ACBAM 28: Isolation

Just as the last voice message finished playing, someone happened to arrive outside the consultation room. Upon hearing that sentence, they raised an eyebrow.

“Who is it? Gu Weiyang? Didn’t expect him to be this clingy.”

It was He Lian who arrived, dressed in a beige suit and clicking her way in on a pair of thin high heels.

“When you first said you were getting married, I thought you were just joking and just using it as an excuse to fend off admirers. Yet you actually went and married Gu Weiyang!”

As she spoke, He Lian glanced at his phone and added, “Sounds like things are going pretty well between you two.”

Su Shijin had initially felt there was something odd about Gu Weiyang’s last sentence, but He Lian’s sudden interruption pushed the voice message to the back of his mind for now. He looked at her, a little surprised.

“You’re here? What for?”

He Lian sat down casually on the chair by his desk and said,

“I messaged you yesterday and you didn’t reply, so I figured I’d just come over. I thought I would take a look at that little toy poodle too. After all, it’s going to be my dog from now on.”

Only then did Su Shijin remember that he had  gotten so many messages on his phone yesterday. People he hadn’t spoken to in a whole year were suddenly messaging him to ask about the marriage, and it had gotten on his nerves. Before going to bed, he had deleted everything.

He figured He Lian’s message must’ve gotten mixed in and accidentally deleted along with the rest.

“There were too many messages yesterday. I probably missed yours by accident,” Su Shijin explained, then recalled something.

“Did you get things resolved with the poodle’s owner?”

There had been so much going on the past couple of days that Su Shijin had completely forgotten about it.

“Oh, that? It’s been taken care of. If she thought she could scam money out of me, she’s still a bit too naive.”

He Lian let out a cold laugh and briefly explained what had happened. “That woman was walking her dog without a leash. The little toy poodle ran across the road and got hit by a sports car. You saw what happened to the dog. That car’s expensive and just a paint job costs nearly twenty grand. The owner asked her to pay, but she couldn’t afford it, so she turned around and tried to scam our hospital instead.”

He Lian frowned at the mention of it, clearly annoyed.

“Don’t bring her up again, it’s all taken care of anyway. I doubt she’ll have the nerve to show up again. Walking a dog without a leash and not taking responsibility when something happens? Then trying to pin the blame on someone else? What a joke.”

Su Shijin nodded in understanding. Now that he knew it was resolved, he felt at ease. “Thanks for handling it.”

“I’m the owner of the hospital so what’s there to worry about?” He Lian’s gaze fell to his legs. “I was just about to ask, what happened to your leg? Why are you in a wheelchair?”

From where Su Shijin was sitting, He Lian couldn’t see his ankle and assumed something was seriously wrong with his leg.

“Just a sprained ankle, nothing serious,” Su Shijin replied.

A question mark practically popped over He Lian’s head. “Nothing serious and you’re in a wheelchair? I thought you were badly hurt or something.”

“It’s just more convenient.” Su Shijin maneuvered the wheelchair slightly and said, “Weren’t you going to see the little poodle? I’ll take you there.”

“No need, I can go by myself.” He Lian stood up, telling him to stay put in the consultation room. Just as she was about to leave, she hesitated and stopped in her tracks. “Shijin, there’s something I need to tell you in advance.”

“What is it?” Su Shijin looked up at her.

“He Hua might come back during summer break this year.” He Lian tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her brows slightly furrowed. “He found out about your marriage, but I’m worried that once he’s back, he’ll pester you with all kinds of questions. If he dares to bother you, just let me know. I’ll have someone tie him up and send him back.”

Su Shijin instinctively glanced at the calendar next to the computer. “It’s fine, summer’s still a while away.”

He knew exactly what He Lian was worried about. With a faint smile, he said, “Even if he comes looking for me, I can handle it. Don’t worry.”

He Lian let out a sigh of relief. “Don’t worry about saving face for me, just don’t let him affect our relationship.”

Su Shijin nodded. “Got it.”

He Lian played with the little toy poodle for a while before leaving, saying goodbye to Su Shijin on her way out.

Around noon, Su Shijin took a half-hour leave to get off work early, planning to visit Gu Weiyang at the hospital.

—

The location Tan Zhao sent was the First People’s Hospital, the same one Su Shijin had been to before. That was where he and Gu Weiyang had their pheromone compatibility test done. The hospital was a bit far from where Su Shijin worked and just the round trip alone would take quite a bit of time. He figured he would barely have time to check in on Gu Weiyang before needing to head back.

Once the ride he ordered arrived, Su Shijin sat in the back seat and closed his eyes to rest.

The driver was quiet and didn’t say a word after noticing through the rearview mirror that the passenger was resting. It wasn’t until they were near the hospital that he softly reminded the person in the back seat.

After getting out, the driver unfolded the wheelchair and set it up properly. Su Shijin thanked him, gave him a five-star rating on the app, then maneuvered his wheelchair into the hospital.

Gu Weiyang’s isolation room was right next to the testing center Su Shijin had visited last time. At the entrance downstairs, there was a sign that read: “Restricted Isolation Area – Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out.”

Su Shijin stopped in front of the sign and lowered his head to send Gu Weiyang a message, asking how he was doing. 

After waiting a few minutes with no reply, he figured the phone was probably still with the nurse.

To be honest, Su Shijin didn’t really understand why the nurses had to take the patient’s phone away.

If it were a normal hospital stay, nurses might limit a patient’s screen time, but they wouldn’t go so far as to outright confiscate their phone, would they?

“Restricted Isolation Area…” Su Shijin murmured the three words slowly, starting to realize that the isolation room wasn’t what he had imagined. It wasn’t just a simple space to hold people in their susceptible or feverish periods when they couldn’t control themselves.

