Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 8

Volume 1: Rise

Choice

You have interfered with Lu Qingshi’s judgment once.

“What happened?” Yu Gui rushed into the driver’s seat of the truck, carrying a first aid kit.

“The questioning was just fine, and they agreed; suddenly, they stopped talking and fainted,” the traffic police officer below replied.

Yu Gui quickly checked the breathing and pulse, then examined the pupils: “No good, this place is too narrow. Comrades, give me a hand to lift him down.”

“Okay,” the traffic police officer quickly moved into action, working with Yu Gui to lift the person down.

Hao Renjie came running over with the first aid kit: “How is the situation?”

“No… I don’t know… suddenly fainted…” Yu Gui said while quickly unbuttoning his clothes. After tugging for a while and not being able to open them, Hao Renjie silently handed over a pair of scissors.

“Thank you.”

The clothes were successfully cut open, but looking at the patient’s pale face and cold sweat all over, Yu Gui was at a loss again.

She held the scissors, speaking in a serious tone. Hao Renjie leaned over to listen; she was saying things like what kind of illness it could be, why they suddenly fainted, and what he should do.

He almost fainted on the spot: “My ancestor, can you think of a solution? There are still two in shock over there who haven’t been saved!”

“I know! I know!” Yu Gui raised her voice, and on this early spring night with a lingering chill, a thin layer of sweat broke out on her forehead, her hand holding the scissors slightly trembling.

Her gaze fell on the clothes that had been cut off: “Good person, good person, check… check his pockets…”

Hao Renjie quickly regained his senses and found nitroglycerin¹ from the torn fabric. Just as he was about to pry open the patient’s jaw to feed it to him, Yu Gui stopped him.

“It’s… it’s no use…” She threw away the scissors and knelt on the patient’s left side to perform CPR: “At this point, nitroglycerin is useless for myocardial infarction.² Do we have a defibrillator?”

“Have… have it… I’ll go get it…” Hao Renjie rolled over from the ground and ran to the ambulance to get the AED³, drenched in sweat as he ran back.

The sharp needle steadily pierced into the skin, drawing in while going in, and soon the first tube of pus and blood was extracted.

“Director Lu, the blood pressure and oxygen saturation⁴ still haven’t improved!” Lu Qingshi turned to glance at the monitor, which was hovering on the brink of shock.

“Prepare the bag, let’s do manual ventilation.”

The fire truck rushed over with the siren wailing, and before the vehicle even came to a stop, Gu Yanzhi was the first to jump down and slam the door shut.

“What’s the situation, doctor?”

Lu Qingshi maintained a kneeling position, holding the bag, without turning her head: “The rebar is embedded in the abdomen; we need to break it apart to lift the person out.”

Gu Yanzhi crawled into the cabin from the other side, wearing a headlamp. She touched the thickness of the rebar and unexpectedly ran into Lu Qingshi.

“It’s you?”

She had only felt the voice was familiar, and now she realized it was an acquaintance. However, there was no time to catch up, and there wasn’t much of a relationship to speak of. She just noticed her deep flame blue uniform when she saw her.

So it turns out… that neighbor who disturbed her dreams in the middle of the night is a firefighter?

She quickly nodded. With one more person squeezed into the already cramped space, it felt even more crowded, and the light was insufficient. The anesthesiologist behind her desperately raised a flashlight, while Lu Qingshi frowned deeply, the loose hair on her forehead sticking tightly to her skin as she carefully operated.

Gu Yanzhi shrank back again: “Get a large searchlight, and also get a headlamp for this doctor.”

The items she needed were quickly prepared; the large searchlight was set up on the top of the truck, creating a simulated surgical environment.

Gu Yanzhi also brought over a hydraulic clamp: “I need someone to help me hold the rebar.”

She glanced at the anesthesiologist’s delicate wrist: “You…”

Lu Qingshi nodded: “I can do it; please hurry.”

“First shock, charge to two hundred joules, charging complete, clear!”

Yu Gui pressed the switch and firmly attached it to the patient’s bare skin.

The patient’s chest slightly trembled, but soon sank again, and the electrocardiogram displayed a flat line.

Sweat trickled down her forehead.

“One, two, three…” Yu Gui silently counted the rhythm of CPR. When she reached thirty, she released her hands to perform a rescue breath. The young girl, without any protection, blew air into the patient’s mouth face to face.

Hao Renjie watched her back and suddenly rolled up his sleeves: “I’ll do it; I’m stronger!”

His blood-stained hands firmly grasped the rebar, and the hydraulic clamp gently bit down.

Gu Yanzhi glanced at her: “Do not move while I’m operating; otherwise…”

Otherwise, if you injure a dirty organ or puncture a major artery, it would lead to immediate death.

“I know without you saying it,” Lu Qingshi gently nodded, signaling her to begin.

“Okay,” she stopped saying more and exerted a little force. Even though both of their hands were steady, some shaking was unavoidable. A spurt of blood gushed from the base of the rebar, flowing down along the clothes and eventually pooling on the asphalt road through the car door.

Lu Qingshi noticed her abdomen and reached out to gently touch it: “Give me the flashlight.”

