After the angiographic footage was edited, Zheng Ren and Old Chief Physician Pan walked out of the operating theater.
Chang Yue and Tang Xiu were nowhere to be seen, presumably in the emergency ward right now. Amazed, Zheng Ren habitually complimented Chang Yue internally for her superb communication skills.
The family member’s emotions had gone out of control, and yet Chang Yue had been able to calm her down within twenty minutes. Her ability was simply amazing.
Zheng Ren returned to the emergency ward after bidding goodbye to Old Chief Physician Pan.
He entered the office and saw Chang Yue trying her very best to comfort Tang Xiu.
Tang Xiu was wiping the tears that had ruined her makeup with the tissue paper Chang Yue provided.
“Chief Zheng, you’re back,” said Chang Yue immediately after seeing Zheng Ren.
“Yes. You’re the patient’s family member? What’s your name?” he asked.
“…” Tang Xiu was momentarily stunned, but she quickly regained her composure and replied, “Hello, Doctor Zheng. I’m Tang Xiu, the daughter of the patient you’ve just rescued.”
She stood up and politely extended her hand.
Zheng Ren gently shook her hand and felt a cold moisture on her palm.
“Please sit down. I’ll explain to you about the patient’s condition, and then we’ll go to ICU together, but you can’t enter the ward, so you won’t be able to visit your father today. If everything goes well, you can visit him tomorrow,” said Zheng Ren as he opened the computer and brought up the angiographic footage that he had just edited.
Everything from the cause of disease onset to the patient’s condition at the time of onset, and finally to the emergency resuscitation and surgery was explained in a concise manner.
Tang Xiu, whose emotions had stabilized, started shuddering out of anxiety again.
According to Zheng Ren, her father had had a ruptured hepatic hemangioma leading to profuse bleeding from a blood vessel that was only a few millimeters thick. If he had been admitted a minute too late, he definitely would have passed away.
Zheng Ren clearly explained the details with the footage so that Tang Xiu could understand it better.
The large smoke signified the dissipation of life energy, and the last angiographic image revealed that the deadly smoke finally disappeared. The whole process seemed simple, but the shock and fear was indescribable in the family member’s heart.
Tang Xiu could hear the sound of her heart throbbing against her ribcage in more than ten seconds of stunned silence.
The beatings were so intense,
As if in the next second,
Her heart would burst through her chest.
Tang Xiu forced herself to calm down before she stood up and deeply bowed to Zheng Ren.
“Thank you, Doctor Zheng,” she said seriously.
“You’re welcome,” Zheng Ren waved his hand and said, “The patient isn’t out of danger yet. You can thank me when he is discharged from the hospital.”
“I would never have the chance to thank you if you didn’t act in a timely manner.” A complicated feeling gnawed at her heart.
She once again recalled the article written by Wei Feng not long ago.
That was a memory that she tried but failed to wipe away.
There came a certain moment in life when every human had to face their true self.
If her superiors had not given the order to attach the evidence where the troublemakers had blackmailed the reporter, she would have happily published that article on the front page.
One would learn to empathize only after he had been in others’ shoes.
If Tang Xiu had been given a second chance, she would definitely have smashed the article right at Wei Feng’s face.
Her initial excitement when she first read the article, the despair upon hearing the horrifying news and the joy after escaping from the nightmare… Inside her heart was a chaotic mess of emotions.
“Let’s go to the ICU.” Zheng Ren walked out of the office.
Tang Xiu quickly caught up with him and asked, “Doctor Zheng, does my father have a high chance of recovery?”
“Yes,” Zheng Ren answered confidently, “However, lots of red blood cells and plasma had been infused due to massive hemorrhage, so complications such as DIC may arise. Please wait outside, I’ll check on the patient.”
Zheng Ren pressed the doorbell and entered once the door was unlocked.
All types of incurable diseases and critical illnesses were sent to ICU, a place responsible for clearing up every mess in the hospital.
It was still as busy as ever. Zheng Ren could even hear a cacophony of sounds from various monitors and ventilators in the ICU corridor.
