Peerless Beauty – Chapter 85
by Little PandaReturn
Take one last look
Although an aneurysm includes the word “tumor,” it is not actually a tumor. Instead, it refers to the local expansion of an artery vessel, forming an easily ruptured pouch-like shape, similar to a tumor. This is like a water pipe at home that bulges into a small balloon shape after aging and wear.
An aneurysm can occur in any part of the body’s arteries, most commonly in people over the age of 50.
An unruptured intracranial aneurysm, before showing symptoms related to the nervous system, is not easily discovered. If it doesn’t rupture, people might not know they have such a time bomb in their brain until they are near death.
Once it ruptures and causes internal bleeding, the mortality rate is as high as one-third.
When assessing the condition, Fu Yuan from the Third Hospital will arrange for Ruan Sheng a plain CT or MRI scan of the head and neck area, but these examinations can only detect larger aneurysms. Screening for medium or smaller aneurysms requires relying on head CTA or MRA, which are not included in routine physical examinations.
On a stuffy and hot evening, Jian Qing stood outside the tent and received a phone notification from Fu Yuan.
Watching the people coming and going, she pondered for a moment and calmly said, “Transfer to your City Hospital One, and please have Director Zhang Heming and Deputy Director Liu Qiong from City Hospital One’s neurosurgery department diagnose and treat. If there are surgical indications and an emergency surgery is needed, immediately arrange for the surgery. Please have the head of the medical department at City Hospital One sign the related informed consent on my behalf. I will personally bear the risk and responsibility.”
Fu Yuan repeatedly agreed and said, “Aunt Ruan’s situation is not very good. If you can make it back, it’s best to hurry back as soon as possible.”
Jian Qing neither agreed nor disagreed. After hanging up Fu Yuan’s call, she contacted Hu Jianjun, requesting Hu Jianjun’s help to coordinate.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiangzhou and the neighboring city’s City Hospital One often have contact and academic exchanges. Without a second thought, Hu Jianjun called the dean of the neighboring city’s Hospital One and also sent a female doctor from the department along with Wei Mingming to look after.
City Hospital One opened a green channel for Ruan Sheng to be admitted, and Professors Zhang and Liu, having received a phone call from the dean, were waiting early in the emergency room. As soon as the patient was delivered, they began the rescue.
The party branch secretary of City Hospital One learned that this was a family member of the earthquake medical team, and rushed to the hospital overnight to wait outside the surgery room.
That evening, Jian Qing was on duty in the ward.
At the resettlement point, there is no independent on-duty room. Sometimes, when the beds in the tent are not fully occupied, the tired on-duty personnel sleep on the sickbeds.
Late at night, Jian Qing couldn’t sleep. She moved a chair and sat at the entrance of the tent, waiting for news from the surgery room of City Hospital One.
The entrance of the tent was illuminated by a large light, and the resettlement point was quiet, with only the faint sound of the patrol team’s footsteps audible.
Jian Qing was patting mosquitoes out of boredom when suddenly Lu Yinxi came over with a bottle of floral dew water.
As the night deepened and the temperature dropped, Lu Yinxi, wearing an outer coat, sat down and took it off, exposing her skin, intending to attract mosquitoes to bite her instead of the person beside her.
She took Jian Qing’s arm and applied the cool floral dew water on the red, swollen bumps.
“Put your coat on, don’t catch a cold.” Jian Qing, wearing a white lab coat, didn’t feel cold, while Lu Yinxi, only in a black T-shirt, shivered as the wind blew, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin.
Lu Yinxi said, “Wait.”
She waited until the mosquitoes here were full and would not bite others again, then she would put it on.
Jian Qing flicked her forehead, stood up, and returned to the dormitory to get two mosquito-repellent herbal sachets.
Lu Yinxi held the sachet, shook it, and asked, “Where did this come from?”
“A traditional Chinese medicine doctor gave it.”
Every day, at the resettlement point, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor brews herbal soup for epidemic and cold prevention, distributing it free to disaster victims.
Lu Yinxi responded with an “oh,” took Jian Qing’s hand, holding it, silently accompanying her.
