The Surgeon's Studio c1-799

by Black Ursa Prime

  The doctors and nurses on the scene waited for Zheng Ren's instructions but he merely stood beside the patient quietly with his arms folded.

  "What about the resuscitation? Why did Chief Zheng administer three ampoules of diprophylline and do nothing afterward?"

  "Keep quiet. This is our new chief resident and I've heard that Old Chief Physician Pan likes him very much."

  "So what? We still need to resuscitate him. Are we just going to stand here and wait for the patient to die?"

  Zheng Ren, whose hearing seemed to have improved somewhat after being in the System for a long time, overheard the nurses' whispers.

  "It's alright." Zheng Ren turned around and smiled. "This patient's condition is special. I'm guessing that his symptoms will be relieved in around three minutes. The administration of a large dosage of drugs will slow down his metabolism and cause other complications to occur."

  The doctors and nurses on the scene stopped their discussion after hearing Zheng Ren's polite and confident words. He was the chief resident, after all. He had to bear the responsibility and face the patient's parents if something bad happened to him.

  The fact that they remained silent did not mean that they trusted Zheng Ren's decision, which was why they still paid close attention to the patient's condition.

  The patient already had a laryngeal edema. Was he expecting to solve the problem by administering diprophylline only? What a joke!

  However, a few minutes later, the patient's respiratory rate had gradually stabilized and his heart rate had decreased to 110 beats per minute, which none of them had foreseen.

  His lips cyanosis had alleviated as well and his condition had improved drastically.

  What… What the hell was this? After the doctors and nurses realized that the patient's condition had gradually improved as they did nothing at all, they turned to Zheng Ren in disbelief.

  "Young man, are you awake?" Zheng Ren tapped the patient's shoulder gently.

  The patient waved his hand to indicate a yes.

  "Reduce the oxygen flow to 3L per minute. I'll explain the situation to the patient's family." Zheng Ren tapped the patient's shoulder gently again to comfort him and left the room.

  "You, stand up and talk to me," said Zheng Ren a little roughly after exiting the room and noticing the girl sobbing on her knees.

  "Doctor, how… how is he?"

  "He is fine, so why are you even crying? The patient's condition has stabilized. I'm here to explain his illness and I need your cooperation," said Zheng Ren.

  "Okay." Knowing everything was fine, the girl quickly wiped her tears, sniffed forcefully and stood.

  The girl, who was in her early twenties, had short hair and slightly rough skin. It was obvious that her family was in a bad way. Her shoddy eyeshadow was a mess, with black powder smeared around her eyes, making her look like a huge panda.

  She was wearing a red sweater and Zheng Ren could even detect a pungent chemical smell that was characteristic of cheap clothing from it.

  Rich or poor made no difference in the doctors' eyes, but of course, it was a whole different story to the hospital authorities.

  "The patient's condition is stable. I'm guessing that he can go home tomorrow after one night of hospital stay for observation," Zheng Ren reassured the girl.

  "Huh?" The good news was unexpected and the girl was having a hard time believing it.

  Little Zhao squeezed to the front of the crowd and found a position with a decent view as the live broadcast continued.

  The crowd was dumbfounded as well.

  "His face was purple when they carried him into the room. Is already he dead and the doctor is actually consoling his family?"

  "Doctors wouldn't have the courage to do this. Perhaps his condition has really improved."

  "Are you kidding me? Only a few minutes have passed. It's not like the doctor gave him an elixir of life and brought him back from the dead."

  Soft whispers traveled among the crowd. Little Zhao, who was focused on the livestream, remained quiet as he was unsure if whatever Zheng Ren had mentioned just now was true. He merely moved the phone camera around and recorded the expression of everyone on the scene.

  "Take off your shirt and the patient will be fine," said Zheng Ren.

  Boom! An explosion occurred in the crowd.

  Was he a perverted doctor? He dared ask the patient's family member to take off her shirt?! What a shameless b*stard!

