Sons Of High Society Chapter 67 - Labour

Six Months Later:

Xue Teegan was with Yin Shou picking out some baby gifts for her sister when she received a phone call from Long Huojin: Xue Guangli was in labour.

Xue Teegan pulled Yin Shou to the cash register, quickly purchasing some gifts before dragging him to the car.

As they sped off, they met traffic due to the thunderstorm and an accident ahead of them. "s.h.i.+t!" Xue Teegan exclaimed.

From the driver's seat, Yin Shou removed one of his hand's from the wheel, reaching out to grasp his girlfriend's fingers. Xue Teegan squeezed his hand tightly, feeling uneasy.

"I'm worried," she said.

"Why? Even if we're late, we'll be on time for the birth," he said.

"But what if something goes wrong?" she looked up at him with a worried expression.

Yin Shou wanted nothing more than to ease her worries, to soothe her anxieties. But there was something about her precise intuition that put him on edge. With Xue Teegan, there was no way he could comfort her because she would reject it.

But he kept his grip on her hand, showing her that they were together. It still felt surreal to him that Xue Teegan was his, and his only; and he wouldn't let go of that.

He wanted to a.s.sure her that everything will be all right.

At the hospital, Xue Guangli had already checked in with the nurses. She was having contractions, enduring pains in the back, and lower abdomen.

"Where is the doctor?" Long Huojin asked the nurse. He heard Xue Guangli grunt behind him, loudly through gritted teeth.

The nurse scratched her head. "Mr. Long, there is a storm and an accident. Most of the hospital staff on night s.h.i.+ft aren't qualified to deliver the child; the doctors are late."

"How can there be no one qualified?" Long Huojin responded angrily.

Xue Guangli began to scream in pain.

"Find someone!" Long Huojin demanded the nurse.

"Yes, Mr. Long," she said, scurrying away.

Long Huojin turned around to find his wife holding on the edge of the bed tightly; her knuckles were white. Her face was red, and her hair was slicked with sweat. He had never seen her in this much pain before, and it frightened him more than anything.

He swiftly approached her, wiping her sweat away with a cloth.

"It hurts," Xue Guangli said through a hoa.r.s.e voice; she looked deathly pale, on the verge of giving up.

Long Huojin took her hand, kissing her palm. "Xue Li," he said. "You can give birth to him. Jie. That's what you named him. Just hold on."

Xue Guangli glanced at her husband, who had welled tears in his eyes, she caressed his cheek swiftly before dropping her hand. She slowly nodded and began to cry out in pain again.

The nurse came in again. "Mr. Long, I will be taking your wife to prep for surgery," she said.

Long Huojin wasn't sure about it since the doctors haven't arrived yet. But he glanced at Xue Guangli. "I need him out!" she said.

Long Huojin glanced back at the nurse and nodded.

The nurse and the other staff hastily wheeled her bed into the surgery room. Long Huojin changed into scrubs, holding Xue Guangli's hand by the surgery bed.

"I'm scared," she said just before they placed an oxygen mask over her face. Long Huojin couldn't take it anymore! Why the h.e.l.l was this so hard?

Not long after, the anesthesiologist and doctor arrived, and the nurse a.s.sisted them.

The process was both frightening and awe-striking. Long Huojin watched as they took the baby out through a c-section with the placenta. His mouth hung open at how he was able to see his son crying as the doctor pulled him out.

They quickly wiped and cleaned him up, before pa.s.sing the child to him. Long Huojin held his son in his arms, dazed.

He glanced at Xue Guangli who was being repaired. She smiled through the tears, and he held the baby out towards her. Xue Guangli sighed in relief as she got to see his face. He had his eyes closed, resting at the crook of her neck. He had auburn hair like hers, stark against his pale skin.

Xue Guangli smiled, but she trembled slightly, and her eyes began to feel heavy. Long Huojin's smile died.

A doctor approaching him swiftly, "I need to take your child for further examination."

Long Huojin pa.s.sed her the child, who was bundled up tightly. Another doctor stepped to his side, taking his arm, walking him out of the room. "Your wife has lost a lot of blood. We need to take action immediately."

Long Huojin didn't hear anything. Everything was blurred. He saw how quickly the doctors and the nurses moved around the bed. He saw blood pooling from his wife, and that was the last thing he saw before they left him out, the door shut in front of him.

He stood, dazed, and confused. He heard footsteps approach his side. "How is it going?" Xue Teegan asked him breathlessly.

Long Huojin was unresponsive. Xue Teegan nudged him. "What's going on?" she said through a slight crack of her tone.

Long Huojin was silent. Xue Teegan pulled his sleeve. "Tell me! Your silence is killing me."

