"Shoutian, congratulations! We all heard about what happened upstairs. Well done." As soon as he returned to the emergency room, Zhou Li greeted him with a thumbs-up.
Liu Banxia nodded humbly. "So you see, who do you think I am?"
"Don't get all cocky now. I'm getting off work early today. I'll bring your boss over to my place tonight to celebrate," Zhou Li glared at him.
"Hehe, alright! That's another meal saved," Liu Banxia replied cheerfully.
"Watch out, don't get Old Wang drunk, or I'll tan your hide," Zhou Li threatened, swinging her fist.
Liu Banxia forced a smile. "Sister Li, isn't it always Old Wang who gets me drunk every time I come over for dinner? Do I even have the capacity to get him drunk? Why am I always the one who suffers?"
"Haha, just giving you a heads-up. An emergency patient is arriving, hurry!" Zhou Li said, her expression suddenly turning serious.
Liu Banxia turned his head. The doors to the waiting room slid open, and paramedics rushed in with a stretcher.
"Patient is a 37-year-old female, 30 weeks pregnant. Blood pressure 97 over 75, pulse 80. Airbag deployment in a car accident caused blunt trauma to her chest and abdomen; cervical spine is clear," said a distressed short-haired young woman in a black top who had arrived with the paramedics.
"Rescue Room Two," Zhou Li quickly instructed.
"My baby, my baby! I'm fine, nothing happened to me. Please check on my baby," pleaded the patient on the stretcher, looking at Liu Banxia.
"The patient is experiencing abdominal pain. Please schedule an ultrasound as soon as possible to assess the fetal condition," the short-haired young woman said, tapping the patient's hand. Before Liu Banxia could even respond, she turned to him, her tone authoritative.
Liu Banxia frowned slightly. From her words, it was clear she was also a doctor. But shouldn't she be more respectful when she's in someone else's hospital?
"One, two, three, lift!"
Arriving at Rescue Room Two, Liu Banxia gave the command. With the help of the paramedics and nurses, they transferred the patient onto the hospital bed.
"Connect the monitor and bring in a fetal monitor. Start an IV line. Arrange a blood cross-match and inform the blood bank to prepare two units of plasma. Call Doctor Wei and schedule a head CT," Liu Banxia ordered.
"Doctor Wei is in surgery with a patient suffering from a penetrating wound. I'll try contacting Doctor Shi," Zhou Li replied, and she and Xu Dan immediately got to work.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just check on my baby," the patient urged, her voice tinged with anxiety.
"Ma'am, please try to stay calm. The airbag did deploy. We need to check for any internal bleeding first, and then we can assess your baby's condition," Liu Banxia comforted her.
"Family of the patient, please wait outside the rescue room," Zhou Li said to the young woman in black while setting up the IV line.
"I'm also a doctor at this hospital. My name is Liang Xiaolin," the young woman replied nonchalantly.
From this hospital? Liu Banxia glanced at her. He didn't recognize her. She was pretty, but she seemed a bit haughty—even more so than Qi Wentai, who was always strutting about like a preening peacock.
But right now, he didn't have time to dwell on that. The patient on the bed was his priority.
After connecting the monitor and seeing that the patient's vital signs were stable, he decided to check the fetal heart rate first to reassure her.
"Ma'am, don't worry. The fetal heart rate is 147 bpm. The baby is doing very well. Now, we need to see if you've sustained any injuries," Liu Banxia said after removing his stethoscope.
"That's good, that's really good. It took so much to get pregnant with him; nothing can go wrong. I'm really okay, just worried about my baby," the patient said with relief.
By then, Xu Dan had brought over the fetal monitor and connected it.
Liu Banxia applied couplant and began the ultrasound examination on the patient.
"Chest and abdomen are clear," Liu Banxia sighed in relief after the examination.
"See, I told you I'm fine. Please don't give me an X-ray, I'm afraid it will harm my baby, I..."
BEEP BEEP BEEP, BEEP BEEP BEEP.
The patient was cut off mid-sentence. Her body began to shake, and the monitor shrieked an alarm.
"She's having a seizure! Help me hold her down! Inject 10 mg of diazepam. Eyes are deviating to the right," Liu Banxia said, holding the patient's shoulders.
Zhou Li quickly administered the diazepam, but the patient's condition showed no improvement.
"She was so happy just a moment ago. Why did she suddenly have a seizure?" Xu Dan asked anxiously, holding the patient's leg.
