Chapter 49: 0048 Doctor, thank you

0048 Doctor, thank you

The middle-aged man was a bit overweight, looking refined and cultured, his face flushed red from being beaten and scolded by his own old father.

When the patient was brought in, he might not have known what happened, but the over a hundred patient relatives present all knew the entire rescue process, and they even witnessed everything firsthand through the open door of the rescue room.

Most of them didn't know why Zheng Ren had offended that unreasonable old lady, but nobody was foolish; they could vaguely guess what had happened.

That slap landed on the old man's son's face, but the faces of many people present turned red.

Watching the elderly person struggle to sit up in bed, repeatedly refusing his son's persuasion, people's hearts felt as if pricked by a needle.

It hurt, yet there was no numbness.

"How dare you show up!" a woman in her thirties stood up, angrily pointing at the smug old lady beside Hei Ta and said: "Aren't you sick? Aren't you supposed to be dying? How are you jumping around? A brief rally before death? Hurry back and buy a coffin plank—with your conduct, you need a thicker one, or it won't hold you."

"You..." the old lady, a bit dazed from the scolding, was about to retort when the woman stepped out, stood in the middle of the corridor, hands on hips, blazing with fury: "My family member was the first one brought in, just a breath away from death. You damn well have nothing to do, yet you're there meddling and causing trouble."

"Yeah, I also saw her hit a police officer."

"Yeah, she claimed she was dying while grabbing the director's collar. If Doctor Zheng hadn't pushed her away, the rescue medicines couldn't have been dispatched on time, and someone might have died."

"If they're going to die, it's not just one or two."

The patient relatives in the corridor felt the same empathy.

When the patient was brought in, his whole body was bluish-gray, looking strange. Moreover, his condition deteriorated rapidly—seeing a healthy person turn blue, collapse, life or death unknown, nobody could bear it.

After arriving at the hospital, timely rescue led to gradual improvement, which everyone could see.

When one person stepped forward, a second followed.

Third...

Fourth...

More and more people stepped forward.

The more people there were, the bolder they became, and the guilt they felt for not stopping Hei Ta earlier grew stronger.

Like a ball of ghost fire, it burned uncomfortably in people's hearts.

What the old man said was right—doctors are life-saving bodhisattvas, while that troublemaking old lady... is just a little demon.

The curses rose as a chorus; at some point, someone threw a bottle of pure water at the lackeys behind Hei Ta.

Instantly, countless pure water bottles clattered down on the troublemakers.

Hei Ta, seeing he had provoked everyone's anger, his face turned purple as he gestured at the crowd, trying to say something to save face, but nobody dared stay; amid a barrage of bottles like a violent rain, he clutched his head and fled the hospital.

The doctors and nurses of the Emergency Department stood in front of Zheng Ren; seeing the crowd leave, they began urging everyone to stay quiet, emphasizing that recovery was most important.

"Doctor Zheng, thank you." a patient relative stepped forward and bowed deeply to Zheng Ren.

"You're too kind, it's just what I should do." Zheng Ren gave a simple smile.

Xie Yiren poked her head out from behind Zheng Ren, curiously watching the scene.

One, then another, and yet another patient relative expressed gratitude to Zheng Ren.

Simple, honest people might shrink back and lower their heads when facing dark forces, but that doesn't mean they don't understand the truth. Perhaps they are the silent majority, but given the right opportunity, nobody will retreat.

After the noise went on for a long time, Zheng Ren, exhausted, accepted the thanks of almost all the patient relatives.

That scene... Zheng Ren felt it was somewhat like a farewell to the deceased. Of course, he himself was the deceased...

"Where's Xie Yiren?" Zheng Ren looked behind him, saw Xie Yiren nowhere to be found, and asked.

"She said she went to buy you something to eat." an internal medicine doctor said, then hurried back to write medical records.

Emergency treatment is one thing; after saving a person, there's still a huge amount of annoying paperwork to finish, which is despairing.

Oh, Xie Yiren is more thoughtful.

Just now I bumped into her, not knowing whether I should apologize, Zheng Ren thought of this question.

