be interested in saving the woman.

Doctor Lou squinted at him, ”I already said it is her time...I can't interfere, too troublesome...Where's the next patient? You said there were two.”

”This way...” Commander An said and then went about leading the way as he thought over Doctor Lou's response, ”interfere” was an odd word to use. But in the end, he said the same thing as the other physicians. Nothing could be done for her but at least he offered to ease her pain.

When they got to the prisoner's room, Doctor Lou did the same thing. He simply looked at the man and said that he will be fine and should be awake by the next morning. He also agreed to send over some medication to aid the man's recovery. After that, they had a carriage prepared and some men escorted Doctor Lou.

As soon as he arrived, Doctor Lou seemingly leisurely threw together random herbs without even thinking or looking at them as the guards watched him with skepticism. He quickly packaged the medication, gave the guards instructions, and quickly waved them away. Then promptly sat at his desk and plopped his head down, apparently going to sleep.