Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Doctor Ling, we really don’t have enough hospital beds anymore,” the director of the Nursing Department of the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City said earnestly.
Ling Ran, who had just finished the surgery for Elder Mei, looked as if he was glowing as he stared at the director of the Nursing Department. She smiled, “When I went to the ICU during my ward rounds, I saw three beds that were empty. Let me use another one.”
“Doctor Ling, then the ICU will only have two beds left. It’ll be too hectic for us, we really can’t take in anyone else.” The director of the Nursing Department shook her head. She went from being a nurse to a head nurse before she finally became the director of the Nursing Department. She knew all it was about the work nurses had to do and understood surgery maniacs like Ling Ran even more so.
It was probably not a big deal for the ICU to have another one of their beds taken. They will always be able to find beds if they squeezed out their resources. But could a surgery maniac really be satisfied with only a bed?
The director of the Nursing Department looked at Ling Ran, she did not dare to not offend the doctor who had just operated on Elder Mei. She also could not let him indefinitely increase the workload of the Nursing Department. She decided to use an indirect approach and advised him, “Doctor Ling, you are working at Yun Hua Emergency Medical Center. Aren’t you worried that the ICU would have a shortage of beds? If the Emergency Medical Center suddenly receives a major emergency situation, how many beds do you think will have to be prepared? It’s the same situation for the First People’s Hospital. If there are only two ICU beds left, the Emergency Department will be so terrified that they won’t have enough beds that they might just die of a heart attack.”
Ling Ran looked at the director of the Nursing Department skeptically and said, “Do you have such major emergency tasks?”
Yun Hua Hospital was the emergency center of Yun Hua City. It provided emergency treatment to patients in Yun Hua City and the surrounding millions of people, especially after being upgraded to Emergency Medical Center. It was now comparable to a small hospital. Although the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City was a tertiary Grade A hospital, they had no Emergency Medical Center nor an Emergency Department that could provide emergency treatment to millions of people. Whether or not they could handle patients in critical condition was debatable, and the pressure given by the Emergency Department to the ICU would be much lower.
In theory, most of the patients in the ICU of the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City received elective surgeries. It meant that they got to choose when to do their surgeries and got to ensure the placement for a bed and other such related matters.
The director of the Nursing Department certainly knew what state her hospital was in, but she could not compromise. She quickly said, “Emergency treatment means that it will happen out of the blue, that’s why we have to be prepared for it, right? If there is a major car accident…”
If there was a major car accident, the victims would naturally be sent to a hospital with great admission capacity first. In addition, there were separate placement plans. For Yun Hua Emergency Medical Center, they may face the accusation of taking in all the cases. The First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City did not even the right to take all the patients sent their way.
However, Ling Ran was not planning to argue with the other party about this possibility.
Ling Ran knew that he had basically used up all the beds in the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City already.
“Okay, I won’t take anymore surgeries. Well, I should get going after being out for so long.” Ling Ran quickly decided that since there was no surgery to perform, he did not have any reason to stay in Wuxin City.
The director of the Nursing Department inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. The doctor who filled the ICU fully was a walking disaster for the Nursing Department. If Ling Ran had participated actively in her organization’s matchmaking activities, it would have been fine, but he just stayed in the operating theater all day long, and the Nursing Department’s tolerance also had its limit if they had to work so long!
“Doctor Ling can have a good rest for a few days. We have a nice view in Wuxin City,” the director of the Nursing Department tried to placate Ling Ran as much as possible. She racked her brains as she said, “I also know several patients and their families who live in scenic areas or provide homestay. You can make appointments with them. These places are cheap and good. They are very unique…”
“I won’t be going,” Ling Ran had lost interest in this hospital and city when there were no rooms left available in them.
The director became awkward and chuckled with a polite smile. “What do you usually like to do, Doctor Ling? I can help make arrangements. I have to say, I’ve sung in every KTV in Wuxin City…”
She still felt very guilty and feared that Ling Ran would be angry because of this.
Ling Ran looked at the director of the Nursing Department in a baffled manner and shook his head.
“Nightclubs?” the director made a tentative remark. It was a little awkward to invite someone to a nightclub. She seldom ran into anyone who would want to go to nightclubs. After all, most of the people she needed to entertain were middle-aged and old people. However, there were always people who feel that they were young, especially those surgeons in their forties who studied overboard. They had the highest probability of asking for strange services.
“If there is no surgery, I won’t be going. I will go back.” Ling Ran gave a very clear answer.
The director was afraid that he was implying something else. She became more anxious. “Doctor Ling, our ICU really can’t fit in any more people. Would you like to taste the wildlife in Wuxin City? I have to say, our Traditional Chinese Medicine Department’s herbal cuisine is a must. People would often ask for the recipe. You can ask Professor Huang to join you…”
Ling Ran only listened to the first half of her sentence. He then asked, “If there are no more beds in ICU, can the ordinary beds be used? My Achilles tendon repair is pretty good as well. If not, I can also do finger replantations…”
Finger replantations were Ling Ran’s final compromise.
