Chapter 80 - Staying Strong

As soon as Dr Jiang left, Zeng came back to the OT section of the Emergency Ward. Wu Fanxing was already waiting for him. The intern felt relieved seeing that his Senior had calmed down.

They sat on the bench which was usually occupied by the relatives of the patients. Dr Xiao has always feared this place, yet here he was. He had never sat that and hoped it would stay the same but Yul proved him wrong.

"Sir, are you alright? Did the Dean go harsh on you?" Fanxing asked carefully.

"Suspension for a week." Dr Xiao replied and added, "It really doesn't matter to me given the current situation."

"I am sorry, Sir." Fanxing didn't know what he could do to comfort his Senior. As he was still an intern, he was in his learning phase of how to deal with the relatives of the person.

He knew Dr Xiao and the patient weren't blood-related but still had a special bond that he couldn't point out nor did he dare to ask. Whatever their relationship was, it was strong enough to make Dr Xiao breakdown publically and that was something he never thought would happen.

Fanxing was in his own thoughts when Dr Xiao's words brought him back.

"I want to see his reports."

Fanxing was startled, "Sir, are you sure?"

As an experienced man in the medical field, Dr Xiao could understand the gravity of the situation and under such cases seeing the reports could do more harm than good to the reader's morale.

"Yes." He asserted, knowing that the reports would cause him a great deal of pain but he must know what had happened to Yul.

Dr Fanxing brought the reports and offered them before him. Zeng's hand started shaking, reaching out to the reports and halted before touching the file.

"It's better if you read it." He withdrew his hand and requested the intern to read it. "Please, read it for me, Fanxing."

Fanxing agreed and opened the file. He started reading in the same medical format as he did with every other patient. Zeng held his breath, his entire body was tense, fearing what he had to listen to. Fanxing started,

"The patient, Wang Yul, Police Inspector by profession, was admitted to the Emergency Ward at 11:35 in the morning.

He was brought in with three firearm gunshot injuries located, in order of fatality, at the spleen, the right side of abdomen at vertebral level L1 and right side of chest, vertebral level T7.

The patient is detected with a ruptured spleen, two fractured ribs, punctured right lung and ruptured jejunum."

Stopping for a moment, Fanxing looked up from the papers to see his Senior's condition. He could see that Dr Xiao's hands were trembling; a few tears falling on the floor as the said man's head was hung low.

"Continue," Zeng said with a shaky voice.

Fanxing breathed in before resuming, "Aside from injuries due to gunshots, the patient also has a deep laceration on his right thigh and multiple contusions and abrasions all over the body.

Due to massive loss of blood, hypovolemic shock was suspected but is controlled by blood transfusion.

Respiration is assisted and is under control.

The ruptured jejunum is more susceptible to lead the patient to a septic shock. It is currently being controlled with no predictable results."

The report ended and Zeng's heart sank to the bottom of the dark pit. The conditions were not in their favour. He closed his eyes shut and covered his mouth, muffling the cries. He tried to stay strong but miserably failed. He broke down in more tears as it dawned upon him that Yul could die in there at any moment and he would be sitting right outside, being useless like always.

Fanxing closed the files. He felt really bad seeing Xiao Zeng cry. It pained him to see his favourite Senior in this condition.

"Sir, please stay strong." He placed a hand on his Senior's frail shoulder. "The person inside is fighting for his life. How can he go on if you get weak like this? Sir, for Mr Wang Yul, you have to stay strong."

Hearing Fanxing's words comforted Xiao Zeng a little. The young intern was right. He nodded, wiping his tears stained face with both his palms. "Yes, I can't get weak like this. He will taunt me if he finds out." He nodded again, reassuring himself more than anyone. "I have to stay strong for him."

Zeng gave a small smile to Fanxing. This little man was giving him support with comforting words when he needed it the most and Zeng appreciated it.

"Dr Fanxing," a nurse came through, "We have a new patient of a dog bite." She said, informing him as the other doctors were busy with the surgeries.

"Quickly wash the wound and give a tetanus shot. I will be right there." Fanxing instructed the nurse who immediately left.

Fanxing turned to his Senior. "I will have to go now but Sir, please contact me if you need anything."

"Okay." Dr Xiao Zeng nodded. "Now hurry up and go. And remember to check for hypersensitivity before giving penicillin. You already know everything about the vaccination."

"Yes, Sir," said the intern and left.

Now Xiao Zeng was alone in the waiting hallway. The adjacent bench placed a few feet apart was empty. From the looks of it, the relatives of the patient from the other OT didn't arrive yet.

Nobody was coming out of Yul's OT. So Xiao Zeng had no idea what was going on inside.

Now that he was alone, millions of thoughts ran through his mind but none of them mattered now. He will think about all the consequences once Yul was out of danger.

It had been more than an hour but the surgery was still going on. Every second that passed felt like hours. He occasionally had to swallow back his tears and prevent himself from breaking down again but his eyes often betrayed him and broke down into tears. After all, he couldn't do anything but wait and that was even more painful.

He looked at the closed OT door, beyond which his beloved person was fighting for life and pleaded,

"Please don't die, Yul.... Please don't die."