When there was news, Jian Qing would be the first to be notified. She did not rush, quietly waiting for news.
At three in the morning, Jian Qing nudged Lu Yinxi beside her, saying, “Go back to sleep.”
Lu Yinxi shook her head, still tightly holding her hand, unwilling to leave, stubbornly wanting to stay by her side.
Jian Qing did not speak again, she just pressed Lu Yinxi’s head onto her shoulder and said, “Sleep for a while.”
Since her internship began, she has often worked night shifts, and her body is already accustomed to not having much sleep.
Lu Yinxi obediently leaned on her shoulder, not closing her eyes, and only said, “No problem, we filming people also often need to stay up late, we can endure.”
Not that fragile.
At six in the morning, as the sky was slightly white, Jian Qing received another call from Fu Yuan: “Out of the surgery room, now transferred to the neurosurgery ICU.”
Being out of the surgery room does not mean out of the danger period, it’s just temporarily sustaining life.
“Thank you for your hard work.” Jian Qing did not inquire further about her mother’s condition, she just politely thanked Fu Yuan, seeming somewhat indifferent.
Fu Yuan said, “No need for politeness, we’ve known each other for so many years, and Aunt has always been treated here with us. The patient’s accidental fall during hospitalization is considered our hospital’s adverse event, but at that time the elevator was broken, our examination room is on the 2nd floor, and Aunt Ruan was staying on the 3rd floor, thinking just one floor could be walked up, my student supported her to walk the stairs, didn’t expect Aunt Ruan to miss a step, and both of them fell down the stairs.”
Jian Qing listened and said, “Rest assured, I will not pursue your hospital’s responsibility.”
Fu Yuan has wholeheartedly taken care of her mother for many years, she will not cause trouble with the hospital because of this one accident.
Falls in the elderly are a common hidden danger in clinical settings, and the oncology department is also mostly middle-aged and elderly patients. Before admission, they will also conduct a fall risk assessment.
Fu Yuan sighed in relief and asked, “Then can you return?”
Jian Qing: “I don’t know, I need to follow the arrangements.”
For doctors sent abroad, when to go and when to return is not something they can decide themselves.
Fu Yuan said, “If you can’t return, I will help take care of Aunt Ruan.”
Jian Qing thanked her and said, “I will transfer the money to you.”
After hanging up the phone, Jian Qing saw Lu Yinxi beside her, looking full of melancholy.
Jian Qing flicked her forehead and asked, “Why the bitter face?”
Lu Yinxi covered her forehead and said, “I am thinking, if I hadn’t come to find you and stayed at the hospital with her, maybe the accident wouldn’t have happened.”
“Don’t take everything on yourself; the Third Hospital can’t have you accompanying her every moment.” In the early morning, as the temperature dropped further, Jian Qing blew on her hands, paused for a moment, and continued, “My mother is proud by nature, having lived half her life in madness. If she suddenly became clear-headed, it would be worse than death.”
She would rather Ruan Sheng remain crazy for a lifetime, not wanting her to become clear-headed.
As long as she is alive, she will support Ruan Sheng for her whole life, letting Ruan Sheng live foolishly happy, avoiding reality, without needing to be clear-headed or face the painful truth.
Lu Yinxi pondered for a moment, understanding Jian Qing’s implied meaning, and cautiously asked, “Do you suspect that she fell intentionally?”
Jian Qing, with her head lowered, calmly said, “I have no evidence.”
The implication is that she indeed suspects this possibility.
Whether true or not, only those involved truly know.
Lu Yinxi asked again, “Do you want to apply with the hospital to go back and see her? If there’s a need here, you can rush back.”
If it were fifteen days ago, Jian Qing couldn’t leave, but now medical teams from all over the country are coming here for support, and the first batch of team members from each hospital are gradually withdrawing.
Both M City and Jiangzhou City have airports, although M City’s airport is currently closed and only used for transporting supplies and rescue personnel. However, Jian Qing is a doctor in the medical rescue team, and with just a word, M City’s airport would definitely transport her back to Jiangzhou’s airport.
