Chapter 14 — It's Too Late, Doctor Vu

Wednesday night, around two o'clock in the morning, Lam Nhi was startled awake by the sound of little Mien's constant coughing coming from the small bedroom. She quickly turned on the light, ran to her child's bed, placed her hand on the baby's forehead and immediately felt an unusual heat spreading under her palm.

"Mien, how do you feel?" She asked, her voice filled with worry, quickly taking a thermometer to measure her child. The number that appeared on the screen made her heart clench — thirty-nine degrees five.

Little Mien lay exhausted on the bed, her cheeks were red, her breathing was rapid, each cough was accompanied by a clearly audible wheezing sound in her small chest. Lam Nhi quickly wiped her child's fever with a warm towel and gave her the usual fever-reducing medicine that was kept in the family medicine cabinet, but after half an hour, the temperature still did not decrease, and even the baby's breathing became more and more labored.

Panic rising in her heart, Lam Nhi picked up her baby, wrapped a thin blanket around her, and quickly drove to the nearest hospital - a small medical facility in the area, open twenty-four hours but without specialized pediatrics. The doctor on duty there, after a brief examination, was confused by the baby's increasing difficulty breathing and recommended urgent transfer to a higher hospital because he suspected acute pneumonia with complications, but this facility did not have enough equipment and specialists to promptly handle an emergency situation.

The doctor on duty at night, a young man who was still quite inexperienced, kept looking over and over again at the results of measuring blood oxygen levels. His face showed confusion as the indexes continued to decrease slightly despite receiving oxygen support. He called a higher-ranking colleague to ask for advice, but no one picked up the phone at this hour, causing the delay to last even longer, each passing minute felt like a century to Lam Nhi.

Lam Nhi stood in the middle of the small hospital hallway at nearly three in the morning, holding her baby in her arms, tears rolling down from fear and helplessness. She called Bich Van, but her friend was on night duty at another hospital quite far away and could not come immediately. She scrolled through the phone book, her heart pounding, until she stopped at a name she had intentionally blocked for weeks.

With no other choice, her hands were shaking, she unlocked Dinh Vu's phone number and dialed.

The bell rang less than two times, and there was already an answer on the other end of the line. His voice was surprisingly alert even though it was the middle of the night. "Nhi? What's going on?"

"Mien... she has a high fever and difficulty breathing. The doctor here said she suspected pneumonia but was not qualified to treat it." Lam Nhi's voice trembled, no longer able to maintain the inherent coldness of the past weeks. "I don't know what to do, Mr. Vu..."

"Where are you? Tell me the address now." Dinh Vu's voice immediately changed to the professional urgency of a doctor facing an emergency case, without any blame or regret about the gap that had existed between the two all this time.

Lam Nhi quickly read the address, and less than twenty minutes later, Dinh Vu was at the small hospital, quickly wearing a coat over his pajamas, his hair not yet combed. He ran straight to Lam Nhi and his daughter, his professional eyes immediately scanning Mien's condition.

"Go immediately to Anh Duong, I called the crew in advance to get ready." He said decisively, taking his daughter from Lam Nhi's arms, acting quickly but extremely cautiously. "The ambulance is waiting out there."

In the ambulance, Dinh Vu checked his child's breathing and heart rate and reassured Lam Nhi sitting next to him, her face pale with fear. "Calm down, your child's blood oxygen level is still at an acceptable level, not at a critical level. I will take care of everything."

Coming to Anh Duong Hospital, despite being in a situation where he was no longer anyone's "personal assistant" or "single star doctor", Dinh Vu still personally directed the entire emergency process, placed an oxygen ventilator, ordered necessary tests, and had a quick consultation with the pediatrician he trusted the most. He worked with absolute concentration, not letting any personal emotions affect his professional decisions, even though it was his own daughter.

The night security guard and several nurses who witnessed the scene were surprised - they had never seen the doctor, who was always calm and kept an absolutely professional distance, show such enthusiasm and such worried eyes when standing in front of a pediatric patient. None of them knew the truth behind it, they just thought that perhaps this was a special case sent in by an acquaintance, and they even more admired the dedication of the doctor who was always considered a role model for the whole hospital.

The head nurse on duty that night, an experienced older woman, stood next to Dinh Vu to assist throughout the emergency process, occasionally glancing at Lam Nhi standing outside the glass window with strangely understanding eyes, as if she recognized something beyond the usual relationship between a doctor and a patient's family, but she just quietly focused on her work, not saying another word.

Lam Nhi stood outside the emergency room, looking through the glass, witnessing the man she once doubted and fiercely left behind, now putting all his heart and soul into saving their daughter. His eyes did not leave each indicator displayed on the monitor screen, his hands were steady without the slightest trembling even though his inner mood was probably as confused as hers.

Nearly an hour later, Dinh Vu walked out of the emergency room, his face was less tense. "Your child is stable. Viral pneumonia, fortunately, is not serious enough to require further intervention. I have given you appropriate antibiotics and fever reducers. You need to monitor for a few more hours, but I believe you will be fine."

Lam Nhi breathed a sigh of relief, her legs seemed to buckle with relief, and Dinh Vu instinctively reached out to support her. They both stood there in the quiet hospital hallway at dawn, the distance between them in that moment seemed to completely disappear.

"Thank you." Lam Nhi spoke softly, her voice choked, for the first time in weeks she looked straight into his eyes without cold defense.

"You don't need to thank me for taking care of your child." Dinh Vu replied, his voice also shaking with emotion. "You are both of our children, forever and ever, no matter what happens between you and me."

All night long, they both sat beside baby Mien's hospital bed, taking turns applying warm towels and monitoring her every breath. No one said much, but the silence this time no longer carried the distance and hurt like previous meetings, but was a natural companionship of two parents worried about their common child.

Near morning, when little Mien slept peacefully with more regular breathing, Lam Nhi sat leaning against the chair, her eyes narrowed from exhaustion after a long, panic-filled night. Dinh Vu gently took off his coat and put it on her shoulders.

"You rest for a bit, I'll look after the kids." He said softly.

Lam Nhi looked up at him, in those tired eyes, something had changed compared to the cold and determined attitude she had kept for many weeks. "Mr. Vu, maybe... I need to hear you say everything, more fully and calmly than last time."

Dinh Vu paused for a second, his heart beating fast at those words, a ray of hope that he almost did not dare to expect during the past dark days. "Whenever you're ready, I'll tell you everything."

The two sat quietly together in the soft light of the hospital room, the sound of baby Mien's heart rate monitor beeping steadily like a rare peaceful song in the midst of a storm that had not yet completely passed, but for the first time in many weeks, they both felt a small glimmer of light at the end of the thorny road they had gone through together.

When the first sunlight of the morning began to filter through the window curtains of the hospital room, little Mien stirred slightly, opened her eyes, saw both parents sitting on both sides of the bed, her face lit up with a weak but happy smile.

"Dad and mom... are here together?" She whispered, her voice still hoarse from last night's cough, but her eyes lit up with undisguised joy.

Lam Nhi and Dinh Vu looked at each other for a moment, then smiled and bent down next to their child. "Yes, Mom and Dad are here with me." Dinh Vu replied, his voice was gentler than ever, his hand holding his daughter's small hand. "Sleep a little longer, everything is fine."

Baby Mien nodded slightly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep with a satisfied smile remaining on her lips - perhaps, that was the first time in many days that she slept well with the complete feeling of a complete family, even if it was just a short moment in the middle of a long, eventful night.