Chapter 19

Tang Feiwai grinned as she returned to the emergency room, just in time to see Lin Ye and the deputy director of surgery, and the director of orthopedics, consulting, she immediately retracted the overly exuberant curve of her lips and got to work. She waited for the two directors to leave the emergency room to prepare for surgery before approaching Lin Ye.

Lin Ye handed the attending physician the medical records she had been recording, she saw her coming and directly asked, “What’s the situation with the patient’s family?”

“The patient is Dong Guo, his girlfriend, Cao Yangqiao, is outside.” Tang Feiwai omitted the reason for their breakup and got straight to the point, “Cao Yangqiao broke up with him on Wednesday, Dong Guo didn’t agree, they argued for three days, this morning the man went to the woman’s rented apartment, they had another big fight, the man threatened to kill himself, the woman still didn’t agree to get back together, and then he jumped off the building.”

“He’s crazy, the woman should have run away.” Gu Yan mumbled.

Lin Ye’s star-like brows rose slightly, “Where are Dong Guo’s parents?”

“They’re rushing to the airport in the neighboring city, they should arrive this afternoon.” Tang Feiwai played the phone call recording, “I’ve already informed his parents that he needs surgery, and they have verbally agreed.”

Lin Ye listened to the short recording, thought about Dong Guo’s injuries, and frowned. “No, we still need to explain it clearly.” As she walked, she asked, “Did you note down the patient’s parents’ phone number?”

“Yeah, here it is.” Tang Feiwan showed her.

Holding the phone, Lin Ye walked back to the office and used the landline to call Dong Guo’s parents. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

“Hello?” It was still Dong Guo’s father.

Lin Ye introduced herself, “Hello, I’m Lin Ye, the associate chief physician of the emergency department at Shujing University’s Second Affiliated Hospital. Are you Dong Guo’s family member?”

“Ah, I’m his dad.” Twenty minutes ago, after hanging up, he immediately contacted other family members. Now, his brother-in-law was driving while his wife and elder brother accompanied him on the way to the airport in a neighboring city.

“I’ll explain Dong Guo’s condition in detail. Please listen carefully.”

Dong Guo’s father gave a heavy “mm” in response.

“Dong Guo fell from the third floor. Fortunately, his head wasn’t injured, but he has multiple fractures and internal abdominal bleeding. We are performing an emergency surgery to open his abdomen and stop the bleeding. If the surgery is successful, the orthopedic team will operate on him once his condition stabilizes. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand. Please, you must save him!” Dong Guo’s father pleaded, but he didn’t say a word of thanks.

Lin Ye remained calm and explained in an orderly manner, “Also, we will have Dong Guo’s girlfriend, Cao Yangqiao, sign the consent form on your behalf. Is that okay?”

Given the life-threatening situation, Dong Guo’s father agreed to everything. “Okay, okay, just save him!”

“You will need to sign a power of attorney authorizing Cao Yangqiao to sign the surgical consent form. You can fax it to our emergency department.”

Dong Guo’s father became impatient. “Why is your hospital so troublesome?”

“If you don’t authorize it, Cao Yangqiao won’t dare to sign because signing carries legal responsibility.” Lin Ye glanced at Cao Yangqiao, who was standing beside her, and asked, “Are you willing to sign?”

Cao Yangqiao swallowed hard and said, “As long as Uncle authorizes it, I’ll sign.” After all, they had been together for two years there were still some feelings involved, and saving him was the priority.

Reluctantly, Dong Guo’s father said, “Fine, I’ll do it, I’ll handle it.”

After a few more exchanges, Lin Ye hung up the phone. She instructed another doctor to take Cao Yangqiao to a consultation room before turning to Tang Feiwan with a stern expression. “Dr. Tang, doctor-patient relationships aren’t as simple as you think. We’ve suffered a lot in the emergency department.” She knew Tang Feiwan had been abroad for a long time and wasn’t familiar with the situation in China.

Tang Feiwan looked into her poetic eyes, dazed for a moment, then nodded firmly. “Understood, Director Lin.” She had been silently observing Lin Ye’s actions, and although surprised, she memorized them carefully.

Her expression looked a little silly. Had she always been like this? Lin Ye’s mind unexpectedly flashed the word “cute,” and she quickly frowned, shaking off the thought. Keeping a straight face, she added, “We also need to report this to the medical affairs department.”

“Got it.” Tang Feiwan curved her lips into a smile at Lin Ye’s serious expression. “Director Lin, I’ll get back to work now.” She turned to leave and heard Lin Ye, who had already looked away, respond with a faint “Mm.”

Because of this matter, Tang Feiwan hadn’t finished handing over her shift. After doing so, she still had to do rounds. She prayed in her heart, hoping there wouldn’t be too many critical patients today.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans. She was so busy that she only had half a sandwich for lunch and didn’t get a break until nearly 6 p.m. As she waited for shift change, she was chewing on the rest of her sandwich when she overheard a discussion outside.

“This is such a hassle, dealing with these family members again.”

“I think they’re just being unreasonable. If the surgeons hadn’t removed the spleen in time, the patient might’ve died on the operating table.”

