132 Pigtailed Patien

"How rude," Su Yun huffed.

Zheng Ren smiled, unconcerned.

If he had been a layman visiting a clinic, given the choice, he knew he would have gone for a more senior doctor himself.

Experience was an important part of medicine.

Therefore, the patient's family was not misguided in their decision. Their response was just overly dramatic and straightforward, eliciting some discomfort in others.

Zheng Ren did not take their words personally. He gave them a polite smile, then turned to leave.

"You are being too nice," Su Yun muttered unhappily.

"And you have a temper. No wonder you don't want to be a doctor." Zheng Ren chuckled.

A moment later, Zheng Ren's phone rang.

Before he could answer the call, a few figures appeared at the office door. Leading the group was the square-faced old man with ruddy cheeks.

The old man stared Zheng Ren down. Doubt swam in his eyes.

"You called?" Zheng Ren asked as he waved his phone.

"Chief Pan gave me your number?" the old man said incredulously.

"You mean Old Chief Physician Pan from the emergency department? If so, then yes," Zheng Ren said with a nod.

"..."

The old man had rang up Old Chief Physician Pan, but he had been in an important meeting with hospital administration to negotiate for more staff, resources and support.

Old Chief Physician Pan had spared only a moment for the old man's request for an appendectomy and directed him to Zheng Ren.

The old man's heart sank when he heard the name.

It was the same surname in the same emergency department. There could not be two Dr. Zhengs, right? It was possible, but not probable.

Still, the old man dialed the number with some optimism.

A phone rang in the office.

Now…

This was awkward.

"Dr. Zheng, Chief Surgeon Pan recommended you," the old man said tentatively.

After the previous commotion, he would not blame the doctor for refusing to take their case.

He had misjudged the young man.

Now, he had to swallow his pride and ask this man to save his granddaughter.

"I see. Where's the patient?" Zheng Ren asked.

Zheng Ren's question prevented Su Yun from sneaking in a few snide comments. Su Yun shot him a glare in response.

"Her father is bringing her over now."

"Let's head over to the treatment room. We'll do a simple checkup first," Zheng Ren said calmly.

A few minutes later, a middle-aged man arrived with a small figure by his side, his face etched with worry while the child clutched at her abdomen.

The older folk were outraged.

The girl had a determined look on her face, unlike her father, who was visibly worried.

"Yaya…" The elders fussed over the girl.

The old man with the ruddy cheeks turned to the father. "How could you let Yaya walk here?"

"She wouldn't let me carry her…" Yaya's father said in defense.

"Grandpa, I can walk. It doesn't hurt as much." The young girl had cute, playful pigtails. Her voice was soft, sweet and charming.

"That's unacceptable." The elders started to argue and complain.

At the top right corner of Zheng Ren's vision, the System showed the little girl's diagnosis: acute appendicitis.

It was a simple case.

Pain was subjective. Some people could suffer a perforated appendix and endure the pain to the point of developing gangrenous appendicitis, but this young patient looked like she was on the verge of giving up.

She was in her teens, likely fifteen or sixteen years old[1].

Lying on the hospital bed, her face scrunched up in pain, the girl's body curled up like a prawn as she clutched her abdomen.

She was certainly a strong one. Even in pain, she tried her best to smile and maintain her demeanour in hopes that her elders would calm down.

"Little miss, could you lie flat on the bed for me?" Zheng Ren asked with a kind smile. He wanted to establish a good first connection with the patient.

"Okay," the pigtailed girl said. She did her best to turn over in the bed.

The fetal position lessened the pain in her abdomen. Hence, when she tried to extend her body, the pain hit her hard.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she gritted her teeth, trying not to make any sounds.

'This child is trying to stay strong for the family. Such a filial child,' Zheng Ren thought.

These days, children like her were rare.

"Yaya, slow down." The elders crowded around the hospital bed to help the girl but she rejected their assistance.

With a grim smile, she slowly shifted her body so that Zheng Ren could perform the checkup.

Zheng Ren palpated her abdomen and her legs instinctively curled up.

There were signs of point tenderness and rebound tenderness at the lower right quadrant of the abdomen, but no muscle guarding.

Based on the medical report provided by her father and the symptoms described by the patient, his diagnosis of acute appendicitis was correct.

Although he had the System's guidance, Zheng Ren still preferred to base his diagnosis on clinical data.

After all, it was a matter of life and death.

If the case was not life-threatening, a thorough assessment never hurt.

"Am I very sick?" the pigtailed girl asked Zheng Ren.

"Just a little," Zheng Ren replied with a smile. "We just need to do a short surgery, then you'll be back to normal."

"Oh. Okay." The girl continued in seriously, "I searched for my condition and it should be appendicitis. There are invasive and non-invasive treatments, but I think surgery would be a better choice. I don't want to deal with chronic pain."

'What a bright child,' Zheng Ren thought.

She was wise beyond her years.

It was commendable that she did not make a fuss over the pain. She could even make an educated guess about her condition and decide on her own treatment plan.

"Little girl, be careful what you're searching for online. Some information on the web is false," Zheng Ren teased.

Self-diagnosis was a phenomenon that irked many doctors. For the sake of financial gain, many search engines' top results were sites that required some form of payment.

As these sites prioritized profits, they often contained false information to misdirect their readers.

One had to screen through sites to identify the legitimate ones.

"I know how to differentiate my sources, don't worry," the pigtailed girl said knowingly.

She was independent and smart despite her childlike appearance.

Zheng Ren gave her a smile. He brought her father to process her admission and left the elders to fuss over the child.

The diagnosis was confirmed and the girl was admitted to the hospital.

She had started fasting beforehand, so once the admission procedure was complete, Zheng Ren ordered nurses to prepare the patient.

Preoperative skin preparation and intravenous line setup was done swiftly.

Su Yun ferried the girl up to the third floor in a stretcher trolley while Zheng Ren brought the informed consent documents to her family members. He watched their faces pale as he detailed each step of the procedure.

[1] Based on the patient's mannerisms, I believe the author meant to say five or six years old.

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