Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 68
by Little PandaVolume 2: Inheritance
Rescue
Occupational Exposure
“Dr. Lu, I really can’t thank you enough this time,” Wu Xinyu immediately knelt down upon seeing her. Lu Qingshi steadily supported her with one hand and helped her up.
“Don’t get too excited yet. The surgery is just the first hurdle. Post-operative management of infections and complications can be equally fatal,” the doctor said, but still arranged a detailed physical examination for her and adjusted the medication plan based on her condition today.
Yu Gui carefully noted everything down, patted her shoulder, and went with her mentor to the next ward for rounds.
In the distance, on the quiet corridor, there was a commotion. Several patients in hospital gowns gathered together, doing something unknown.
Yu Gui hurried over. A soccer ball rolled to her feet, and a girl limped over, saying, “Give it back to me, it’s mine.”
The girl’s hair reached her ears, and she wore a blue and white striped hospital gown with an identity wristband on her wrist.
Name: Dai Yuchen.
Department: Emergency.
Yu Gui weighed the soccer ball in her hand: “Don’t you know you can’t play soccer in the hospital?”
The girl puffed out her cheeks: “It’s too boring.”
Liu Qingyun patted her shoulder: “Let her play. After all…”
After the girl walked away with the ball, Yu Gui followed behind him and whispered, “So young… Is it really bone cancer?”
“Your Teacher Lu diagnosed it, so it can’t be wrong.”
“From yesterday to today, it’s been this little girl’s mother running around. The father hasn’t even shown his face. It’s really ‘qipa’ (奇葩, meaning bizarre or ridiculous),” a nurse chimed in.
Lu Qingshi turned around: “Are we doing rounds or having a tea party?”
Everyone sealed their mouths with invisible tape.
Obstetrics and Gynecology Department.
Qin Xuan pulled back the curtain, a stethoscope hanging around her neck, her expression not looking good: “You’re so far along, we need to induce labor. Where’s your boyfriend?!”
The girl looked innocent: “He… he’s just outside…”
The nurse ran out to check, but the corridor was already empty.
Qin Xuan held her forehead: “Well, let’s admit you for some tests first. Someone take her to handle the paperwork.”
“Next,” after a busy morning without even a sip of water, Qin Xuan collapsed lifelessly in her chair. When the next patient came in, she straightened her clothes and sat up energetically.
“Name, age,” she asked while quickly taking notes.
“Zhao Hui, thirty-eight years old.” The pen paused on the paper. She felt like she had heard this name somewhere before, but looking at the woman’s unremarkable face, she felt she hadn’t seen her before. Shaking her head, she dismissed the doubt from her mind.
“What’s bothering you?”
This woman called Zhao Hui was well-dressed. Qin Xuan caught a glimpse of the expensive Bulgari necklace around her neck. Although her appearance could only be described as plain, she had a gentle demeanor.
“I’ve been married for over ten years and still don’t have children… So I thought… um… I’d come for a check-up…” The woman seemed embarrassed talking about this, but Qin Xuan was used to it.
“Where’s your husband? Both partners need to be examined for this kind of thing.”
The woman’s expression darkened slightly: “He’s busy with work, he can’t come.”
“Alright then,” Qin Xuan stood up. “Go lie down on that bed over there, I’ll take a look at you.”
“Oh, okay.”
Qin Xuan put on a new pair of gloves and disinfected: “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”
She only felt that this female doctor had a gentle attitude and good technique. Before she could even feel it starting, the examination was over.
“The vaginal discharge is normal, and there’s no problem with the cervix. When was your last sexual intercourse?” Qin Xuan took off the specially-made ultra-thin gloves and threw them in the trash.
Seeing that she was a bit younger than herself, the woman was somewhat shy: “It’s been… over a year…”
…
Qin Xuan’s mouth twitched. No wonder she couldn’t get pregnant.
“Well… I suggest… marital life must be harmonious for…”
Before she could finish, the woman pulled out a tissue from her bag and started crying softly: “Doctor, I don’t want this either… It’s all his fault for keeping a mistress outside. He’s hardly ever home all year round. If I don’t have a child soon, I’m afraid I won’t even have a place to live!”
Qin Xuan felt a chill run down her spine. She quickly wrote an examination order for her and ushered her out like sending away a plague god.
“Here’s what we’ll do. Go get an ultrasound, then come back to see me with the results.”
After sending off this patient, Qin Xuan collapsed in her chair once again, weakly saying: “Next.”
