The old woman was transferred to a private room.
Pei Zhi ran a check on her, uncovering only vague information and her medical records.
Meanwhile, the researchers requested the old woman’s blood sample and hurriedly tested it.
"She was rescued from a village outside the base last night, brought in around 2 AM. Her temperature then was 43 degrees Celsius—that’s the threshold for severe fever," Pei Zhi explained while taking her pulse. "It’s weak, but stable."
"The temperature has dropped to 39," he added.
Pei Zhi performed a light test. The old woman’s pupils responded slowly, yet still within the normal range.
"Grandma, how long have you had a fever?" Pei Zhi asked.
The old woman cupped her cheeks, trying to recall. "I think it started in the morning. The fever worsened by afternoon."
"Do you feel any discomfort now?" Lin Weihao asked after the tests were done.
He watched her closely, his gaze steady. He wanted to ask if she had awakened any powers, but such a question would raise suspicions.
The old woman shook her head. "Rather than discomfort, I feel better than I have in ages. Not to mention, the pain in my back and muscles is gone." She moved her legs, and to her surprise, there was no pain from even the slightest motion.
A flicker of hope rose in Lin Weihao.
"Grandma, please return to the bed," Pei Zhi urged.
"I just wanted to try something…" The old woman attempted to stand without a cane. Though her legs were still wobbly, she managed to stand on her own. "Look at that! At this rate, I could play with the children."
The nurse laughed softly.
Pei Zhi appeared astonished.
The old woman took a few laps around the bed before returning, lost in thought. "Sir, how did I end up here? The last thing I remember is my grandchildren feeding me mushrooms while I had a fever."
At the mention of mushrooms, Lin Weihao felt a strange reaction stir inside him. It must have been because of his wife’s lunch boxes.
Pei Zhi briefly explained the situation, even not hiding the details of the mass fever because they needed her cooperation.
The old woman nodded.
Grateful, Lin Weihao spoke up. "Grandma, if you can give me your family’s details, I’ll have my men search for them. But you’ll need to stay here for a while until we’re sure your fever is truly gone. In the meantime, you can write them a letter."
The old woman smiled brightly. "Thank you so much, kind sir."
Lin Weihao kept his promise and sent someone to fetch her family.
Meanwhile, inside the quarantine room where the villagers were kept, the air was filled with the sounds of crying children.
"Grandma! Grandma!"
"Officers! Officers! Have you seen my mother? Can you tell us how she’s doing?" A man knocked on the window, trying to catch the officers’ attention.
The officer guarding the door remained silent, a stern expression on his face.
Laughter, like tears, is contagious, and in the room full of crying children, emotions were hard to restrain.
The conversation the nurse had with her colleague was sure to have been overheard by the man behind the door’s glass pane. fгeewebnovёl.com
Everyone inside the room looked at the man.
"What do you mean by ’dead patients’?" Zhang Min demanded, grabbing the man by the collar. "How can you say such things?"
"There were two nurses who just passed by, and they were talking about dead patients! People are dying here, and they’re not telling us!" the man cried out.
Gasps filled the room as others joined him in banging on the glass.
"Officers, is what this man said true? Are people dying there?" Zhang Min shouted.
The two officers guarding the room answered calmly, "Please keep the noise down."
But the banging only intensified.
"My husband! Officers, can you check on my husband? His name is Cang Zhou, ward 7! Please, just check on him!"
"My son too, he’s in the same ward. His name is Cang Min. He’s just a young man! Please, help me see my son."
"My baby, Dan Dan. Kind gentlemen, please, let me see my baby."
"Grandmother too! Please, sir! Can we see Grandmother?"
"Don’t you have families too? How can you be so heartless? If it were your family out there, could you sit still and wait here? Or are you hiding something? Maybe what the nurse said is true! Maybe people are dying!" Zhang Min shouted again, his worry for his wife burning in his chest, for he hadn’t seen her since yesterday.
Zhang Min’s voice rang out, desperate. "Please! Someone, anyone, check on our families! If you care about us at all, help us!"
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