  Chapter 41 - Color Hypersensitivity

  "What the f*ck! What kind of lousy doctor is this?!"

  "I swear I'll kill him if he dared to speak to me in that way."

  "Is this the medical standard of Sea City General Hospital?"

  The voices in the crowd started to become louder and the raging fire was about to get out of control.

  Little Zhao winked at Zheng Ren repeatedly to warn him about the imminent danger but went completely unnoticed.

  "Why are you guys shouting? Are you doctors? If you're so smart, then you might as well treat the patients yourself!" Little Zhao, who believed in loyalty, stood up for Zheng Ren in the end.

  "Did you buy this shirt today or just planned on wearing it today?" asked Zheng Ren while ignoring the exasperated crowd.

  "..." The girl was stupefied.

  In what way was her shirt related to her boyfriend's condition?

  Even so, she nodded in response honestly. "Today is the first anniversary of our first meeting. I bought this shirt a few days ago but today is the first time I put it on. We initially planned to have lunch together but I didn't expect…"

  Tears started welling up in her eyes again.

  "Don't cry," Zheng Ren raised his eyebrows and proclaimed. "Your boyfriend suffers from a rare condition called color hypersensitivity. This shirt was the cause of his allergic reaction."

  "..."

  Not just the girl, but the crowd was flabbergasted as well.

  Color hypersensitivity? What in the world was that?

  "To put it simply, it's fine if your boyfriend takes a short glance at this uncommon red color, but if he keeps staring at it, a stress response will occur in his body, hence the allergic reaction," Zheng Ren's confident voice soothed their minds.

  His diagnosis was clear and the treatment was also simple.

  "Take off your sweater and be careful later. We'll transfer the patient to the observation unit after this. He has to fast for twelve hours to prevent any sort of irritating food from causing another allergic reaction," Zheng Ren advised.

  The girl nodded vigorously and took off her sweater without the slightest hesitation.

  She wanted to fold her sweater and put it away, but was unable to do so as she only carried a small handbag with inadequate space.

  Gritting her teeth, she threw the newly purchased sweater into the rubbish bin.

  "Don't!" Zheng Ren understood the mindset of the poor and stopped her immediately. "I'll keep it for you. Keep all your valuables with you and you can take it from me when the patient is discharged. It's a pity to throw new clothes away."

  Little Zhao and the crowd was dumbstruck. Was this the diagnosis?

  A patient on the verge of death had been treated just like that?

  "Chief Zheng, the patient's heart rate has returned to normal and oxygen saturation is at 100 percent. Can I transfer him to the observation unit?" asked a nurse.

  "Sure, go ahead. He's fine now."

  The crowd started buzzing with excitement and the scene became chaotic again as the patient was wheeled out from the resuscitation room to the observation unit.

  "Has he really recovered? Was his condition really serious just now?"

  "Very serious. I saw him with my own eyes when the ambulance came. His face was purple, his hands seemed to be purple too, and he was frothing at the mouth. It was a scary sight!"

  "Stop talking nonsense. Would his girlfriend cry her eyes out if his condition wasn't serious?"

  Little Zhao, who had regained his composure
quickly, stared at his cell phone with dozens of comments flooding the live broadcast room. Obviously, this livestream had gained a good amount of popularity.

  "Brothers, send me gifts for witnessing the awesome work of the divine doctor!" He had not forgotten to get his cut despite the hectic moment.

  As the whole process had been completely unexpected, the viewers in his live broadcast room were extremely enthusiastic and started bombarding the online streamer with various stream rewards—free fishballs, airplanes, and even rockets.

  [Broadcaster, what did he do just now? Can you explain it again because I didn't see it.]

  [Broadcaster, can you send me your coordinates? I'll visit that hospital whenever I get sick. He is indeed a divine doctor.]

  [I've sent you a rocket. Please send positive energy to the divine doctor!]

