When Tang Feiwan entered the resuscitation room and pulled back the curtain, Qian Xiaoli was half lying in bed, breathing rapidly. Tang Feiwan checked the cardiac monitor. Her heart rate had dropped back to one twenty-eight, so she was anxious too and asked the nurse beside her, “What happened?”
The nurse sounded slightly exasperated. “She turned over to sit up and said she wanted her phone.” Movement would naturally raise the heart rate, which was why it had jumped to one thirty-seven earlier.
“Doctor, I’m an author. My novel is only a few hundred words from the ending. Let me lie here and write for half an hour. After I finish, you can treat me however you want, okay?” Qian Xiaoli frowned slightly, her attitude resolute.
“I’m a doctor. I don’t care whether your novel gets finished. I’m responsible for your health.” Tang Feiwan told the nurse to switch Qian Xiaoli to an oxygen mask and reminded her, “If your oxygen saturation doesn’t come back up, you’ll need intubation and a ventilator.”
Hearing she might need a ventilator, Qian Xiaoli finally understood the seriousness and stopped fussing.
Her blood pressure remained stable. The rapid heart rate was due to hypoxia. While giving oxygen, they now had to figure out why she had difficulty breathing and why she was hypoxic. Tang Feiwan suddenly remembered what the nurse had said earlier and quickly asked, “Little Tao, you said she vomited when she drank water?”
The nurse nodded. “Yes. She threw up as soon as it went down.”
Tang Feiwan thought for a moment and said, “Please bring another cup of water.”
The nurse didn’t understand but went to get it. When she returned, she handed the cup to Tang Feiwan. Tang Feiwan told Qian Xiaoli to take off the oxygen mask and try drinking some water. Qian Xiaoli removed the mask and sipped cautiously. But after only two sips, she choked and began coughing. Once she recovered, she looked up at Tang Feiwan and said miserably, “Doctor, I don’t want to drink anymore. It’s uncomfortable to swallow.”
Difficulty swallowing.
Tang Feiwan pressed her lips together and searched her mind for diseases that caused both difficulty breathing and swallowing, eliminating them one by one. The patient did occasionally cough, but her blood work was normal, so it wasn’t infectious pneumonia causing the breathing and swallowing problems. The heart? Some acute cardiac conditions could progress at any time, so Tang Feiwan had the nurse run another ECG.
The ECG report came back. Still normal. Tang Feiwan had no choice but to order an ECG every half hour to observe any dynamic changes. Heart issues were her specialty, so she didn’t request a cardiology consult. Acute laryngitis? Congestion and edema of the laryngeal mucosa could cause swallowing difficulty and breathing difficulty.
Tang Feiwan immediately said, “Let’s do a laryngoscopy.”
In the emergency department, they generally performed simple indirect laryngoscopy to observe the larynx. Electronic laryngoscopy required going to the ENT department, but indirect laryngoscopy was enough to check for laryngitis. Tang Feiwan put on gloves, walked to the head of Qian Xiaoli’s bed, and took the disposable video laryngoscope and other surgical tools from the nurse. She leaned forward slightly and asked Qian Xiaoli to open her mouth.
The examination showed no congestion or edema in the larynx, so acute laryngitis was ruled out. Tang Feiwan requested consults from gastroenterology and respiratory medicine. Later, Lin Ye joined the consult. They decided to first run tests to rule out esophageal diverticulum, esophageal cancer, and lung diseases such as viral pneumonia, fungal pneumonia, and lung cancer.
At one thirty in the afternoon, Tang Feiwan sat in front of the computer searching through related case records while waiting for results. She had no appetite.
“Your food’s gone cold,” Lin Ye said as she entered the office, reminding her.
“Oh.” Tang Feiwan looked down at the set meal on her desk, scooped up a bite of vegetables, and chewed twice. It was indeed cold. She put down the spoon, looked up, and continued scrolling through the computer.
