Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Level Up to 20! (Please Subscribe)
It was just after two in the afternoon when the emergency room received a young couple, likely two college students.
To be exact, it was a girl of about twenty years old accompanied by a delicate- looking boy. The boy carried the girl into the emergency room, his face flushed with panic and his expression extremely tense!
The duty internist today was Yan Ming, a man in his forties who was fond of carrying a thermos. He used to work in endocrinology, but due to a medical incident, he was disciplined by the hospital and suspended for two years. Afterward, the department didn’t want him back, so he ended up in the emergency room as an internist.
He clocked in and out on the dot every day, never meddling in affairs that weren’t his concern, and even his own tasks, he handled as little as possible.
At fifty, his passion for work had faded long ago. He spent his days with a thermos filled with goji berries and chrysanthemums, offering a smile and a friendly greeting to everyone he saw.
At this moment, upon seeing the patient, Yan Ming hurriedly signaled for a nurse to bring over a bed and placed the girl on it.
The girl was quite pretty, with a melon-seed face, fair skin, long hair, and fashionable dress. However, she lay on the bed with stiff limbs, her hands cramped and unable to spread like chicken claws, and she was unable to speak.
It was then that they learned the girl’s name was Li Rongrong, and the boy was Yang Lin!
This was Yang Lin’s first time encountering such a situation. At just twenty years old, he had no idea what had happened and quickly rushed her to the nearest hospital—the Second Provincial Hospital’s emergency department.
At this time, Yang Lin mustered his courage, looked at Yan Ming with unease, and asked, “Doctor! What… what’s wrong with my girlfriend?”
Yan Ming, too, was somewhat puzzled by the situation as it was not a common one.
Could it be epilepsy?
With this thought, Yan Ming looked at the girl and suddenly asked, “Can you hear me speaking?”
Li Rongrong’s eyes were bright and full of life. She struggled to nod her head, but when she tried to open her mouth to speak, no words came out—only inarticulate sounds, while tears streamed down her cheeks in her panic.
The more she panicked, the more afraid she became. Lying on the bed, she gasped for air, trying to speak but failing despite her efforts.
At this moment, Li Rongrong was terrified inside, thinking, Could I have contracted some terminal illness?
With that thought, her heart sank to the bottom, and she looked at Yang Lin with a face full of sorrow.
Yang Lin was also young, just past twenty, and equally at a loss in the face of this situation. His hands squeezed his girlfriend’s, and he dared not let go.
He wanted to act like a man, to provide shelter for his woman, but the slightly green boy was somewhat bewildered.
Yang Lin looked at Li Rongrong with a tender and naively resolute expression in his eyes, the very picture of youthful determination.
Yan Ming, however, frowned in deep thought.
It could be epilepsy!
But it didn’t quite fit!
Should he call for a consultation?
At that thought, Yan Ming looked at Yang Lin and asked, “What’s your relationship to her?”
Yang Lin’s eyes showed hesitation. After a moment’s pause, he said, “I’m her boyfriend!”
Yan Ming nodded, “Oh, how did this happen to her?”
Yang Lin recalled the events: “We were just out shopping, and we started arguing over something trivial. My girlfriend has a bit of a temper, so she got upset, and I also got a little angry, so we had a few words.”
“But then, not long after that, she suddenly couldn’t speak, and her hands turned into this chicken claw shape, and she fell to the ground!”
Toward the end, Yang Lin was full of remorse, “It’s all my fault, I made you angry, I won’t ever make you angry again!”
As Yang Lin spoke, one hand held Li Rongrong’s hands while the other gently wiped away her tears.
Li Rongrong just lay there, letting the tears flow, unable to utter a word for a long while, just gasping for breath.
Yan Ming looked at Li Rongrong, “Have you ever had epilepsy before? Or has anyone in your family ever had it?”
Li Rongrong shook her head vigorously.
“Just wait a moment, I will have neurology come down for a consultation, to see if it’s something in the brain. Young man, don’t worry, don’t be nervous, stay with your partner, and yes, you should contact the family. The patient’s condition is unstable, and we need a signature.”
Upon hearing this, Yang Lin bent down and said to the girl, “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you, wait for me.”
