I Am Diagnosed as a Medical Titan

Chapter 186: Chapter 138: We Are All Just Mortals (Part 3)

”I’ll go inform the family,” Yang Xu said, turning around.

Jiang He silently followed behind Yang Xu.

Yang Xu stopped him. ”You should stay here this time. I can go by myself.”

Jiang He shook his head. ”It’s okay, sir.”

After a moment of silence, Yang Xu said, ”Alright. This is your first time facing a situation like this. You need to be mentally prepared.”

Out in the hallway.

A short-haired girl in the uniform of a top municipal high school was sitting on a plastic chair. Her mother sat beside her, eyes red and swollen, with a dazed expression.

Seeing Yang Xu walk out, the girl immediately stood up.

She stood there awkwardly, her eyes filled with a mixture of hope and terror.

Yang Xu walked over to the mother and daughter.

The walk of just a few dozen meters felt incredibly difficult.

”The family of Lin Jingfeng?” Yang Xu’s voice was low.

”Yes, we are.” The girl’s voice trembled slightly, but she did her best to remain calm. ”Doctor, my dad... did he pull through?”

Yang Xu took a deep breath. ”I’m sorry. We did everything we could, but the complications from the virus were too severe. His lung function was completely lost. He... didn’t make it.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the middle-aged woman’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.

Jiang He turned his head away, unable to look the girl in the eye.

He expected the girl to break down, to scream, to grab the doctor’s collar and demand to know why, like so many other family members did.

But the girl didn’t.

She stood there stunned for a few seconds, the tears in her eyes finally overflowing.

Then, she did something that broke the hearts of all the medical staff present.

She gave Yang Xu and Jiang He a deep bow.

”Thank you... Thank you, doctors. You worked so hard. I know... you did your best.”

The girl’s voice was broken, yet she stubbornly maintained a maturity that was painful to witness.

After straightening up, she turned, slowly crouched down, and hugged her mother, who was still slumped on the floor.

The moment she crouched down, the girl finally broke.

”Dad...” She buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. ”Dad... didn’t you say you were going to rest after this one last job...”

”I won’t study abroad anymore... I’ll just go to a local university... I’ll listen to you...”

”Please come back... please... I’m begging you...”

The girl’s sobs echoed through the empty hallway.

Every sound was like a knife twisting in Jiang He’s heart.

The mother also hugged her daughter tightly, her body trembling violently.

In that instant...

Jiang He felt it become extremely difficult to breathe.

A heavy wave of self-blame and guilt washed over him.

’If... if he hadn’t used the posterior approach to save Zhou Guanglin’s father; if Zhou Guanglin hadn’t stayed in Yangcheng to continue negotiations out of gratitude; if that Mexican businessman named Mark had left China as originally planned...’

’This storm would never have broken out in Yangcheng at all.’

’This morning, Old Lin would have probably just been eating rice noodle rolls, listening to the radio, and weaving through the city traffic like any other day.’

’It was me. I was the one who flapped the butterfly’s wings of rebirth, triggering this hurricane that’s engulfing the entire city.’

And Old Lin had become the most innocent victim of this hurricane.

The intense guilt and immense exhaustion left Jiang He in agony.

He had thought that since his rebirth, with his advanced knowledge and top-tier skills, he could change every tragedy.

But today, reality had slapped him hard across the face.

He wasn’t a god.

He was just a mortal in a white coat.

In the face of irreversible physical destruction, he was powerless.

”Dr. Jiang.”

A gentle voice interrupted Jiang He’s thoughts.

Chen Jing walked over, holding a clear plastic medical biohazard bag.

The bag had been strictly sterilized with UV light and alcohol.

”These are the patient’s personal effects. Could you please give them to the family...?”

Jiang He took the bag.

Inside was only a worn-out black leather wallet and a set of heavily scuffed car keys.

He walked over to the mother and daughter, who were still crying in each other’s arms, and slowly crouched down.

”These are your father’s belongings. They’ve been disinfected.”

Jiang He fought to control his emotions as he handed the bag over.

The girl lifted her tear-streaked face and, with a trembling hand, accepted the bag.

Her hands shaking, she pulled open the bag’s seal and took out the black leather wallet.

The edges of the wallet were frayed, and there wasn’t much money inside.

In a clear sleeve, there was a photograph.

In the photo, a short-haired girl in a school uniform stood at the entrance of the top municipal high school, smiling at the camera and flashing a peace sign.

Looking at the photo, the girl broke down crying again, pressing the wallet tightly against her chest.

This was the sole motivation for her father’s endless days and nights of driving in this vast city.

The girl in the photo was still smiling so brightly.

But the driver was now stopped on the road forever.

”Dad...”

The girl clutched the wallet tightly, gasping for air.

She tried to find even the faintest trace of her father’s scent.

But there was none.

Other than the smell of disinfectant, there was nothing left at all.