87 Donst you leave! (1/2)

Zhang Fan was still quite nervous when he got back to his car. He didn't even say a single word as he drove off at high speed. Meanwhile, the two women still on the car had both gotten tired. Maybe they were thinking about their own things as neither of them asked him any questions. Zhang Fan simply drove them back to their places, and then returned to his apartment. He did nothing but stare at his cell phone. He was afraid of receiving a message from Shao Hua, but he was also afraid of not receiving any messages from her. He hazily went to sleep in such a manner.

Sometimes, Zhang Fan would be quite free, and sometimes, many things would come for him in succession. A phone call woke Zhang Fan up in the middle of this night. He saw that the call was from Director Chang, from Chark City Hospital. Chark City was one of the cities the farthest away from the bigger Chasu City—it was more than 200 kilometers away. Chark City was also high above the sea level, and had a low population (for a Chinese city). Zhang Fan had only visited Chark City once so far. By the by, Kang Hua was currently the second-highest ranking politician in Chark City.

Chark City Hospital's medical equipment was the best in of all the surrounding cities. This was because Chark City Hospital was the partner hospital of the best hospital in Serpentmouth City, a major hospital in a major city. Several million yuan in donated assistance would be nothing to such a major hospital.

However, Chark City's environment was far too terrible. Even in the hottest period of summer, snowfall might suddenly appear. It was common for hail, rainstorms, and snowstorms to all occur on the same day in Chark City. Most people in Chark City were public officials, with a minority being laborers.

Chark City was directly adjacent to the neighboring country. Thus, the border patrol was in charge of Chark City's security. Chark City Hospital consisted of only one five-story building. There was one level each for internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and gynecology, while the first floor was for hospital administration and clinical visits. There would be slightly more people in Chark City during the summer, with outsider merchants coming to gather mountain herbs and plants. There were also a few good restaurants in the center of Chark City. But in winter, most residents of Chark City would go to the much bigger Chasu City, making Chark City resemble a ghost town.

Chark City Hospital had very few people in its surgical department. There were only four doctors in total, one director and three vice directors. It couldn't be helped. The director and vice directors all had the ability to take kickbacks, and no one would be willing to give up anything to each other, so they simply decided to all share the kickback money equally.

These four surgeons typically only dealt with ordinary small injuries. Patients with more serious injuries would be brought by their family members to the bigger Chasu City instead. The only surgeries that Chark City Hospital typically received would be emergency surgeries, the type that people wouldn't dare to bring the patient to the hospital in their own car.

Sometimes, there was no helping it that seriously injured patients had to be brought to Chark City Hospital, as the hospital at least had ambulances, doctors, and nurses. This was because even if a seriously injured patient was brought to the bigger Chasu City at the maximum speed possible, it might be already too late by that time, and they would pass away. Chark City was just too far away from Chasu City. Not only that, the road between the two cities was mountainous, with many steep cliffs. Things would be better during summer, with a few major bus lines running the route, but in winter, there was usually only military traffic on this road.

Typically only directors or vice directors would be hired to do surgical work at other hospitals. Such doctors would always be getting older in years. With such a long distance, and bad driving conditions, very few people would be willing to go even for 2000 yuan, much less 1000 yuan.

Previously, Director Chang of Chark City Hospital's surgical department tried inviting Zhang Fan once before. Ever since then, he remembered Zhang Fan's name. Zhang Fan arrived swiftly, did a good job with the surgery, and, most importantly, he would even split his surgery fee with the four Chark City Hospital surgeons.

This was quite a good thing for them as they all liked having more money. Thus, the four surgeons all became more hardworking than before. Previously, they would instantly send away any patients whose injuries were even slightly serious to Chasu City Hospital, without even a single look, but now, the surgeons here were becoming passionate about coming up with ideas to keep the patients here to schedule several surgical appointments together for Zhang Fan to perform.

Zhang Fan would give the doctors 500 yuan for each surgery, so with four or five such surgeries for Zhang Fan here, the doctors would earn more than even their bonuses. Thus, Zhang Fan working here as hired outside help even served to indirectly improve these surgeons' quality of service.

”Hello, Director Chang. What's the matter?”

”Doctor Zhang, we received an emergency patient, a man in his mid-forties. He fell and injured himself after drinking too much. Earlier this morning, he was still fine, but he suddenly went into a state of shock in the middle of the night. According to the ultrasound, he has abdominal bleeding. Our preliminary diagnosis is that he has a ruptured spleen. Would you like to come take a look? The patient's family is well-to-do, and has already requested that we invite an outside expert. They'll be willing to pay the extra fee.”

