The diagnosis made by Brother Luo and Sun Li'en was validated by Director Liu.
"Male?" Director Liu was also startled when he received the X-ray, but he quickly regained his composure. "Androgen insensitivity syndrome, most likely. It's not directly related to the current condition. We'll address that later."
"Director Liu, the family is here." The CT room door had certainly had a rough day. It had been opened and closed countless times in a short period. Head Nurse Hu Jing, who was naturally strong, probably pushed the door with more force than usual due to urgency, or perhaps she applied just the right leverage. The automatically operated radiation-proof door was actually pushed clean off its track, half-jammed on the floor and immobile.
Blocked by the half-open door, the head nurse tugged at it a few times. Discovering the derailed track didn't seem to annoy her. She simply took a breath, let out a focused "Heave-ho!", gave the heavy door a mighty pull with her somewhat plump hand, and actually yanked it back onto the track.
"Now you know why you shouldn't mess with the head nurse, right?" Brother Luo laughed at the scene, kindly reminding Sun Li'en, "Sister Hu from your department, I heard she was a shot-putter before getting into nursing school."
Head Nurse Hu, the former shot-putter, wasn't just exceptionally strong; she was also impatient. She rushed into the CT room, saying, "Director Liu, the police contacted the patient's family."
"Are they here?" Director Liu perked up immediately upon hearing this. "Great, have them come in."
"They can't come in." The head nurse wiped non-existent sweat from her brow. "Her family member is also injured. He was just brought in by ambulance. The injuries aren't severe—some scalp hematoma. The triage nurses are observing him now."
Director Liu frowned. "That won't do." He turned and looked at Sun Li'en, who was hiding in the corner with Brother Luo, and waved a hand. "Xiao Sun, you go talk to the family member. Explain the situation as best you can and have him sign the consent forms."
If the family hadn't been contacted, Director Liu Tangchun could have proceeded with surgery directly. But now that a family member was present, his authority to make unilateral decisions automatically terminated—without the family's permission, Director Liu couldn't operate to save Lin Lan's life, or even perform invasive resuscitation measures.
However, the patient's condition was still critical. The operating room was being prepped. Director Zheng Guoyou from Orthopedics and Professor Li, the leading expert from Hematology, had both rushed to the CT room for consultation. Seeing the hospital's heavyweights gathering from various departments, Sun Li'en naturally didn't dare slack off. He grabbed the medical records and examination sheets and followed the head nurse to the triage desk.
The time was now 7:40 AM, the slowest period in the ER—most patients needing overnight treatment had been seen, and less urgent cases were being diverted to the outpatient department starting in twenty minutes. The only person near the triage desk was a young man in a wheelchair, his face covered in blood. Security Officer Liang from the security department sat beside him, gesturing as he spoke.
"Xiao Sun, you're here." Officer Liang had good eyesight, spotting Sun Li'en jogging over from a distance. He waved him over. "Your department admitted a patient named Lin Lan, right? This is her husband."
Sun Li'en nodded to Officer Liang and looked at the young man in the wheelchair. "Are you Lin Lan's family member?"
"I... yes." The young man replied with a very strange accent, his expression full of anxiety and unease. "How... how is Lin Lan?"
"The situation is very serious." Sun Li'en said gravely. "Three of our department heads are conducting an emergency consultation in the CT room right now. But Lin Lan's injuries are complex and dangerous. She needs surgery as soon as possible to have any chance of survival. Any delay, and she will certainly die."
The young man frowned. "I'm sorry, my... my Chinese is not very good." He fumbled and pulled a red passport from his pocket. "I am... Japanese. I don't understand Chinese well."
"Can you speak English?" Sun Li'en quickly deployed his decades-learned Chinglish. Unfortunately, the Japanese man before him looked utterly bewildered. His English seemed even worse.
"I'll handle it." Just as the two were staring at each other cluelessly and Sun Li'en was getting frantic, Brother Luo from Imaging also arrived.
"あなたは日本語がわかるでしょう?(You understand Japanese, right?)" Brother Luo opened his mouth with fluent Japanese, though it carried a slight Kansai (Osaka region) accent.
"はい,わかります!(Yes, I understand!)" The young man seemed to see a relative; his eyes instantly welled up.
