Chapter 27 Section VII

It was past nine thirty when the knock on the door rang again.I opened my eyes and said "Come in", unable to confirm where I was for a while.The door was opened, and Mirai in white poked her head in. I looked at her, then at Chiori on the hospital bed, and finally remembered what was happening now. "Is Chiori alright?" "It seems to be asleep, and I have already eaten dinner." "That's good." Future nodded, and raised the paper bag in his hand, "This is the clothes Qianzhi wore before, and your coat. Although it was burnt to tatters, there is something in your coat pocket. The car keys and the brooch on Qianzhi’s clothes are still there, so I’ll take them here and let you dispose of them. If you don’t want them anymore, I can help you take them and throw them away.”

"Ah! No need, I'll take care of it, thank you." A brooch—that was a gift from Mariko to Chiori.I asked her how Mariko was doing.Mirai lowered his eyes in pain and shook his head silently.I couldn't help but think of the word "relic", but of course I didn't say anything. "By the way, are you okay? Didn't you cut off part of the skin?" "Oh, you got it? Ogiwara said it?" "No. Sorry, I accidentally overheard you guys talking in the corridor." "So that's the case, then it's okay. If Ogiwara said it, I'm going to give him a good meal later--the place where the stripping is taken is still a little painful, but it doesn't affect the activity at all. It's just a little bit when I sit down. Nervous." Future turned sideways, pointed to the position from his buttocks to his thighs, and said with an unnatural smile, "I have gauze on both sides, do you want to see it—so I can only sleep on my stomach tonight."

The two looked at each other and smiled wryly, then fell silent, not knowing what to say.In just a moment, the atmosphere became extremely awkward.At this moment, she suddenly heard a rustling sound, and turned her head to find that Qianzhi was turning over, but she still didn't wake up.After a while, Future whispered, fortunately, nothing happened, so you can rest assured.I asked her to sit down, and she said standing would be more comfortable, so she leaned her back against the wall. "It's not easy for you to come here, but such a terrible thing happened." Future whispered.

"But, Mariko—" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I felt that the words were not spoken at the right time. "Yes! Maybe we also have to realize that we must face these painful facts!" Future murmured suppressedly. "Didn't Dr. Kurano say that Mariko was in the same situation as his wife—" "Well, but to be honest, apart from waiting for Miss Mariko's condition to stabilize before taking a good checkup, I can't say anything now. The doctor may have remembered that after helping his wife's first aid, he didn't detect the brain wave!"

"That is to say—a vegetable?" "Well." Mirai nodded feebly, "But before discussing the brain problem, the most important thing is that Miss Mariko is losing her physical strength, so now she is facing the urgent beginning of life and death." "If she survives this test, will she become a vegetable in the future?" "However, there should be no further surgery or treatment. Since the accident, we have tried our best in the shortest possible time, and the surgery was successful. Mariko's condition was so bad that her heart would stop beating at any time. In fact, It was really critical for a while. Although we tried our best to get her back, she was mainly injured in the coronary artery, so it is likely to cause a rapid drop in blood pressure.

"After the human body loses a lot of blood rapidly, the extremities are the first to be affected. If the blood pressure drops, the blood flow farther away from the heart will slow down or even stagnate, causing cells to gradually die. Because cells must rely on oxygen to survive, and blood Responsible for transporting oxygen to the whole body. In addition, although the brain is an organ located at the end of the limbs, it is strange that it requires much more oxygen than other organs, and the brain cells are very fragile, as long as the supply is stopped for a short time Oxygen, easily dies."

"Is it the so-called brain death?" "That's right. But vegetative people and brain death are not equated. As far as brain organs are concerned, brain cells will also start from the outermost side when they die. Have you heard the term 'cerebral neocortex'?" "Yeah." I nodded and added, "Because of Qianzhi's matter, I have read some related books." "Me too, I also read some related materials because of my father." At this time, the future finally showed a smile, "Then you should know that the life-sustaining functions of breathing and metabolism are controlled by the cerebellum and the medullary glands located on the inside of the brain. What the brain is responsible for, and the neocortex on the outermost side of the brain governs rationality and sensibility. In other words, the neocortex of the brain is closely related to mental activities such as so-called knowledge, sensibility, and will. Therefore, if the brain gradually dies The process of death stops after the necrosis of the superficial cortex, and people at this stage can be called vegetative. This is obviously different from death, because the vital functions of vegetative people are still in continuous operation."

