Throat

He Zifeng was asked to leave the patient room so that the doctors and nurses can proceed with the procedure. As he stepped further away as he watched from outside the glass window, he felt tears stream down his cheeks as his mouth gaped, but no words were spoken. His parted lips were hidden by the mask he was wearing, which was almost fully soaked by his tears.

He could see the doctors when they pulled out the long tube from her mouth, then immediately replaced with an oxygen mask. He could see them looking back and forth on the monitor then on Chen Kaori.

He Zifeng could see that Chen Kaori remained awake, with wide eyes, as if she was confused and was trying to figure out what was happening.

After a few minutes, some of the doctors and nurses came out of the room. He Zifeng could only see their eyes, but he knew they were smiling and laughing, as they had achieved something.

Left with Chen Kaori in the room were Su Lianghao and the nurse assigned to Chen Kaori in intensive care.

He Zifeng slowly walked towards the glass door and reached out to hold the handle. He could see that Su Lianghao was raising his finger and making Chen Kaori follow it with her gaze. He Zifeng let go of the door handle and stepped away. He watched the examination continue from the distance.

Su Lianghao was ecstatic on Chen Kaori's responses. Her vital signs also became stable after extubation.

"Kaori, you might feel throat discomfort, but can you try to speak?" Su Lianghao asked after checking the movements of her limbs.

Chen Kaori opened her mouth, but the air she breathed out barely produced a sound. She slowly reached out to hold her neck area and frowned.

"Don't be upset...your voice will recover. It was just that the tube has been in for several days. Don't strain your throat." he assured her.

The nurse was reorganizing the materials in the patient room as Su Lianghao talked to the patient.

Chen Kaori slowly tried to pull off the oxygen mask as her face showed that she was uncomfortable.

"You don't like the face mask?" Su Lianghao asked her.

Chen Kaori nodded and continued to pull down the mask.

Su Lianghao ordered the nurse to replace it with a nasal cannula.

Su Lianghao continued to stare at the monitors as Chen Kaori's oxygen support was further decreased.

"Feel better?" Su Lianghao turned back to Chen Kaori to check with her. The monitors were flashing good indicators.

Chen Kaori nodded, still holding her neck area to indicate her throat discomfort.

"Uh...Kaori, do you still remember me?" Su Lianghao's enthusiasm was overflowing.

Chen Kaori flashed a subtle smile and nodded.

Oh! Good, good! I thought you would forget your old classmate! I was checking on you everyday, you know..." Su Lianghao paused, remembering the existence of He Zifeng outside the room. "...uh,but...someone was almost sick worrying about you..."

Su Lianghao glanced at He Zifeng from the glass window then turned back to face Chen Kaori. "Kaori, He Zifeng might act cold, but he was truly worried about you. I even thought that...if you don't wake up soon, he was gonna lose his mind."

After hearing the statement, Chen Kaori furrowed her brows, looking confused. She followed Su Lianghao's glance at the man, but her brows just came closer together.

Su Lianghao chuckled, "You don't believe me?" He turned to the nurse, "Let the patient's relative in."

The nurse obediently called out to He Zifeng so that he would come into the patient's room.