Chapter 9

The air stilled instantly. Both fell silent.

Tang Feiwan didn’t understand why Lin Ye was suddenly angry. Lin Ye, calming down, also realized it was unnecessary. They had been apart for years; there was no need to vent her grievances now. Though even in the past, she had rarely vented in front of the other person. She had only endured and endured, then left a message: “Let it begin with me, and end with me. Take care of yourself abroad.” Then the next day, she received a single word: “Okay.” Not until the eighth day did she block and delete all of Tang Feiwan’s contacts.

Time ticked by, second by second. The awkward atmosphere persisted. Lin Ye was soaked in sweat from pain, but she gritted her teeth, her expression calm, her tone as flat as possible: “I can manage. Thank you.”

“Are you really…” Before Tang Feiwan could finish, Lin Ye raised a hand and pointed at the car door handle, signaling her to pull her head back. Tang Feiwan didn’t know what to do. She froze for a moment, then stepped back half a step. The next second, Lin Ye closed the door.

Worried, Tang Feiwan watched Lin Ye turn the steering wheel and exit the parking spot. She jogged to her motorcycle, put on her helmet and gloves, swung a leg over, and twisted the throttle to accelerate. Car and motorcycle pulled out of the parking lot one after the other. Tonight, Tang Feiwan wore a black Adidas tracksuit and a black helmet. To outsiders, she almost blended into the dark motorcycle. She kept to the right rear of the car ahead, maintaining distance.

The brightly lit streetscape rushed backward. Tang Feiwan’s mind was on Lin Ye in the car ahead.

Lin Ye had initially stomped on the accelerator as if out of spite, reaching 60 km/h. Then, through the rearview mirror, she caught sight of Tang Feiwan behind and to the right. Although the frustration still coiled in her chest, she instinctively worried about the other woman’s safety, afraid the speed might cause an accident. So she turned left onto Yuntong Avenue and gently applied the brake, reducing speed slightly.

Getting from the Second Affiliated Hospital to the Shujiang University family residential area required crossing a bridge and three streets, about a 15-minute drive. Tonight, with Lin Ye not feeling well, she drove slower. It was nearly 8 p.m. by the time she was hunting for a parking spot in the outdoor lot across from the residential building.

Not far away, Tang Feiwan killed her engine, parked the motorcycle, and hid behind a plane tree. From a distance neither too far nor too near, she watched Lin Ye get out, still clutching her lower abdomen, her steps unsteady, clearly still in pain.

But she couldn’t approach. What if Lin Ye rejected her? What if she went upstairs and ran into someone she wasn’t mentally prepared to see?

Tang Feiwan chose to stand quietly behind the tree, waiting as Lin Ye climbed from the first to the second floor, then the third. The sound of the security door closing echoed. She knew the other woman was home safe.

After standing there for another half minute, Tang Feiwan prepared to leave. As she turned, the phone in her pocket buzzed. She pulled it out and found an unread message.

“Go home. Thank you.”

Followed by: “You’re on duty tomorrow. Please keep an eye on the new resident trainee. Her name is Gu Yan.”

Another: “Thank you.”

Polite, even distant. Completely ordinary colleague messages.

Tang Feiwan looked up from her phone. The third-floor curtains were drawn, and the warm yellow light cast two silhouettes standing close together. She quickly averted her gaze, her lips pressing into a straight line. Soon, she let it go and replied, “Okay.”

The first quarter moon hung in the sky. Night was deep and soft. Tang Feiwan mounted her motorcycle again. She held her helmet in both hands, and just as she was about to put it on, an elderly voice came from behind.

“Doctor Tang.”

Tang Feiwan turned and saw Professor Zheng and her family standing in front of her. She got off the motorcycle and nodded slightly. “Professor Zheng, my condolences.”

Professor Zhong’s memorial service had ended today. The two children planned to take Professor Zheng abroad to live, and after two days of persuasion, she had agreed.

“Thank you for taking care of Yuanzhao.” Professor Zheng looked haggard, the black mourning cloth still on her arm.

Tang Feiwan had said not to be overly empathetic, yet under Lin Ye’s influence, she had personally performed the final ECG for Professor Zhong, declaring his death, and offered a few sincere words of comfort after his children arrived.

“It was my duty.”

Professor Zheng’s son suddenly asked, “Does Doctor Tang live nearby?”

“No. My colleague.”

“Director Xiao Lin? She lives across from us. I only found out today.” At Professor Zhong’s memorial, Lin Wenhui had also attended. After paying respects, they’d chatted briefly, and the son had learned of it.

Tang Feiwan made an “mm.”

The son added, “We’re planning to sell the house. I was hoping to ask Doctor Tang about the market price in the family building.”

The daughter, who studied finance and economics and worked at an overseas bank, reminded him, “The secondhand real estate market is bad right now, and everyone around knows Dad just passed. No one will buy. We’re in a hurry to get back, so we might as well rent it out and deal with it later when we have time to return.”

