Orthopedics Department.
Along the corridor.
“Can’t you do anything? Please help us.” Zhan Guiping was holding on to the doctor.
Zhan Guiping’s wife pleaded. “Please save my daughter… Please save her.”
Zhan Rourou sobbed. “Dad, Mum, I know I can never stand again. Sob… sob…. Just let it be…. Let’s go home….”
Zhan Guiping got mad. “What are you saying? I promised you that I would find a cure for your legs.”
Zhan Guiping’s wife cried. “Doctor, my daughter is only twenty-three years old. I beg you…. Please help her.”
That doctor sighed, and he was holding a few copies of x-rays. “It’s not that we don’t want to treat your daughter. There’s nothing we can do. This is no longer about her legs. Her spine was injured too.” He pointed at an x-ray. “Look here. Her nerves and bone were injured. The bone can be treated, but it is hard for her nerves. The chances of a full recovery would be zero even if she underwent an operation. It might still be possible if she had been sent here for an operation when she was injured. It’s been almost two months.” The doctor shook his head. “You all should be prepared.”
Zhan Rourou turned pale, and her lips were quivering.
Zhan Guiping’s wife cried. “This is the best hospital in Beijing. You all must have a solution. Please operate on Rourou again. This is our only hope.”
The doctor replied. “How about you all seek treatment at the Third Hospital?”
Beijing Third Hospital was famous for its Orthopedics department.
Zhan Guiping replied solemnly. “We went there yesterday, and they said the same things.”
The doctor replied. “We can’t do this operation too, and it will be the second operation on the same spot. The patient can still feel pain in her legs. If we do this operation, she might lose all feelings of her leg. It would be too risky.”
Zhan Rourou’s face was covered in tears.
Zhan Guiping wiped her tears. “Rourou, stop crying. Your Mum and I will find a cure for you and let you stand again.”
Dong Xuebing walked over. “Zhan Rourou.”
Zhan Rourou looked at Dong Xuebing. “Director Dong?”
Dong Xuebing squatted beside her. “I heard everything earlier. It’s my fault. I should not let you all enter the hospital to evacuate the patients. I’m sorry.”
“You are Dong Xuebing?!” Zhan Rourou’s mother stared at Dong Xuebing coldly.
Dong Xuebing extended his hand. “Hi, Secretary Zhan, Mrs. Zhan.”
Zhan Guiping was in a bad mood but still shook Dong Xuebing’s hand. But his wife ignored him.
“Why are you here?” Mrs. Zhan asked coldly.
Dong Xuebing replied awkwardly. “My wife is pregnant, and I had brought her for a checkup. I happened to see you all when I walked by.”
Zhan Rourou sobbed. “Mum, don’t be like this.”
Zhan Guiping shouted at his wife. “Enough! Why are you venting your anger at Xiao Dong?! If it was not for him, we don’t even need to be here to seek treatment for Rourou.”
Mrs. Zhan kept quiet but continued to show discontent towards Dong Xuebing.
Zhan Guiping patted Dong Xuebing’s shoulder. “She is in a bad mood. Sorry.”
Zhan Rourou sniffled. “My Mum is worried for me.”
Dong Xuebing could understand how they felt. Although he had saved Zhan Rourou, it was his fault for asking them to evacuate the patients. If he had discovered Zhan Rourou had been left behind in the hospital earlier and saved her, this tragedy would not happen. That’s why he was not mad when Mrs. Zhan treated him harshly.
Dong Xuebing quickly asked. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Zhan Guiping shook his head. “Thanks, but there’s nothing you can do here.”
The doctor passed the x-ray copies and test results to them. “You all should leave now. I still have to attend to other patients. Let the patient rest more.”
“Wait.” Zhan Guiping stopped the doctor.
“Anything else?” The doctor was losing his patience.
Zhan Guiping refused to give up. “A doctor at the Third Hospital told me that PLA General Hospital’s Professor Ci is the top surgent for such operations. He treated and cured numerous paralyzed patients. He said if Professor Ci can do this operation, the chance of recovery is above 60%.”
Mrs. Zhan was overjoyed. “Really?”
Zhan Guiping nodded. “That was what the doctor said. I asked around, and 302 PLA General Hospital has Professor Ci. He can save Rourou.”
Everyone looked at the doctor.
The doctor smiled wearily. “Professor Ci does not attend to outpatients.”
Mrs. Zhan asked anxiously. “Then we can be warded in the hospital. Can you ask Professor Ci to do this surgery?”
