Once they returned to Summer City, the family of three paid a visit to Merlin. They headed directly to the bedroom. The blinds were shut, making the room seem rather dark. Merlin laid on the bed alone with his eyes shut, and he looked especially worn out. If it weren’t for the slight heaving of his chest, he pretty much looked like a corpse.
Eugene was shocked by the sight of this, and he practically ran over. “What happened, Grandpa?” he asked anxiously. Eugene had been worried about the old man. They had video-called each other for the past few days, and Merlin had seemed relatively lively through their calls. How did he end up in that state?
Merlin opened his eyes weakly, and he responded in a weak tone after seeing who his visitors were. “I’m fine.” However, it was obvious that Merlin didn’t have any energy at all. Even his voice sounded softer than usual. Eugene immediately called for Olivia. “Come over and take a look at Grandpa, Olivia. What happened to him?”
Olivia took a seat and held Merlin’s wrist to check his pulse. It was weak and unsteady. She frowned before taking the sphygmometer to measure Merlin’s blood pressure. It was 180/100. Judging by how high his blood pressure was, it seemed like he must have experienced something that triggered his emotions. She spoke to the old man while checking on his condition. “You need to calm down, Grandpa. You can’t get too emotional.
“What is it?” Eugene asked. “It looks like Grandpa must have gotten worked up about something, leading to his extremely high blood pressure. It’s fortunate that we came here in time,” she replied. As she spoke, she retrieved a pill bottle from her bag before producing a white pill. After contemplating for a moment, she placed the pill into Merlin’s mouth. “You have to keep this pill under your tongue, Grandpa.”
Merlin could still process Olivia’s words, so he nodded and did as he was told. Eugene felt extremely worried, which only made him feel more helpless as there was nothing he could do. He merely watched as Olivia pulled out a silver needle before performing acupuncture on Merlin’s forehead.
When North saw Merlin getting tired and shutting his eyes, North started feeling afraid. He shuffled over to the edge of the bed. “You can’t sleep, Great-Grandpa! Let me tell you a joke.” When Merlin heard North’s voice, he forced himself to open his eyes. “North… Sure. Tell me a joke.”
North thought about it for a moment. “Once upon a time, the teacher asked Mike: who was the one who bombed Pearl Harbor? ‘Not me, Mike told the teacher. The teacher was furious, so she told Mike to bring his parents in the next day. When Mike’s father came over the next day, the teacher told his father about what happened in class the day before. Mike’s father was confused for a moment. ‘Well, my son doesn’t lie. If he says that it wasn’t him, then it wasn’t him, Mike’s father said.”
Merlin beamed after North finished speaking. “Do you know who bombed Pearl Harbor, then?” “The Japanese, of course!” North replied. Merlin chuckled. “That’s right. You’re so smart, North.”
“Do you want to hear more jokes, Great- Grandpa?” North asked. Merlin nodded, so North went on with his jokes. The kid’s innocent voice filled the room along with Eugene’s anxious footsteps while Olivia treated him. While the three of them were kept busy, Merlin finally started to feel better.
When Olivia checked his blood pressure again, it was starting to lower, and his pulse was returning to normal. She prescribed more medication and got people to prepare the ingredients so that she could cook some medication for the old man. All of this was done within 30 minutes.
After that, Eugene felt a little less worried. He left the room after telling Olivia about it. When he was outside, he realized that there were no visitors from the Nolan Family that day.
Typically, someone from the Nolan Family would camp outside their living area. These people would take turns and show up every day without fail.
