Coast City, hospital, Intensive Care Unit.
"Doctor, my mom... my mom, she..."
Outside the ward, Jim looked at his mother, who had fallen into a coma and whose vital signs were frighteningly weak, then turned to the doctor with despair in his eyes, hoping to hear some good news.
Even... even just a little. Even... just a few more days...
"I'm very sorry. We've done everything we can. Please prepare yourself."
Seeing Jim's grief, the doctor shook his head helplessly.
His mother had pancreatic cancer. Had they caught it earlier, there might have been hope, but the cancer cells had already spread throughout her body. They didn't want to give up either, but there was nothing more they could do.
"I... I understand..."
At the doctor's words, Jim bit his lip hard. It took him a long time to force out that reply.
His mother had been sick for so long that he had actually prepared himself for this long ago. Now that the moment had come, though, he simply couldn't bring himself to accept it.
But things had reached this point. There was no use lying to himself anymore.
"Spend some more time with her while you still can. Don't leave yourself with too many regre... huh?"
The doctor patted Jim's shoulder, offered a few words of comfort, and prepared to leave.
Before he could finish speaking, however, an oval opening with sparks flying around its edges inexplicably appeared in the hospital corridor. Immediately afterward, two people stepped straight out of it.
"You're sure this is the right place? Honestly, you're her son, and you don't even know which ward she's in. You really are..."
Stepping out of the Portal, Zuo Ci, concealed beneath a gray robe, stared at Hal in utter disbelief.
*What was wrong with this guy?