Ultimate Goddess System 8 1.1.8: Her Grandmother's Condition

"Why did she faint? Is there anything I should be worried about?" Xiao Yunhua guy's feeling told her that whatever her grandmother had, it was serious.

And her guess was correct when Qiang Yue's sympathetic face turned serious and solemn. He deeply sighed and murmured, "I can't make a.s.sumptions, but from our medical records and her symptoms, there are a few reasons. She'll have to see a specialist before any further notice."

"What kind of specialist?"

"A hematologist; someone who specializes in blood and such." He explained. Xiao Yunhua could feel another headache when he said.

"What do you think she has?"

Qiang Yue eyes filled with even more before he finally admitted, "Her symptoms are very similar to those with leukemia."

When she heard him utter his last word, all returning color quickly drained away from her face. Xiao Yunhua ignored her headache and instead, her heart clenched with an unrecognizable pain. She felt her cheeks turning wet as her red eyes continued to cry for what seemed to be nonstop.

"Hey..." Qiang Yue had seen a lot of patients or patients' relatives crying, but it was the first time he truly felt sympathy for one of them. Sure, he did feel bad and tried to break the news to them gently, but this young girl here looked truly heartbroken and hurt. He hadn't encountered such a person in so long, the last time was when Zhou Yaoyao, the daughter of Zhou Hua, pretended to be heartbroken when he rejected her.

Thinking about the spoiled girl, he couldn't help but internally chuckle. She had wanted to marry him ever since she first saw him, which was a few years ago. He did not see her as anything more than the young miss of the Zhou family that his father served, but to her, she interpreted it much differently. After the last scandal, Zhou Hua had sent away the girl to a school abroad where she would not cause any more trouble.

But according to the time, she would probably be back in a few months. Qiang Yue hoped that she was stabilized and didn't hold onto anymore delusions. Her tears when he rejected her were only her act of getting him to change his mind, meanwhile the girl here, actually was crying.

Since he told her such awful news, he a.s.sumed that she wasn't pretending like Zhou Yaoyao.

Qiang Yue was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw that she was bawling at this point. She felt murmuring words that sounded like everything is falling apart and she no longer had anything left. Her eyes were dull yet tears continued to pour down her face.

Qiang Yue could only use one hand to pat her head in a comforting way. When they tried to find out who she was, her file indicated that she had no other family other than her grandmother. She was even brought from a rural area to the city as an orphan; both her parents dead, leaving a frail, old woman to take care of her.

When Xiao Yunhua felt his hand on her head, she froze. Her dull eyes turned to the handsome doctor in confusion, but she didn't say anything. Her silence indicated that she didn't care nor have the energy to tell him to stop. Even though she didn't like others touching her, the doctor's hand was gentle and she didn't mind that much.

"Don't worry, it's just my a.s.sumption. Your grandmother will be fine." He hesitantly said. Even though he said such words, she was positive that he wouldn't have made such an a.s.sumption if the symptoms were not serious. But throughout all these years, her grandmother was fine and didn't show a single sign of discomfort.

But has Han Mi been silently suffering?

Has she, Xiao Yunhua, been too absorbed in her route of becoming so-called perfection? Becoming a G.o.ddess? Suddenly, a memory played in her head automatically. The memory was about the first year that her grandmother adopted her.

Xiao Yunhua, at that point, didn't feel really comfortable or uncomfortable with Han Mi, but either way, she appreciated that the old woman was starting to take care of her. Even after one year, she had yet to lose the body fat that the previous Xiao Yunhua had acc.u.mulated, so her situation wasn't looking too bright.

In fact, she was starting to look like her previous life; a complete loser. The desire to become beautiful ate away inside her heart every day and staring at the mirror didn't help, either.

This particular memory, her younger self was running, nonstop. She was breathless and completely sweaty, but she didn't stop. Her breathing was coming out in huffs and her face was red, but she didn't stop. Her body ached, but she didn't stop.

Finally, she tripped and fell. Her ankle immediately became swollen and her eyes unintentionally filled with tears from the pain.

"It hurts." Xiao Yunhua unintentionally whined. "It really hurts."

"Yunhua?" A voice startled her as she subconsciously looked up. A kind, wrinkled face appeared before her, surprising her. The face belonged to Han Mi, the woman that she had somewhat avoided due to her awkwardness of interacting with people, a trait that she inherited from her previous life.

"Are you alright?" Han Mi asked with concern, her arms immediately attempting to help the nine year old up.

Xiao Yunhua shook her head and mumbled, embarra.s.sedly, "I fell."

"Aiya, you little girl." Han Mi sighed as she hunched down, her back in front of the young Xiao Yunhua. "Get on."

"Get on?" Xiao Yunhua didn't understand what Han Mi meant until the old woman explained that she would give her a piggyback ride.

"No way!" Xiao Yunhua would never want for an old woman to be bothered like this. Han Mi was frail enough to fall by the slightest howl of wind nonetheless pick her up! Her pride didn't matter with the old woman as Han Mi continued to be stubborn and immediately told her to get on.

"But... Grandmother..." Han Mi's eyes glistened in happiness. Xiao Yunhua was confused until she heard Han Mi mutter, "She finally, genuinely, called me grandmother."

Xiao Yunhua didn't understand why calling this stranger in such a familiar way made her happy. In fact, she didn't understand why this stranger even bothered with her.