Lunchtime in the cafeteria, a sea of white coats moved about, making Yu Gui feel as if she had returned to her university days. As interns, they had few outpatient clinics and surgeries scheduled, so they were always the first to run to eat. Therefore, she got three portions of food at once.
Hers, Qin Xuan’s, and Lu Qingshi’s, spread out across the table.
Qin Xuan was the first to sprint over, her high heels moving as swiftly as if she were jogging. She plopped down on the chair next to her, lifted the lid of the lunch box, and exclaimed with a blissful expression: “Oh, chicken leg rice, I knew you still loved me!”
Yu Gui put a mouthful of food in her mouth: “Was it that busy today?”
“Oh, you have no idea. This morning I saw fifty patients, did two abortions, and admitted half for hospitalization.” Despite seeing all kinds of reproductive organs every day, Qin Xuan’s appetite was still good. She chopsticked a mushroom into her mouth.
A colleague from the OB-GYN department sitting across from them said: “The deputy chief physician in our department has taken long-term sick leave, so all the work has fallen on Dr. Qin. With daily rounds and managing the ward, how could it not be busy?”
No wonder Qin Xuan, who usually cared so much about her personal image, had been going bare-faced lately – she had no time to put on makeup.
Yu Gui curiously added: “What illness?”
“Cervical cancer.”
She choked for a moment, and the topic shifted elsewhere.
“Once the professional title evaluation comes through, it’s only a matter of time before Dr. Qin becomes the department head.”
Qin Xuan had enough seniority, long working experience, and solid skills, but she had one major shortcoming. Like Lu Qingshi, she didn’t like writing papers.
At the mention of this, she immediately got a headache. Holding a chicken leg in her hand, she quickly begged for mercy: “No, no, I’m not interested in being the department head. I’d rather see a few more patients than spend time on that.”
Yu Gui’s phone in her pocket began to vibrate. She answered it, and before she could finish her meal, she tossed her chopsticks and left: “The ambulance is here, I’ve got to go.”
Qin Xuan picked up the chicken leg from her bowl and put it in her own lunch box: “Hey, if you need a consultation, just call me!”
Two ambulances stopped simultaneously at the emergency center’s main entrance. Yu Gui ran out pushing a wheeled bed: “One, two, three!”
Together with her colleagues, they lifted the person onto the stretcher. As they ran, she asked: “What’s the situation?”
“Male, 45 years old, his arm got caught in an operating machine while working at a factory.”
Yu Gui glanced at it – it was a bloody mess, like flesh cut with a blunt knife. The cut was uneven, with blood vessels and nerves exposed. Blood dripped from the stretcher onto the ground.
“What about the other one?”
A colleague following behind shouted: “Seven-year-old child, dog bite.”
“Quickly call for pediatrics, general surgery, immunology, and orthopedics to come down for consultation.”
The two wheeled beds were pushed into the emergency treatment room simultaneously. Immunoglobulin and vaccines were also brought in. The dog-bitten child’s case was quite severe, with bites on the abdomen and thigh, bleeding profusely. The child was crying so hard he was about to pass out. Anesthesia administered local anesthesia for him.
“Don’t cry, it’ll be over soon,” Yu Gui first used iodophor to clean his wounds, her expression serious behind her mask.
The monitor on the other side started beeping. As Yu Gui glanced up, someone pushed her aside.
“You go help over there, I’ll take care of this,” said Xu Qiankun, putting on gloves as he walked in.
Yu Gui had no choice but to put down the syringe: “Okay.”
The man was struggling violently due to the pain, refusing to cooperate with the treatment. They couldn’t even get the oxygen mask on him. Liu Qingyun and several colleagues held down his limbs.
“Hurry up, we can’t hold him down much longer.”
Yu Gui held his head. The man’s face was contorted with pain, unusually flushed, and covered in sweat.
“Sir, don’t move, don’t move, we’re trying to save you.”
“Done.”
She quickly put on the oxygen mask and stood up. Liu Qingyun examined the condition of his severed arm. It was cut off from the forearm, making reattachment too difficult. He shook his head, indicating it wasn’t possible.
Yu Gui bit her lip: “Then let’s treat the wound first. If the infection spreads to the whole body causing multiple organ failure, it’ll be troublesome.”
“Alright.” Several people gathered around the bed and bent down. A nurse handed over the instruments.
Seeing that the vital signs were dropping again, Yu Gui instructed: “Open another intravenous line, start dopamine drip.”
Liu Qingyun, wearing magnifying glasses, was ligating the severed blood vessels and nerves: “Go run a blood test, he’s lost too much blood, just in case.”
