The 99th Divorce

The nurse was immediately struck by a deep fear. She gulped and answered hastily, “I’ll look for her right now!”

Then, she scampered away as if she was escaping from him.

Little Yue’er stopped crying. He circled his arms around Shen Luo’an’s neck and asked, “Where’s Mommy, Daddy?”

Shen Luo’an began to panic.

His heart was racing. He felt himself suffocating under the weight of crushing despair.

“Don’t cry, Daddy.” Little Yue’er wiped the tears from his eyes with his tender hands.

Shen Luo’an took a deep breath and consoled his son, “You’re a good boy, Little Yue’er. Daddy will take you to Grandpa’s office first.”

The ward was not far from the Director’s office.

Shen Longyue was surprised to see Shen Luo’an’s reddened eyes. He asked in a concerned tone, “What’s the matter?”

Shen Luo’an tried his best to calm himself down before responding, “Father, please look after Little Yue’er for now. Manting has gone missing.”

Shen Longyue was startled. “What? How could she have gone missing?”

Shen Luo’an’s desperately longed to ask the same question, too.

Yet, no one had the answer.

“All we could do now is to check the surveillance camera footage to identify the point of time at which Manting left the ward. I’ll leave this to you, Father. Meanwhile, I’ll search for her. Even the nurse didn’t notice her disappearance, so she couldn’t have gone far.”

Shen Longyue was well aware of the seriousness of the matter at hand. He nodded and answered firmly, “All right.”

Upon receiving his father’s approval, Shen Luo’an set the child down and bolted out of the office.

Little Yue’er was puzzled. He tilted his head to one side and asked with a quizzical look, “Where is Daddy going, Grandpa?”

Shen Longyue carried the child and answered, “Daddy is off to look for Mommy.”

Then, he made a phone call to the security surveillance room.

–

Shen Luo’an dashed along the corridors, peering into the neighboring wards along the way in hopes of finding Shen Manting.

At the same time, a team of doctors and nurses were also searching high and low for her.

No one noticed that a comatose patient had disappeared without a trace.

How unbelievably ridiculous!

Many of the hospital staff were scurrying along the corridors, frantically looking for the missing patient. Before long, news of the disappearance had spread through the entire hospital.

Close scrutiny of the surveillance camera footage revealed nothing of Shen Manting’s whereabouts.

Shen Luo’an extended his search from the first floor through to the seventh floor, but his efforts were futile.

Shen Luo’an slumped against the wall, feeling utterly helpless.

A chill ran down his back as he started to lose hope. Suddenly, someone shouted, “I found her!”

Shen Luo’an immediately straightened up and started running in the direction of the voice.

“Who? Who did you find?”

“I’ve found the missing comatose patient from ward 139!”

Shen Luo’an hurried over and saw a group of people crowding around the door of a ward from afar.

“Excuse me, make way please!”

Shen Luo’an pushed his way through the crowd.

Finally, he managed to squeeze past the throng of people. Upon entering the ward, he heard a child crying.

The child was wailing with half a loaf of bread in his hand.

He glanced at Shen Luo’an and shifted his gaze to the corner of the room.

A woman with unkempt hair was curled up in the corner.

She appeared pale and frail.

She was clad in a loose-fitting hospital gown. She was hugging her knees, an anxious and panicked look on her face. She tilted her gaze and looked at Shen Luo’an.

That gaze…

The look in her eyes was as innocent and pure as that of a child.

Shen Luo’an recognized her at a glance. The woman was indeed Shen Manting!

After being in a coma for two years, Shen Manting had now become as skinny as a twig.

Yet, the unmistakable look in her eyes remained the same – he would have recognized her even in death!

Tears started welling up in his eyes without him even realizing it.

Shen Luo’an walked over to her and called out to her softly, “Manting…”

“Don’t…” Shen Manting was trembling in fear. She mumbled in a low voice, “Uncle, I didn’t mean to steal food on purpose. I’m sorry, I was wrong. Don’t hit me…”