The anesthesiologist handed over a penlight, and she freed one hand to feel the pregnant woman’s abdomen, a warm liquid flowing steadily out.

“This won’t do; the hydraulic clamp can’t cut it.” The space was too small to apply force, and the hydraulic clamp had become a useless tool; they would need to switch to a more powerful and faster cutting tool.

However, the greater the power, the damage inflicted on the pregnant woman would inevitably be irreversible.

Gu Yanzhi released her grip, sweating profusely, and took off her uniform to reveal her strong forearm muscles.

“Switch to a cutting saw,” she directed a questioning look at Lu Qingshi.

“Good person, one dose of adrenaline, push it slowly!” Yu Gui shouted, completely neglecting to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

“Okay,” Hao Renjie quickly got up.

“Step aside, second shock, charging to two hundred joules, complete!” She picked up the defibrillator again and pressed it against the patient’s chest.

The electrocardiogram still showed a flat line.

Yu Gui bit her lip, with red eyes continuing the rescue: “Prepare for the third shock!”

When the defibrillator was placed again, the line that could bring someone back to life remained completely still.

Tears swirled in her eyes as Yu Gui choked out, “Fourth shock… prepare…”

Hao Renjie pressed the switch, collapsed on the ground, and pushed her: “Don’t shock… there’s… a response…”

“Sister Lu, this patient has temporarily regained consciousness!” Liu Qingyun shouted from over there.

“Anesthesiologist, go over there and take a look.”

“Director Lu, there’s no brain injury, just a rib fracture causing pneumothorax⁵. If sent to the hospital in time, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”

“Okay, there’s no time now; I need to ask you a few questions.” Lu Qingshi exited the narrow compartment and crouched down beside him.

“Name?”

“Zhao… Zhao Ping…” The patient spoke with difficulty, gasping for breath due to pain, but his gaze kept looking toward the compartment.

“Your wife is in very bad condition right now. Did she have any miscarriages before?”

Zhao Ping slowly nodded, tilting his head while lying on the ground, continuously looking in that direction: “Had… had two… the… doctor said she… said her uterine wall is thin…”

“Wife… wife…” As he spoke, he struggled to lift himself up. From this direction, he could only see her covered in blood, motionless, with her head drooping against the back of the seat, completely lifeless.

“Don’t move!” The anesthesiologist pressed him down firmly. “Your vital signs have just stabilized!”

“The steel rebar that fell from the truck shattered the windshield and pierced your wife’s abdomen, just blocking a major blood vessel. If forcibly pulled out, your wife will be in life-threatening danger.”

“But if it’s not pulled out…” She paused. “Your wife has already shown signs of a threatened miscarriage. The child will die in the womb due to the mother’s excessive blood loss.”

“Lu… Teacher Lu… I’m good over there too…” Yu Gui ran over, gasping for breath, but what she heard was the cruelest result.

She stood dumbfounded in place, listening to her recite the death notification⁶ expressionlessly.

“I hope you are prepared for one corpse and two lives.”

The man’s eyes were wide with rage, and the painful roar, suppressed in his throat, sounded more like a beast trapped in a cage. The only movable left hand desperately rubbed against the ground: “Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!”

No one stopped such an outburst; everyone present silently watched this middle-aged man weep uncontrollably.

“I… I shouldn’t have… drunk and taken Xiaofeng to the hospital…”

Liu Qingyun lowered his head, a sigh escaping from his lips.

The anesthetist also silently clenched her fist. In this team, she had always had a fiery temper, cursing while her eyes turned red: “So one corpse and two lives are also caused by you! You executioner, murderer!”

Zhao Ping painfully hit his head with his bloodied hand, shouting “Ah ah ah.”

Lu Qingshi turned her face away: “Time is running out, you must… make a choice.”

“Doctor… Doctor…” Hope seemed to ignite in his eyes as he looked at this blood-soaked doctor, tightly grasping her clothes with his blood-stained hand.

“Save… save the child… I beg you… save the child… I am over thirty, I cannot be without a child!”

The anesthetist was about to step forward when Liu Qingyun pulled her back, signaling her not to interfere.

“Teacher Lu,” Yu Gui walked over step by step: “It was you who said… not to give up on any patient…”

Her eyes slowly turned red, tears swirling in her eyes: “If it were you… I believe you… you would definitely be able to do it.”

Gu Yanzhi stood in place, watching everything happening before her, also seeing the sky grow darker, the black clouds pressing down like they wanted to crush the city.

It’s going to rain.

When she turned back, Lu Qingshi walked towards her with unwavering determination: “Get the cutting machine, be quick.”

“Okay,” she immediately turned on the machine, carrying the heavy cutting machine weighing dozens of pounds into the vehicle cabin.

Lu Qingshi knelt on the ground, with all the necessary instruments placed beside her.

Qin Xuan also hurriedly arrived, bending down to stand beside her, holding a strong flashlight in his hand.

“After the rebar is cut, Hao Renjie and I will quickly lift the person out. Anesthetist, prepare the instruments, and I will start removing the rebar,” she glanced at Qin Xuan: “Leave the condition of the fetus to you; you are the expert in this area.”

