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Published at 3rd of January 2023 11:46:27 AM


Chapter 127

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Chapter 127 – A Clear Conscience

A group of doctors surrounded Director Qiao and were reporting the condition to her. The nurses began to clean up the mess, throwing away all the blood-stained cotton balls and gauze disinfection wipes.

Lian Qiao watched silently by the side. He felt like RenDong was akin to a fish that had been cut open on a chopping board. Thus, all the hidden parts were exposed in front of people without any dignity.

The ICU is like that. Lian Qiao’s mother was the chief director of the ICU. He has heard the saying for many years: In the ICU, saving lives is the most important thing. As for dignity, what is that? Everything has to give way to saving lives!

What’s more, although the ICU seems to have a large number of medical staff, it is actually still short of manpower. Everyone was busy with rescuing patients, who cares whether you wear clothes or have privacy?     

As long as a person enters the ICU, he will be forced to lose everything that is a “human” and instantly turns into a “creature” with vital signs and various inspection values .     

Lian Qiao knew this but couldn’t help but feel heartbroken. He knew that RenDong really cared about ‘face’ and, even when wearing a shirt, he would carefully button the button to the top one. How could he bear to be looked at from the beginning to the end?     

How could he accept himself…not to be seen as a “human”?     

So Lian Qiao quickly covered RenDong with a quilt to cover his miserable and dignified body when the nurse finished cleaning him up.  His fingers accidentally touched RenDong and the fingertips were cold. Lian Qiao’s heart seemed to be repeatedly drilled and crushed by a screwdriver. He knew that RenDong would suffer all this because of him, but how could he atone for it?     

There was no way for him to suffer for RenDong and he can’t even relieve even the slightest bit of pain for RenDong. He could only watch the needle pierce RenDong’s skin time and time again, and watch the cold liquid pour into his blood vessels. He couldn’t even hug him to comfort him.     

– Because RenDong can’t hear him.

RenDong’s eyes were closed and his long eyelashes were hanging down like two small brushes. There was no blood on his face and he looked like a bone china doll that had been sealed for a hundred years, with a shocking brutal beauty.

Lian Qiao wanted to touch his face. As soon as he reached out his hand, he was stopped by his mother.

“Wear gloves!” Lian Qiao’s mother’s face sank, her tone suddenly fierce. “Don’t touch him with dirty hands! What’s your sterility principle!”

Lian Qiao was startled and quickly retracted his hand. The nurse next to him handed over the gloves wisely. Lian Qiao put on the gloves clumsily but did not dare to act rashly.

Lian Qiao’s mother’s expression softened: “If you want to accompany him, you can, but you must always remember the principle of sterility.” As she spoke, her voice softened, “He is very weak now and can’t stand infection. So you have to be extra careful with him.”

Lian Qiao finally realized his powerlessness.

He can’t do anything. He could only stand by the side honestly and listen to everyone discussing RenDong’s condition.

The monitor still beeped once or twice from time to time, either the blood pressure was down or the heart rate was fast. The doctors at the bedside adjusted their doctor’s orders from time to time, and the nurses implemented them on the spot. Between them they finally managed to stabilize RenDong’s vital signs.

Everyone discussed it for about ten minutes, and Director Qiao’s expression became more and more solemn.

Lian Qiao couldn’t understand the medical terminology but just looking at his mother’s face made his heart twitch again.

Before everyone could discuss the result, the nurse’s desk suddenly rang with a rapid phone ring. The sound was like a reminder and startled Lian Qiao.

The nurse picked up the phone, answered a few words, then raised her head and shouted over, “Director Qiao! It’s critical!”

Lian Qiao’s mother frowned, quickly walked to the nurse station, took the receiver and chatted with the other end of the phone. The doctors at the bedside took out their mobile phones one after another.

Lian Qiao was so frightened by the word “critical” that his lips trembled but he didn’t dare to ask questions. He looked around nervously and saw young doctors opening electronic examination sheets on their mobile apps. Lian Qiao couldn’t read the words in them and all he could see were red arrows all over. Up and down, like a chaotic heartbeat on a monitor.

The young doctors discussed in a low voice. Lian Qiao couldn’t understand, so he could only grab the fence beside the bed, anxiously waiting for his mother to explain to him.

At this point, he finally understood how the family members who were waiting outside the ICU felt.

Time was like stagnant mud, bit by bit dragging Lian Qiao into the abyss of anxiety. After an unknown amount of time, his mother finally hung up the phone and turned around and walked towards them.

Lian Qiao looked at her uneasily.