Jian Qing shook her head, “She hates me. If I return and she sees me, in her anger, she might die even faster.”
Hearing these words, Lu Yinxi took Jian Qing’s hand, placed it in her own palm to warm it, and comforted her, saying: “It’s not like that, Teacher Jian. Aunt Ruan doesn’t hate you, not at all. When I went to visit her that day, she mistook me for your younger sister and talked a lot with me. She said she sent you back to your father’s side because she felt she couldn’t take good care of you at that time, not because she didn’t want you. She said she missed you very much then, but since she couldn’t see you, she wanted to forget you. She drew many cards, and during this time, after thinking of you, she added your image to each card…”
At eight in the morning, Wei Mingming sat beside Ruan Sheng’s hospital bed, closely watching the data on the monitor.
The elderly woman on the bed, with a head full of white hair and a thin body, opened her eyes slightly and muttered words.
Wei Mingming leaned in to listen and faintly heard her calling something like “Qing.”
She guessed it might be the name of her mentor, and held Ruan Sheng’s hand, saying: “Aunt, Teacher Jian is on her way back. Rest assured, you will be able to meet very soon.”
At midnight last night, the doctor issued a critical condition notice. During the morning ward rounds, the doctor said everyone should be mentally prepared. It was originally thought she wouldn’t survive until morning, but unexpectedly she did, still holding on by a thread.
Probably because they knew the situation was special, they did not urge the family to rush back to sign various documents. All documents were signed on behalf of the family by the head of the medical department, and hospital leaders specially came to visit at the bedside.
Though they did not urge, they also hoped the family could rush back to see their relative one last time.
In clinical work, one occasionally encounters difficult choices between work and family, and when facing colleagues’ relatives, it’s inevitable to feel some empathy.
Wei Mingming, crying, called Hu Jianjun pleading for her mentor to be given two days’ leave to return and see her mother one last time.
Hu Jianjun, with a helpless smile, comforted, “Your mentor is also my student. I’ve already spoken with Secretary Zhang, and she’ll be allowed to return. The latest she’ll be back is tonight, and I’ve asked Zhang Yue to go to the airport to pick her up.”
Wei Mingming dialed a video call again to contact Jian Qing.
When the call connected, Jian Qing was at the airport.
Zhang Qin coordinated with the airport’s official, requesting help to transport Jian Qing back to Jiangzhou City.
“Aunt, Aunt, Teacher Jian will be back soon,” Wei Mingming said, pointing the video camera at Ruan Sheng on the sickbed.
Ruan Sheng looked at the phone screen showing her daughter, unable to speak. Her usually cloudy and dull gaze became unusually clear.
Jian Qing looked at the elderly woman on the sickbed, silent for a long time before she spoke, “Mom, wait for me, I will be back soon.”
Ruan Sheng, on a ventilator, unable to speak, just blinked her eyes, as a line of tears flowed down.
Wei Mingming quickly took a tissue to wipe her tears, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, you’ll be able to meet soon.”
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate; M City was hit by a sudden downpour, with bad weather and low visibility, making it inconvenient for civil aviation to take off.
Jian Qing waited at the airport for three hours, just about to switch to a car for an eight or nine-hour bumpy ride back to Jiangzhou City when the airport staff told her to wait a bit, as they could depart once the rain lessened.
An hour later, as the rain gradually lessened, Jian Qing boarded the plane and departed.
Two hours later, she arrived at Jiangzhou City airport.
Zhang Yue had been waiting at the airport entrance for a long time. When he saw Jian Qing come out, he quickly picked her up from the airport, drove onto the highway, and sped towards the neighboring city’s First Hospital.
Jian Qing looked out the car window.
Having become accustomed to ruined structures and dusty disaster victims, returning to the city and seeing rows of high-rise buildings, busy traffic, and glamorous people, felt like a different world.
In the City Hospital One’s neurosurgery ICU, Ruan Sheng lay on a hospital bed, her body full of tubes.
Her consciousness long chaotic, she bit her teeth, holding onto her last breath, refusing to close her eyes, fearing that once they closed, they might never open again.
The author has something to say:
Today, finally, a bit earlier.
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