  Little Zhao felt like a dog with two tails as he stared at the comments in the live broadcast room. How long had it been since his livestream had gotten this popular? There were so many rewards. Perhaps the emergency department was a better place for a livestream after all because it was livelier… No! It was due to Brother Zheng's superb medical skills. None of the viewers would be willing to send him rewards if he put a dead patient on his livestream.

  Zheng Ren pushed the crowd aside and brought the patient to the observation unit on a stretcher trolley.

  He passed Old Chief Physician Old on the way. Chief Physician Pan, who had not expected him to return so soon, walked over with his head up and a quick pace, unsure what he was up to.

  "He'll be put under ECG monitoring for two hours. Everything should be fine once it stabilizes completely." Zheng Ren then advised, "Don't forget what I told you just now."

  "Okay." The girl nodded in response.

  "Doctor, thank you." The boy wanted to take Zheng Ren's hand and express his gratitude, but Zheng Ren was already at the doorstep. Left with no choice, he uttered his gratitude with difficulty.

  "No worries," replied Zheng Ren as he walked out of the observation unit, and smiled upon seeing Little Zhao chatting with an onlooker with his cell phone up. Then, he walked toward Old Chief Physician Pan's office, knocked on the door and entered the room.

  Old Chief Physician Pan was shocked upon noticing Zheng Ren. "Why did you come back so soon? Go home quickly and get a good rest."

  "I'm still young. I can bear it." Zheng Ren smiled. "I can't relax yet until I've seen the postoperative patients myself."

  Old Chief Physician Pan understood Zheng Ren's mindset as that was exactly what every surgeon would feel. They would have trouble sleeping if they did not examine their patients after surgery.

  If the patient had a serious surgical condition, insomnia would be inevitable.

  "Let's go for a ward round," said Old Chief Physician Pan.

  That was precisely what Zheng Ren was waiting for.

  He was a chief resident in the emergency department. If he went to the first general surgery department for a ward round without Old Chief Physician Pan's company, he would have definitely drowned in their saliva.

  However, anyone who dared to criticize him while he was accompanied by Old Chief Physician Pan would feel the old man's wrath. That was beyond question.

  They both valued efficiency, so they left the emergency department and darted toward the first general surgery department.

  Old Chief Physician Pan explained the staff allocation progress to Zheng Ren along the way.

  The hospital management was very supportive especially after witnessing Zheng Ren's outstanding surgical performance today.

  However, one more week was required to allocate the nurses and equipment, and the hospital management had planned to place house officers under standardized training to fill up the vacancies in the emergency department.

  Old Chief Physician Pan could not possibly trouble hospital management any further because It was known to all that there were not enough doctors in the hospital.

  At least the plan was beginning to take shape which pleased Zheng Ren a lot.

  Soon, they arrived at the first general surgery department, which was overcrowded with patients and had had beds added up to the end of the corridor. They could not even see where it ended at first glance.

  Even Zheng Ren was a little surprised. Were all of these his postoperative patients?

  Old Chief Physician Pan aggressively summoned the doctors in the first general surgery department and started the ward round.

  There was no leader in the first general surgery department as Chief Surgeon Liu had been hospitalized in the CCU for treatment of his myocardial infarction. Thus, even if they wanted to disobey the culprit's command, they simply lacked the courage to do so.

  Every time the group arrived at a patient's bed, the doctor in charge of that bed would quickly explain the patient's condition.

  There were too many patients and normally, Zheng Ren had to spend some time trying to recall the identity of each one and the reason for their surgery.

  However, Zheng Ren was able to remember every single one of them—their identity and surgical condition—clearly as if they had been seared into his brain. There was no need for the doctors to introduce the patients at all. He was unsure this was due to the System

  "The patient's condition is stable with good recovery."

  The constant repetition of that phrase pleased every patient and their family members. The cacophony of smells in the corridor seemed to have become less pungent as everyone's joy lightened up the atmosphere.

  They walked to room number five. Then, a thin and withered figure appeared before Zheng Ren before they entered the room.

