Chapter 8

Lu Yuqing returned to the office, fuming.

Five minutes ago, although Jiang Mu hadn’t hidden her relationship with Tang Feiwan, she had turned the question around and asked: “Doctor Lu, didn’t we agree not to ask about each other’s privacy or interfere in each other’s lives? What’s this?”

Lu Yuqing argued, “Can’t I ask about a colleague’s gossip?”

“You can ask Doctor Tang directly.”

Lu Yuqing continued, “She’s busy. No time.” With that, she made an excuse to leave.

Little did she know, Jiang Mu had seen her text asking last night and her persistence this morning, so she’d decided to tease her a little, and also remind her not to forget their agreement and not to cross boundaries.

Who cares? Lu Yuqing muttered. Just as she turned on her computer, the phone rang. “Doctor Lu, prepare for an emergency surgery.”

“Where? What’s the situation?” Lu Yuqing was already standing and hurrying out.

“Car accident, trauma. Traumatic cardiac arrest ten minutes ago. Emergency got him back. Come to the resuscitation room, Bed 4.”

“On my way.”

When Lu Yuqing arrived at the resuscitation room, six or seven doctors surrounded the bed. Lin Ye and two other residents had their white coats and shoes stained with blood. Tang Feiwan was even worse. When she was decompressing the patient’s chest, the patient had sprayed blood all over her face.

The surgery director on the left side of the bed was troubled. “Director Lin, the patient’s vitals are unstable. We can’t take him to the OR. Also, although Doctor Tang has him on a ventilator, I’m afraid he’ll die on the way if we take him to CT.”

“Where’s Doctor Lu?” Lin Ye turned to the resident beside her.

Lu Yuqing stepped forward. “Here.”

“You assess.” Professional matters were left to professionals. Anesthesiologists often knew the patient’s condition best. In massive hemorrhage or surgery, they did everything to stabilize the patient’s vital signs, buying precious time for the emergency and surgical teams. Colloquially, they were the ones “keeping the patient alive.”

Lu Yuqing reviewed the patient’s chart and observed his condition. The steel bar piercing through his body remained embedded, blood constantly seeping out. Staying in the resuscitation room risked another round of ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest. If they gambled on a CT first, then surgery to remove the bar, there might be a sliver of hope. She thought for a moment and said, “Fluid and blood resuscitation first. Then take him to CT.”

Since the anesthesiologist had spoken, the surgery director nodded. “Okay. I’ll go arrange things first.”

Lin Ye had a colleague call the family in to explain the patient’s condition and the plan.

The patient’s wife was still immersed in grief, murmuring, “Doctor, he was just delivering a practice book to our child. How could… Please save him, save him…”

Lin Ye explained patiently, “Listen to me first. In his current state, doing nothing means certain death. Taking him to CT, then surgery, he could still have complications, like massive bleeding during the operation.”

The wife stared at Lin Ye with eyes swollen from crying, asking cautiously, “But surgery could still succeed, right?”

“Yes.”

Seeing a thread of hope, the wife grabbed Lin Ye’s bloodstained sleeve and said, “Do I need to sign? I’ll sign. Do the surgery quickly. He’s our family’s only income. He can’t die. He can’t.”

After signing, Tang Feiwan went to wash her face while Lin Ye and another attending physician wheeled him to the CT room. Fortunately, there were no problems, and he was safely sent to the OR.

Entering the OR was when the real test began. During the surgery, the steel bar was removed. The primary surgeon clamped the artery and kept packing gauze, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

“Did he have a blood order? How many units? Get blood, get blood! Blood pressure can’t hold!” Lu Yuqing urgently pushed fluids through the patient’s venous access, using both crystalloids and colloids.

For major life-saving surgeries like this, there were usually two anesthesiologists. Lu Yuqing was the lead, and her assistant helped share the load.

“Quick! Bring the electrocautery device.” Lu Yuqing looked up at the primary surgeon. “Old Zheng, can’t find the bleeding point?”

“Found one. There should be another. Hold on a bit longer.” Director Zheng of surgery signaled the circulating nurse to wipe his sweat, and had the assistant flush with saline, suction, and finally located the bleeding point. “It was hiding here—found it!”

With the bleeding stopped, the patient’s vitals finally stabilized. Lu Yuqing let out a long breath, the weight finally lifting from her chest.

On the other side, Tang Feiwan, who had been on the job only five days, was teased by colleagues as having a “dragon fruit” constitution: whenever she was on shift, patients just kept coming. It was nearly 2 p.m. before she took her lunchbox to the break room to heat up her meal.

Mmm. The break room was empty. Tang Feiwan stretched comfortably and opened her lunchbox.

Two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, a balanced meal. Teacher Tang had painstakingly prepared a lavish lunch for the two doctors early that morning. She’d packed it and brought it to the hospital, reheating it in the break room microwave at lunch.

A couple of bites of the cold sliced beef down, Tang Feiwan savored the lingering flavor. She picked up another piece, and just as she opened her mouth, Lu Yuqing appeared with a takeout bag and sat down beside her.

Tang Feiwan froze, the beef hovering at her lips.

