The mission was put aside for the moment. There better not have been any emergency cases today. His movie date with Xie Yiren was ruined once so today’s dinner had to be perfect!
It was such a lovely thought, having dinner and going to the movies with Xie Yiren.
Zheng Ren’s world turned pink for the very first time. He had been a single dog for his whole life and now, the unexpected had happened.
He tapped his feet in anticipation as he waited for a reply. The seconds passed like years. Suddenly, his phone lit up. Xie Yiren was parked downstairs in the underground parking as usual.
Zheng Ren took the elevator down to the basement. All the while, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.
Little Yiren’s car was parked at her usual spot so Zheng Ren had no trouble finding it after multiple rounds of practice.
“What do you wanna eat?” Little Yiren asked hastily. She was nervous.
Zheng Ren was similarly affected. “I’m okay with anything.”
Both of them had no experience with relationships. While they worked well together in the operating room, the two were an awkward mess when it came to dating.
Like a junior doctor on his first surgical assignment coupled with a junior scrub nurse on her first job, both were anxiety-ridden.
“Let’s have steak then. There’s an old steakhouse that’s pretty good,” Xie Yiren said as she fired up the Volvo. They inched out of the parking lot and headed for the exit.
Previously, Zheng Ren’s meal after work would be whatever was convenient. He would then stay in his rented room and read novels to pass the time.
Now, he was in a new chapter of his life and was excited.
The familiar scent in the car made Zheng Ren intoxicated. With his head in the clouds, he told Little Yiren about his day.
Imperial Capital’s Professor Tian performed a lumbar artery embolization that showed promising results.
The discussion he had with Professor Rudolf regarding the usage of diffusion-weighted MRI to pinpoint the puncture position for the TIPS surgery to treat decompensated cirrhosis.
He spoke about the trivial things that happened during the day, with no particular aim or purpose.
Little Yiren listened attentively with a smile on her face.
Perhaps this was life.
30 minutes later, they pulled into a parking spot. Zheng Ren and Little Yiren walked leisurely into the restaurant.
It was not a large restaurant and the room’s lighting was warm. The space was cozy and suitable for couples on dates.
Xie Yiren’s nerves had calmed down at this point.
With the menu in hand, her eyes sparkled with joy as if every dish she saw gave her tastebuds an explosion of flavors.
They ordered five of the restaurant’s bestsellers. The waiter took the menus and left, leaving them alone. Their gaze met.
The warm lighting and soft background music made the scene less awkward. It was as if Zheng Ren and Xie Yiren were used to staring at each other without speaking.
There was some fun that came from their exchange of glances.
No words were spoken as they gazed into each other’s eyes, their focus solely on each other.
Ten minutes later, the dishes were served. At this moment, Little Yiren broke eye contact and began feasting.
The steak was no longer as aromatic as she remembered it to be, but there was a sweet taste in her mouth as if she had eaten a lollipop.
The food tasted like food to Zheng Ren. He ate two mouthfuls, then looked up to meet Xie Yiren’s eyes. They smiled at each other. Such exchanges went on throughout dinner.
This exchange felt better and more sincere than Su Yun’s idea of sneaking an arm around Xie Yiren in the movies.
Their eyes met again and Zheng Ren was about to ask Xie Yiren if she fancied a walk after dinner when a shout came from the corner of the restaurant.
A girl in her teens was clutching her chest. Her face and lips were pale as she gasped for air.
The boy next to her was panicking and shouting.
A flashing red sign appeared in Zheng Ren’s vision.
Pulmonary embolism appeared in the System’s display.
While Zheng Ren was not from the cardiothoracic department, he knew about pulmonary embolisms.
Acute pulmonary embolisms could be caused by endogenous or other exogenous factors. It presented itself as a clot in the pulmonary circulation that disrupted the gaseous exchange, leading to oxygen deprivation in the body. As such, the fatality rate for pulmonary embolisms was high.
Why would such a young girl be suffering from pulmonary embolism?
There was no time to wonder. Zheng Ren quickly went over to their table.
“I’m a doctor, she needs the hospital!” Zheng Ren said politely, despite the fact that his actions were firm and demanding.
He pushed aside the panicking boy and steadied the girl. He reassured her and told her to take deep breaths to calm down.
Then, Zheng Ren got the boy to piggyback the girl as they rushed to Sea City General Hospital.
An emergency thrombolysis was effective against a pulmonary embolism. The golden opportunity to treat the problem was now.
There was no need to wait for the 120 ambulance.
Zheng Ren knew the ambulance had no medication to treat pulmonary embolism. There was no need to wait for an ambulance when they could bring the girl straight to the hospital.
Little Yiren had not managed to settle the bill before rushing out of the restaurant.
The Volvo XC60 sped down the street and stopped at the restaurant’s entrance.
The boy placed the girl into the car. He was shaken by the incident.
“Inform her parents. Does she have a history of illness?” Zheng Ren asked the boy as he quickly got into the car.
“Once… Last time…” the boy stuttered.
Fear spread across his face at the mention of family.
“Recurrence?” Zheng Ren frowned.
The boy said nothing. He placed the girl’s head on his lap and tried to console her, not knowing if it was safe to touch her. The helplessness was clear on his face.
Zheng Ren did not need to give any instructions as Xie Yiren tore through the streets.
It was peak traffic in the evening, so Xie Yiren put on her hazard lights and honked as she rushed them to the hospital.
Zheng Ren called up the operating room and Professor Rudolf. He asked for the girl’s family’s contacts and informed them to head over to Sea City General Hospital.
The trip to the restaurant took 30 minutes but the trip back only took 10.
When the red Volvo braked hard in front of the emergency department, there was a stretcher trolley ready at the entrance.
Without a word, Zheng Ren and the boy transferred the patient onto the stretcher trolley. She was sent to the emergency operating room.
The best treatment of pulmonary embolism was a catheter-directed thrombolysis.
However, it was not a common procedure in Sea City General Hospital.
The angiology department was still a part of the general surgery department and they were only familiar with treating varicose veins.
Zheng Ren was calling Feng Xuhui and Old Chief Physician Pan as he ran along the corridors. He needed the materials for the surgery.
As the patient was pushed into the operating room, Zheng Ren was out of breath.
