Hospital 444
Chapter 636 - 6: Soulmates

Chapter 636: Chapter 6: Soulmates

Chris Owen had never expected that his relationship with his wife would reach this point.

He had been a university professor, primarily studying geology. Within the academy, he was a teacher greatly respected by the students, and at home, he was a family head deeply revered by his family members.

But everything changed when he discovered that his son was secretly smoking marijuana.

Nowadays in the United States, the proportion of people consuming marijuana had even surpassed that of smokers, and in university campuses, students smoking marijuana was a common sight, nothing out of the ordinary. Importantly, more than twenty states, including Washington D.C., had already declared marijuana legal.

Marijuana consumption had completely become a rational and legal matter.

In contrast, after discovering his son’s marijuana use, Chris, who sternly reprimanded him and threw all the marijuana in his room into the toilet, seemed like an odd one out in the family.

He knew very well that once a person chose the path of addiction, they would continue to seek more stimulating drugs—getting heroin or methamphetamine was not difficult for a minor in the United States. Even at school, there were agents who specialized in distributing wholesale drugs.

His wife accused him of making a mountain out of a molehill, stating that smoking marijuana was not a big deal anymore, even his colleagues had tried it. In her view, it was no different from smoking cigarettes.

But Chris, as a university professor, knew very well what it meant. Protected by his mother, his son refused to admit his mistake, so Chris slapped him, and he left the house.

A month after his son John ran away from home, he was arrested by the police.

He was charged with sexually assaulting a woman, both of whom were addicts and had met in a bar. The woman accused John of using violence against her multiple times and of raping her.

His wife insisted that the other party was framing their son, purely for money.

In the United States, the ME TOO women’s rights movement was flourishing, and the scandal involving a university professor’s son being accused of sexual assault immediately caused an uproar, making it difficult for Chris to continue teaching at the school.

He could only go to the police station first to pay a bail, temporarily getting his son out on bail.

It was certain that John did indeed have sexual relations with the woman; there was no doubt about that, and he did not deny it. However, he claimed that he was merely using marijuana with her to "enhance the experience" rather than assaulting her. The accuser was intentionally trying to extort money from him, he said.

However, the matter quickly escalated. John’s photo was posted on Facebook, tagging the identity of a university professor’s son, and it instantly spread wildly across social media. Many people had already branded him as a sexual predator, and numerous rumors were attached to the Owen family.

Chris was overwhelmed, and finally, even he began to doubt whether his son might have indeed assaulted the woman.

In the end, his son chose to commit suicide.

Now recalling everything, Chris deeply regretted it. He thought he should never have bailed him out; if his son had been detained, he wouldn’t have been able to commit suicide.

...

At this moment, he closed the book he was holding.

"This book is about the impact of drugs on the nervous system, isn’t it?’"

Chris was startled and looked towards the blonde woman opposite him.

She pointed at the book cover, "This is a book in German, right?"

"Yes... it is. I actually don’t know much German, so it’s slightly difficult for me. This book doesn’t have an English translation in the United States, only a German version."

Chris looked at the blonde woman and asked, "Do you understand German better?"

"It’s fairly good. I am a translator; I specialize in Chinese and German. Initially, I learned Chinese because of my love for Bruce Lee. Later on, I studied German."

"Then, could you help me look at these passages?"

"Sure, I can do that."

Chris handed the book over to her.

After examining the book, she added, "This is about the investigation of drug abuse in the United States. It says that a large amount of pain medication is being excessively abused."

Then, looking at Chris, she mentioned, "By the way, when I was learning Chinese, I found out that what we call Drugs, those abused medications, are called ’毒品’."

The word 毒品, spoken in Chinese, meant Chris did not understand and mechanically repeated, "毒品?"

"That means Poison. You see, this part mentions that China’s anti-drug measures are the strictest in the world..."

After translating a few sections for Chris, she asked, "Hmm, but are you interested in this area? Regular people don’t usually read academic books to learn German, right?"

"It’s sort of... this book discusses the impact of drugs on the nervous system, and there are many parts I don’t quite understand."

Chris was, after all, just a geology professor and did not have a special background in medicine or pharmacology.

His son had died, and his death had left whether he was guilty or not an eternal mystery.

His wife believed unconditionally in their son and insisted they were being extorted.

And he wanted to know if consuming a lot of marijuana could cause severe hallucinations.

He had read many books in this area, even purchasing books written abroad. However, even after reading these books, he could not find an answer and could not ascertain whether his son was truly guilty or not.

"However, in China, do Drug and Poison mean the same thing?"

"Yes. China is the country with the strictest drug control in the world because, like our country, they had a high rate of drug use over a hundred years ago."

"The Qing Dynasty? The Opium Wars?" Although not a historian, Chris was fairly acquainted with this well-known modern history.

After a long silence, he finally said, "Did you mention Bruce Lee earlier?"

"Yes... My husband and I are fans of Bruce Lee, even though he has been dead for so many years."

Chris remembered that in his son’s room, there was also a poster of Bruce Lee. He had not expected his son to be a fan of a Chinese martial arts star from last century.

"Sharing common interests between spouses indeed is very important."

He once thought he and his wife were soul mates.

Yet unexpectedly, they couldn’t ultimately come together.

The wedding vow "until death do us part" seemed so ironic now.

"I am now going to Washington to meet him."

"That’s great. Are you folks from Washington?"

"No, I am from Atlanta, he lives in Philadelphia... our situation is quite complicated..."

"Do you think... you and your husband, are soul mates?"

Chris didn’t know why, but he suddenly asked that question.