The sound involuntarily quickened his heart rate and pushed his mind into a state of high alert.
“How is the patient?” Zheng Ren came straight to the postoperative patient after entering the ICU and asked.
“He has regained consciousness from general anesthesia, and his condition remains stable so far. I’ve told him that he needs a ventilator to assist his breathing for one night,” replied Su Yun, who was sitting on a chair while repeatedly tapping a paper with the tip of a pen.
The patient’s vital sign readings on the monitor had normalized, and his systolic pressure had reached 100mmHg. The bloody red fonts on the System panel at the upper right corner of Zheng Ren’s vision gradually faded as well, a clear sign that the patient had basically gotten out of immediate danger.
“Okay.” Zheng Ren nodded and scanned through the patient’s postoperative test results. Just when he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly recalled something and asked, “What do you want for dinner? I’m going to order food for delivery.”
“No thanks,” Su Yun lazily stretched himself and said with a smile, “Yiren just said that she found a new barbeque restaurant. Once the patient’s condition stabilizes, we’ll head out for dinner.”
“…”
“Chief resident, take care of your home.”
“…” Zheng Ren turned around and left without any hesitation.
A chief resident indeed lived a miserable life.
He could only stay in the hospital and wait for emergency cases while his buddies happily went out for dinner. Although he had no interest in food, he actually enjoyed the moments spent together with the group.
‘That’s a bummer. In that case, perhaps I can check if there are any trauma cases awaiting wound closure in the emergency department. Practice makes perfect, right?’
Zheng Ren thought along the way.
Upon exiting the outermost doors of the ICU, Tang Xiu stepped forward eagerly, but was afraid that he came out with bad news.
After seeing Tang Xiu’s hesitant and worried look, Zheng Ren said directly without keeping her waiting, “Your father has regained consciousness from anesthesia, but massive blood loss has rendered his body weak, so we’ve used a ventilator to assist his breathing for a night to reduce cardiac workload. I think he can be transferred to the emergency ward tomorrow morning.”
Zheng Ren’s words completely took a load off her mind.
“Thank you, Doctor Zheng.”
“No problem.” Zheng Ren waved his hand and left the scene.
Relieved, Tang Xiu began to call her mother and other relatives to inform them about the bad news and the relatively good news.
‘F*ck you, Wei Feng!’ She cursed internally while making the phone calls.
If the chief editor had allowed the publication of Wei Feng’s article, Doctor Zheng would have been suspended. That was the simplest punishment of all.
If that had been the case… a cold corpse would have been waiting for her today.
The more Tang Xiu thought about it, the greater her fear. Without giving a damn to her image, she slumped against the wall, using it to support her weight.
The coldness from the wall seeped into her body and froze her soul.
‘Luck is on my side,’ she thought emotionally after a long while.
…
…
Zheng Ren returned to the emergency ward, took out a book of emergency first aid and began his revision. He had completely forgotten about the academic conference that Old Chief Physician Pan wanted him to attend, and as for the invitation card, he had absolutely no clue where he had placed it last time.
However, since he was a chief resident in the emergency department, there was nothing wrong with him gaining knowledge of emergency first aid.
At half-past five, Xie Yiren ran down and asked Zheng Ren what he wanted to have for dinner.
Zheng Ren hesitated for a while, and Xie Yiren merely looked at him as if staring at a fool.
Xie Yiren was unable to comprehend his thinking. How could anyone dislike food? How boring would life be if everything in the world tasted the same?
Yes, Zheng Ren was indeed a boring man.
Without waiting for his answer, Xie Yiren told him not to order food and pulled Chang Yue out of the room.
Yang Lei trailed behind them like a ghost. He shifted his gaze between Xie Yiren’s back and Zheng Ren, and silently gave him an ambiguous smile.
Everyone was gone, and every patient who could ambulate had returned home as well. The emergency ward felt quiet and empty in this instant.
Zheng Ren read his book attentively.
The phone rang at past seven o’clock.
He accepted the call and heard a high-pitched cry among the chaotic noises in the background from the other side of the phone.
