Chapter 37 — After Doctor Diep Disappeared

Diep Nam Sanh stepped out from behind the lawyer, put on his sunglasses, and walked across the aisle on his right. Co Han Chau stood there, her lips moving, not making any sound. His shoulders slumped, as if a piece of his spine had been removed.

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Chapter 22 (End) Co Tu Mac hasn't gone to school for three days. Since leaving the Co family's house, the boy has lived in a rented room in the southern part of the city. The rent was paid by Co Han Chau who used his last watch to mortgage to the landlord. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the homeowner came to collect the electricity bill. He knocked on the door for half a day but no one answered. Water leaks out from under the door, light pink in color. The homeowner kicked open the door. Co Tu Mac collapsed on the bathroom tile floor, his left wrist was cut three times, blood flowed down his arm and dripped to the floor. Broken glass was scattered everywhere, a broken glass of water. The boy's lips were white, his pale face turned gray. The homeowner cursed, took out his phone and called 120. When Co Han Chau ran to the hospital, Co Tu Mac was already in the emergency room. He ran seven kilometers from the construction site to the hospital, without money to catch a bus. The wound on his chest had not yet completely healed. When he ran to the hospital gate, his whole body almost had to crawl in. He clung to the glass window of the emergency room and looked inside. Co Tu Mac lay there with an IV needle in his arm and an oxygen tube face down. The thirteen-year-old child was so thin that his ribs were clearly visible under his skin. Co Han Chau's fingers scratched on the glass door, his nails turned back. He feels no pain. An hour later, the emergency room lights went out. The doctor came out and said he was out of danger, the blood loss wasn't too much, but his mental state was very bad. Co Han Chau stood at the edge of the hospital bed, looking at Co Tu Mac's pale face. This child's chin is exactly like him, but his eyes are like Diep Nam Sanh. The next afternoon. Someone knocked on the hospital room door. The person who walked in was a young woman wearing a black business suit, whom Co Han Chau did not know. She held a bag of documents in her hand.

"You are Mr. Co, right?"

Her tone was polite but distant, like she was handling official business.

"I am Ms. Diep's legal assistant, these are the papers that need your signature."

She placed the file bag on the nightstand and pulled out two documents from inside. Part of it is legal documents about severing the mother-child blood relationship. The rest is a bank transfer receipt, the amount is a minimum alimony of three thousand yuan per month. Co Han Chau stared at those words, "cut off the mother-child relationship". His throat moved.

“She won't come visit the boy.”

The assistant did not answer this question, just placed the fountain pen next to the stack of documents. Co Han Chau's knees buckled. He knelt straight in front of the young woman. The assistant took a step back, his facial expression changing from industrial cliche to mild surprise.

"Brother Co, what you're doing is..."

“Please help me pass a sentence.”

He knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse as if sand and gravel were stuffed in his throat.

“Tell her to come and take a look, just one is fine, this child is about to die, her blood is flowing from her body.”

The assistant looked down at him and was silent for a few seconds.

“I will pass on the message.”

Miss I turned around and walked away. Early evening on Tuesday. Co Tu Mac woke up. Since waking up, the boy kept lying on his side facing the wall, not talking, nor eating or drinking anything. When the nurse came to change the bandage, the boy did not move, his eyes stared blankly at the water stain on the corner of the wall. Co Han Chau sat on a stool at the edge of the bed, trying to reach out his hand to pat the boy's head countless times, but when he extended his hand halfway, it withdrew again.