"You mean, Mariko has such a possibility?" "I don't know. Mariko's brain waves during the operation are indeed very worrying. We may have to be mentally prepared to accept the fact that her brain has been damaged to some extent. Although I am not sure, But the lack of oxygen in the brain should not be too long, maybe there is only a slight damage to the function, so——huh?" I followed the eyes of the raised future, and Chiori sat up straight without knowing when, with a very timid look on her face. "Qianzhi, are you awake? Did my sister wake you up by talking too loudly? I'm sorry."

Mirai walked to the hospital bed, put his palm on Chiori's forehead like Nurse Sakaguchi, and murmured puzzledly, "I don't have a fever!"And Chiori just watched Mirai's actions without saying a word.Mirai keeps teasing her, but Chiori just looks at Mirai.I told the future that Chiori hadn't spoken since the accident. "Has a similar situation happened to Qianzhi before? Compared with last night, she looks like a different person. Could it be that she was overly frightened? This makes me a little worried." When she asked me this question, I immediately thought of what happened after the Vienna shooting.Chiori's situation at that time is not without any similarities with this time, but after returning to China, she will never be so stubborn that she will not even speak to me.

"In short, let's observe and see in the next two days!" "That's right, otherwise there is no other way. I will sleep in the nursing station at night, and if there is something to do, I will ring the bell and I will come right away." When the future finished speaking and was about to leave, the skirt was pulled out of the quilt by Qianzhi Stretching out her hand to grab it, she asked with mixed surprise, "What's wrong?" I suddenly remembered what happened to Nurse Sakaguchi at that time, so I asked her if she needed to go to the toilet.Chiori nodded, but shook her head violently at me who wanted to take her there, clearly rejecting me.Seeing what happened in the future, he said that he would take Qianzhi away, and stretched out his hand to hold her, but she didn't seem to intend to get out of bed.