As for surgeries like M-Tang technique surgeries, there were still some high requirements for searching for medical cases. On the other hand, Ling Ran did the M-tang technique surgeries too fast. Ling Ran now had the experience of dissecting three thousand upper limbs. He got it from the Intermediate Treasure Chest he opened that day, and it was the area in which his dissection experience was the greatest. Nowadays, when he performed the M-Tang technique, Ling Ran could complete it in about forty minutes. He did not need to ask the First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City for any surgeries requiring the M-Tang technique, it was obvious that the hospital could not provide it.
The director of the Nursing Department was not willing to attract such troubles. She stuttered, “We’re also short on normal beds, and this kind of thing should be approved by the director of the Orthopedics Department. I don’t think we’re doing many Achilles tendon repairs and finger replantations for now.”
“Oh,” Ling Ran said in regret.
Nowadays, many tertiary Grade A hospitals were unwilling to do microsurgery. They were considered to be hard labor. Not every doctor enjoyed long surgery hours that required detailed work.
“It’s not just our hospital, beds in every hospital is very limited now. Wuxin City has always been like this, the patients near our city come to the city. Our beds are authorized according to the urban population as well…” the director of the Nursing Department continued to explain.
*Knock knock.*
Someone knocked on the door of the waiting room in the Operating Area twice.
Doctor Jin then came in and smiled when he saw Ling Ran.
“Doctor Ling, you’re here,” Doctor Jin greeted him and dragged Professor Huang, who was behind him, into the room as well.
Professor Huang reluctantly said hello and said in a lackadaisical fashion, “Ling Ran, Doctor Jin asked me to introduce him to you.”
Ling Ran stood still and gave a socially-acceptable smile. “Doctor Jin, Professor Huang.”
“Alright, Old Jin. Now that you’ve seen him in person, I should go,” Professor Huang said.
“Don’t…” Doctor Jin grinned cheekily as he pulled Professor Huang back and said, “You and Doctor Ling are old acquaintances… Oh, you have a friend here? How should I address you?”
Doctor Jin looked at the director of the Nursing Department, who stood by the side.
The director of the Nursing Department quickly introduced herself.
As the director of the Nursing Department of a tertiary Grade A hospital, she had quite the standing. But it was much weaker compared to the family doctor of Mei Tiangui.
“Perfect timing. Director An arranged several beds for us, and I brought some patients for Doctor Ling,” Doctor Jin looked as if he was giving gifts to Ling Ran. He smiled and said, “Doctor Ling, I have a few friends here who also have hepatolithiasis. They are pretty old. Can you look after them?”
The director of the Nursing Department opened her mouth. She had been negotiating with Ling Ran for a long time just now because there simply was no beds in the hospital anymore.
However, while she could repeat the same words to the young Ling Ran, if she said the same things to Doctor Jin, she might just end up embarrassing herself.
Ling Ran asked excitedly, “How many of them?”
“Two to four.” Doctor Jin laughed and said, “Many people are unwilling to have an operation or have an operation and have a relapse. Since you performed well here, everyone was tempted.”
Hepatolithiasis was also known as the poor people’s disease, or a disease common in developing countries. If a person suffered from a lack of protein for a long time or ate a lot of starchy foods, it will be very easy for them to suffer from hepatolithiasis.
During the nineties and especially during the eighties, there was a high rate of Chinese in China who suffered from hepatolithiasis everywhere in the country, and once the disease appeared, it was irreversible. It will only gradually worse.
When someone was forced to receive surgery, the disease was usually already very serious.
Ling Ran wanted to agree to it, but he hesitated for a while before he said, “The First People’s Hospital of Wuxin City doesn’t seem to have any more available beds.”
“Then go to Second People’s Hospital. Everyone is running over here because of your fame. It doesn’t matter which hospital you are in.” Once Doctor Jin finished speaking, he whispered, “I was saying previously that the fees for many of the operations you performed in the First People’s Hospital is calculated based on the rate for freelance surgeons. After we calculate the amount of money you will receive from the treatment you provided, you should receive your money.”
Ling Ran listening, but he did not really care about the money. The director of the Nursing Department next to him had her expression slowly become stiff.
The patients invited by Doctor Jin might have a strong background. Patients such as these were people the First People’s Hospital longed to receive. Now, they will be sending the patients to Second People’s Hospital for no reason. It was such a waste.
Director An from the Nursing Department subconsciously looked at the spider plant on the window sill and racked her brains.
The spider plant was blown by the wind from the air conditioner, and several of its branches quivered as if they wanted to go out to snatch the bride from the groom. Its leaves curled up as if they were defending against foreign attacks. Its dense branches looked like a horizontal fence, and it was very easy to link them to the extra beds in the hospital corridor. Those rows and vertically arranged extra beds were annoying yet likable…