But he's a straight-as-a-steel rod guy; it'd be strange if he could figure this out.

After the wards and corridors quieted down, he decided not to think about it and instead make his rounds.

Zheng Ren made a round of the wards; there were still about a hundred patients left in the Emergency Department. The observation room was already full, and even the corridors were packed with extra beds.

At that time, nobody came over to say that a top-tier hospital doesn't allow extra beds.

The patients' conditions were stable; the bluish-gray Avatars gradually revealed yellowish skin, giving a particularly fantastical visual impact.

Stable is fine; Zheng Ren relaxed, greeted the on-duty doctors of internal and surgery, and asked to be notified immediately if any patient's condition changed.

His body felt sticky and uncomfortable, caused by profuse sweating from low blood sugar.

Zheng Ren thought it over, called the Anesthesiology Department, learned they weren't busy, and said he wanted to take a shower. Unexpectedly, the anesthesiologist was enthusiastic, so Zheng Ren hung up and headed straight for the Operating Room.

The anesthesiologist's attitude toward Zheng Ren was completely different from before; presumably, the dozens of surgeries he'd performed the previous night had earned Zheng Ren countless admiration points.

General clinical departments lack showers; only the Operating Room has such high-end facilities. So anesthesiologists usually dislike doctors who just come to mooch a shower, but Zheng Ren had intended to discuss it politely—yet the anesthesiologist was unusually courteous.

In the hospital, there's inevitably social scheming and deceit, but those with solid technical skills will surely receive more conveniences—this is beyond doubt.

After the shower, he felt completely refreshed. The anesthesiologist passed him a Yuxi cigarette, and they sat in a small smoking room and lit up.

The hospital forbids smoking, but it can't stop the multitude of old smokers.

The Anesthesiology Department converted a small storage room with a window into a smoking room, thus solving the smoking problem without letting secondhand smoke fill the corridors.

"Chief Zheng, when did you practice your skills?" the anesthesiologist said admiringly: "The three guys who came to work overtime last night were all full of admiration, though they were exhausted like dogs."

Zheng Ren gave an honest smile.

"Really impressive, doing dozens of appendectomies in one night." the anesthesiologist laughed: "I'm telling you, watch out for Director Liu—that guy's no good bird."

"Mm, I know."

"I've worked about thirty years, I'm over fifty, what haven't I seen?" the anesthesiologist said earnestly: "Ten years ago, a graduate student from Xiehe came to our hospital. Three years later, Director Liu caught hold of a medical dispute that the doctor bore no grudge over, stirred up the relatives to blow things up, and afterward that doctor was sent to the suburbs to raise rabbits."

City First Hospital has a long history; during a certain famine era, it asked the city for a plot of land in the suburbs, turned it into a farm, and grew its own food to sustain itself. Later, when the market opened, living conditions improved, and the produce from that farm became benefits for City First Hospital staff.

However, the farm has long been sold to real estate developers and turned into rows of towering high-rises.

But Zheng Ren had heard of that place.

"We who work in medicine, who can avoid occasional mistakes? Just fear someone always watching you." The anesthesiologist continued to impart experience to Zheng Ren: "No trouble turning into trouble, small things turned into big things."

Zheng Ren deeply agreed, nodding repeatedly.

"Follow Director Pan closely, he's practically a deity." The well-informed anesthesiologist finally advised.

Such heartfelt talk definitely won't be said too clearly or directly. The anesthesiologist on duty today has said this much, already considered speaking shallowly but meaning deeply; Zheng Ren felt endless gratitude.

Just then, the phone rang; seeing it was Director Pan.

Zheng Ren hurriedly answered the phone, pointing at the mobile with his hand to indicate he was leaving.

The anesthesiologist felt a bit regretful, still not having asked about nitrite poisoning. However Zheng Ren had just finished emergency rescue, likely exhausted enough. He also couldn't well stop him; they said goodbye, Zheng Ren left the operating room, answered the phone.

"Little Zheng, someone's looking for you." Director Pan said.