NOVPUB
Chapter 387: Chapter 377 Never Give Up When There’s a Glimmer of Hope
Liu Jianjun was in the hospital room watching his daughter when he heard his wife, who had just left the room, seemed to cry. He hurriedly stood up, gently opened the door, and went out, only to see his second brother-in-law.
Instantly, his eyes filled with tears too. The second brother-in-law was the most capable person among the two families. With his return, perhaps there was hope for his daughter’s salvation.
Li Hongjun also saw his brother-in-law. He lowered his head and patted his older sister’s back, "Sister, let’s not cry for now. How is Jiajia doing? Tell me about it."
Li Xianglian really wanted to have a good cry, but she knew that her daughter was the most important thing right now. So she forcibly wiped her tears, held back her sobs, and, sniffling, recounted the situation.
In truth, there wasn’t much to say. A few days ago, Jiajia had come home from school complaining of discomfort, but Li Xianglian didn’t take it seriously. What’s so urgent about a poor family’s child feeling unwell? She would get over it. But then, not long after dinner that evening, Jiajia threw up. "I even scolded her for wasting food. What was I thinking at that time? A child wouldn’t fake being ill. If she wasn’t sick, would she have thrown up?"
As Li Xianglian spoke, she lost control and cried again. She felt so regretful. Why hadn’t she, as a mother, paid more attention? If she had asked a few more questions, could she have prevented her child from getting worse?
"It’s alright now, it’s not the time for blame. Quickly explain everything to Hongjun clearly," Li Jianjun patted his wife’s shoulder. Their child was suffering, they were both in anguish. These days, seeing his daughter in pain, watching his wife’s remorse, his own heart ached as well.
Li Xianglian wiped her nose and continued speaking.
After the vomiting incident, it still did not raise Li Xianglian’s concern. Later in the night, Jiajia started complaining of being cold. The couple got up upon hearing the noises and discovered she had a fever. They rapidly gave her a tablet of acetaminophen and rubbed alcohol on her. After a while, her fever seemed to subside, and they thought she had recovered. But the fever kept recurring. On the third day, when it was just as bad, the couple finally took it seriously and brought the child to the local clinic. The old doctor there had experience and, upon seeing the child’s condition, urged them to immediately take her to the county hospital. Only then did the couple realize that their daughter’s illness might be serious.
So, both of them hurriedly took their child to the county hospital. After a series of tests, the doctor told them directly that Jiajia had meningitis, and that they had already delayed for too long. Hospitalization was a must for her treatment, and as for her recovery, the doctor could not guarantee anything.
"Meningitis, that could be a deadly disease. How could my Jiajia contract such an illness?" Li Xianglian thought back to the moment the doctor informed them of this, and she nearly fainted on the spot. What to do? Her Jiajia was still so young, not yet grown up, how could she have contracted this disease!
At this time, meningitis was a disease with a very high mortality rate. There were no broad-spectrum antibiotics available here, and treatment depended solely on penicillin injections, which did not have a very high cure rate.
Seeing his wife cry again, Liu Jianjun took over, "We’ve been in the hospital for two days now. The doctor has administered penicillin to Jiajia for these two days, but there’s been no sign of improvement. This morning, the doctor told us that continuing this way is meaningless. There’s a special medicine abroad that might work for Jiajia’s situation; we could try it. If it still doesn’t work, then there’s no need..." He did not finish his sentence.
But Li Hongjun already understood.
"Then let’s do it. If there’s a shred of hope, we can’t give up," Li Hongjun said firmly.
The couple looked at each other upon hearing this and saw hope in each other’s eyes. But then, thinking of how expensive that medicine was, they both fell into despair again.
Li Hongjun noticed the sudden shift from joy to despair on their faces and didn’t understand, so he asked directly, "What’s the problem? Make it clear."
"Hongjun, the medicine is very expensive. Your brother-in-law and I have borrowed from everyone we could, just to collect enough money for Jiajia’s hospital fees. Just today, most of that money has been spent. We truly can’t borrow any more, sob sob..."
Seeing the despair on his older sister’s face, Li Hongjun finally understood why his wife insisted on earning more money. Sometimes, money represents hope, the hope for life.
"How much?"
"The doctor said it’s a foreign medication, one hundred and fifty yuan per dose," Liu Jianjun told Li Hongjun, who now pinned all his hopes on his cousin. He wasn’t afraid to take on debt; as long as he could cure his daughter, he was confident he could work hard afterwards to repay what he owed.
Upon hearing this, Li Hongjun took a deep breath. It was far from cheap, equaling almost three months of his own salary. This kind of expense was not something an ordinary family could afford. He silently felt fortunate for the five hundred yuan his wife had insisted on giving him when he left. Otherwise, he would really be at a loss now.
Seeing Li Hongjun silent for a long time, Liu Jianjun and Li Xianglian instantly lost their spirits, with Li Xianglian even starting to sob with her face covered.
They didn’t wish for Li Hongjun to be unable to provide the money; they only wished they, as parents, didn’t lack the ability to even afford their child’s medical expenses.
"I’ll figure out the money situation. Let’s go find the doctor now and ask if Jiajia can take that medication," Li Hongjun hurried to assure them, taking responsibility for the funds, as he hadn’t realized that his hesitance had given them such a blow.
"Really? Hongjun, you aren’t deceiving your sister, are you?" Li Xianglian’s emotions fluctuated so much that she barely dared to believe it.
"Come on, get up and let’s look for the doctor. When has your brother ever lied to you?" Liu Jianjun said with a choked voice.
"Yeah, yeah, I just can’t believe it... I’m going now," Li Xianglian said amid tears and laughter.
"Let’s go, we’ll all go together." Li Hongjun felt he needed to be there too to be reassured, as the two adults were being a bit unreliable now.
They quickly found the on-duty doctor in the office and mentioned the need for the foreign medication.
The doctor looked through Jiajia’s medical record and then looked up at the three adults in front of him, "You can go ahead with this injection, but I must clarify beforehand that this needle isn’t a miracle cure, so it doesn’t mean that the child will definitely recover after receiving it."
"What do you mean? Didn’t you say that our Jiajia would get better after taking that medication?" Li Xianglian almost collapsed.
"No, big sister, you misunderstood. We said that with the medication, the child’s chance of recovery is much higher than with the current treatment, but it’s not guaranteed that she will definitely get better after the injection. Moreover, your child has already delayed treatment, so no one can predict the outcome after the injection," the doctor conscientiously explained.
"What should we do? What do we do?" Li Xianglian was distraught, repeating only these two words over and over.
Li Hongjun understood what the doctor meant, "Doctor, you mean Jiajia’s condition hasn’t improved after the penicillin injections, right?"
The doctor nodded and measured his words, "Truthfully, for a child in Jiajia’s condition, continuing with penicillin has little to no meaning anymore."
The implication was that there was no potential for curing the child here, and seeking the foreign medication was akin to a last-ditch effort.
"Okay, we understand. Please arrange it for us, get the child the injection as soon as possible, will you?" Li Hongjun made the decision. Even if there was just a glimmer of hope, they had to try; it was a matter of life, and that life was their family.