Tang Feiwan had been in Heidelberg for eight years and had only been back two days, so she naturally didn’t understand the so-called market price. She could only respond politely. Professor Zheng and her family, exhausted after two days, exchanged a few more words and said goodbye.

A doctor’s work knows no day or night and keeps no convenient hours. Sometimes, just as you take a bite of food, the nurse’s call comes in, and you have to set the food aside and rush to save a life.

Tang Feiwan was on 24-hour duty today. She had handed over to the night-shift doctor early and sat at the computer writing medical records when a nurse knocked. “Doctor Tang, Bed 2’s blood pressure is a bit low. Please come quickly.”

“Okay, coming.” Tang Feiwan buttoned the white coat she’d opened while eating noodles and headed to the EICU. At the bedside, she first checked the cardiac monitor, examined the patient, and said, “Start norepinephrine IV drip.”

After giving the order, a situation arose at the next bed. The resident said urgently, “You start CPR. I’ll go get Doctor Tang or Doctor Liu.”

“Okay, okay.” Nervous, Gu Yan’s hands trembled and wouldn’t obey. But once she touched the patient’s chest, she threw herself into compressions. Beside her, the experienced Head Nurse Sun Qinhe asked questions in rapid succession: “Should we use some sodium bicarbonate? Or add some amiodarone? Check the ECG again to see if the ischemia has worsened?”

“Forget it.” Sun Qinhe realized Gu Yan was only a resident trainee. Asking was pointless. So she ran the ECG herself.

Tang Feiwan sanitized her hands and pulled back the curtain between the two beds. She didn’t tell Gu Yan to leave, letting her continue compressions while she issued orders for medication.

In less than three minutes, the patient’s rhythm returned.

“His heart failure is worsening. Prepare the family.” Tang Feiwan’s voice was low. This was the third patient she’d admitted, an 85-year-old with acute heart failure. He couldn’t undergo surgery and could only wait to die in the EICU. She left the ward, with Gu Yan following. “Thank you, Doctor Tang,” Gu Yan said sincerely.

Tang Feiwan was puzzled. “Why are you thanking me?”

“You’re teaching me clinical knowledge.” Gu Yan opened her notebook, filled with dense notes on clinical resuscitation points. She smiled brightly and asked, “Doctor Tang, do you remember me?”

Tang Feiwan frowned, clearly not remembering. She encountered so many patients and medical staff daily that remembering all her colleagues was already an achievement.

“Last Tuesday, you were doing CPR on a heart attack patient at the back gate. I helped call for the gurney.”

“Oh, I remember now.” Tang Feiwan retrieved the memory. Didn’t she have long hair? When did she cut it short? The current Gu Yan had neat short hair that framed her ears, looking much more energetic than with long hair.

As it turned out, when Gu Yan received Lin Ye’s notice yesterday, she immediately grabbed her materials, went out, and got a haircut, vowing to succeed or die trying. Tang Feiwan told her to spend more time in the ward learning and observing, asking questions when she didn’t understand, especially with the nurses, and to build good relationships with them.

Gu Yan noted everything down.

Duty time always flew by. At 5 p.m., Tang Feiwan brought out the takeout iced jelly she’d just picked up and was about to rest when a doctor from the emergency general internal medicine group came over.

“Is Director Lin on duty today?”

Tang Feiwan scooped a spoonful of iced jelly into her mouth, swallowed, and replied, “She’s on the night shift.”

The doctor said, “We’ve got a problem. We want to transfer a patient to your critical care group.”

“What’s the situation?”

The doctor explained, “The patient was admitted four days ago. Fever, cough, WBC 17, neutrophils elevated. I thought it was ordinary bacterial pneumonia and started antibiotics, but it’s not working.”

A high white count generally ruled out fungal or viral pneumonia. Tang Feiwan followed up, “Which antibiotic?”

“Banda (piperacillin-tazobactam).”

Already on Banda? If it were ordinary bacterial pneumonia, it should have worked. Tang Feiwan took it seriously and asked, “What’s the patient’s temperature now?”

“Almost 39°C. Chest pain, muscle aches, and more phlegm. That’s why I came to you.”

Tang Feiwan downed the rest of her jelly in two gulps and stood. “Let’s go. Take me there.”

They hurried into the ward just as the patient was being helped by her 17-year-old daughter to spit up phlegm.

After the patient lay down again, Tang Feiwan, masked and capped, approached to observe.

Thick sputum, blood-tinged. She immediately asked the doctor beside her, “Have you ruled out tuberculosis?”

“The chest X-ray didn’t look like it, and sputum tests were negative twice.”

“We need a CT. It can also rule out other lung diseases.” Tang Feiwan leaned in and listened to the patient’s lungs with a stethoscope: crackles. Chest pain, bloody sputum, persistent high fever. But the patient didn’t meet the criteria for EICU transfer, so Tang Feiwan suggested a CT first and continued observation.