"Great, he's also from Osaka." Brother Luo smiled at Sun Li'en. "I'll translate. Ask whatever you need, quickly."
Though unsure where Brother Luo learned Japanese, Sun Li'en trusted he wouldn't mess around with something this important. Moreover, the Japanese man's emotional reaction clearly showed he understood. Sun Li'en quickly took the consent forms from his pocket and pressed them into the young man's hands.
"Your wife's condition is extremely serious, life-threatening." To facilitate Brother Luo's translation, Sun Li'en kept his words as brief and clear as possible. "To save her life, we need to operate immediately."
The young man wiped around his swollen eye and nodded. "无论如何,请你们救救她!(No matter what, please save her!)" Before Brother Luo could finish translating, the young man struggled to stand from the wheelchair, then thumped to his knees. Before anyone could react, he kowtowed, his forehead hitting the floor. "礼金什么的我会马上去准备,请你们务必救救她!(I will prepare the honorarium gift immediately. Please, you must save her!)"
"What nonsense is this." Brother Luo translated the young man's words to Sun Li'en while helping him up, saying disapprovingly to the Japanese man, "We cannot accept monetary gifts. It's illegal!"
The young man was taken aback, as if realizing his mistake, and hurriedly apologized. "すみません!(I'm sorry!) In Japan, giving an honorarium to the lead surgeon is customary. I was rude. I am very sorry."
"Let's skip the extra talk for now." Sun Li'en rolled his eyes internally, thoroughly disparaging those Japanese surgeons who "must" accept gifts. "Before you sign, I need to confirm something. Do you and Lin Lan have a Chinese marriage certificate?"
"We do!" The young man nodded. "We just received the certificate the day before yesterday."
That was lucky. Sun Li'en nodded. "This is the Critical Condition Notification, to formally inform you that Lin Lan's condition is deteriorating and may be life-threatening. This is the Surgical Consent Form, explaining that we need to perform emergency surgery on Lin Lan." Sun Li'en said seriously, "But due to the special circumstances, we cannot provide a complete surgical plan and strategy right now. The lead surgeon may employ different treatment methods based on specific changes during the procedure. The worst possible outcomes include death on the operating table, prolonged post-operative coma turning into a vegetative state, or amputation."
Having just married, receiving such devastating news made the young man cry again. "Doctor, I beg you, please save her! She's only 23! She is a very talented athlete. She has participated in the National Games!"
"We guarantee we will do our absolute best to save her." Sun Li'en also felt a pang of sympathy. Unfortunately, as a doctor just starting his residency, his say was very limited. "I have explained everything clearly. Please sign quickly. Every second sooner you sign increases Lin Lan's chance of survival by a fraction."
Tears mingled with blood streamed freely down the young man's face. But he didn't even wipe them away, seizing the moment to sign the two forms with a trembling hand. Sun Li'en didn't dare delay a single second. He immediately collected the forms and ran towards the resuscitation room. These forms needed to be filed in the resuscitation room records. While running, he pulled out his phone and directly called Deputy Director Liu Tangchun.
"Director Liu, the family member signed." The call connected just as the forms were being filed. Sun Li'en hurriedly reported over the phone, "The records have been filed." Only then did he have a chance to glance at the family signature section. It read three characters: "小林薰" (Kobayashi Kaoru).
"Yes, the signatory is her husband. They got the marriage certificate the day before yesterday." Sun Li'en wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder, signing his name in the physician section of the Critical Condition Notification while answering Director Liu's questions on the other end. "The family member said the patient is an athlete, participated in the National Games. Hopes we do our utmost to save her."
After arranging the filing, Sun Li'en rushed out of the resuscitation room and ran back towards the CT room. Relying solely on the head nurse and the directors to push the bed wasn't really appropriate. This kind of work was better suited for a resident-in-training.
Passing the triage area, Sun Li'en saw Kobayashi Kaoru curled up in the wheelchair, sobbing. Looking at his swollen eye socket and the clearly visible hematoma on his scalp, his injuries from the accident probably weren't light either.
Just as Sun Li'en intended to go check on his condition, he suddenly saw that persistent, haunting status window reappear in his vision.
"Kobayashi Kaoru, Male, 24, Mild Concussion, Amnesia."