Chapter 613: Savior

"Dad, is this the spot that's uncomfortable? Move slowly, let me help you find a position that doesn't hurt."

The son was quite filial; he helped Ji Xiang change positions very gently until he saw that the expression of pain on Ji Xiang's face had eased slightly.

"Dad, I know how their hospital is. A while back, during the New Year, one hospital hung up a banner for their annual dinner—you wouldn't even be able to guess what it said."

"What was it?" Ji Xiang asked, enduring the pain.

"'Vigorously welcoming the New Year, the operating room is full of money.'"

"..."

Ji Xiang was silent.

"Just think about it, for your grandson to get an air enema, it only cost a little over 200 yuan and was done in half an hour. But if you go into the operating room, it's at least ten or twenty thousand, plus hospital stays, IV drips, and so on. For the same illness, you could end up spending a hundred times more."

Having said this, the man seemed to feel something was off, and he hurriedly explained apologetically, "Dad, it's not that we aren't willing to spend the money, you know what I mean."

Ji Xiang nodded with effort, giving the man a bit of comfort.

"We certainly won't skimp on money that needs to be spent, but I'm also worried about you suffering. Think about it, a big incision, the scalpel just slicing down like that, and having to cut out a section of the intestine—is that something a person should have to endure?"

"In the words of our hometown, this damages your vitality and shakes your foundation. Never mind that you're already over seventy; even for me, it wouldn't be okay."

"Hospital doctors nowadays are as dark as they come; even a good person would have a layer of skin peeled off just by going in. If they catch a patient, they could squeeze urine out of a dead toad."

Ji Xiang listened to the man continuously explaining to him, feeling very helpless inside.

There used to be a joke—an outsider got into a taxi and was asked where he was going; he arrogantly said to take him to the place in the city with the highest consumption. As a result, the taxi driver took him to the hospital.

There is so much to say about this that if one were to really talk about it, a day and a night wouldn't be enough.

Ji Xiang couldn't be bothered to explain much; he roughly understood the mindset of the Family Member.

Distrust + past experiences—this series of events led to him, a patient with a non-indicated condition, lying outside the Radiology Department waiting for an air enema.

Now, Ji Xiang only worried about one thing—that the doctor from Gastrointestinal Surgery was a total coward, similar to Zhao Mengmeng, the type of doctor who is a clinical novice.

If the Family Member pushed hard enough, they would make unprincipled concessions, even start to doubt themselves, and then, following the opinion of "his" son, actually begin the air enema.

If that happened, Ji Xiang truly couldn't say what the consequences would be.

If the intestinal wall were to be ruptured by the pressure, causing intestinal contents and the Tumor to scatter... Ji Xiang couldn't bear to think about it anymore; even though he knew this was just a sensory experience, he felt physically ill just thinking about the outcome.

Ji Xiang even felt some regret; he shouldn't have chosen the patient identity to participate in Empathy.

"I'm here."

A familiar voice appeared.

Even though Ji Xiang had just found a slightly more comfortable position, he couldn't help but look up. The previous frustration dissipated; he knew his savior had arrived.

It was Zhou Congwen, Zhou Jiaoshou!

The familiar voice was like the sound of nature, making warmth rise in Ji Xiang's heart; with Zhou Jiaoshou taking charge, he should be fine.

"Zhou Ge, take a look, it's him." The doctor from the Radiology Department pointed at Ji Xiang and said, "The Bai Wuchang from the Emergency Department brought him over, saying the Family Member strongly demanded it, then dumped him here and went off to get busy. What the hell is this? The Emergency Department is getting more and more disgusting to deal with."

Zhou Jiaoshou patted the Radiology doctor on the shoulder; Ji Xiang felt he must be signaling the Radiology doctor not to escalate the conflict.

"Hello, I am a doctor from Gastrointestinal Surgery, my name is Zhou Congwen." Zhou Jiaoshou walked over, his face serious, and said to the man, "Are there any test results? Let me take a look."

"Here are the blood test results, and here is the CT." After handing the Auxiliary examination reports to Zhou Congwen, the man couldn't suppress the emotions in his heart and said with disdain, "Are you guys getting kickbacks from the Emergency Department for performing surgeries? Otherwise, why would the Emergency Department doctor strongly suggest my dad get on the operating table?"

This was a life-or-death question. In the corner of his eye, Ji Xiang saw a gentle and refined smile appear on Zhou Jiaoshou's face, completely different from when he interacted with other doctors.

"There are no kickbacks, that's all nonsense." Zhou Congwen smiled, took out the films, and looked at them for a few moments against the LED light on the corridor ceiling.

From Ji Xiang's perspective, he saw Zhou Congwen scan them twice; all 44 windows had already been scanned. But Zhou Congwen didn't speak, nor did he put the films down, instead continuing to gaze at them.

Zhou Jiaoshou knew exactly what his situation was; the reason he didn't put the films down immediately was to put on a performance.

If he had just glanced at the films and put them down, it would give the Family Member the impression that the doctor wasn't taking it seriously. There was already little trust to begin with, and if he didn't pay attention to the details, the problem would inevitably grow larger.

Zhou Jiaoshou was worthy of being a student of the system NPC and one of the creators of the system; his Clinical experience was extremely rich.

Just for this small detail, Zhou Jiaoshou was very attentive, and Ji Xiang's trust in Zhou Jiaoshou grew even more.

Zhou Jiaoshou grasped the timing perfectly.

He neither left the Family Member with the impression that he was being hasty in looking at the films, nor did he make the Family Member feel that this doctor lacked skill because he had to look at a single film for so long.

He handled everything just right.

"It is an Intestinal Obstruction."

"Zhou Yisheng, it is an Intussusception." Ji Xiang's "son" corrected him.

"Intussusception is also a classification of Intestinal Obstruction. How about this, it's cold in the hallway, let me find you a warm place to explain it properly."

"Hurry up and do the air enema, we'll go home when it's done," the man said irritably.

His volume was very loud, similar to a roar; he could no longer suppress his irritable little temper.

"Xiao Hua."

Hearing Ji Xiang speak, Zhou Jiaoshou walked over immediately and took Ji Xiang's hand.

His hand was very warm, and he didn't use force, but it made one feel steady.

"Old Man, my name is Zhou Congwen. We need to discuss your illness in detail; would you mind giving me ten minutes? Just ten minutes."

"It's too cold in this hallway, in the middle of winter; if you catch a cold on top of this, you'll suffer even more. Let me find you a warm place, do a physical exam, and explain the specific situation to you and your family; then you can choose whatever you want."

As he spoke, Zhou Jiaoshou tucked in Ji Xiang's clothes, and even inadvertently used his body to shield Ji Xiang from the cold wind.

"Zhou Yisheng..." the man frowned.

His volume was much lower; putting himself in the doctor's shoes, the doctor's words were reasonable and sensible. Except for the very few patients or family members with antisocial personalities, everyone could accept that.

"Xiao Hua, listen to what the doctor has to say, I'm still okay." Ji Xiang hurriedly took the opportunity while he could still speak to express his attitude.

He was truly afraid of being given an air enema.

Not to mention inserting a tube through the anus, but having to pump air into it—just thinking about it felt very intense.

Plus, with the pressure inside the intestines being too high, once it exploded and covered his stomach in feces...

The consequences would be unimaginable.

(End of chapter)