The doctor shook his head. “Professor Ci will not attend to any patients regardless of outpatients or warded patients.”
Zhan Guiping asked. “How about we fix an appointment? We can wait for him.”
The doctor sighed. “I will tell you the truth. Professor Ci is at the Western Building and is under a different system from us. He does not accept appointments too.”
Western building?!
Zhan Guiping and his wife immediately understood.
They had passed the Western Building on their way here. That medical building only caters to the top leaders. Every military hospital will have a specialized zone like this. Even a Bureau Director Leader is not qualified to seek treatment there, let alone a Division Chief like Zhan Guiping.
Mrs. Zhan finally saw a glimpse of hope. “Please let us meet Professor Ci. Please, I am begging you…. Money is not a problem…. Please save my daughter.”
The doctor replied. “There’s nothing I can do.”
Zhan Guiping had no choice, and he took out his work pass. “Can you help us please, comrade?”
The doctor paused for a second when he saw Zhan Guiping, a Commission for Discipline Inspection committee’s Deputy Secretary. But he still shook his head. “That side is also not considered high-level officers ward. Please go back.” He did not say everything. Even if the Western Building is a high-level officers’ ward, a Division Chief from another province might not be qualified to enter.
Zhan Guiping pleaded. “Comrade….”
Mrs. Zhan cried. “Doctor, I will kowtow to you…. Please save my child. She is only in her twenties. Please let us meet Professor Ci.”
Zhan Rourou held her mother. “Mum…. Sob… sob…. Let’s go back.”
Mrs. Zhan cried. “I would die here if you are not treated. I am not going anywhere!”
Zhan Rourou hugged her mother. Zhan Guiping looked at them and hugged them. “There will be a way. There must be a way.”
Dong Xuebing suddenly asked. “Can Professor Ci treat injuries like this?”
The doctor did not give a direct answer. “I am not sure.”
Dong Xuebing, Zhan Guiping, and the rest felt Professor Ci could cure Zhan Rourou from that doctor’s vague answer. He must be the best specialist in this area, and the doctor from the Third Hospital was not lying.
Dong Xuebing looked at Zhan Rourou and Mrs. Zhan, who were still crying and stopped the leaving doctor. “Which part of the Western Building is Professor Ci?”
The doctor waved his hand and tried to walk away.
Hmph! You want to ignore me?! “Then… is your Deputy Director Liu around?”
The doctor paused. “Which Deputy Director Liu?”
Dong Xuebing asked. “How many female generals are there in our country?”
The doctor looked at Dong Xuebing again and did not say a word. He stood there and stopped walking away.
Dong Xuebing could not be bothered by that doctor. He took out his phone and checked his phone book. He remembered he did not have Deputy Director Liu’s number and took out Xie Huilan’s phone. He found a number saved under ‘Aunt Liu’ on her phone. He turned to Zhan Rourou and the rest. “Secretary Zhan, leave this to me. I will help you all contact Professor Ci.”
Mrs. Zhan continued to ignore Dong Xuebing. She was still crying and hugging her daughter.
The doctor looked at Dong Xuebing with doubts.
Dong Xuebing used Xie Huilan’s phone and called that number. Ring… ring… ring…. The line got through.
“Hello, Huilan?” A woman laughed. “Is your checkup result out? How is your body?”
Dong Xuebing replied awkwardly. “Aunt Liu, it’s me. Dong Xuebing.”
“Oh….” Aunt Liu laughed. “It’s Xuebing.”
Dong Xuebing continued. “Huilan is still undergoing her body checkup, and I am holding her phone.”
“What’s wrong? Are you worried about your wife? I had made all the arrangements. All of them are good doctors.”
“It’s not about this.” Dong Xuebing replied. “I need a favor from you. A friend of mine broke her back and legs during the earthquake, and she is paralyzed from the waist down. She is at 302 now. I heard there’s Professor Ci, the top specialist in this field, but he only treats patients in the Western Building. Can you help us contact him?”
“What is the condition of the patient?”
“Huh? I am not sure…. I don’t know much about medical issues.”
“Ok. I am reaching the hospital in a few minutes. I will take a look when I get there. Where are you all now?”
“We are at the Orthopedics department’s lobby.”
“Ok. I know.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s a small matter. Wait for me, and we will talk after I check on the patient’s condition.”
Dong Xuebing is the Xie Family’s son-in-law and does not need to be so polite toward Aunt Liu. Xie Huilan mentioned before that Aunt Liu is not an outsider.