"A typical extradural hematoma. It's not working; inject phenobarbital. Protect her airway and keep an eye on the fetal monitor," Liu Banxia ordered.
"I'll do it. Get me a 7-0 endotracheal tube," Liang Xiaolin said, pulling on sterile gloves.
Everyone knew the mortality rate in such situations was high. Moreover, with the patient pregnant, they were now in a race against death, fighting for two lives.
Liu Banxia clenched his teeth, opened the system interface, and spent 10 Glory Points on a Vial of Wisdom, which he quickly drank.
Ding! Consumed Vial of Wisdom. Gained 5 Spirit Points. Comprehension, memory, and focus increased by 8.92% for 10 minutes.
With the system's prompt, he felt his mind become extraordinarily clear, and he grew more composed.
Time ticked by, second by second. The patient's condition still hadn't improved, and the alarms from the monitor grew more frantic.
"Why isn't the tube in yet? Can you do it or not?" Seeing Liang Xiaolin still struggling with the intubation, Liu Banxia roared again.
"I... The patient's teeth are clenched tight," Liang Xiaolin said, somewhat aggrieved.
"How long has it been?" Liu Banxia asked, furrowing his brows.
"About three minutes," Zhou Li responded.
"Fetal heart rate is 127," Xu Dan, who had been staring at the fetal monitor, suddenly announced.
"Switch to a bag-valve mask! The hematoma has significantly increased intracranial pressure. Anesthetize her. Inject 100 units of succinylcholine and 20 units of etomidate," Liu Banxia ordered gravely.
As the two drugs were injected, the patient's body finally stilled.
Liu Banxia wiped the sweat from his forehead, an immense sense of relief and satisfaction washing over him. Despite the tension, seeing the patient stabilize was incredibly rewarding.
"Sister Li, order an emergency CT scan! Inform Neurosurgery to meet them in the CT room. Then call Doctor Shi and notify the OR. Hurry—"
BEEP....
Before Liu Banxia could finish, a chilling, continuous tone sounded from the monitor, and the lines on it went flat.
"One milligram of adrenaline! Charge to 200 joules!" Liu Banxia instructed while performing chest compressions.
"Charging complete."
"Clear!"
THUMP.
"She's still in ventricular fibrillation," Liang Xiaolin stated after a glance at the monitor.
"Again! 300 joules!" Liu Banxia ordered, also glancing at it.
"Charging complete."
"Clear!"
THUMP.
"Another milligram of adrenaline! Charge to 360 joules!"
"Clear!"
"Her pupils are dilating..." Liang Xiaolin mentioned softly.
Liu Banxia froze. This wasn't his first time facing death, but no previous experience had struck him as profoundly as this.
Ding! Patient interaction complete. Gained 100 EXP, 30 proficiency points in Diagnostics.
"Time of death: 7:28 a.m.," Liu Banxia said quietly, putting down the defibrillator paddles. He paid little attention to the system's prompt; he'd still lost to the Grim Reaper.
"Such a pity. She was just talking to us a moment ago, and now her baby is gone too," Xu Dan said, wiping away her tears.
Hearing her words, Liu Banxia felt another wave of clarity wash over his mind. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he pivoted back to face Liang Xiaolin. "Did you say the patient was 30 weeks pregnant when she arrived?"
Liang Xiaolin nodded blankly.
"What are you all waiting for? Continue chest compressions, don't stop! Administer a sedative to relax the patient's body, and bring a blanket!" Liu Banxia roared, then moved to the side to put on a pair of sterile gloves.
"The patient is already dead..." Liang Xiaolin began.
"Do as you're told! The mother is dead, but the fetus isn't! Continue compressions to maintain blood flow. The fetus can still be saved; a 30-week fetus has a high survival rate! Where's Obstetrics? We only have a few minutes!" Liu Banxia glared at Liang Xiaolin, then scanned the room.
Hearing Liu Banxia's words, everyone sprang into action, a sliver of hope rekindled.
"Forget it, we can't wait any longer. Give me a number 10 scalpel," Liu Banxia said after another twenty seconds.
Although other doctors were present, they were all internists and couldn't perform surgery.
"Ah..." Zhou Li gasped, taken aback.
"There's no time to hesitate. Every second we waste significantly decreases the baby's chance of survival," Liu Banxia shook his head, his gaze hardening with resolve.