"What's wrong?" Mirai asked again, but Chiori just looked directly at Mirai and shook her head again.Mirai murmured "That's weird", and at the same time lifted Chiori's quilt, and then called out "Ah", "Mr. Kisaragi, Ogiwara should have brought the luggage bag for you, right?" "Have." "Are there any of Chiori's menstrual supplies in it? It seems that her menstrual period is coming." "What?" I intuitively thought, how is it possible?But thinking about it carefully, Chiori is already fifteen years old, so it's not surprising that her menarche comes at this time.However, Chiori couldn't immediately associate Chiori with this matter the moment she heard it. "Sorry, it's her first time, so she wasn't prepared." "So that's the case, then it's a bit troublesome. Mine is in the nursing center. I don't know if there is one in the nursing station...Please wait a moment, I'll look for it." As soon as Miku finished speaking, she disappeared without a trace, and Chiori immediately got into bed again, facing the wall with her back to me.No matter how I call her, she ignores me.I could feel Chiori's obvious refusal. Although I felt very confused, I could only sit back on the sofa silently. Not long after, there was a sound of flipping slippers approaching from far away.Future came back with sanitary products, a change of clothes and sheets, and asked me to wait outside first.I only knew that I couldn't help here, so I took my cigarettes and went to the smoking area at the entrance. I smoke rings alone in the dim light, many things come to my mind.Not only Chiori's incomprehensible attitude, but also everything that happened since last night - the conversation between Mariko and the future, the matter of Dr. Kurano's wife, the behavior of the patients in the sanatorium, etc., all in perfect detail But it appeared in my mind without order, and then disappeared. The word "brain" approached me subtly and truly, evoking a feeling called incredible.I pressed on my temple subconsciously. There is a wrinkled organ in it. Is that a part of me?Or, it was me—I suddenly felt a very thoughtful touch on my hand. I walked back to the ward and found that Future was standing in front of the room with the rolled up sheets in his arms, looking around for me.I trotted up to her and said sorry. "I'm still wondering where you went!" Mirai complained a bit, "I'll go straight back to the nursing station after I've dealt with this, or I'll be in the consulting room. If Dr. Kurano wakes up, I'll ask him Your opinion." She then reminded her again, ring the bell whenever there is something to do, then suddenly tilted her head, and said with a strange expression, "But... is Qianzhi really having menarche?" "Well, that's right." I replied, although I didn't understand why she would ask that. "Didn't lie to me? But yes! It won't do you any good to lie to me about such things." "Why do you have such thoughts?" "Because when I wanted to teach Qianzhi how to use it just now, she almost seemed to be grabbing something. After grabbing something, she ran to the private room next door. I always felt that she seemed to know how to use it." Future tilted her head again, as if saying to herself As if talking to himself, "Oh, forget it—good night." After finishing speaking, he turned and left. I watched the back of the future disappear around the corner.Did mother teach Chiori beforehand?Other than that, I really can't think of any other possibilities.But my mother is a person who forgets herself when she is busy. Will she really teach Qianzhi to deal with her menarche when she doesn't know when it will come?Thinking about it this way, it seems impossible. "I'm going in." I whispered, opened the door and entered.My mood can only be described as very nervous, because now Chiori seems to be a person I don't understand at all.The lights in the room were dimmed, and a blanket was spread on the sofa. I thought, this should be done for me by the future!Chiori on the hospital bed still turned her back to me.I watched her back for a while, she didn't look like she was sleeping—at least not fast asleep. "Qianzhi—" I whispered, her shoulders shook slightly, "Are you okay?" There was still silence.Qian Zhimian's head moved slightly, then slowly turned to face me, staring straight at me. It was a very sad look.Before this, I had never seen Qianzhi show such an expression, I could only keep calling her, not knowing what to do.However, Chiori just stared at me for a moment, and after a while, slowly turned her back to me as before.Not to mention talking, not even making a sound. I sighed deeply and sat down on the sofa. There is no obvious trauma on Qianzhi's body. Even if she is mentally frightened or shocked, if she still doesn't say anything, I don't know what to do for her.I lay down helplessly. Although the armrest of the sofa was a bit hard, it could barely be used as a pillow.I looked at my watch, it was past eleven o'clock, I wanted to sleep until dawn, but because I took a nap before Mirai came in, I can't sleep now.I closed my eyes and recalled all kinds of things, but my consciousness became more clear.There was a commotion in my chest, although it was a bit like the high-pitched excitement on the eve of going on stage before, but it was completely different. I try to suppress these thoughts, meditate on the score of a few sonatas in my head, or stare at the ceiling, trying to let myself fall asleep as soon as possible.But my head became more and more clear, and I really wanted to smoke a cigarette, so I had no choice but to sit up.At this time, I realized that Chiori had also sat up and was looking at me with the same sad eyes just now. "Qianzhi, what's wrong? Can't sleep?" Qianzhi shook her head. "Yeah! It's no wonder that you have been in a coma since the accident." I said to her with a smile on my face. But Chiori still didn't respond, her black eyes just stared at me. "Chiori, what happened to you? Why didn't you say a word? Was it because of that horrible explosion? Or do you remember nothing at all? If you don't say anything, I don't know what you're thinking , I am very worried, you know?" I was so worried that I asked many questions in succession. So Qianzhi slowly raised her slightly lowered head, as if she wanted to say something, but she only opened her mouth, but she still didn't make any sound in the end, and immediately lowered her head, biting her lips tightly. "Chiori—" Although it was only for a short moment, this was the first time since the crash that Chiori planned to speak.In order for her to have the courage to speak, I calmed down and asked her in another way. "Qianzhi, you had an accident. Do you know the meaning of accident? Because of that accident, you got burnt. If you feel a little pain on your face and hands, it's because of the burn. Other than that, you didn't other injuries." Chiori still pursed her lips tightly, but I said it anyway. "I'm worried, because you've been sleeping for a long time, and everyone doesn't know why it happened, so they're all worried if you're injured somewhere else. Listen, Chiori, do you feel that your body is different from before? Yes Is there any discomfort? Tell me immediately if you have any, okay? If you feel that there is nothing uncomfortable, just say OK, okay?" Chiori finally looked up at me, her eyes filled with confusion.I waited for about three minutes before Chiori finally spoke. "There seems to be no discomfort." A strange sense of disobedience emerged one step earlier than An Xin.This is indeed Chiori's voice, but it is definitely not what Chiori would say! "Chiori?" After a long time, she finally spoke again: "I'm sorry, but—I'm not Chiori, I'm Mariko." The girl said with big eyes that could shed tears at any time.