Qin Xuan understood her meaning; she planned to remove the rebar and then use the hemostatic clamp to stop the arterial bleeding, buying some survival time for the pregnant woman.

Understanding was one thing, but it didn’t mean he agreed with her approach.

“Are you crazy?! Radial artery bleeding can reach 2000ml within three minutes! Do you see how much blood she has left now?!”

The only one with a chance of survival was the fetus; if they delayed any longer, there would be no hope for the fetus!

“I have the highest authority here; I am the leader of the medical team. If you have any complaints, you can go back and report to the medical office; I have no objections. Just cut it.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Yanzhi had already begun to move. Qin Xuan was furious but had no way to deal with her.

Even though she desperately used both hands to hold the rebar and maintain balance, it was difficult to stop the vibrations caused by the metal; sparks flew everywhere, and blood flowed freely.

Gu Yanzhi remained unfazed; her hands were even steadier than Lu Qingshi’s, and the golden sparks painted a layer of determination over her brows and eyes.

Soon, the rebar was cut through.

Several people worked together to half-carry the person out and lay them flat on the ground.

The anesthesiologist had already prepared the endotracheal intubation, and Hao Renjie quickly established the intravenous access. Qin Xuan laid out the surgical tools needed for the cesarean section.

Lu Qingshi held a scalpel in one hand and a hemostatic clamp in the other.

Yu Gui stood opposite her: “Teacher Lu, I will pull out the rebar.”

“Huh? You?” The anesthesiologist had an obvious expression of disbelief.

“I… I…” Yu Gui hadn’t even reached for the rebar yet when she started to shake, but looking at the pregnant woman’s blood-stained face and Zhao Ping’s hopeful eyes made her determined.

Yu Gui took a deep breath.

“Get out of the way, I’ll do it!” Gu Yanzhi suddenly pushed everyone aside, knelt down, and without waiting for everyone to react, she exerted force with her right hand, pulling the rebar straight up and down.

Bright red blood immediately gushed out, splattering onto her safety helmet, the warm and foul-smelling blood splashing onto her face.

She was momentarily stunned, and Hao Renjie quickly poured a bottle of iodine on it, which was soon washed away by the blood.

Lu Qingshi made a small incision with the scalpel in one hand and directly inserted the hemostatic clamp into the wound with the other.

Finding the source of the bleeding without surgical navigation is very difficult, relying solely on the naked eye, luck, and the doctor’s rich experience, especially in such severe weather with strong winds and looming mountain rain.

“Director Lu! Blood pressure is dropping! Sixty! Forty!” The anesthesiologist quickly took a dose of adrenaline and administered it through the intravenous line.

“Teacher Lu, I’ve opened another intravenous line!” Hao Renjie’s voice.

Lu Qingshi knelt on the ground, in this infinitely long minute, her back was completely soaked, and sweat dampened her forehead.

“I found it,” she quickly pressed the hemostatic clamp.

What followed was silence from everyone, and the nearby monitor also stopped screaming; the three different colored lines all turned into a flat line.

Yu Gui was full of disbelief, desperately shaking her wrist: “Teacher Lu, Teacher Lu, let’s open the chest, there must be other bleeding points that haven’t been found; if we find them, we can correct the shock, Teacher Lu!”

“Wake up a bit!” Qin Xuan grabbed her collar and shouted angrily: “You’ve already interfered with Lu Qingshi’s judgment once; don’t you know?! If we don’t perform a cesarean now, the fetus in her abdomen will suffocate and die from lack of oxygen; you are a murderer!!!”

Yu Gui pushed her away: “But she’s just in shock; her heartbeat hasn’t stopped yet! Are you going to give up on her?! Are you going to cut open her belly to take the baby?! The child’s life matters, but hers doesn’t?!”

“Hao Renjie, disinfect,” Lu Qingshi said gently.

After a long moment without response, she suddenly raised her voice: “I said, disinfect!”

“Hey, hey!” Hao Renjie finally snapped back to reality, quickly cutting open the pregnant woman’s clothes and pouring iodine on the wound.

“Scalpel.”

He silently handed it over.

Yu Gui, with red eyes, watched her calmly make the first incision; blood gushed out, revealing the mottled layer of fat.

“Ah!” She wanted to rush forward but was firmly pulled back by Gu Yanzhi. “Let go of me!”

Gu Yanzhi held her back step by step, saying nothing, and threw a glance at his teammates, signaling them to keep an eye on her. He then walked aside and silently lit a cigarette.

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1. Nitroglycerin: A medication used for treating heart conditions, often used during heart attacks.
2. Myocardial Infarction: A medical term for a heart attack.
3. AED (Automated External Defibrillator): A portable device that diagnoses life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias.
4. Oxygen Saturation: A measure of how much oxygen the blood is carrying as a percentage of the maximum it could carry.
5. Pneumothorax: A medical condition where air enters the pleural space, causing the lung to collapse.
6. Death Notification: A formal announcement regarding a death, often delivered by medical personnel.