Lin Ye carried her lunchbox over and said quietly, “I have some leftover dumplings here. Corn and shrimp filling. If you don’t mind…”
Before she could finish, Tang Feiwan nodded eagerly. “I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.” She took the lunchbox, picked up a dumpling with her chopsticks, and put it in her mouth. After eating one, she smiled until her eyes narrowed and praised sincerely, “Delicious.”
Lin Ye walked toward her own desk, leaving a light remark. “You have stomach problems. No matter how busy you are, try to eat on time.”
“Okay, I’ll eat on time from now on!” She’s worried about me. She’s worried about me. Only I get to eat her dumplings. Tang Feiwan muttered inwardly. Surprisingly, even after ten dumplings, she still didn’t feel full. In the past, seven or eight dumplings had been more than enough.
She closed the lunchbox and was about to stand up to wash it when Lu Yuqing came in carrying her own lunchbox. “Hey, Lin Ye, I finished my hot and sour noodles and I’m still hungry. Didn’t you just say you had some dumplings left?”
Lin Ye kept her eyes on her computer as she typed. “You said you didn’t want them. I saw that Dr. Tang hadn’t eaten lunch, so I let her fill her stomach.”
So I was the last person considered. Tang Feiwan’s smile collapsed. But then she thought about how the dumplings had ended up in her stomach. If they were dumplings Lin Ye had made herself, the corners of her pressed-down lips couldn’t help lifting a little.
“Auntie said you haven’t been home for days. Her calls have even reached me.” Lin Ye glanced at Lu Yuqing sitting beside her and remembered the call from five minutes earlier.
Lu Yuqing was texting someone and replied casually, “Oh, I’ve been staying at her place lately.”
Lin Ye’s right hand paused as she reached for her water cup. She was inwardly surprised, but her tone stayed calm. “You two, every day?”
“What are you thinking? I can’t go when I work nights, and after day shifts I don’t want to go. I’m too tired. I only go on rest days.” Lu Yuqing put down her phone and rolled her eyes. “Oh, right. Two days ago, didn’t I save someone with a brain hemorrhage on the road?”
Lin Ye nodded. “Didn’t he wake up last night?”
“Yeah, he woke up. And this morning he tried to shake me down.” Lu Yuqing picked up her phone and opened WeChat to show her the messages. “He called the police. I have to go to the traffic police brigade.”
“He probably can’t afford the huge medical bills and wants you to cover some of it.” Lin Ye shook her head. She had seen too many cases where saving someone ended in massive medical expenses.
“Right. Today is his eighth day in the ICU, and he’ll need to stay a few more days. With surgery, it’s something like two hundred thousand plus.” Lu Yuqing stood up and waved. “Director Lin, pray I find evidence, or I’ll be poor for the rest of my life.”
As soon as Lu Yuqing left, Qian Xiaoli’s primary nurse came in with the results. “Dr. Tang, Qian Xiaoli’s report.”
“Thank you.” Tang Feiwan took the report and studied it carefully. Lin Ye came over as well.
“Ruled out. Ruled out. All ruled out.” Tang Feiwan flipped through the reports, relieved but also frowning. If they couldn’t find the cause, how could they completely cure her? The patient couldn’t stay on high-flow oxygen forever.
Lin Ye crossed her arms and, because she was reading the reports, stood very close to her. “This is also good news. At least we’ve ruled out the most troublesome possibilities, lung cancer and esophageal cancer.”
“Mm, I’ll go talk to her family again.” Tang Feiwan suddenly pushed up from her chair. Lin Ye hadn’t expected it. Their shoulders collided squarely, hitting Tang Feiwan’s still-painful left shoulder. Tang Feiwan let out a muffled grunt of pain. Lin Ye hurriedly stepped back, lost her balance, and began to fall backward. In the next instant, a slender but strong arm wrapped around her waist.
“Are you okay?” Tang Feiwan asked, instinctively tense.
“N-no, I’m fine.” They were inches apart. As they spoke, familiar breaths silently stirred between them. Lin Ye felt an unusual warmth rising in her cheeks. She turned her face away and stepped back half a step, her hand hidden in the sleeve of her white coat unconsciously clenching.