But even after trying to reason with Han Mi that it was bad for an elderly to do such a thing, Xiao Yunhua could not persuade her. Han Mi was determined to give her granddaughter a piggyback ride because of her painful ankle.

So with reluctance, Xiao Yunhua agreed. But on her way to their little home, a warm feeling spread in her chest. Despite being mentally nineteen years old, she couldn't help but be happy that someone cared for this much.

So even though she had originally planned on keeping a distance with the old woman despite her adoption, she found herself slowly opening up to her. She, Xiao Yunhua, began to slowly grow to love the old woman more than she expected. In fact, Han Mi was more of a parental figure than anyone in both her lives. Han Mi was the only figure who cared about her.

In the past eight years, Xiao Yunhua allowed her affection for the old woman to grown until she genuinely started believing that Han Mi was her grandmother.

Yet fate was so cruel. Han Mi was going to leave her so soon. Glancing at the solemn face of Qiang Yue, Xiao Yunhua knew that her grandmother most likely had chronic leukemia that wasn't able to be cured, as compared to acute leukemia, which can be cured.

She had been too absorbed in her greed to even notice that she was suffering. More tears pooled in her eyes as she glanced at Qiang Yue. "Can I see her?"

Qiang Yue nodded and motioned for her to follow him. Xiao Yunhua tried to stand up, but a new wave of dizziness immediately hit her. Her head clenched with pain as her vision blurred.

"Why don't you wait a little bit?" Qiang Yue said gently. Xiao Yunhua shook her head stubbornly and stood up, ignoring her headache.

She had not visited her grandmother for long enough. Even though her head was throbbing, she would still attempt to go see her.

Qiang Yue saw her stubborn nature and sighed. "Alright, as you wish."

They both left the hospital room and walked to the fifth floor. Room 512 appeared before her eyes again, and she suddenly felt like throwing up at the sight of the number. But she clenched her teeth, bit her lip, and stride forward. With hesitant knocks, she and Qiang Yue opened the door, only to find Han Mi with her eyes closed.

Her frail grandmother was pale and almost lifeless. Xiao Yunhua Quickly gripped one of her wrinkled hands with hers and closed her eyes. Qiang Yue realized that privacy was needed, so he quietly shut the door and left the grandmother and granddaughter duo alone.

"Grandmother?" Xiao Yunhua mumbled, her hand still holding her grandmother's.

Slowly, Han Mi's eyelids fluttered open and her face contorted into a smile, "Is that you, Yunhua?"

"Yes! Grandmother, it's me. It's your little flower." Xiao Yunhua exclaimed with new tears streaming down her face. Han Mi frowned and used her other hand to gently wipe away her granddaughter's tears.

"Little girl, don't cry. It's your grandmother's fault." she comforted, but it only made Xiao Yunhua cry even harder.

"Grandmother, it's my fault! I shouldn't have said that I want to graduate early, I shouldn't have gone to Zhao Meiliang's home. Grandmother, forgive me please."

Han Mi shook her head and gently smiled, "Yunhua, I shouldn't have stopped you. You're growing up, no longer a child. I'll be leaving you—"

"No!" Xiao Yunhua gripped her grandmother's hand even harder, "You'll be fine, you'll be fine. You just fainted because you're tired."

"Yunhua..."

"You'll be fine!" Xiao Yunhua said with as much hope and enthusiasm she could muster, "Really, you'll be fine!"

"Yunhua!" Han Mi couldn't help but raise her voice, trying to snap her granddaughter out of whatever haze she was in, "Do not delude yourself only to get hurt much later. I have spoken to the..." Han Mi hesitated but continued, "To the doctor, and he told me everything. My situation isn't looking too bright, I know."

"We'll get you treatment! We'll cure you!"

"Silly child..." Han Mi murmured, "You know that..."

"It's only a guess! It may not even be accurate."

"Yunhua!" Han Mi tried to sit up, but she cringed from an erupted pain. She lied down and said, "It's right... I have gone to the hospital a few times without you knowing to get it diagnosed."

What? Her grandmother had known about this? For how long?

"For a few years." Han Mi answered, as though she heard her question.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Xiao Yunhua asked with shock, "Why did you keep it to yourself?"

"I didn't want you to worry like you're worrying now, silly child."

"Grandmother!" Xiao Yunhua was disappointed and shocked.

"You couldn't have done anything anyways. Yunhua, you've been here for a while, I think you should go and rest. Take a break."

"No way!" Once again, Xiao Yunhua stubbornly sat at the nearby chair and didn't have any plans of moving.

"You'll be my guard dog?" Han Mi joked, to which Xiao Yunhua shrugged her shoulders and continued to stay.

"I won't take any of my medication!" Han Mi could only use such a method for Xiao Yunhua to take a break. It worked as the young woman hesitantly stood up and reminded Han Mi that she would be back in fifteen minutes.

Han Mi didn't mind her excessive worry and shooed her away. Once Xiao Yunhua closed the door, Han Mi heaved a deep breath and her facetious manner immediately disappeared.

Her eyes dulled and a sickly demeanor took over her body. Her forced, energized state had taken a toll on her overall health. But Han Mi didn't want for her granddaughter to worry, so she could only use such a method.

Her granddaughter deserved to see her at her best before Han Mi went on to the afterlife...