Li Rongrong, seeing Yang Lin’s behavior towards her, seemed to feel that adversity reveals true feelings, that she had encountered true love.
After Yang Lin finished speaking, he followed Yan Ming out.
Less than ten minutes after the rapid consultation, the neurologist came down, examined the patient, and then issued medical orders, “Do an EEG and a CT scan to rule out intracranial lesions, still considering epilepsy. If not, we should have surgery consult as well.”
Chen Cang had just come out from the duty room when he suddenly saw a boy making a phone call, “Brother Yong, lend me some money, I really need it, no? Sorry…”
After hanging up, Yang Lin started making calls again, back and forth, and finally managed to gather just over two thousand yuan.
They were all students, not having much in the way of living expenses, borrowing money was not easy. Yang Lin saw Yan Ming and approached him, “Doctor, how is it going?”
Yan Ming brought over the results of the consultation and said, “Neurology is still worried about whether there is a lesion inside the skull, so they want you to get a head CT and EEG, and we will look at the results afterward.”
Yang Lin hesitated slightly, as they were all college students who really didn’t have that much money, situations like this were somewhat unnerving, “Doctor, how much does a CT cost? And the EEG?”
Yan Ming, “All together, it should be around five to six hundred, a CT is about two to three hundred, and so is the EEG, for specifics, you should ask at the billing desk, I don’t know the details.”
“Right, the patient’s condition is unstable, you should contact the patient’s family for them to come and sign.”
Yan Ming placed great importance on getting a signature, emphasizing it repeatedly back and forth.
As soon as Yang Lin heard this, he went in to communicate with Li Rongrong, but she clung to her phone, refusing to give it to Yang Lin, shaking her head and gesturing not to make the call.
Yan Ming also saw this situation and thought to himself how troublesome it was, wondering what to do if an incident occurred.
This situation was the most troublesome; the child was disobedient, refusing to call the parents, and if something happened, the parents would definitely hold them accountable!
What should be done?
When Chen Cang arrived, he saw Yan Ming and greeted him, “Hello, Teacher Yan Ming, do you have a patient?”
Yan Ming’s eyes suddenly lit up, “Chen Cang, are you on duty today?”
Chen Cang nodded, “Yes!”
Yan Ming said, “You’re on duty, that’s great. There’s a patient; I have called for a neurology consultation, and they need tests, but I’m worried about the patient’s unstable condition, and need to contact the relatives, but the patient is unwilling. Since you are the same age, would you try persuading them?”
Chen Cang was taken aback, Yan Ming always did this, shirking responsibility when it came to patients, and now he was hoping Chen Cang would take over.
After all, both were on duty today, it could be said to be Chen Gang’s responsibility or Yan Ming’s, the responsibility fell on both of them.
Nevertheless, Chen Cang decided to go up and see for himself.
Upon arriving at the observation room, Chen Cang saw the boy tearfully explaining to the girl, but she just kept shaking her head and wouldn’t listen.
Wasn’t that the boy who just borrowed money?
Chen Cang saw a question mark above the boy’s head.
Ding! Helped to save Yang Lin’s girlfriend, mission complete: Experience +300; Money +300;
Chen Cang stood up and walked over, looking at Li Rongrong, and began to ponder deeply.
“How long has this been going on?”
Upon seeing Chen Cang, Yang Lin hurriedly said, “Less than an hour, just now I argued with my girlfriend, and afterward, she just…”
Chen Cang made an ‘oh’ sound, got up, walked over to the girl, and started to examine her. After about a few minutes, he couldn’t help but laugh.
This is not epilepsy at all!
It’s clearly a case of poisoning!
At this moment, the expert guidance system also provided the answer: Overventilation syndrome!
The poison was one she had inflicted upon herself!
This was a classic case of “poisoning oneself” with anger.
As Yang Lin stood up to leave, Chen Cang said, “Where are you going?”
Yang Lin was stunned: “The doctor told me to go pay for an electroencephalogram and a cranial CT. He’s worried about an intracranial lesion.”
Chen Cang shook his head: “Don’t rush, just wait a bit before you go!”