(Author's note: Helping out other hospitals with their surgeries is similar to writing a webnovel. You can't just stop updating chapters, and you can't just easily refuse other hospitals' requests.)

Zhang Fan checked the time, and saw that it was slightly past 3 am. Even if he left immediately, it would take him three hours to arrive in Chark City. ”Director Chang, give the patient fluid injections to correct his electrolyte disturbances from shock. I'll head out immediately.”

”Alright, Doctor Zhang. The pre-surgery preparations are already beginning.” Director Chang's tone became really happy upon hearing Zhang Fan's agreement. Normally, no doctor from a big hospital would actually agree to come in such a situation.

Zhang Fan washed his face with some cold water, and sent a text message to Vice Director Chen Qi that he would likely be late to work today as it would be basically impossible for him to return this morning. Today was Monday, and it wasn't his and Wang Yanan's turn to receive new patients, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to be late.

(Author's note: It would be best if you only became a surgeon if you have a strong body and powerful mental fortitude. Otherwise, you might be finished after just a few years. The best result would be that your spirit is weakened and you become someone irrelevant in the department. And if your luck isn't good, then ~~~~)

Zhang Fan took a bun and a milk box with him before heading out. He needed to replenish his energy as he would likely need to perform surgery instantly upon arrival, meaning that he had no time to eat. Not to mention, exploratory surgeries like this one would be even more time-consuming.

Zhang Fan arrived at Chark City Hospital around six o'clock in the morning. This hospital was quite spacious, with plenty of parking spaces. Zhang Fan immediately ran towards the operating room after he finished parking the car. ”Director Chang!” he shouted out for the director.

All four of Chark City Hospital's surgeons were present in the operating room. They hurriedly stood up and greeted Zhang Fan. Since all of them could receive some money from this surgery, none of them were willing to miss out on this chance.

”Doctor Zhang, have some water. Let me inform you of the situation. Here's the ultrasound, take a look.” Director Chang showed Zhang Fan the ultrasound, while a nurse poured a cup of water for Zhang Fan.

”Thank you!”

”Doctor Zhang, it's like this. The patient was brought here to our emergency department yesterday in the afternoon for some light abdominal pain. Later in the night, he went into shock, with no pulse after rehydration.

”It's a spleen rupture. Where are the patient's other information sheets?” Zhang Fan understood the situation after checking all of the patient's medical data sheets. He asked Director Chang, ”What does the patient's family say?”

”The patient's family says to perform exploratory surgery to identity the problem, and that it's okay to surgically remove the spleen. They've already signed the paperwork.”

”Okay, let's begin the surgery, then.” This surgery wasn't difficult at all for Zhang Fan. He was easily able to discover the source of bleeding after opening up the abdomen, determine the severity of the bleeding, and surgically treat the patient appropriately!

Although this all sounded quite simple, it typically couldn't possibly be accomplished without a minimum of more than 10 years of surgical experience after graduating from medical school. Not only that, the experience would have to come from a hospital that was Class B or better. Otherwise, you'd barely get to access any surgeries, and you wouldn't gain any experience.

Why did the three vice directors of Chark City Hospital's surgical department not leave here? Either because they were lazy as they didn't need to work hard here, or due to their family. Additionally, now that they were older, it would be impossible for them to leave. All that was left was to maybe help out at private clinics after retirement. Right now, none of them dared to leave, because they weren't skilled surgeons, so they didn't have the courage to.

Normally, the primary surgeon for a surgery would need to check up on the patient after the surgery, as well as meet the patient's family.

Previously, Zhang Fan didn't have a medical license, so other official doctors would talk to the patients' families in his stead. But, he now had a medical license, so he met with the patient's family for the first time ever.

”This is Doctor Zhang from Chasu City Hospital. He's incredibly skilled. Things might have been dangerous today if not for him,” Director Chang introduced Zhang Fan in such a manner. Director Chang intentionally exaggerated the degree of danger in order to get more money out of the patient's family.

The patient was a low-ranking government official who oversaw Chark City's government-owned forest. In other places, the government-owned forests would typically be unprofitable, but for some unknown reason, overseeing the forest here was a particularly popular job.

This was a small city where everyone knew each other. The family was polite to Zhang Fan. After Zhang Fan finished checking up on the patient, the patient's older cousin suddenly spoke up right when he was about to leave.

”My younger cousin only came to Chark City Hospital for a minor stomachache, but after several hours of treatment, not only did he not get better, he even got worse! You then told us in the middle of the night that he's in danger and absolutely requires surgery from an expert? We agreed to this, but such a youngster came? Do you think that we're easy to fool!?”

The patient's older cousin was quite unhappy because of how young Zhang Fan was.