Ling Ran felt good when his mission completion status was updated to [1/10].
"Doctor Zhou, could you take a look and see how the suture is?" Ling Ran took the trouble to ask. He did not feel like he did the suturing particularly quick or well.
In truth, when it came to medical knowledge, his faculty of judgment was still at the level of a medical intern. When it came to these things, one should have more experience to build the correct perception.
Just like how an aborigine who chased after prey in the mountains all year had to compete with other people to know if he was a fast or slow runner.
Doctor Zhou glanced at Ling Ran suspiciously, not knowing if he was joking or not. If he was only teasing Doctor Zhou, he should not be doing it in front of the patient. If he was not teasing him… why the hell would he ask such a question? Could it be that… he wanted Doctor Zhou to praise him? Or was he merely showing off to Doctor Zhou?
In the blink of an eye, all kinds of thoughts ran through Doctor Zhou's mind.
All normal surgeons did some strange things. Those who played symphonic music, rock music, hip-hop music and Guo Degang[1] crosstalk in the operating theater were considered normal surgeons. A penchant for making and listening to dirty jokes was also a necessary characteristic for surgeons.
As for those surgeons who liked to scold others or be praised by others… this depended on their medical skills. The skillful ones naturally had the right to scold others, and could ask everyone in the operating theater to praise them to their heart's content...
For unknown reasons, Doctor Zhou was rather unhappy. He speculated that the young doctor in front of him was an expert from some local hospital who was there for an exchange of experiences to increase his medical standards.
Even though they were all there for their practicum, medical interns and housemen were not the same as visiting doctors from local hospitals.
'He was probably often praised in his local hospital's operating theater for having these types of skills. It's understandable that he's developed a lot of bad habits because of this,' Doctor Zhou thought. 'By taking the initiative to do the suturing, I reckon that he wanted to show off.
'But even though your skills are good enough, I'm not a junior in your department. Why would I flatter you?'
Doctor Zhou mentally let out a few snorts before raising his head and forcing a slight smile. "The suturing was perfect."
Internally, Doctor Zhou bemoaned his degeneration again. 'Sigh, members of a society would only follow the norms of a society. It's also better not to offend experts from other hospitals if I can help it.'
As he stepped in the swamp known as worldliness, Doctor Zhou thought of the passing of his youth, his dreams and moral integrity as he pretended to be calm, and asked, "We've never seen each other before. How should I address you?"
Doctor Zhou reckoned that after showing off, the person would naturally want to be remembered, just like a certain hero who took great pains to shatter a massive rock, pulled a weeping willow from the ground, and fought a tiger[2]. He did it to become famous, right?
Doctor Zhou decided to play along since he had been impressed by his skill.
As a medical intern, Ling Ran naturally answered when he was asked a question. "I'm Ling Ran, and I was just assigned to the Emergency Department yesterday."
"Ling Ran, huh?" Doctor Zhou desperately recalled.
"Doctor Ling, your fingers are so long. They're especially suitable for a surgeon." Wang Jia the young nurse was usually unpleasant to medical interns, but she succumbed to Ling Ran's good looks without even bothering to put up a fight. She did not even mind addressing him as 'doctor'.
It should be known that if a medical student who just started his internship was addressed as 'doctor' by his patients, he would feel so ecstatic it would be like he was on cloud nine.
If he could be addressed as 'doctor' by other doctors or nurses, the medical intern would be so happy that the cloud nine he was on would start pouring, and the rain would be his tears of happiness.
Ling Ran was very happy. He flashed Nurse Wang Jia a big smile. The young nurse Wang Jia's entire body went limp.
Another nurse came over to call for the doctor. "Doctor Zhou, are you free? There's a patient in Bed 3."
There was never a lack of patients in the Emergency Department. Patients with a knife in their chests were emergency cases, and patients with light bulbs stuck in their mouths were also emergency cases.
Doctor Zhou nodded and left with the nurse. Ling Ran followed him without hesitation. As a medical intern, he had to grab every opportunity he could.
Wang Jia was also summoned by another nurse. The doctors were busy with their own things, and the nurses did not have the chance to relax either.
Doctor Zhou was not quite willing to let the expert from another hospital follow him, but he said nothing.
The nurse who came over to summon the doctor had no objections, too. She only shot a glance at Ling Ran before she started to brief them about the patient's condition. "The patient in Bed 3 recounted that his head was cut and injured by someone. He has been bleeding for more than an hour. There was intake of alcohol, no loss of consciousness, no nausea, no vomiting, no bleeding through the nose, mouth or external auditory canal, and no problems with bodily movements…"
Upon arriving at Bed 3, Ling Ran saw a young man with a full-sleeve tattoo. He was muscular, with triangular eyes and a flat nose. He was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and pressed a gauze hard against the left side of his head. At the same time, he was chatting and laughing with two gang members.
The man accompanying the patient was older. Upon seeing the doctor, his voice immediately rang out, "Oh my, the doctor is here. Doctor, quick, take a look at my big brother. My big brother was chased by almost a hundred people. If it weren't for his good fighting skills, he wouldn't have been able to come here today. All of you have to stitch him up well…"
"How am I supposed to look if you don't make way?" Doctor Zhou was also speechless for a moment. He said, "Family members of the patient, kindly go outside and wait. We'll call you if there's anything wrong."
"No, we have to stay here and watch." Two young men shook their heads firmly, and they widened their eyes so much that they looked like copper bells.
"This place is small. How am I going to do my job with the both of you standing here?" Doctor Zhou had encountered similar situations before and his tone was lukewarm.
Doctors did not get to choose their patients. It was especially so for the doctors in the Emergency Department who faced even more complicated doctor-patient relationships. They truly could not be angry or anxious.
