Chapter 23 — Medicinal Garden After Hospital

That night, although baby Ngoc Bich's vital signs were temporarily stable, Bao Nam still refused to leave the hospital and asked to stay on duty for the night shift even though he had worked continuously for nearly two days without a break. Mr. Hung, when he heard about it, tried to convince him to go home and rest and give the shift to another colleague, but Bao Nam still firmly refused.

"I need to stay here until I'm sure she's safe," he said, his voice steady even though his eyes were red from lack of sleep. Quyen, understanding clearly what was going on in his heart, also decided to stay with him and silently support, even though she was equally exhausted after two days of continuously running back and forth between the pharmacy counter and the garden.

At nearly three o'clock in the morning, when the hospital was temporarily calmer than during the daytime rush hours, little Ngoc Bich suddenly had a high fever again, her body temperature skyrocketed to thirty-nine and a half degrees, accompanied by a mild convulsion, causing the whole hospital room to be in chaos for a moment. Bao Nam was immediately present, quickly ordered to reduce fever, and rechecked all important indicators.

"Maybe this is a normal reaction during the body's fight against bacteria, but we must not be subjective," he said, although his voice was tense but still maintained the necessary professionalism. He directed the nursing team to apply cool compresses, adjust the dose of fever-reducing medicine, and continuously closely monitor every smallest change on the child's face and body.

Ms. Thu, witnessing her daughter convulsing, could not hold back her tears and almost fainted from panic. Quyen quickly came to her side, hugged her, trying to reassure her while still watching Bao Nam's every move from afar. "Please trust Dr. Nam," Quyen said, her voice trying to stay calm even though she couldn't help but feel worried. "He is the best doctor I have ever known. He will do everything to save baby Bich."

After nearly half an hour of extreme tension, little Ngoc Bich's fever finally began to subside and her convulsions also stopped. The baby began to breathe more regularly, his face gradually regained some pink color instead of being pale like before. Bao Nam stood silently next to the hospital bed for a long time, carefully monitoring to make sure everything was truly stable, before allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

But right after that tense moment passed, something unexpected happened - Bao Nam, the doctor who always remained calm and professional in all situations, suddenly knelt down next to the hospital bed, his shoulders trembled violently, the tears he had been suppressing for two years finally flowed out and could no longer be stopped.

Quyen, standing nearby, immediately ran over, knelt down next to him, and hugged him in the middle of an empty hospital hallway at that late hour. "Brother, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice filled with worry, although in her heart she had already partly guessed the reason.

"I couldn't save Bao An in time," Bao Nam said, his voice choking, cracking between sobs. "That night, I also stood in a hospital hallway like this, helplessly watching my daughter gradually stop breathing on the emergency bed, but couldn't do anything. I blamed myself for the past two years, thinking that if I had been a better, more agile doctor, maybe she wouldn't have died like that."

Quyen hugged him tighter, letting him cry completely, releasing all the pent-up feelings that had been stored in his heart for too long. "You're not at fault," she said, her voice equally choked. "I know, no matter how many times you tell others about accepting medical truth, deep down inside, you have never truly forgiven yourself. But tonight, you saved baby Bich, you did everything a best doctor can do. That is not a coincidence, but the clearest evidence, showing that Bao An's death was never your fault."

Bao Nam looked up at her, his eyes were red, wet with tears but reflected something much more relieved than before. "For the past two years, I kept thinking, I have to be strong, I have to hold back, because if I collapse, there will be no one awake enough to treat other patients," he said, his voice gradually calming down. "But tonight, when I saw Bich regain consciousness, when she held me like this, I realized that allowing myself to be weak, to grieve fully, is also an important part of healing, not a sign of failure."

The two sat leaning against each other right on the hospital hallway floor, under the faint fluorescent light at midnight, letting their tears and their most sincere confessions finally be completely released after a long period of suppression. This was not an easy conversation, but it was an important milestone, marking the true, deepest healing that Bao Nam needed to go through in order to truly move forward.

Quyen gently stroked his back, her voice gently telling him about her mother's last diary entries, about how she learned to let go of her sins, learned to believe that there are limits that medicine, whether Eastern or Western medicine, cannot overcome, and the important thing is not torment yourself over what cannot be changed, but to continue to live fully with what you can do for the present. "My mother taught me that, even though she never said it directly," Quyen said, her voice gentle. "And now, I think, it's time for you to learn the same lesson, not because I force you to forget Bao An, but because I want you to live more peacefully when remembering her."

Bao Nam nodded, quickly wiped away the tears still on his cheeks, his eyes looking at Quyen were full of deep gratitude. "Thank you, for staying patiently, waiting for me to be brave enough to face all of this," he said. "Perhaps, it was fate that arranged for me to meet you, this garden, at the right time when I most needed a reason to learn how to forgive myself." He wrapped his arms around her tighter, resting his head on her shoulder, letting them both be quietly together for a while longer, in the rare quiet space of the hospital at dawn, when most of the patients had temporarily fallen asleep after a long day of struggling with their illnesses.

Near dawn, when the sky began to turn pink on the horizon, Ms. Thu woke up from a short sleep next to her daughter's hospital bed. She couldn't help but feel moved when she saw baby Ngoc Bich had opened her eyes and softly called out "mommy" in a weak but clear voice. She burst into tears of happiness, hugged her child, and constantly thanked Bao Nam and the entire medical team for staying up all night to cure her daughter.

"Doctor Nam, I really don't know how to thank you enough," Ms. Thu said, her voice still shaking with emotion. "You saved my daughter's life, you gave my family a second chance."

Bao Nam smiled, his eyes looked at baby Ngoc Bich who was resting her head on her mother's lap, her face was rosy and bright again. "It's my job, and it's also my greatest happiness," he replied, his voice sincere. In that moment, looking at the scene of a young mother tightly hugging her child who had just escaped the line of life and death, Bao Nam clearly felt that a part of his heart, the part that had frozen for the past two years since losing his wife and children, was now gradually melting and warming again.

Quyen stood next to him, holding his hand tightly, both looking towards the rising dawn, marking the end of a long night full of challenges, but also the beginning of a new chapter, where Bao Nam finally found a way to carry the memory of Bao An not as a painful wound, but as a source of gentle motivation, continuing to urge him to devote himself to the medical profession, to the little lives that he has the opportunity to save every day.

Before leaving the pediatrics department to prepare for the morning shift, Bao Nam lingered by baby Ngoc Bich's bed for a while, gently placing his hand on the child's forehead, clearly feeling that the temperature had returned to normal. "Thank you, baby, for fighting so hard last night," he whispered, his voice gentle as if he were talking to his own daughter. Baby Ngoc Bich, although still weak, still smiled slightly, reaching out her tiny hand to hold his finger for a moment, a simple gesture but enough to make Bao Nam's heart warm enough to shed tears again, this time tears of healing, not simple pain like before.