The nurse quickly sent the blood sample to the lab.
“It’s not working, I can’t find a vein, can’t get it in,” the new nurse patted the patient’s hand, about to cry in frustration.
“Give me an IV cannula,” Yu Gui reached out, and the small nurse quickly handed her the instrument.
“Disinfect.”
A blue surgical drape was placed under the patient’s collarbone.
“Tie it slowly, don’t hit an artery,” Liu Qingyun cautioned.
“I know,” Yu Gui replied while inserting the needle steadily. When it went in about 4cm, blood started to flow back.
She sighed in relief: “It’s in, give me some gauze.”
As she was pressing on the patient’s skin and slowly withdrawing the needle, the patient suddenly convulsed, his upper body jerking up. Yu Gui was caught off guard and was hit by his other arm. A sharp pain shot through her fingertip.
There was a hole in her glove, and a bead of blood seeped out. Her forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
The young nurse exclaimed: “Dr. Yu!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” she quickly came to her senses and hastily wiped it with gauze, using one hand to hold down the guidewire. If it came out now, all their efforts would have been in vain.
“Get me another pair of gloves, let’s continue the rescue.”
In the interval after the rescue was completed, Yu Gui took off her gloves and threw them in the trash bin. She turned on the faucet and washed the area where she had been pricked by the needle, muttering to herself: It should be fine, right…
After work, Qin Xuan stood at the hospital’s main entrance, calling Old Bao: “Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you back? Why aren’t you coming to pick me up after work?”
“At the company, still have things to do,” Bao Fengnian covered the receiver and lowered his voice: “The money I gave you is enough to buy how many cars…”
Qin Xuan jumped in anger: “So what if I just want you to come pick me up!”
“Alright, alright, but not today. You know, entertaining important clients. I’ve got to go now.”
She wanted to say something more, but the call had already been disconnected. Seeing a familiar car about to slide out of view, Qin Xuan darted over and knocked on the window: “Dr. Lu, chief, interested in giving a beautiful lady a ride?”
The sports car silently started to roar and accelerate, zooming out of the hospital gates, leaving behind a startled and disheveled Qin Xuan in the wind.
Just as she was about to burst into curses, the silver car slowly stopped at the intersection ahead. Lu Qingshi rolled down the window.
“Run faster, no parking allowed here.”
I believed your mischief, you old rascal, so bad.
Qin Xuan put on a smile on her face, but in her heart, she had already cut this person into pieces countless times.
“How come you haven’t been coming with your beautiful neighbor lately?” Gu Yanzhi raised her hand and hit the bullseye with her arrow. The archery range owner chatted with her casually.
“Busy, haven’t seen her for a while,” Even if Gu Yanzhi wanted to see her, their irregular schedules meant they rarely crossed paths.
“I’m telling you, you wouldn’t really…”
Gu Yanzhi glanced at him, lowering her voice: “Don’t talk nonsense, it’s impossible, I’ve given up.”
The other person snickered: “You’d give up on something you’ve set your eyes on?”
Gu Yanzhi raised her hand and drew the bowstring to full: “This kind of thing isn’t like others, it has to be mutual to be good. A forced melon isn’t sweet (强扭的瓜不甜, a Chinese proverb meaning forced relationships don’t work out).”
“So what do you think her thoughts are about you?” It was rare to see her troubled by this kind of thing. Before, she would come to the archery range maybe once every two weeks, but now she came every day during her rest time, probably just to catch a glimpse of that person.
“No thoughts.” Another arrow hit the bullseye. Gu Yanzhi walked over to change the target paper.
“I think she probably sees me no differently than her patients.”
After Gu Yanzhi left, the wind chime at the shop door rang again. Lu Qingshi entered carrying a bag, and the attendant led her inside.
She instinctively looked around, then lowered her head and walked carefully.
Sometimes, things in this world are just so coincidental.
In the noisy bar, the sound of people was deafening. Men and women swayed their hips wildly. A few inconspicuous young people entered and quickly mingled with the people on the dance floor.
In the small alley behind the bar, a delivery van was parked with the name of some restaurant written on it. Under the dark glass sat a few plainclothes police officers.
The technician sitting in the back opened the surveillance and handed the earpiece to Xiang Nanke: “Captain Xiang, the informant has gone in.”
“Good, let’s get ready too.”
Five minutes later, several people got out of the car, wearing dirty work clothes and greasy chef hats. They opened the trunk and started unloading, carrying down boxes of vegetables, eggs, and milk.
Someone from the bar came out to assist: “This way, this way.”