Yang Lin hesitated. Whose advice should he take?
He was a bit dubious, after all, the previous doctor was over fifty and looked like a seasoned expert, whereas Chen Cang was so young… He worried that Chen Gang’s lack of experience might delay his girlfriend’s treatment!
At that moment, Chen Cang called out, “Little Lin, bring me two masks!”
Little Lin obediently brought over two masks.
Chen Cang took a mask and bent it in his hands, making it look like a small cap. He covered the girl’s mouth and nose and said, “Relax, don’t be nervous… Don’t take deep breaths, yes… Relax…”
The girl nodded and didn’t struggle.
Less than a few minutes passed.
For Yang Lin, these minutes were excruciating. Maybe he should go for the check-up after all, having it done would provide peace of mind…
But at that moment, Yang Lin suddenly heard someone shout, “Yang Lin, come here!”
He was momentarily stunned, quickly turned around, and found the girl sitting up in bed.
“Rongrong…are you better?”
At this time, Yan Ming also walked in, and upon seeing this, he too was taken aback. What was going on here?
The patient was better on her own?
The boy said to Yan Ming, “Doctor! How come she’s suddenly better? She just lay there for a while…”
Yan Ming nodded, “It’s probably epilepsy, she’s gone back to normal after the episode. I suggest you go for an electroencephalogram, just to be safe.”
Chen Cang shook his head and smiled, “No need to have it done. This isn’t epilepsy; it’s poisoning caused by anger!”
Seeing this, everyone quickly turned to look at Chen Cang, with even Little Lin coming over out of curiosity.
Chen Cang continued, “Actually, this is a case of overventilation syndrome!”
“The fundamental cause is that after arguing, you became emotionally agitated, and you breathed too fast, leading to a deficiency of carbon dioxide in the body, causing respiratory alkalosis!”
“Rapid breathing causes excessive ventilation of carbon dioxide, leading to too much CO2 being expelled from the body, resulting in a lack of CO2; this is known in clinical terms as respiratory alkalosis. The patient will exhibit stiff limbs, trembling, and other typical symptoms, but their mental awareness remains clear.”
“The patient’s condition is not serious and doesn’t need too much treatment. Just a moment ago, by reabsorbing some carbon dioxide, her condition has already improved.”
As soon as Chen Cang finished talking, Yan Ming’s expression remained unchanged, but he said cheerfully, “Ah! Right, how did I not think of that? Now that you mention it, it really does seem to be the case. Young man, don’t make your girlfriend angry in the future!”
After speaking, Yan Ming picked up his thermos, took a sip of water, and left, thinking to himself that in a couple of years, he might apply for early retirement!
Chen Cang shook his head, Yan Ming had been like this for a long time in the emergency department, but considering he was the most senior, no one really pointed it out. After all, Yan Ming wouldn’t cause trouble now. When faced with a situation, his first reaction was to look for a consultation, then to transfer the case, and finally to sign off. He never caused issues for the emergency department, which meant Li Baoshan wasn’t so irritated.
Upon hearing that it was nothing serious, Yang Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief!
He hurried to the girl’s side, vowing, “I’ll never make you angry again!”
After a touching apology, they started on a deeply sentimental finale, like a scene from a romance.
Seeing this, Chen Cang suddenly furrowed his brow, feeling inspired, and commented, “Hmm, if you had kissed her sooner, maybe you wouldn’t have had to come to the hospital at all…”
The young couple, hearing this, intensified their display.
Chen Cang watched, feeling a sour note in his heart as if struck by devastating damage.
Chen Cang was taken aback. No, that’s not right!
He was wearing a white coat after all, giving him a Defense of +3, but how could he still take damage?
Could it be… that showing affection inflicts real damage on single people?
Thinking this, Chen Cang recoiled in alarm and quickly made his exit!
However, at this moment, there was even more important news.
Ding! Congratulations, your level has risen to 20!
Chen Gang’s eyes lit up!
p.s.: This incident teaches us a lesson, don’t reason with a girl, argue with her, or even get angry. If she gets mad, just hold her, kiss her…!
Of course, that is assuming she is your girlfriend…