He glanced at her. "I don't know. She's still undergoing surgery."

He wasn't sure what to tell her, even as he processed everything. His wife was dying. They took his child from him. He felt helpless.

One of the doctors came out. "Mr. Long. Your wife needs a blood transfusion, but she's AB-,and its rare and the hospital is undersupplied of it. We are doing our best to keep her in a stable condition."

Long Huojin's lips thinned, he fisted his knuckles.

Xue Teegan stepped in between them. "I'm AB-," she said.

Long Huojin glanced at her, eye-wide.

The doctor smiled. "That's wonderful. We might have to remove some pints that may be over the normal limit, are you okay with that?"

"Take what you can get," she said.

Before the doctor took Xue Teegan away, Long Huojin embraced her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered.

Xue Teegan smiled against his neck.

She then pulled away from him, following the doctor. Yin Shou gave him a quick nod before following after them.

Long Huojin sat in the waiting area with his hands fisted in his hair, waiting.

Yin Shou dropped by later and sat next to him.

"How is Teegan?" Long Huojin asked his best friend.

"She's resting. She's a bit dizzy and weak from all the blood they took from her. But I took her to a room, and she's sleeping."

Long Huojin nodded gratefully.

Yin Shou patted his back. "Why is that the Xue women will always make us worry about them?"

Long Huojin let out a breathy short chuckle. "I don't know," he began. "They're too captivating."

"I agree," Yin Shou responded. "But I know Xue Guangli will be all right. She's a fighter."

Long Huojin smiled briefly, feeling better.

Not long after Xue Teegan woke up and joined them, she sat next to Yin Shou, grasping his hand and resting her head on his shoulder.

They waited.

A doctor stepped in with a semi-grim expression. Long Huojin stood up immediately, appearing to be a mess.

"She's stable," said the doctor.

Long Huojin sighed in relief.

"She's in a recovery room resting. You can see your child there, too," she said.

Long Huojin nodded and left.

"We'll be right here," Xue Teegan said behind him. He was grateful for his friends.

In the recovery room, Xue Guangli was sleeping on the bed with an oxygen mask around her face. The nurse was soothing the crying baby, and when she saw him, she smiled and said, "Mr. Long will you like to hold him?"

Long Huojin nodded. The nurse then pa.s.sed him the baby who was calming down. Long Huojin gazed at him. He had his mother's hair indeed. Long Huojin smiled softly while holding him. He glanced at Xue Guangli, who was still asleep.

For the next few hours, Long Huojin had to take care of his son. But Xue Teegan and the nurse helped him.

He waited for his wife to wake.

It was near-dawn, the sun peeked through the dying night. The baby was sleeping in a hospital crib while Long Huojin had arranged another hospital bed placed next to hers, attached together. He sent Yin Shou and Xue Teegan home and to return after getting some sleep, with the others.

Xue Guangli woke up with an oxygen mask on her face. She doesn't remember how she got into the room or how long it has been. She sat up slowly and saw the baby sleeping. She sighed in relief. She turned to see Long Huojin was sleeping with a knitted expression and without a blanket. She removed the oxygen mask and sucked in a breath, steadying her breathing.

She flipped to her side and ran her fingers through his hair. She touched his warm face, caressing his jaw. Long Huojin's eyes lidded open. His eyes blurred until he saw a good view of Xue Guangli who was fully awake. Long Huojin's eyes widened, and he leaned to hug her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"So much blood," he said with a quivering voice.

Xue Guangli held onto him. It must have been frightening for him. "I'm sorry," she said.

"No," Long Huojin said. "We won't do it again. I can't let you do it again," he said through a half-sob. Xue Guangli clung onto him. "Are you sure?"

"Mhm," he said. "One is enough."

"All right," Xue Guangli said to him.

Long Huojin pulled away slowly, and he kissed her on the forehead and showered kisses on her cheeks. Xue Guangli felt all his emotions through them. He then soothed strokes on her head as she nestled against him as best as she can.

"I want to see him," she said.

Long Huojin rose from the bed; he approached the crib and gently carried their child out of it. In his bundle, Long Huojin carried him with one hand supporting his head and the other on his bottom.

He approached the bed, and he placed him in Xue Guangli's arms as she sat up. The baby was sleeping in her arms. Not long after did he open his eyes, and it stunned her. It was pale-blue like Long Huojin. It was clear and soft, like ocean waves.

"He's so cute," Xue Guangli whispered in awe.

"We made this," Long Huojin whispered back proudly.

Xue Guangli smiled. She face her husband, and with such profound emotion, he bent down and kissed her dry lips.