However, his mother didn’t look at him, she just turned her head and asked the doctor who did the puncture: “Have you marked it as serious?”

The young doctor said, “Yes.”

Mother Lian said, “Change it to critical.”

Lian Qiao’s face changed greatly.

Even people without medical knowledge know what it means to be critically ill.

At this time, Xu RenDong has received the best advanced life support in the ICU: tracheal intubation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, pressurized blood transfusion and high-dose rescue drugs. But even so, his heartbeat, blood pressure, pulse oxygen, and several vital signs all went up and down.

Don’t talk about Lian Qiao, even if he was a blind man, just by listening to the alarm sound of the monitor, he knew that RenDong was dying.

Lian Qiao’s heart was beating wildly and he looked at his mother in panic: “Mom…he…” His expression was helpless and fearful, as if he was not a twenty-five-year-old adult at the moment, but a weak child afraid of being left behind. 

The young doctor on the side suddenly came up and whispered to Director Qiao: “Director, no one has signed the notice of critical illness…”

Even the mother said in a deep voice, “I know. Report it to the medical department and handle it according to the process of having no family members. Open a green channel for him. Let’s save him first.”

Lian Qiao was shocked and realized that RenDong needed him, which made him instantly regain his identity as an adult. He gritted his teeth and stressed: “I can sign! He is an orphan, and he can’t find any immediate family members! I’ll just sign!”

Lian Qiao’s mother frowned and reached out to pull him: “Come, come with me to the office.”

Lian Qiao grabbed the bed rails tightly: “No, I want to stay here!”

Lian Qiao’s mother said solemnly: “I have something to tell you.”

Lian Qiao still refused to let go, his voice trembled slightly: “I know…but I can’t leave him, I really… Mom, please.”

Mother Lian sighed. The surrounding medical staff also walked away wisely, until there was only Lian Qiao and his mother left at the bedside of RenDong.

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Mother Lian lowered her voice, stared at the monitor and said to Lian Qiao with a serious expression, “Signing means you’re legally responsible, why should you make decisions for his family?”

Lian Qiao blurted out: “But he has no family! He only has me!”

Mother Lian narrowed her eyes and looked at him with burning eyes.

At this point, Lian Qiao did not intend to hide it any more: “Mom, in fact, him and I…”

It was unexpected but Mother Lian was not much surprised. She even raised her hand to interrupt him: “No need to explain. On my way here, your dad has already told me. You are both willing to sacrifice your lives for love, what else can your dad and I say?”

Lian Qiao was dumbfounded. He didn’t expect that his parents had acquiesced in his relationship with Xu RenDong. It’s just that this permission came too late and the price was too high.

Mother Lian looked at his dumbfounded face, shook her head and said, “You haven’t found a girlfriend for so many years, I have long suspected that you are gay, but it’s not good to ask you directly.” Then she said helplessly, “But honestly, if you want to find a boyfriend, you can find a boyfriend but can’t you find one from a sound family! What’s the deal with finding an orphan?”

Lian Qiao refused to accept this: “What’s wrong with an orphan!”

Mother Lian: “He won’t have the place to go complain if he is wronged by you in the future. So it will be left to me to stand up for him!”

Lian Qiao: “???” Why is the plot going in a different direction from what he imagined?

“By the way,” Lian Qiao’s mother said suddenly, “Although your father and I can accept it, your relationship is not recognized by the law. If you want to sign for him now, you can only sign as a friend. Do you understand what that means?”

Lian Qiao pondered for a moment and nodded.

Friends are not spouses after all. At this time, there are no immediate family members around RenDong, so Lian Qiao can naturally sign for him as a friend. But if something goes wrong in the future, RenDong’s company bosses, the dean of the orphanage and even the biological father who deserved to be killed with a thousand knives can all come to him to settle accounts.

There is no doubt that as long as there is still a chance, Lian Qiao will spare no effort to save  RenDong. But what if?

In case fate is not on his side, in case he will eventually lose RenDong, can he bear the extra burden of blame within the pain of bereavement?

—The accusation from other relatives and friends of RenDong?

If those people really come to the door, not only Lian Qiao, but even the hospital where Lian Qiao’s parents are located will be pulled into the water. Today, when the doctor-patient relationship is so tense that once the hospital is brought to court, it will not only be forced to pay huge sums of money to settle the matter, but it will also have a notorious reputation for being negligent towards human lives.

And the special relationship between Lian Qiao and RenDong will make Lian Qiao suffer ridicule and criticism after his death, making Lian Qiao’s pain even higher.

