Under the illumination of the operating lights, sweat slowly seeped from Liu Zhi's forehead.
The circulating nurse wiped Liu Zhi's sweat very gently.
The incision was eventually stitched up, and Liu Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The surgery was a great success.
After leaving the operating room, Director Shen wiped his mask off with his shoulder, praised his junior colleague a few times, and walked away with a hunched back.
After disinfecting and cleaning herself, Liu Zhi changed her clothes and returned to her office.
It was already dark when I passed by the ward, and the strange smell of various kinds of food mixed together filled my nose.
Standing to perform surgery is physically demanding, comparable to participating in a high-intensity sporting event. However, while sporting events mostly involve rapid exertion, standing to perform surgery involves chronic physical exertion.
Doctors performing liver transplants often stand for eight to twelve hours at a time, and after a single surgery, they are completely exhausted.
Liu Zhi stood for three hours, and when the surgery was over, she felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Maintaining the same posture for so long had caused some pain in her neck and shoulders, but her mood had improved considerably.
A person was sitting on a lounge chair outside the office. When Liu Zhi approached, the person immediately stood up.
"Meng Yang?" Liu Zhi's cough had long since stopped, but her throat was still sore. She hadn't noticed it during the surgery, but now that she was free, even a slight sound made her throat feel like it was being pricked with needles.
Meng Yang raised the cloth bag in his hand to Liu Zhi.
The cloth bag contained the dinner prepared by Meng Yang. Under Meng Yang's watchful gaze, Liu Zhi opened the bag and took out the lunch boxes one by one.
"I was planning to wait for you to have lunch together at the cafeteria after work, but I didn't expect your surgery to take so long." Meng Yang was stopped by Liu Zhi when he lifted the lid.
"Let's go to the dining area; the office will smell like this," Liu Zhi said in a low voice.
"Let's go." Meng Yang packed his things and carried them in his hands.
The food in the hospital cafeteria is rather bland, and it gets quite boring after a while. Meng Yang's cooking is a bit spicier than the hospital's, making it more refreshing.
Today's meal consisted of two dishes and a soup, and was rather vegetarian.
Having both studied medicine, Meng Yang could understand Liu Zhi's mindset and thoughts after the surgery.
Meng Yang made cucumber stir-fried with eggs and shredded pork with garlic sauce, and cooked seaweed and egg drop soup, perfectly avoiding a series of fiery and hearty dishes such as braised dishes and sweet and sour dishes.
After a few bites, my hunger was aroused.
Meng Yang simply watched Liu Zhi eat, remaining silent about what had happened during the day.
"Stay up all night and rest tomorrow?" Meng Yang picked up the soup.
Liu Zhi nodded.
"I'll heat this up; it won't taste good cold," Meng Yang said.
"It might be too late; I haven't even had time to compile today's data yet." Liu Zhi took the soup bowl and added some of the cooled soup to the rice.
Meng Yang sighed, "This is bad for your stomach."
"I know," Liu Zhi said, her voice hoarse.
"Your throat is getting worse," Meng Yang said. "Don't push yourself too hard; you need to rest."
"Drink less coffee," Meng Yang said in a low voice. "Take some time to rest tonight, don't push yourself too hard."
Liu Zhi said "I know" again.
I know that eating too fast is bad for digestion, I know that staying up all night is very harmful to the liver, and I also know that coffee is a stimulant, especially the instant kind, which is even more harmful to the body.
But I had no choice, because I am a doctor.
Meng Yang knew that what he said was useless, but he couldn't help but want to remind Liu Zhi.
"You'll be resting tomorrow after staying up all night, right?" Meng Yang stacked the food boxes and put them into a cloth bag.
Liu Zhi hummed in agreement.
"Alright, I'm leaving," Meng Yang joked. "Remember to bring me food tomorrow."
Liu Zhi replied earnestly with a "yes".
Meng Yang didn't hear her voice and left with his bag.
Two Level 1 surgeries were performed in the evening, both involving traumatic brain injury, and were performed by Liu Zhi.
After standing for three surgeries, Liu Zhi's legs were weak. Only when she put down the tube clamp did she feel the soreness in her arms. She squatted against the wall for a while, and only when she regained her strength did she get up and go back to her office.
The ward was quiet at three in the morning. Liu Zhi pressed her left hand against her right shoulder as she walked through the long corridor, her shadow stretched long by the dim light.
Her head was spinning. The consultation for tomorrow hadn't been arranged yet, and the task weighed heavily on her mind. Liu Zhi's mind was working, but after a while, it went into a blank state.
Muscle memory led her back to the office. By the time Liu Zhi came to her senses, she had already opened her notebook and picked up her pen.
I'm so tired, I really want to rest.
Liu Zhi had already drunk most of Meng Yang's concentrated Chai Chen San. Her fingertips rubbed the inside of the cup, and she heard Meng Yang's voice in her ear—"You should take care of yourself and get some rest."
After struggling against drowsiness for a while, Liu Zhi set her alarm and prepared to rest for a bit.
