Chapter 40: Doctor
Zheng Ren advised Little Zhao along the way, “Don’t start a live broadcast if someone passes away. If he is a grumpy one, you might end up walking hand-in-hand with his soul across the Naihe Qiao.”
Little Zhao took Zheng Ren’s advice seriously. Soon, they arrived at Sea City General Hospital.
This was the first time Zheng Ren rode a scooter and he took a huge interest in it instantly. Its speed aside, the fact that it could easily weave through traffic was more than enough to pique his interest.
Zheng Ren parted ways with Little Zhao upon reaching Sea City General Hospital and went to the emergency department to look for Old Chief Physician Pan.
The emergency department remained chaotic as usual with multiple fistfights, injuries from falls and alcohol intoxication requiring gastric lavage… Zheng Ren was confused. Why had they drunk alcohol in the middle of the day? Not only that, but they had been binge-drinking as well.
Zheng Ren squeezed past a group of onlookers and walked straight toward Old Chief Physician Pan’s office.
When he passed the resuscitation room in the emergency department, he heard a high-pitched whistling sound as if from a flute, a typical sign of an acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma.
The doctors and nurses were busy resuscitating the patient in the resuscitation room.
“2mL of diprophylline for intravenous injection!”
“Add one ampoule of epinephrine!”
“Tracheostomy set prepared. Notify the general surgery department to perform tracheostomy when necessary.”
Zheng Ren changed his mind and went to change his attire first before going to the resuscitation room.
None of them greeted Zheng Ren as they were still busy trying to revive the patient.
A male in his twenties was lying on the hospital bed with a girl, presumably his girlfriend, holding his hand beside the bed and crying.
Zheng Ren observed the patient whose symptoms and diagnosis were revealed in the upper right corner of his vision.
He spread his hands helplessly after seeing the diagnosis.
“Patient’s family member, please leave the room,” said Zheng Ren in a deep voice.
The girl in a red shirt raised her head with tears welling up in her eyes. In her opinion, Zheng Ren’s words were indicative of an even more severe illness and the patient would require aggressive resuscitation in the intensive care unit.
“Doctor…” The girl could not form a complete sentence as she was out of breath from her constant crying.
“Don’t worry, just leave the room first. I’ll explain the situation to you later,” replied Zheng Ren.
The girl was reluctant to let go of the boy’s hand.
What beautiful love, but why had nobody developed such fondness for him? However, he was aware of his limitations, especially after acquiring the System.
Poverty, ugliness, and a strong body odor—and there had been no change of clothes after being fully occupied with work for three to five days. Who would like him in this state?
“You’re delaying the rescue. Get out now!” Zheng Ren roared after noticing that the girl was still in the room. The words on the upper right corner of his vision had started to glow red, which meant that the boy’s condition had worsened and was approaching a critical state.
Zheng Ren’s tone was stone cold and impolite. “We need to rescue him, so leave now!”
A total lack of tender and protective feelings toward a girl; no wonder he had remained a bachelor until now.
The girl’s crying intensified after she was pushed out of the room.
Every ambulant patient and family member in the emergency department noticed the commotion and gathered around the scene. Little Zhao also joined the crowd with a cell phone in his hand, his livestream having already begun.
“Wait here. I’ll come out and explain his condition to you later,” instructed Zheng Ren with a commanding voice before entering the resuscitation room and closing the door.
His method was simple and rough, but he had no choice because it was absolutely impossible to reason with the patient’s family right now.
“Control the dosage, his condition will improve soon,” said Zheng Ren.
“Chief Zheng, the patient already has signs of laryngeal edema,” the nurse reported, shining a penlight into the patient’s mouth.
“It’s okay. Start a 10mg intravenous injection of dexamethasone, as well as an intravenous infusion of 250mL normal saline and three ampoules of diprophylline at sixty drops per minute. Attach an ECG machine first and pay attention to the oxygen saturation.”
