“Chief Resident Zheng!” an on-call doctor yelled.
“Yes?” Zheng Ren answered.
“There’s a patient requesting admission but… I think you should have a look.”
Zheng Ren was a surgeon born and bred, and was thus not familiar with this on-call doctor from the medical wing of the emergency department. Zheng Ren was rarely called to weigh in on their cases. If the patient’s condition was severe, they were naturally admitted to the hospital.
Zheng Ren nodded and headed for the emergency rescue room.
In the room, a wheezing, elderly man of seventy-odd years lay on a stretcher.
Standing by the bed was an old woman of similar age.
“Chief Resident Zheng, this old lady wants to admit her husband but doesn’t want us to treat him,” the on-call doctor told Zheng Ren.
In some cultures, the custom was for terminal patients to pass at home. Some preferred to do so at their holy places but a good number of people chose the hospital.
It was the early winter season now. The hospital saw an increase in patients in every medical department. Many wanted to leave the hospital as soon as they were allowed to.
“You must be Dr. Zheng,” the old woman said. She had a kind, serene expression, as peaceful as the lake in the System. Her brows were slightly furrowed by hints of sadness.
“Madam, good day. Yes, I am Dr. Zheng,” Zheng Ren replied.
“I would like to send my husband on his last trip. It’s a bit inconvenient at home, so I hope it’s not a problem.” The old woman bowed slightly. Her movements were subtle and she carried an air of class that implied a certain pedigree.
“It’s not a problem but we currently don’t have any vacancies in the related department, so there’s nothing I can do.”
A flash of disappointment crossed her face, but it was gone in a second.
“Dr. Zheng, we just need a quiet room for him, as long as nothing startles him. He doesn’t have long. Look…”
“We do have some quieter rooms here in the emergency department, but we don’t even know what illness he has and we don’t have the manpower to provide him medical attention.” Zheng Ren was in a tight spot.
“There’s no need for medical attention or rescue.” The old woman lowered her gaze. She gently stroked the silver mane on the patient’s head; her expression was of love and tenderness. “All I ask is for a peaceful passing.”
“Then follow me. We’ll need you to sign a do-not-resuscitate order,” Zheng Ren said.
The on-call doctor was aware of the manpower shortage in the newly-built emergency wards. Medical staff were stretched thin in the department. He did not understand why Zheng Ren was opting to take in this patient.
Of course, Zheng Ren had his reasons.
It was a minor issue to write up a patient’s history. If Chang Yue was not willing to do it, he would personally do so. It would take four to five hours at most.
Four to five hours of his break time, that is.
The old woman was good-natured and Zheng Ren wanted to help her with this small matter.
“Thank you so much,” she said to Zheng Ren.
Zheng Ren called on two staff members to move the patient to the emergency wards.
Chang Yue saw the arrival of the new patient and got the necessary documents ready. Although the patient was not in for emergency surgery, she processed him as per routine without any complaints. She was calm and caring as she dealt with them.
The arrangement put the old man in the last room. Chang Yue spoke with the family and asked after the patient.
Zheng Ren left relationship-building to Chang Yue and went to the office, recalling Old Chief Physician Pan’s words.
Many things in this world were illogical.
The world was not black and white, but shades of grey.
A person who was lauded by many would also have many enemies. There was always the flip side of a story.
After a few minutes of thought, Zheng Ren laughed. He started thinking about how to go about with Zheng Yunxia’s treatment.
Philosophical discussions… Those were the least of his concerns.
“Chang Yue, what time is the CT scan?” Zheng Ren asked when Chang Yue walked in.
“Six in the evening.”
“Fasting?”
“Miss Yun is still young and her blood sugar is normal, so there shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Alright. Call me when it’s time.” Zheng Ren paused for a moment and asked, “Can you help me ask if I can perform the CT scan reconstruction?”
“You?” A look of surprise was evident on Chang Yue’s face.
“Yes. The usual 3D reconstruction is based on standard algorithms. As I am the surgeon, I would like the reconstruction to be customized.”
Chang Yue’s eyebrows furrowed. Since her foray into the medical field, she had never heard of a clinical physician wanting to perform the reconstruction themselves.
She wondered if Chief Zheng had lost some of his senses after the hundreds of surgeries.
Zheng Ren studied Chang Yue’s expression and clued in on her thoughts.
However, to explain the whole situation would require too much effort and she might not understand it even then. The knowledge was beyond the abilities of most doctors.
In the medical world, specializations were honed to be narrow and in-depth. The wooden bucket theory did not apply here.
Anyone with Master-ranked skills in a particular specialization would have a certain degree of fame. Zheng Ren did not enjoy the same treatment as his skills had been developed through the System within a short period of time.
Many specialists did not bother to pick up a second specialization. Medicine was a form of practical science and no specialist was willing to start from square one again.
There were few people in the hospital who could parse the data generated in the ancillary departments, let alone operate their equipment.
Custom configuration? It was impossible.
The office was quiet. Yang Lei was in the corner of the room typing up a patient’s history on the computer. His presence did not affect the conversation at hand.
Chang Yue stared at Zheng Yun with confusion in her eyes. After a silent pause, she nodded and said, “I’ll ask Su Yun.”
“Where is he?” Now that she mentioned the man, Zheng Ren noticed his shadow was nowhere to be seen.
“He went to arrange the CT scan.”
Chang Yue took her phone and dialed for Su Yun.
After hearing the request, Su Yun had the same negative reaction as Chang Yue but he folded at her insistence.
No one was invincible, it seemed; the ancestors were right.
After 11 cartons of beer and losing the drinking match, Su Yun could no longer hold his head high when it came to Chang Yue.
“He’ll try to ask. It shouldn’t be a problem,” Chang Yue told Zheng Ren after the call, a touch of disbelief still on her face.
Zheng Ren did not address her doubts. The emergency department office fell back into silence.
The emergency department received a case of acute appendicitis in the afternoon. Zheng Ren and Yang Lei performed the surgery.
The surgery ended near six in the evening, so Zheng Ren left Yang Lei to attend to the family and went to the CT room to prepare for scan reconstruction.
At the CT room entrance, Zheng Ren heard a voice.
“You youngsters think you’re masters of everything? The doctors in Imperial Capital don’t even perform their own 3D reconstructions! Are you guys mad?”