  Thud! The figure collapsed.

  Chapter 42 - Postsurgery Ward Round

  Zheng Ren instinctively pulled Old Chief Physician Pan aside, believing the sudden movement to be an attack from a patient's family.

  As a doctor in the hospital, not knowing a self-defense might get yourself killed.

  Half a second later, Zheng Ren realized that it was an old lady kneeling before him and Old Chief Physician Pan.

  "Uh…"

  "Old lady, what are you doing? Come, get up." Old Chief Physician Pan bent over to help her stand.

  "Both of you are my saviors!" the old lady said as she gripped Chief Physician Pan's hands tightly. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.

  Zheng Ren quickly scurried away into a corner. He was a mere chief resident who did not deserve an elderly person's fervent gratitude.

  He did not want to push his luck. The System might give him another moronic life or death mission to complete.

  "You living buddha, you saved my granddaughter," the old lady spoke through tears as she stood with the help of Chief Physician Pan.

  Zheng Ren studied the old lady curiously.

  When he spoke to the family prior to the surgery—including the parents of the pregnant patient—no one expressed much concern over the patient's wellbeing. In their eyes, the unborn son was the priority.

  Now, this old lady here was thanking them for saving her granddaughter.

  Zheng Ren suddenly felt that his surgical work was worth it in the end. He felt appreciated.

  Old Chief Physician Pan was fl.u.s.tered but had dealt with such situations before. He ushered the old lady into the room with a few words. Zheng Ren carefully followed, wanting to check on the patient's recovery status.

  A round of questioning informed Zheng Ren of the patient's wellbeing. A day after the surgery, she had already passed gas and was able to consume porridge.

  Her complexion was much better than the last time Zheng Ren saw her. She was half-prone on the bed.

  When the patient saw Old Chief Physician Pan walk in, she tried to sit up to convey her heartfelt gratitude.

  Old Chief Physician Pan pushed Zheng Ren ahead. "This man is who you should thank. He was your surgeon."

  Realizing her mistake, the young pregnant patient became sheepish.

  The husband, grandparents, and parents were all crammed i
nto the small hospital room. Multiple hands shot out to help the patient when she tried to sit up. They avoided eye contact with Zheng Ren and their movements were stiff.

  Their help was unceremoniously driven away by the old lady.

  Perhaps in the old lady's eyes, only she could care for her granddaughter. The others were just ingrates and though she might be old, she was not oblivious.

  Zheng Ren instantly got the patient to lie back down. Being able to pass gas and eat just a day after surgery was good progress. Zheng Ren did not want to chance her getting on her knees.

  The information on the right corner of his vision stated that she showed no signs of infection or other complications. The threat of miscarriage had also vanished and she was on the path to a speedy recovery.

  All was well. Zheng Ren gave a few words of encouragement to the patient and promptly dragged Old Chief Physician Pan out of the room.

  "Not used to the thanks? This sort of expression is common for rural folks." Old Chief Physician Pan was in a good mood after witnessing the pregnant patient's recovery.

  "I just don't like the family… Except for the old lady," Zheng Ren confessed. The incident with that particular family was a sore point and he wanted to get that off his c.h.e.s.t.

  Zheng Ren did not need to elaborate. Old Chief Physician Pan understood what he had experienced that day.

  Anyone with at least five years of clinical experience would have had to handle similar scenarios. As for Old Chief Physician Pan, he had had it down to an art.

  "You'll get used to it." Old Chief Physician Pan gave Zheng Ren a faint smile, unbothered by it all.

  One had to have an open mind or be prepared to resign.

  After completing their rounds in the first general surgery department, Old Chief Physician Pan took Zheng Ren to the second general surgery ward.

  When Chief Surgeon Sun of the second general surgery department learned the two men were coming, he volunteered to accompany them without hesitation.

  He hosted them with grace and warmth, very much like a chief resident would when the head of a surgical department dropped in for a check.