Thinking of this, Su Shijin recalled a voice message Gu Weiyang had sent him that morning. He reopened the message, and Gu Weiyang’s slightly hoarse, weary voice played softly in his ear, “I’d be happy to see you. I’m just worried that if I’m not fully conscious when you arrive, it might scare you.”

Not fully conscious… might scare him.

Su Shijin had never seen someone lose control during their susceptibility period. And considering that Gu Weiyang had an episode just yesterday but never once hurt him, he didn’t really understand what that state was like.

Something’s not right.

As Su Shijin maneuvered his wheelchair past the warning sign, he paused for a moment.

Gu Weiyang hadn’t hurt him yesterday. He had even been able to speak calmly through the door.

But the torn bedsheets, the broken vase on the floor, the bloodstains at the doorway…

All of it seemed to suggest that while Gu Weiyang hadn’t hurt him, he had hurt himself.

Su Shijin’s long lashes trembled slightly. He realized that no amount of speculation could compare to seeing Gu Weiyang in person. He maneuvered his wheelchair through the side entrance’s accessible ramp and entered the main hall.

As soon as he entered, a young woman in uniform standing at the center-front service desk stood up. “Hello, how can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m here to visit Gu Weiyang—he was admitted last night.” The service desk was quite tall, making it inconvenient for Su Shijin in his wheelchair, so he stopped at the side of the counter.

Upon hearing the familiar name, the woman gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Gu has declined all family visits.”

Su Shijin blinked, suddenly remembering something. He pressed his lips together and said softly, “I’m Gu Weiyang’s… significant other.”

The last two words were so quiet they were barely audible.

“Hmm? Sorry?” the woman didn’t catch it.

Su Shijin took a slow breath. It was easier the second time. He quickly repeated, “I’m Gu Weiyang’s significant other.”

Tan Zhao had told him that using this identity would get him in, he probably wasn’t lying.

Sure enough, as soon as she heard that, her smile grew even brighter. “Ah, you’re Mr. Gu’s significant other? Please fill out this form. Mr. Gu is in the special care isolation room on the fifth floor—someone will meet you there once you arrive.”

Su Shijin let out a quiet sigh of relief, rubbing his slightly warm ears. He signed the logbook, then followed her instructions and headed toward the elevator on the side.

Even after getting into the elevator, Su Shijin’s ears were still a little warm.

The elevator walls were made of glass, so when he turned his head slightly, he could see his own reflection.

As the elevator rose, he noticed the faint flush spreading across the base of his ears and couldn’t help but reach up to rub them again.

Saying in front of someone else that he was Gu Weiyang’s significant other, honestly, for Su Shijin, that was a bit too embarrassing.

When the elevator reached the fifth floor, Su Shijin finally let go of his increasingly flushed ear and rolled himself out.

The woman downstairs had said someone would greet him once he arrived and sure enough, as soon as the doors opened, someone approached. It was a male nurse who smiled upon seeing him. “Hello, you’re Mr. Gu’s significant other, correct?”

Su Shijin nodded. “Hello.”

The young male nurse appeared to be a beta. He wasn’t wearing a suppressant ring or any suppression patches. Walking just a step ahead of Su Shijin, he led him to a room at the very end of the fifth floor.

“Mr. Gu is right in here, but he’s not fully conscious at the moment. Would you prefer to wait until he wakes up before going in?”

Sitting in his wheelchair, Su Shijin couldn’t see through the observation window, so he replied, “I’ll go in now.”

The nurse nodded and said, “Alright,” then reached out and opened the door.

Su Shijin had assumed he would see Gu Weiyang the moment he entered, but instead, he found himself in a small, empty room. Inside was another door—one that looked a lot like the radiation-shielded kind used for MRI scans.

“He… is he in there?” Su Shijin’s eyes widened slightly in disbelief as he pointed to the heavy door. No matter how he looked at it, this didn’t seem like any ordinary isolation room.

The nurse smiled and nodded. “Yes. That door is to prevent pheromone leakage.”

“You’re an omega, right? Please put on this suppressant before going in, just in case you’re affected.”

As the nurse spoke, he took out a collar-style suppressant from a nearby cabinet.

Among all types of suppressants, the collar-style was the most effective. It not only blocked pheromones but also prevented an alpha from biting and marking the omega’s neck during a loss of control.

Su Shijin wasn’t sure what state Gu Weiyang was in anymore. Just a simple visit required him to wear a collar-style inhibitor?

He reached out, took the device, and fastened it around his neck. Staring at the heavy door in front of him, a sudden wave of nervousness hit him. “Can I go in now?”

The nurse nodded and pressed a switch, opening the door to reveal the true nature of the isolation room.

Su Shijin’s fingers slowly tightened on the armrest. As the isolation door fully opened, the scene before his eyes was something he struggled to accept.

“What is this?” Su Shijin’s lips trembled slightly as he looked at the scene beyond the door.

Inside the isolation door, Gu Weiyang was nowhere to be seen. Instead, what met his eyes was an entire wall of glass. Outside the glass were various monitoring devices and medical staff responsible for recording all kinds of data. When they noticed someone entering, a nurse sitting in front of the monitors stood up and nodded a greeting toward Su Shijin.

But Su Shijin didn’t respond. He simply sat there, motionless in his wheelchair as he stared blankly through the glass wall.

Inside the glass wall, Gu Weiyang lay on the hospital bed while dressed in a white restraint suit. His entire body is bound tightly to the bed by straps.

He looked as if he had completely lost his mind—screaming, thrashing.

But the glass wall was soundproof. All Su Shijin could see were his bloodshot eyes filled with fury and desperation as he struggled and roared, yet not a single sound reached him.