“Sigh, Director Lin is handling it. Hopefully, the argument doesn’t escalate.”

Hadn’t the surgery been successful? Wasn’t the patient already transferred to the EICU for close monitoring? Why were the family members still causing trouble? Tang Feiwan swallowed the last bite of her sandwich, threw the wrapper into the trash, and followed the voices.

Not far from the EICU entrance, three or four family members stood on one side, while four doctors in white coats stood on the other. A security guard was beside Lin Ye. Though she was the shortest in the group, her presence was imposing.

“Family members, we obtained informed consent before the surgery and explained the possible risks. During the operation, the surgeon discovered that the spleen was severely ruptured and couldn’t be repaired, so it had to be removed immediately.”

Dong Guo’s father yelled angrily, “When did you ever say the spleen would be removed? That’s a vital organ!”

Dong Guo’s uncle chimed in, “Yeah, we searched online, and removing the spleen weakens the immune system and affects blood production.”

Lin Ye remained composed. “We have an obligation to inform family members during surgery and let them decide. However, you were all on a plane at the time, and we couldn’t reach you. Cao Yangqiao contacted Dong Guo’s sister, Dong Ping, who gave her consent.”

The attending physician beside Lin Ye added, “Besides, as Director Lin explained, the initial effects of spleen removal are more noticeable, but as the body compensates and adjusts, the long-term impact diminishes.”

Dong Guo’s father raised his voice. “Of course, that’s what doctors say! You think we don’t know any better?”

Dong Guo’s uncle pulled out his phone. “Let’s just call the authorities. No point arguing with them.”

Even after being so cautious, Lin Ye still couldn’t prevent unreasonable family members from making trouble. Tang Feiwan gritted her teeth in frustration and was about to step forward when a nurse, Sun Qinhe, called out from behind her, “Dr. Tang, patient in Bed 3 Dong Guo his blood pressure is dropping.”

Tang Feiwan turned to look at the head nurse, took two seconds to react, then bolted down the hallway.

Sun Qinhe stepped closer, bypassed the security guard, and whispered to Lin Ye, “Director Lin, the patient in Bed 3 is crashing. Dr. Li is resuscitating him, but it doesn’t look good. Dr. Tang just rushed over.”

Bed 3 Dong Guo…

Lin Ye immediately cut off the argument. Urgently, she said, “Dong Guo’s condition is deteriorating. You need to be mentally prepared.”

Dong Guo’s father’s face flushed red, “The surgery was successful, and he still died? It must be because you removed his spleen, that’s why this happened.”

Lin Ye didn’t want to deal with him anymore, she had someone notify the medical affairs department, and after giving a few more instructions, she rushed to the EICU ward with Sun Qinhe.

In the EICU ward, Tang Feiwai was defibrillating Dong Guo and performing chest compressions. Lin Ye saw that they were working efficiently and orderly, she didn’t interfere with the rescue efforts, until Tang Feiwai shook her head and stood up straight, the curve on the ECG monitor next to her had completely become a straight line, she took out her pupil pen and went to check.

The resident physician sighed, “It’s over, tonight will definitely be a big mess.”

“Go call the patient’s family, just bring two people.” Lin Ye pursed her lips, “If the family is in a bad mood, let the patient’s mother come in first, tell them that this is the EICU ward, all the patients need to rest, they can’t make a lot of noise.”

Five minutes later, Dong Guo’s mother came in after changing into her visiting clothes, she went straight to bed three after being directed by the nurse, she collapsed on the deceased and wailed. After a while, the woman raised her head slightly, she sobbed and reminded, “Don’t go out, my husband is very agitated now, he has a violent temper.”

Lin Ye comforted her for a few words, then said, “Our doctors from the medical affairs department and the security guards are already trying to persuade him.”

The resident physician, “Sister, someone will push Dong Guo out later, you can handle the follow-up matters then.”

The woman said through her tears, “Thank you.”

At around 10 pm, after giving instructions, Tang Feiwai finally got off work. She took the elevator down to the negative first floor, two nurses who came down from another elevator were whispering, “I heard that Dong Guo’s dad beat up Dong Guo’s girlfriend, luckily there were people nearby, and Cao Yangqiao was able to escape.”

“Tsk, wasn’t he caught?”

“Cao Yangqiao thought the injury wasn’t serious so she didn’t call the police.”

Tang Feiwai unconsciously clenched her fists, she turned the corner and walked out of the corridor, she suddenly saw a man in dark clothes, about 5 meters away, holding a four-legged stool and following Lin Ye.

The little nurse saw it at the same time, she exclaimed, “Isn’t that Director Lin? Who’s that behind her? What’s he doing with a stool? What’s he trying to do?” As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Feiwai, who was behind her, had already started running. She had practiced sprinting in school, and she had a strong burst of speed, she reached the man’s right side in the blink of an eye, she saw the man’s right hand suddenly raise, Tang Feiwai shouted Lin Ye’s name and pushed her out of the way.

The next second, the iron four-legged stool hit her back squarely.