Chapter 396: The Emergency Department Is Not For The Faint-hearted
Zheng Ren’s phone rang while he was in mid-thought.
When he saw that it was from the emergency ward instead of the emergency department, he answered the call with a frown.
“Chief Zheng, please hurry over. Something’s wrong!” Lu Tianran exclaimed.
Ugh… When would this stop?
Even though Zheng Ren was mentally prepared for these situations to happen in the emergency department, his mind was occupied with the treatment plan to completely remove Zheng Yunxia’s hepatocellular carcinoma.
He dashed toward the ward right after he picked up the phone call.
“What happened?”
“The old man who smoked and faked being sick got beaten up and now his bones are fractured,” Lu Tianran explained in a rush.
Zheng Ren was stunned.
His worries came true. He transferred the old man to the emergency ward because he was afraid he might get into trouble in the emergency consultation room.
F*ck… How did he get bone fractures in the emergency ward?
He was hit? Who was that reckless?
Zheng Ren hung up the call and picked up his pace.
Professor Rudolf Wagner was contacting his patients to arrange for them to come over to Sea City for surgery. When he saw Zheng Ren running past him, he asked in surprise, “Boss, is it another emergency?”
Zheng Ren did not bother to answer the professor. He had to find out what was going on and nip it in the bud to prevent the situation from worsening.
He reached the ward in just after one minute when it usually took five.
The hallway was crowded with people. Zheng Ren had to push his way through to get to the old man’s ward.
He was dumbfounded by the scenario in front of him.
A wrinkly, hunched old woman was standing there, pointing at the old man with her walking stick while berating him in a dialect that Zheng Ren could not decipher.
“What’s going on?” Zheng Ren softly asked Lu Tianran who was standing to one side.
Lu Tianran was hiding in a corner, debating whether to interfere or stay out of it. He was relieved when Zheng Ren arrived. He told him in a lowered voice, “After Old Chief Physician Pan and Chang Yue discussed with his family members for three consecutive days, the old man finally admitted that he’s not sick and requested for a discharge.”
Was it not good news?
“We already completed the paperwork. His family members were packing his things and he was supposed to be discharged today. After that, his wife came.” Lu Tianran gave a weird-looking expression as if he was about to laugh and cry at the same time. “His wife asked him why he refused to go home and if he has a mistress.”
Zheng Ren was speechless.
Why would she worry at their age? The old man seemed healthy enough but was already over eighty years old.
His body might not be able to cope even if he wanted to.
“The old man argued back but I didn’t understand what he said. Anyway, the old lady raised her walking stick and fractured his forearm.”
Zheng Ren glanced at the old man and saw his left radius was fractured.
What the hell were they thinking!
The old man finally had a reason to be admitted to the hospital but he would be sent to the orthopedic inpatient department instead of the emergency ward.
At his age, it would be difficult to have surgery.
Most likely, he would need to wear a cast and let it heal over time.
Poor thing… Zheng Ren sighed and asked, “Was the patient dismissed from monitoring?”
Lu Tianran was not very familiar with the terms used by the emergency department because he had been working in the inpatient department. The old man was supposed to be monitored in the emergency consultation room. Technically, it was not considered as an admission because the patient’s diagnosis was not serious enough.
Zheng Ren brought him upstairs to the emergency ward because he was worried that the old man would not be able to get a good rest from all the disturbance in the consultation room.
In this case, the patient would be considered as leaving monitoring instead of discharge.
“Uhm, yeah, he was dismissed.”
This difference was crucial to both Sea City General Hospital and the patient.
If the patient was not dismissed when he got the fracture, Sea City General Hospital would be responsible for his injury. Things could get messy if legal action was taken.
If the patient was unreasonable, the case could go on for 3 to 5 years.
Even though the medical administration division had their own lawyers, the doctors would crumble under pressure if the case dragged on for years.
If the incident happened when the patient was not under the hospital’s monitoring, the family members would not be able to blame the hospital. Since it was a fight between husband and wife, it could be categorized as a civil or criminal case but Zheng Ren was not too certain about that.
However, Sea City General Hospital was still partly responsible since it happened in the ward. However, they had sufficient reasons to plead the case.
“Who’s the family representative?” Zheng Ren looked around and asked.
The old lady threw a side glance and asked, “I am, what’s wrong?”
Zheng Ren shuddered.
He imagined himself in the old man’s place many years later if he failed to stop smoking after Xie Yiren told him to…
Zheng Ren shuddered at the thought.
He shook his head to disperse those thoughts and put on a smile before saying, “Aunty, please don’t get angry. You need to take care of your health.”
“This useless piece of sh*t learned how to fake being ill!” The old lady roared while glaring at the old man who was sitting on the bed holding his left arm, too afraid to cry out in pain.
She was full of energy, unlike a typical woman in her eighties.
Zheng Ren dare not step on anyone’s toes. Although the old lady seemed fine and could even fracture the old man’s arm, she would risk having a stroke or even cerebral hemorrhage if she got too emotional…
“Aunty, look at you. I’ve told you not to get too worked up.” Chang Yue emerged behind Zheng Ren. The incident had happened during lunchtime when Chang Yue was not around. After she heard what happened, she immediately rushed back.
Zheng Ren felt much relieved when he saw Chang Yue appear.
The old lady was calmer when she saw Chang Yue. She said, “Dear girl, this bugger decided to go to the hospital and fake being sick instead of taking care of his great-grandchildren at home!”
Chang Yue comforted the old lady while escorting her out of the ward.
Zheng Ren took the patient’s sons to file a case in the emergency department to examine the old man before sending him to the orthopedic department.
The old man’s children were worried when they heard their father got his arm fractured after the beating.
The children were placed in a difficult position as this was a fight between their parents. It was not easy to deal with such a fierce mother.
Luckily, this family was rather reasonable. Zheng Ren felt relieved and contacted the orthopedic department.
He comforted the family members and told them that the old man would not need to undergo surgery. He just needed time to recover.
There was nothing else that could be done other than reassuring them that the old man would be fine.
It was over when Old Chief Physician Pan arrived, still out of breath after rushing over.
When the old lady heard that she fractured the old man’s arm, she backed down instantly. Even though she was still nagging him, there was fear in her expression.
People rarely intervened in a fight between couples, so this was an exception as it got quite physical and both parties involved were elderly.
Zheng Ren finally relaxed after sending the old man to the orthopedic department and reporting to the medical administration division.
The emergency department was certainly not a place for the faint-hearted.