Upon hearing she might go to the ICU, the patient refused repeatedly. “Doctor, I’m not going to the ICU. I heard that place costs thousands a day.”

Her 17-year-old daughter held her hand. “Mom, as long as you get better, money doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t be silly. You need money for college, and your sister-in-law’s having a second baby.”

The patient was named Zhang Yan, 50 years old. Her son ran a business on the snack street, and her daughter was still in high school. She was used to saving money and figured if it cost thousands a day, she’d rather not treat it.

“Once the doctor diagnoses what it is, I’ll go home and take some Chinese medicine.”

Many patients thought this way. Tang Feiwan and the internal medicine doctor were used to it. They ordered a CT and sent her for the scan.

Half an hour later, Zhang Yan finished her CT. The images, displayed on the computer, ruled out tuberculosis and other lung diseases. The internal medicine doctor called for a respiratory consult. The preliminary diagnosis was ordinary pneumonia that hadn’t responded to treatment, developing into a lung abscess. But respiratory said they had no beds and left the patient in emergency internal medicine, continuing antibiotics and using bronchoscopy to help clear phlegm and collect samples for testing.

That emergency internal medicine doctor didn’t come back to Tang Feiwan, thinking that as long as the patient was on the right medication, she’d gradually improve.

Tang Feiwan had a moment of downtime. She idly opened a medical journal, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and browsed the article Director Wang of cardiac surgery had newly published just yesterday. She remembered publishing an article in this same journal two years ago and being too excited to sleep half the night.

“Xiao Tang, come here a moment.” Director Gao passed by and called her.

This was the first time since starting work that Director Gao had summoned her to his office. Tang Feiwan felt a bit nervous. She put down the journal, left her desk, and followed him into the director’s office.

Director Gao smiled. “Sit, Xiao Tang.”

When a leader calls you in privately, it’s never good news. Sure enough, as soon as Tang Feiwan sat down, Director Gao asked, “You’re not seeing anyone, right?”

Before Tang Feiwan could respond, Director Gao continued, “The emergency department has the most single young people. Hospital leadership is worried about everyone, so they’ve organized a social event with the neighboring college’s teachers’ union to create opportunities for you.”

“Just the emergency department?” Tang Feiwan missed the point.

“Two other departments too. Other departments can also sign up.” Seeing her apparent interest, Director Gao pulled up a form to enter her information. “Xiao Tang, your birthday is in January, so you just turned 30 this year, right?”

Tang Feiwan finally understood what this was about. She tried to refuse. “Director Gao, I…”

“Is that wrong?”

Tang Feiwan smiled bitterly. “Director Gao, this is voluntary, right?”

“In principle, yes. But I hope you’ll be proactive. After all, you’re usually too busy to meet people. This is a rare opportunity.”

Tang Feiwan knew she had to be firm to refuse. So she lied: “Director, I have someone I like. We’re getting to know each other.”

Director Gao sighed. “You young people always use the same excuse. Xiao Lin too. Five years ago, she said she was getting to know someone. Five years later, she’s still single. She’s 34 now.”

“What?” This time Tang Feiwan caught the key point. She asked, “Director Lin is still single? But doesn’t she have a daughter?”

“Yangyang is Xiao Lin’s adopted child. Now that she’s older and has a child in tow, it’ll be even harder for her to marry. She might have to settle for a divorced man.”

“Single,” “adopted.” Tang Feiwan’s mind was full of these words now. She couldn’t absorb anything else Director Gao said.

“Xiao Tang, hey, Xiao Tang.” Director Gao noticed her pursed lips and distracted expression, calling her twice.

“Mm, Director.” Tang Feiwan straightened and explained, “I was thinking about a patient I admitted this afternoon.” She paused for two seconds and added, “Director, don’t worry. I’m still young and want to focus on my career.”

“Fine. I won’t force it.” Director Gao had done his part. As for their decisions, he couldn’t interfere.

Tang Feiwan thanked him, made an excuse about ward work, and escaped. She was in high spirits, the joy in her eyes and brows impossible to hide. Even the resident passing by noticed. “Doctor Tang, something good happen?” Tang Feiwan only smiled without speaking.

She returned to the office and ran into Lin Ye, who had just started her shift. She couldn’t help but give her a beaming smile. But Lin Ye grabbed a medical record and walked out without any reaction.

It’s fine, it’s fine. There’s still time. Shujiang University family residential area, Professor Zheng, neighbor…

Tang Feiwan was a doer. Once she decided something, she acted immediately. She sat at her computer, searched for the contact info the patient had left, found Professor Zheng’s phone number, and dialed. When the other person answered, she got straight to the point: “Professor Zheng, hello. This is Tang Feiwan from the Second Affiliated Hospital’s emergency department. Has your old house been rented out yet?”