“Wow, your place is really fancy. These walls, these pillars are too good-looking,” the undercover police chatted with the bartender in a heavy accent.
The other person coldly snorted: “That’s right, don’t you know what kind of place our bar is? Many famous big shots like to come to our place to spend money.”
Entering the long corridor, at the end of the corner was a staircase leading directly upwards. It was carpeted but particularly quiet, with almost no one going up except for the waitstaff.
As they were talking, another waitress in a maid outfit carrying expensive red wine went upstairs.
Xiang Nanke looked a couple of extra times and was immediately scolded harshly by the other person: “What are you looking at?! That’s not a place for the likes of you. Hurry up and put down the vegetables and get out of here!”
“Yes, yes, yes,” the group nodded and bowed repeatedly.
“What?” Hearing the news from his subordinate, the person who had been drinking hazily suddenly sobered up and picked up his briefcase.
“Everyone, excuse me for a moment.”
The few small-time crooks leading the informant upstairs were walking while yawning. People who had been using drugs for a long time had withered and lifeless faces, and they were gently grinding their teeth as they spoke.
They were craving drugs.
The group exchanged glances and nodded.
“Let me tell you, you guys are lucky. You came at just the right time. Not everyone can get through this door. Considering Old Chen’s sake, we’ll let you see some action today.”
The drug enforcement officer, arm in arm with the small-time crook, imitated a long-term drug user perfectly: “That ‘bai mian’ (白面, a slang term for heroin) is getting boring, really doesn’t have much kick anymore.”
After saying this, he yawned again and walked unsteadily: “That’s why we came to your place to find something new, you know? The stuff Old Chen gave me last time was potent! Right, Old Chen?”
The informant quickly lit a cigarette for him: “That’s right, who dares say my stuff isn’t good? You’re not short on money anyway, right?”
Hearing the word “money,” the small-time crook immediately perked up. Looks like this was a big client.
As the group came out from the kitchen, they ran into each other. The drug enforcement officer made a hand gesture behind his back. Xiang Nanke understood and pressed her earpiece: “All units prepare.”
A group of armed criminal police slipped into the bar along the wall. The informant went upstairs, and Xiang Nanke walked at the back. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, and the person seeing them out bumped right into her.
“Hey, I said you…”
Before he could finish speaking, the officer delivered a swift elbow strike, and he fell lightly into her arms.
Xiang Nanke dragged the person to a corner and pulled out her gun from her waist: “Action!”
“Freeze! Don’t move! Police! Hands on your head, get down!” When they kicked open the private room door, screams erupted.
Xiang Nanke grabbed one of the small-time crooks cowering on the ground: “So this is the new stuff you were talking about, huh?”
The small-time crook could only stammer, unable to speak.
She threw a small bag of white powder on the table. It was clearly impure, mixed with flour. She thundered in rage: “Search everything! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find me that stuff!”
In the dead of night, there was a knock on the door. Qin Xuan yawned as she went to open it: “Oh~ How come you’ve decided to grace me with your presence today?”
“Well, I finished work and came right over,” Bao Fengnian said as he took off his shoes and put on slippers from the shoe cabinet by the door. Although he appeared composed, Qin Xuan noticed that his tie was messy, as if hastily retied in a hurry, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. It wasn’t particularly hot this season.
“You think this is a hotel, coming and going as you please?” Despite her words, she still poured him a glass of water.
“Go take a shower. No shower, no bed, got it?”
The next morning, while washing her face, the spot where Yu Gui had been pricked by the needle was still aching slightly. She squeezed out a bit more coagulated blood, disinfected it with iodine, hastily covered it with a band-aid, and rushed off to work.
She ran into the hospital biting into a steamed bun when a colleague from the lab happened to see her: “Hey, Yu Gui, the test results for that patient from your department yesterday just came out. You can take them. I won’t deliver them over.”
Yu Gui wiped one hand on her white coat before taking the results: “Okay, thank you for your trouble.”
As she turned, she bumped into a patient’s family member. The documents scattered on the ground, and she quickly apologized while bending down: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you watch where you’re going? Be more careful next time.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Yu Gui crouched down to pick up the scattered test report sheets.
Blood routine, biochemistry, X-ray, chest film…
She collected them one by one until she picked up a thin sheet of paper.
HIV antibody preliminary screening.
Her gaze moved downward: Positive.
Yu Gui was suddenly struck by lightning, shaking like a sieve. Her vision went black, and she collapsed heavily to the ground.
LP: Ah, sh*t, Yu Gui got infected from that patient!
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