The on-duty mobile phone suddenly rang—another incident had occurred in the ward.
Liu Zhi pushed open the door and hurriedly went to the ward.
The patient in bed 39 had undergone brain tumor removal surgery two days ago and was under observation when she developed secondary epilepsy late at night. Her family was terrified and immediately called for a doctor.
When Liu Zhi arrived, the attending physician had already taken emergency measures.
The attending physician was a young woman still in her residency training period. She was inevitably a little flustered when dealing with emergencies, so to be on the safe side, she called Liu Zhi over.
Liu Zhi examined the patient, made notes, and reminded the relevant doctors to prepare for medication treatment.
After finally making it to eight o'clock in the morning, Liu Zhi spent nearly an hour handing over her work to the doctor on the next shift.
Meng Yang bought a basket of soup dumplings from the breakfast shop near the entrance and brought them to Liu Zhi. Meng Yang familiarly put down the lunchbox, nodded to the doctor on duty and Liu Zhi, and then left.
"This seems to be the new female doctor in the Traditional Chinese Medicine internal medicine department," the doctor on duty said. "Do you know her?"
"I know him." Liu Zhi picked up the glass jar on the table, not wanting to continue the topic.
The doctor on duty glanced at the glass jar, and Liu Zhi noticed it.
"I'll return it later," Liu Zhi said.
"Yes, this is indeed a big misunderstanding," said the doctor on duty. "Don't worry about it too much."
When the doctor on duty first heard that Liu Zhi had been reported, he was also shocked. After calming down and thinking about it carefully, he felt that something was wrong.
These days, who would actually put money in a red envelope and give it away, and be so careless as to have someone take a picture of it?
He had worked with Liu Zhi before. Liu Zhi was efficient and professional, but he was usually quiet and gave people a stern and aloof first impression.
Liu Zhi's colleagues all thought she was the kind of person who was cold-hearted, upright, and aloof. The idea of her being reported for accepting gifts was simply impossible for her.
As it turns out, Liu Zhi is not the kind of person who would abandon medical ethics for a little bit of petty gain.
On the day the old lady received emergency treatment, the nurse lent her phone to her grandson to make a call. Liu Zhi found the old lady's son's number in the nurse's call log.
Liu Zhi finally got the old lady's address and delivered the things back as soon as she got off work.
However, Liu Zhi still kept the thank-you letter that resembled a red envelope. It was the first thank-you letter in her professional career, making it a very memorable one.
Liu Zhi smoothed out the folded corner of the thank-you letter and placed it under a professional book in the drawer.
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Author's Note:
Added a word count
Chapter 10 Common Cold
Liu Zhi always had the same symptoms when she caught a cold: first a sore throat, then a cough, and finally a stuffy nose and headache.
The order was a bit strange this time; Liu Zhi first had a headache, then a cough, and finally a sore throat.
During her shift, Liu Zhi was afraid of affecting her work, so she didn't dare touch any medicine.
After getting off work, Liu Zhi went to the pharmacy to buy anti-inflammatory medicine. While walking, she swallowed the last bit of Chai Chen Jian (a traditional Chinese medicine) she had prepared.
The pills were bitter, and the Chai Chen Decoction was also bitter. The double bitterness deeply stimulated Liu Zhi's taste buds, and his mind became much clearer.
When she got home, Liu Zhi kicked off her shoes, poured herself a glass of water, and sat down at the dining table to drink it.
The bitterness was finally diluted.
Liu Zhi went to the sink to rinse the cup. The set of utensils that Meng Yang had used to deliver meals yesterday was still piled on the counter. Liu Zhi pulled down the cloth bag and looked at the bowls and chopsticks in front of her.
The set looks brand new—the bag is wrinkle-free, and the plastic cutlery box has no scratches.
Liu Zhi pondered for a moment, then pulled the bag closed and carried it to the dining table.
At 10:30, the alarm rang.
Liu Zhi went to the washroom to wash her face and started making lunch for Meng Yang.
The refrigerator was fully stocked with ingredients, and Liu Zhi picked out a few that were easy to prepare and made two stir-fries.
The soup was still seaweed and egg drop soup. After Liu Zhi finished cooking it, she tasted it and added some salt to the pot.
Meng Yang is a great cook in every way, except he sometimes misses the mark when it comes to saltiness. Yesterday's egg drop soup tasted like plain boiled water.
Liu Zhi added salt, tasted it, and was satisfied.
She packed the food in the same utensils Meng Yang had used to deliver meals to her and rushed to the hospital without stopping.
There was a bakery at the intersection. Liu Zhi hesitated for a moment, then went in and bought a small cake.
As Meng Yang emerged from the outpatient department, his gaze fell upon the man in black in the waiting area.
She blinked a few times in disbelief and craned her head to approach.
"Come here." Liu Zhi beckoned to Meng Yang, his palm facing inward.
The voice was incredibly seductive; before Meng Yang could even process what was happening, he had already taken a step forward.
"How did you end up here?" Meng Yang asked in surprise.
"You weren't the one who sent me yesterday." Liu Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.