An intravenous fluid drip was quickly attached at Zheng Ren’s request. The ECG reported a heart rate of 132 beats per minute and an oxygen saturation of 80 percent, which were the typical signs of acute respiratory distress.
The doctors and nurses on the scene waited for Zheng Ren’s instructions but he merely stood beside the patient quietly with his arms folded.
“What about the resuscitation? Why did Chief Zheng administer three ampoules of diprophylline and do nothing afterward?”
“Keep quiet. This is our new chief resident and I’ve heard that Old Chief Physician Pan likes him very much.”
“So what? We still need to resuscitate him. Are we just going to stand here and wait for the patient to die?”
Zheng Ren, whose hearing seemed to have improved somewhat after being in the System for a long time, overheard the nurses’ whispers.
“It’s alright.” Zheng Ren turned around and smiled. “This patient’s condition is special. I’m guessing that his symptoms will be relieved in around three minutes. The administration of a large dosage of drugs will slow down his metabolism and cause other complications to occur.”
The doctors and nurses on the scene stopped their discussion after hearing Zheng Ren’s polite and confident words. He was the chief resident, after all. He had to bear the responsibility and face the patient’s parents if something bad happened to him.
The fact that they remained silent did not mean that they trusted Zheng Ren’s decision, which was why they still paid close attention to the patient’s condition.
The patient already had a laryngeal edema. Was he expecting to solve the problem by administering diprophylline only? What a joke!
However, a few minutes later, the patient’s respiratory rate had gradually stabilized and his heart rate had decreased to 110 beats per minute, which none of them had foreseen.
His lips cyanosis had alleviated as well and his condition had improved drastically.
What… What the hell was this? After the doctors and nurses realized that the patient’s condition had gradually improved as they did nothing at all, they turned to Zheng Ren in disbelief.
“Young man, are you awake?” Zheng Ren tapped the patient’s shoulder gently.
The patient waved his hand to indicate a yes.
“Reduce the oxygen flow to 3L per minute. I’ll explain the situation to the patient’s family.” Zheng Ren tapped the patient’s shoulder gently again to comfort him and left the room.
“You, stand up and talk to me,” said Zheng Ren a little roughly after exiting the room and noticing the girl sobbing on her knees.
“Doctor, how… how is he?”
“He is fine, so why are you even crying? The patient’s condition has stabilized. I’m here to explain his illness and I need your cooperation,” said Zheng Ren.
“Okay.” Knowing everything was fine, the girl quickly wiped her tears, sniffed forcefully and stood.
The girl, who was in her early twenties, had short hair and slightly rough skin. It was obvious that her family was in a bad way. Her shoddy eyeshadow was a mess, with black powder smeared around her eyes, making her look like a huge panda.
She was wearing a red sweater and Zheng Ren could even detect a pungent chemical smell that was characteristic of cheap clothing from it.
Rich or poor made no difference in the doctors’ eyes, but of course, it was a whole different story to the hospital authorities.
“The patient’s condition is stable. I’m guessing that he can go home tomorrow after one night of hospital stay for observation,” Zheng Ren reassured the girl.
“Huh?” The good news was unexpected and the girl was having a hard time believing it.
Little Zhao squeezed to the front of the crowd and found a position with a decent view as the live broadcast continued.
The crowd was dumbfounded as well.
“His face was purple when they carried him into the room. Is already he dead and the doctor is actually consoling his family?”
“Doctors wouldn’t have the courage to do this. Perhaps his condition has really improved.”
“Are you kidding me? Only a few minutes have passed. It’s not like the doctor gave him an elixir of life and brought him back from the dead.”
Soft whispers traveled among the crowd. Little Zhao, who was focused on the livestream, remained quiet as he was unsure if whatever Zheng Ren had mentioned just now was true. He merely moved the phone camera around and recorded the expression of everyone on the scene.
“Take off your shirt and the patient will be fine,” said Zheng Ren.
Boom! An explosion occurred in the crowd.
Was he a perverted doctor? He dared ask the patient’s family member to take off her shirt?! What a shameless b*stard!