"It's fine as long as you say so..." Brian Foster gave a wry smile. Young people are just young people—some things in this world aren't as simple as one, two, three. Brian Foster pointed at the person under the white sheet and said, "The young master was secretly arranged to work under me, but he rarely comes to work. Chairman Brooks dotes on him the most. Although he usually has strict requirements for him, that's just tough love. This incident happened under our watch. No matter how reasonable Chairman Brooks is, we'll lose our jobs. If he really gets angry, I'm afraid neither of us will be able to stay in Changhai."

"Then... what should we do?" Howard Sullivan was anxious too.

What to do? If I had a solution, I wouldn't be this worried. But Howard Sullivan kept asking twice in a row.

Brian Foster pointed at Henry Brooks's corpse: "Unless he comes back to life."

"Whoosh..." At that moment, Henry Brooks suddenly sat up from under the white sheet.

"Ah... a corpse coming back to life..." Howard Sullivan screamed, so frightened that he collapsed on the spot.

"Cough... cough... cough..." Brian Foster choked on a mouthful of smoke, his face turning red, eyes wide open, but at least he handled it better than Howard Sullivan.

After all, he studied medicine and works in emergency care—he's seen all kinds of situations.

"D-don't panic. F-from a scientific perspective, a corpse can have slight movements due to external stimuli, like electricity or viral infection..." Brian Foster stammered nervously, trying to comfort Howard Sullivan and himself at the same time.

"Cough..." The corpse suddenly coughed, and the white sheet slid off Henry Brooks's head. Henry Brooks opened his eyes and looked at Brian Foster and Howard Sullivan. At this moment, both Brian Foster and Howard Sullivan were stunned, frozen in place, not daring to move. Henry Brooks suddenly reached out, took the cigarette from Brian Foster's hand, took a couple of drags, and said, "Director Foster, what you described is minor movement. If it were really a corpse, it couldn't possibly sit up like this."

"You..." Brian Foster stared at Henry Brooks in shock. "Are you... human or a ghost?"

Henry Brooks exhaled smoke and turned to look at Brian Foster: "I'm a ghost, Director Foster. How about we have a little 'Ghost and Human Romance'?"

If Henry Brooks had said he was human, Brian Foster would definitely have doubted it, since he had personally confirmed and announced Henry Brooks's death just now. But hearing Henry Brooks say this, the fear that had been stuck in his throat actually eased, and it didn't feel so terrifying anymore.

"Henry Brooks... you... you're really not dead?" Brian Foster mustered some courage.

"I don't really know what happened myself. You can check me again now. If it's not a corpse coming back to life, then it's suspended animation." Henry Brooks said casually, finishing the cigarette in a few puffs, and beckoned to Brian Foster: "Hand me another cigarette."

Suspended animation—Brian Foster and Howard Sullivan's eyes both lit up. Suspended animation, also known as apparent death, refers to a state where a person's circulatory, respiratory, and brain functions are highly suppressed, and vital signs are extremely weak. Standard clinical examinations can't detect signs of life, and outwardly, the person appears dead, but is actually still alive. With active treatment, revival can be temporary or long-term.

To put it simply, because signs of life like breathing and heartbeat are extremely faint, from the outside, the person looks almost exactly like a dead body. If not examined carefully, it's easy to mistakenly think they're dead; sometimes the "corpse" is even processed or buried. It's just that their breathing, heartbeat, pulse, and blood pressure are so weak that ordinary methods can't detect them. This state is called suspended animation.

Both Brian Foster and Howard Sullivan understood this. With Henry Brooks's explanation, their attention shifted from "corpse coming back to life" to suspended animation, giving them a new perspective and explanation.

Brian Foster braced himself and said, "Then... let me check you again?"

"Go ahead." Henry Brooks casually tossed aside the white sheet, muttering, "Damn, could it be because of those weird cigarettes from those guys?"

Brian Foster gathered his courage and gave Henry Brooks a quick check. Heartbeat, blood pressure, pulse—all normal. This was definitely a living person.

"Looks like it really was suspended animation. I was careless just now and didn't notice." Brian Foster wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling less afraid but more worried. If the chairman found out about this, or even the hospital leadership, he'd be in big trouble.

By now, the ambulance had already arrived at the hospital. Henry Brooks glanced at Brian Foster, as if he could see right through his thoughts.

"Director Foster, I don't want anyone else to know about this. Please do me a small favor and keep it a secret." As he spoke, Henry Brooks looked at Howard Sullivan as well. "Let this be our little secret. If the old man finds out, I'll be in big trouble and won't be allowed out at night anymore. You two have to help me out."

Brian Foster let out a long sigh of relief. This wasn't helping Henry Brooks—it was helping himself! He quickly nodded, "Young master, don't worry, absolutely no problem. I won't tell anyone about this, and neither will Little Howard."

"Mm, mm..." Howard Sullivan nodded repeatedly. Everything tonight was just too strange. It seemed the young master must have smoked something weird, and then, combined with the car accident, ended up in suspended animation.