217 Anxiety (1/2)

Liu Weichen did not sleep well that night.

He could see Ling Ran's face even in his dreams, especially how Ling Ran looked like when he said, ”It doesn't really matter to me.”

As the saying went, ”Chronic illness makes the patient an expert.” As he was a frequenter of the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center, Liu Weichen was familiar with the doctors' attitude towards surgeries and patients.

Relatively speaking, a patient would have a closer relationship with his doctor in-charge in comparison with other doctors. This was especially true for hotshots like him. He could communicate any of his medical needs to Doctor Qu, and Doctor Qu would then raise the request to the center.

There was once when Liu Weichen requested for a ward with the standards of a presidential suite. In the end, the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center went all out renovating a ward into a luxurious suite for him. Even though it was not on par with the presidential suites in the hotels of Las Vegas, it was a large suite with four bedrooms, a balcony, and a kitchen. It was quite decent.

Even though the presidential ward was still around right now, Liu Weichen did not care about it anymore.

When he stayed in the presidential ward a few years ago, it was to recuperate from minor injuries and hide from reporters. For the sake of exposure, the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center cooperated fully with Liu Weichen. Doctor Qu even fulfilled many of his requests, whether they were reasonable or not.

However, a ruptured Achilles tendon would not heal on its own if he just stayed in a presidential ward. No matter how amazing the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center was, they were not able to hire renowned doctors from overseas for his surgery. They were not even able to hire renowned local surgeons. Even though Doctor Qu was still good at consoling and humoring him, said all the right words, and was passionate, patient and meticulous; Liu Weichen was getting more and more impatient.

Liu Weichen wanted his injury to be treated as soon as possible.

This was his only request. As long as it was fulfilled, he no longer cared about how the ward looked like or how the medical staff's attitude was.

If he wanted to be somewhere beautiful, he could just go to the Maldives or Tahiti. And if he wanted to be treated nicely, his fans would be more than happy to indulge him. Aside from that, the media and sponsors would also treat him nicely to get him to work with them.

But what he really wanted was a doctor who could not only treat his injury but also make sure that he was able to compete for another two years without becoming handicapped. Yet in the end, none had shown up.

Even in his dreams, Liu Weichen kept recalling Ling Ran's words.

”Because it doesn't really matter to me!”

”But it matters to me!” Liu Weichen woke up with a start. He sat for a while, and when he was about to go back to sleep, he realized that his pillow was soaked with sweat.

Right then, Liu Weichen could no longer asleep.

He shifted his leg with his hands and tried his best to shift to his wheelchair.

Back when he was healthy, he would not need to use much energy to do this. But today, it broke him out in sweat.

Liu Weichen drew the curtains back. As he gazed at the rosy clouds of dawn, he felt as though his entire being was being sucked into it.

He had already been injured for more than a week. Liu Weichen was already privy to the fact that when it came to Achilles tendon repairs, only ruptures that happened within two weeks were still known as fresh Achilles tendon ruptures. Compared to chronic Achilles tendon ruptures, the success rate of the repair of fresh Achilles tendon ruptures was higher. It was also more effective, and it also had a shorter recovery time.

Even though there was no substantial difference when it came to the results of Achilles tendon repairs performed on tendons that were ruptured within the two-week frame, Liu Weichen did not want to wait until the last day. Besides, there was no definite last day for things like this.

It was definitely better to treat the injury slightly earlier rather than wait until it was too late when there were no choices left at all.

When he was done gazing at the rosy clouds of dawn, Liu Weichen picked up his mobile phone and was about to call someone before he changed his mind and sent a text message instead. [Is there any news from Mayo?]

Mayo Clinic was the top in the world when it came to the field of orthopedics, and was very welcoming to patients from all over the world. No matter how much Liu Weichen trusted Zhu Tongyi and his research center, it was impossible for him to sit there and wait blindly.

In the past week, Liu Weichen had been trying his best to contact specialists and hospitals all over the world through his connections.

However, no one was able to come up with his ideal rehabilitation plan.

Zhu Tongyi, being the one who understood him the most, came up with a plan. But no one was capable of executing that plan.

There was a bitter smile at the corners of Liu Weichen's lips.

Would he need to go with the palliative plan in the end?

The palliative plan meant that he had to recuperate for one year in exchange for an Achilles tendon that might be able to provide him with great athletic abilities for three months or maybe half a year before he had to leave everything to God.

Or he could just recuperate for half a year and possess an Achilles tendon that would allow him to possess great athletic abilities for three months or less, and after that, he had to announce his retirement right on time…

Liu Weichen wanted neither.

He wanted to compete for two more years, or at least for one more year before he even had to consider retirement.

His mind wandered for an indefinite amount of time until a notification rang from his mobile phone. Liu Weichen immediately retrieved his mobile phone. There was a reply to his text message. [None.]

Liu Weichen tightened his grip on his mobile phone. He then sent a WeChat message to his assistant. [Wake up, we're heading to the research center.]

…..

Doctor Qu had an even more restless night. His mood did not become better even after he woke up early to go to his workplace.

The food provided by the center's cafeteria was lackluster. Only the yogurt and milk could stimulate Doctor Qu's appetite. He asked for a bowl of porridge while he was at it and carried his tray to his seat.

”Have you heard about it?” Before Doctor Qu could even put a spoonful of porridge into his mouth, a resident doctor sat down across him with the kind of expression one put on when they possessed secret information.

Doctor Qu slowly tore off the yogurt's plastic packaging and took a sip before asking, ”Heard about what?”

”Ling Ran operated on six patients.”

Doctor Qu furrowed his eyebrows so tightly that they looked like they were sewn together using a thread. ”Achilles tendon repairs?”

”Yes, he was at it all night without stopping at all.”

Before the resident doctor could continue, Doctor Qu pushed his tray aside. He then rose and left.