Lu Yuqing unpacked her food. “Go ahead and eat. I’m just here because I’m bored sitting alone.”

“Oh.” Tang Feiwan stuffed the beef into her mouth, buried her head, and shoveled rice, wanting to finish quickly and escape. After all, during the six years she’d been with Lin Ye, Lu Yuqing had teased her plenty, calling her “Little Tang Monk,” “blockhead,” “bookworm.” All nicknames Lu Yuqing had given her.

Lu Yuqing took a sip of soup and started a conversation. “I’ve noticed you talk more than before.”

“What?”

“Back in school, you always had your nose in a book.” Lu Yuqing was direct and didn’t want her best friend hurt. She said bluntly, “But I don’t care what you came back to do. Don’t go bothering Lin Ye. She’s happy now.” In the five years since their breakup, although Lin Ye never mentioned Tang Feiwan, Lu Yuqing knew she hadn’t completely let go. It was only when Lin Yangyang came into Lin Ye’s life last year that Lu Yuqing saw the long-lost smile return to her face.

“Sister Yuqing, I understand. Don’t worry.” Tang Feiwan felt bitter but forced a smile. “I know Lin Ye has a new family and a lovely daughter. I sincerely wish her well.” Her lunchbox wasn’t empty yet, but she sealed it and stood up. “Time for rounds. I need to go.”

“Wait? What family? What?” Lu Yuqing muttered, but Tang Feiwan was already gone. Less than two minutes later, the other party involved, Lin Ye, finally showed up.

“Haven’t eaten yet?” Lu Yuqing asked.

Lin Ye opened the microwave and put her lunchbox in. “No. Just finished a meeting about personnel changes.”

Lu Yuqing pulled out a chair for her. “Changes? Who’s coming, who’s going?”

“Wang Can. She’s moving to Group 1 to follow her graduate advisor. Then there’s a new resident trainee. She just graduated from our school’s eight-year MD-PhD program.” Both the Second and First Affiliated Hospitals were teaching hospitals of Shujiang University Medical School, so eight-year MD-PhD students first connected with the two hospitals.

Lu Yuqing clicked her tongue. “An MD-PhD with no clinical experience, and you took her? Wait, it shouldn’t be your call, right? She should go to internal medicine first. And in the emergency department, she’d start in general internal medicine. Why would you take her?”

The rice was heated. Lin Ye took it out, walked to the table, and sat to Lu Yuqing’s right before speaking. “She went to the general internal medicine department on Tuesday but was sent back. The director asked if anyone would take her. If not, they’d suggest she go back to research. She’s good at that and might accomplish something.”

“So you want to give her a chance?”

Lin Ye nodded. “Mm. It’s not easy for women to study medicine, let alone get into a major hospital. Besides, she wants to try clinical work too. I hope her three months with our group will be fruitful, and then she can rotate to other departments.”

“She starts Monday?”

“She couldn’t wait. As soon as she got the notice, she came to our department. I’ve asked her to go to the ward first and get familiar with the residents and nurses.”

Lu Yuqing finished eating and tossed the plastic container into the trash. She asked, “By the way, did you run into Tang Feiwan on your way here?”

Lin Ye didn’t look up. “No.”

“She actually thought you married a man and gave birth to Yangyang.” Lu Yuqing said, half-joking, “She doesn’t understand you at all to make that mistake. Someone who came out to her family in her second year together with Tang Feiwan, how could she possibly turn around and marry a man?”

“Enough.” Lin Ye swallowed, feigning nonchalance. “I’m eating. Don’t bring her up.” She lowered her head, staring at the dishes in her lunchbox, her expression dimming…

The afternoon brought a stroke of luck. When Tang Feiwan finished handoff and went to the parking lot, the evening news had just ended. She hadn’t seen her beloved motorcycle in two days and almost forgot where she’d parked. After circling once, she finally spotted it in a corner. Anxious to get home, she strode forward with her bag. She’d only taken two steps when, out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a car door half-open to her front left.

License plate Shu AWE291, a white Volkswagen Golf. Isn’t that Lin Ye’s car? Tang Feiwan hesitated, worried something had happened to her. She rushed over and looked inside. There, she saw the woman leaning back against the seat, right hand pressing her stomach, face etched with pain.

Tang Feiwan had wanted to call her name, but when the words reached her lips, she changed the form of address: “D-Director Lin, are you okay?”

Lin Ye frowned. “Stomachache. It’ll pass after a rest.”

“Is it period pain?” Tang Feiwan knew Lin Ye suffered from menstrual cramps. In university, she’d often remind her to drink warm water and use a hot water bottle to warm her stomach.

“Mm.”

“Let me drive you home?” Tang Feiwan reached to unbuckle her seatbelt, but then reconsidered: as an ex, she had no standing. She withdrew her hand and asked, “What about your family?”

“What?” Lin Ye looked up at her, remembering Lu Yuqing’s stinging words at lunch. Her expression darkened completely. After a long pause, she spoke, calling Tang Feiwan’s name. Three words. Not “Doctor Tang,” but directly “Tang Feiwan…”