“Oh, okay. I’ll get back to work.” Tang Feiwan’s thoughts were almost entirely on Qian Xiaoli. Seeing Lin Ye steady, she withdrew the arm from her waist, gave it no further thought, and walked out.
The footsteps faded. Lin Ye returned to her workstation and sat down. She could still feel the lingering weight of Tang Feiwan’s arm around her waist. She swallowed and looked toward the direction the other had gone. The emotion in her eyes was complicated and unreadable.
Outside the hospital, Lu Yuqing stood in a vertical-striped Hong Kong-style shirt and coffee-colored below-the-knee pencil trousers, wearing large sunglasses. She sent Jiang Mu a WeChat message but got no reply, so she called directly. After three attempts, the call connected. “Officer Jiang, I’m at the hospital’s south gate. Where are you?”
“Behind you.”
Lu Yuqing turned around. Two meters away in the sunlight, Jiang Mu sat on a police motorcycle wearing her traffic police uniform and helmet, motioning for her to come over. Lu Yuqing froze. It was the first time she had seen the other woman riding a motorcycle. She couldn’t hear Jiang Mu calling her, only the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears.
“Dr. Lu.” Jiang Mu raised her voice.
“What’s the rush?” Lu Yuqing walked over.
Jiang Mu handed her a helmet. “Here, put this on.”
Lu Yuqing put on the helmet and wrapped her arms around Jiang Mu’s waist. Lowering her voice, she whispered into her ear, “Officer Jiang, let’s make a deal.”
Jiang Mu squeezed the brake. “What?”
Lu Yuqing wasn’t shy and said directly, “Tonight, can you wear your uniform home? We could…”
Jiang Mu refused flatly. “No.”
Lu Yuqing pouted. “Why not? You’re usually wilder than me.”
Jiang Mu ignored her and released the brake. “Hold on tight. I’m starting the bike.”
At the traffic police brigade office, Jiang Mu slid the incident report form to another colleague. “Brother Luo, this case. Could you help me with it?”
The male officer looked up. “Why? Do you know the party at fault?”
Outside the door, Lu Yuqing didn’t wait for Jiang Mu to answer and said, “I don’t know him. And I’m not the one at fault.”
“Brother Luo, wait a minute. Let me go outside and clarify things with her.” Jiang Mu walked a few steps and closed the office door.
Lu Yuqing struck preemptively. “Officer Jiang, I recall that police only need to recuse themselves for family members, right?”
Jiang Mu affirmed, “That’s right.”
Lu Yuqing raised an eyebrow. “Then what kind of relative am I to you?”
Jiang Mu looked up and met her eyes, her elegant brows furrowed slightly, and didn’t answer.
“Exactly. You should keep handling my case. Don’t hand it off.” Lu Yuqing sat on the bench outside the office, crossed her legs, and looked up at her with a soft smile. “Or are you afraid that our relationship will affect your ability to handle the case impartially?” Her harmonious bed-partner arrangement with Jiang Mu had lasted almost a month. Neither interfered in the other’s life. But Lu Yuqing wanted to probe Jiang Mu’s heart. Could she really separate sex from love?
At least she occasionally felt dazed. When Jiang Mu ordered her takeout again and again. When Jiang Mu worried about her lack of sleep. When Jiang Mu called her name again and again in moments of passion…
“Fine, I’ll handle it. Wait a moment.” Jiang Mu withdrew her gaze and opened the office door. Unfortunately, Officer Jiang was too slippery. Lu Yuqing couldn’t catch hold of her.
Jiang Mu brought Lu Yuqing into a room and told her to fill out the other half of the form first. “You fill this in. I’ll go get something.”
The door clicked softly shut. Jiang Mu had forgotten her phone. It sat to Lu Yuqing’s right. As Lu Yuqing propped her head on her hand, ready to write, she accidentally noticed the words on the phone’s lock screen: “The wise don’t fall in love. If you drown, no one’s responsible.”