The two young men shook their heads as violently as rattle-drums. "We can't not have anyone next to big brother—"
"Just leave someone here to make the payment, and the other person can wait outside." Doctor Zhou's tone was gentle.
"We already paid just now!" The two lackeys sounded a little panicky.
"With such a serious injury, you'll definitely need to make a supplementary payment. Only one of you needs to stay here."
As Doctor Zhou spoke, he waved his hand. The two lackeys obediently made way. After a little while, they disappeared without a trace. However, the tranquilness Doctor Zhou anticipated did not come.
After receiving local anaesthesia, the tattooed man's entire body felt extremely good. He started to boast about his combat history as his wound was being debrided. His wound quivered every time he spoke. Even though Doctor Zhou reminded him about it, he was no match for the tattooed man's forgetfulness.
After debriding the wound with much difficulty, Doctor Zhou was drenched in sweat. He lowered the forceps and warned the man again, "We're about to suture the wound now, so you should stop talking. Or else, what are we going to do if the needle is inserted into the wrong place?"
"If the needle were inserted into the wrong place, it would be medical negligence, and you'd have to compensate me for it." The tattooed guy remained unfazed. He said, "Treating an injury is your duty, and you have to do it well. Guan Yu, Guan Yun or whatever even ate, drank, chatted, and played chess while the poison was scraped off his bones[3]. Bian Que[4] didn't say a thing and just allowed him do so."
Doctor Zhou stared at the ceiling, speechless. "Hua Tuo was the one who scraped off the poison."
"Bah, I don't know much about the other things, but I know everything about Mr. Guan. Are you really an intellectual? Hua Tuo scraping off the poison? I'm laughing my a** off."
"Hua Tuo's… forget it." Doctor Zhou turned and asked Ling Ran, "Do you want to carry out the suturing?"
'Since the expert from another hospital wants to come here to show off his skills, I shall give him a hard one.' Doctor Zhou thought secretly of all sorts of endings to this situation.
Ling Ran went forward without hesitation. For medical interns, every opportunity to practice was as precious as a newly-bought inflatable doll.
"Please turn to the side." Ling Ran adjusted his position and picked up the needle holder.
The tattooed man had already noticed the young Ling Ran. He said, rather dissatisfied, "Why is there a substitute? Let me tell you, I've been to many hospitals. If all of you don't stitch up my wound well today, you won't have an easy time…"
As the tattooed man talked non-stop, he suddenly noticed that Doctor Zhou looked distracted. He became even more dissatisfied. "Hey, what kind of expression is that?!"
Doctor Zhou closed his jaw, which had hung open from shock. He glanced at Ling Ran in amazement, then said to the tattooed man, "Your wound's already sutured."
For a surgeon, suturing a wound on the head was not difficult at all. However, this was the first time Doctor Zhou had seen someone handle suturing in such an epic manner. In other words, to complete the suturing at such a rapid pace while the other party was talking... such skill would truly only be utilized in very high risk surgeries.
For example, during heart surgeries where the heart would beat nonstop, the suturing of blood vessels or even the bicuspid valve could easily lead to unforeseen circumstances due to the instability caused by the beating heart.
However, was it not too much of a waste to use such a staggeringly difficult suturing technique on a bald head?
Ling Ran, who inserted the needle beneath the man's skin, made a knot with a pair of forceps, and did a simple interrupted stitch—he did not find it a waste at all.
In a dashing manner, he put down the surgical instruments, held the tattooed man's head, and turned it a few times as if he was twisting a toy Transformer's head. Then, he said in satisfaction, "It's pretty perfect."
In the mirror, only patches of contaminated blood were visible on the tattooed man's head injury. The fine surgical thread perfectly pulled the wound together. If one was not looking carefully for it, the position of the suture would not be identified at all.
With Ling Ran's personality, he could only relax and sigh in relief after the suturing was completed in such a manner. What bothered him the most in school were those girls who made bulges when suturing bananas. It was not aesthetically pleasing whatsoever.
"This was done faster than when the wound was inflicted. Hmm, it's stitched up well, and the stitches are uniform, too." The tattooed man had been in and out of hospitals all year long and could tell good sutures from bad ones. He sighed emotionally and immediately said, "Doctor, give me a business card. If anything else happens in the future, we'll always come to you."
Ling Ran did actually feel a little tempted to hand him a card, but he did not have one. As he bandaged the wound, he said, "I don't have a business card, but I do work in this hospital."
The tattooed guy slapped his leg, making a sound, and said, "It's a deal, then. I'll go slaughter a few more people, and if any of my brothers get injured, I'll send them all to you."
He got excited as he talked. He waved his uninjured arm and cried out, "Brothers, come with me! We're going back to kick some a**!"
"Kick a**! Kick a**!" Outside the emergency room, more tattooed men had arrived at some point in time. They were all lackeys, but their voices were so synchronized that they sounded like a family.
Ling Ran looked at his mission completion status which had become [2/10]. For some inexplicable reason, he was actually looking forward to it.
Every broken-winged angel[5] was a treasure to medical students doing their internships in the hospital.
Translator's Note:
[1] Guo Degang is a Chinese crosstalk (xiàngsheng) comedian.
[2] Lu Zhishen is a character from 'Outlaws of the Marsh'.
[3] According to legend, Bian Que was the earliest known Chinese physician.
[4] 'Scrape the Poison off the Bone' is a story from 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' where Hua Tuo removed the poison from Guan Yu's body while Guan Yu drank and played chess. So no, Bian Que did not cure Guan Yu. You cannot expect a gang member to be well-versed in history, can you?
[5] Referring to a gang member.