In fact, it was with these considerations in mind that Lian Qiao’s parents had been reluctant to let him sign.

But after careful consideration, Lian Qiao solemnly said to his mother, “I am willing to take all the responsibilities, let me sign it.”

Mother Lian sighed: “Actually, it doesn’t matter if you don’t sign this. You don’t have to worry about the rescue. We will all take care of the treatment. It won’t matter whether you sign or not. To be honest with you, although the situation is serious, we have seen a lot in the ICU. After all, he is young. As long as his vital signs can be stabilized and he gets on the operating table, his life is likely to be saved. So you don’t need to…”

Lian Qiao shook his head. Slowly but firmly, he interrupted mother: “Mom, I understand. But I want to take this responsibility for him. Even if the law does not recognize our relationship, we have already recognized each other as partners in our hearts. If I back down here now, then even if he wakes up, I will have no face to see him with.”

“No matter what the result is, I want to have a clear conscience. I am willing to take all the responsibility for this.”

“Mom, please fulfill my request.”

Mother Lian was silent.

Lian Qiao anxiously waited for his mother’s answer. Regardless of whether his parents agree or not, he has to take this responsibility for RenDong. But if he can, he still hopes to have the support of his parents.

No matter what the future holds, he hopes that RenDong will be recognized by his family.

RenDong was an orphan since he was a child and he never knew what it was like to be loved by his parents. Although he met Zhong Xiu later on, they only got along for a while before Zhong Xiu abandoned him again.

The missing piece in his life will never be made up for.

So Lian Qiao always wanted to give him a home. It’s not just a small home for the two of them, but a complete home with parents and elders.

He hoped that his parents would truly accept RenDong instead of being forced to accept him under the threat of life and death.

However, the mother just stared at Lian Qiao with a complicated expression, as if she wanted to look into his soul through his eyes.

Lian Qiao was stared at by his mother like an ant on a steamer. He couldn’t escape and he couldn’t die for a while. Just strung up in the air.

After a long time, my mother finally sighed.

“Okay. If you want to zuo to death, then just do it.”

With the unremitting efforts of the ICU medical staff, Xu RenDong’s vital signs finally stabilized temporarily. Lian Qiao nimbly signed the signature and accompanied RenDong into the operating room.

The operation was already arranged by Director Lian and the whole hospital was mobilized. The bosses of the extracerebral and extracardiac general surgery department have been waiting for a long time to wash their hands and change their clothes.

Xu RenDong’s situation was complicated. The first was a fall from a height injury, which caused most of his bones to be broken and his brain damaged. The CT scan was okay, the amount of cerebral hemorrhage was not too much, and a craniotomy could be done.

Then there are two more problems: First, Xu RenDong has a lot of internal bleeding. Various organs were ruptured to varying degrees, so that even his stomach bulged slightly and it was full of blood. To this end, Director Lian applied for a large number of blood transfusions for him, all the way from the emergency room to the ICU, and a carload of intraoperative blood was also prepared in the operating room.

The second problem is that Xu RenDong has a history of heart disease. This creates two big troubles. One is that his heart may not be able to handle large infusions for a short period of time and heart failure could develop at any time during the procedure. Another is the risk of anesthesia. The worst case is that he will have cardiac arrest as soon as the anesthesia hits. At that time, not only will he not be able to perform surgery, he may not even be able to control his heartbeat and he will die on the stage directly.

After listening to his father’s explanation, Lian Qiao expressed his knowledge and understanding, and then announced: “Go ahead. I’ll take care of what happens.”

Director Lian became angry again, and roared, “Is this something you say something so nonchalantly? Can you really take responsibility for anything!? If something happens to you can your mother and I just leave you alone? Do we not still have to wipe your ass?!”

Lian Qiao thought about it for a while: “Then I can only apologize with death.”

These words were said very seriously and he looked like he was ready to die at any time. It was unknown where he learned this attitude from. This attitude of indifference to his own life made Director Lian so angry that he raised his palm and prepared to beat him on the spot.

Unexpectedly, before the slap fell on his body, Lian Qiao swayed and fell down with a thud.

Lian Qiao’s father: “???” How dare you touch porcelain with your father? {‘Touch porcelain’ is Chinese netspeak for someone who is deliberately on the lookout to sue someone else: imagine deliberately running into another person holding porcelain, dropping it and asking them to pay you.}

The little doctors around rushed over and took out a blood pressure monitor. They were shocked: “Director Lian, it’s not good! Blood pressure is 50/30! Your son is in hemorrhagic shock!”




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