The Enhanced Doctor

Everyone enjoyed the fruit, and it helped pass the time. Otherwise, the night shift would be truly hard to endure.

"Doctor, my father has hit his head and it's quite a big wound," a voice urgently called from the open door of the waiting hall.

Liu Banxia hurriedly went over. "Is it still bleeding? Why didn't you use something cleaner? Is that a towel?"

"It's still bleeding; he bumped it on the kitchen countertop. We just grabbed this and rushed him to the hospital," the patient's son replied.

"Throw it away for now. Let me have a look," said Liu Banxia, putting on his gloves.

In the upper right section of the forehead, there was a laceration about four centimeters long. It was pretty severe and still bleeding. It needed stitches.

"Liang Xiaolin, prepare for wound cleaning and suturing," Liu Banxia said after his examination.

"Doctor, aren't you going to do the stitching?" the patient's son asked anxiously.

"Don't worry, Doctor Liang's suturing skills are also excellent. Besides, this is a standard suture procedure. Did your father have any symptoms like dizziness or headaches before? How did he fall? Does he have diabetes or high blood pressure?" Liu Banxia questioned.

"There was some water on the kitchen floor. My dad had just finished his meal and wanted to pour some water to drink when he slipped. His blood pressure is a bit high, but he doesn't have diabetes," replied the patient's son.

"We really must be more cautious in the future. I didn't see the scene at the time. After suturing, we'll do a brief check. If needed, we'll conduct a CT scan," Liu Banxia advised.

"Just a cut, no need for a CT scan, right?" the patient's son hesitated.

"Young people like us might not have any issues, but the elderly need to be more careful. Alright, go register. We'll take good care of your father," Liu Banxia encouraged.

This was standard procedure. Although most ordinary hits to the head don't cause intracranial hemorrhage, sometimes it happens due to an unfortunate coincidence.

However, the final decision lay in the hands of the patient and their family. Doctors could only provide advice.

It was already past eight in the evening. With the arrival of the old man, the night shift truly began. As per custom, the next wave of patients would usually be those intoxicated with alcohol.

Treating such patients no longer required Liu Banxia and Wei Yuan to step in. Whether they liked it or not, it was Qi Wentai's responsibility to guide the interns.

Of course, if there were unruly drunk patients causing a scene, everyone would have to step in to control the situation. Such situations were not unheard of. As long as they didn't harm anyone or destroy property, the doctors could tolerate some verbal abuse.

Even now, Liu Banxia somewhat wondered why Qi Wentai insisted on staying in the emergency department. Although they hadn't reached a point of complete isolation or bullying, the two of them rarely spoke.

After finishing a round of treating intoxicated patients, a group of people who had been fighting arrived. They lined up for wound cleaning and suturing in the treatment room. Fortunately, their injuries were all minor, not requiring surgery.

It had to be said that alcohol was a peculiar thing. It could bring some people closer while driving others apart. This group all knew each other, but after a few drinks, they started fighting. What could be done?

"Dr. Liu, could you come over here?" Liang Xiaolin poked her head out of treatment room one and waved at Liu Banxia.

"What's wrong? Are you facing any difficulties?" Seeing the patient's son also following, Liu Banxia asked discreetly.

"No, I've already finished suturing. The problem is the patient has fallen asleep. Also, his mouth is twitching unconsciously, specifically the left corner," said Liang Xiaolin.

Liu Banxia observed carefully. Indeed, there was some twitching in the left corner of the mouth, although the frequency wasn't high.

"I suggest you get a brain CT scan for your father to confirm the situation," said Liu Banxia.

"Doctor, my father had a couple of drinks at dinner. The alcohol might be affecting him. Besides, his mouth has been like this for two to three years; it's not an issue," the patient's son replied.

"It might not be as simple as 'not an issue.' Who falls asleep during a suturing procedure? Even with anesthesia, when the needle goes in, it will still pull on the skin. It might not hurt, but you can still feel it," Liu Banxia explained.

"Currently, your father shows signs of excessive sleepiness and involuntary twitching of the mouth. I suspect there could be some issues inside his head. Considering your statement that these symptoms have lasted for a few years, I insist on conducting a CT scan," Liu Banxia continued.

"Doctor, it's been like that for two to three years, and it has never caused any problems," the patient's son argued, frowning.

"I've said what I need to. If something serious happens, it will be too late. If you insist on not doing the scan, we will provide you with a document to fulfill our obligation to inform you. You can sign it and then leave," Liu Banxia responded coldly.

"Well... let's go for the CT scan then," seeing Liu Banxia's stern look, the patient's son hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

Liu Banxia heaved a sigh of relief. Sometimes, a somewhat detached demeanor could, paradoxically, make patients or their families pay more attention.

Given the old man's current condition, Liu Banxia couldn't be 100% certain there was a problem, but there were definitive indications, so he had to follow procedure.

It was often said that being a doctor was truly challenging. When everything was fine, everyone rejoiced. But the moment even a hint of a problem arose, if you didn't follow procedure, you were to blame.

"Good job, you handled that well," Liu Banxia commended after the patient's son left with his father for the CT scan.

Liang Xiaolin wrinkled her nose. Although it was a compliment, it felt a bit weird. After all, the taxi driver back then had behaved similarly; she just hadn't recognized the signs at the time.

"Let's take turns cleaning and suturing. Keeping busy will lift our spirits. I'll help clean up; the smell of alcohol is too strong," Liu Banxia remarked.

Although drunk patients were relatively easy to deal with—just find a way to help their bodies metabolize the alcohol—they often left many by-products. Even if you cleaned up the vomit, the smell would still linger in the emergency department.

Liu Banxia transformed into a diligent worker bee, conscientiously mopping and disinfecting. He voluntarily took on tasks that could have been handed over to the nurses.

"If you could maintain this in the future, it would be much easier for us. I'll go check the wards upstairs for you, see if everyone is resting quietly," Zhou Li said with a smile.

"Thanks, Sister Li. Don't forget, tomorrow we're having braised pork ribs. I'm already craving them," Liu Banxia said.

"Understood, I won't forget," Zhou Li responded with a smile.

"Doctor, doctor! I fell off my motorbike and broke my leg!" Zhou Li hadn't even gone upstairs yet when another patient burst into the waiting hall, hopping.

"Qi Wentai, take this one," Liu Banxia said.

It was because of their strained relationship that Liu Banxia often felt awkward. Although he had a thick skin and wasn't afraid of people's gossip, he tried his best to be fair.

But can fairness be easily achieved? Who has a ruler to measure it?

If Qi Wentai took on too many patients, some might say Liu Banxia was exploiting him. If he took on too few, others might say he was bullying him. "More" and "less" were relative terms, equally immeasurable.

Some patients with simple conditions could take over an hour to diagnose and treat. More complex ones? Take the patient who had just come in, for example: a basic examination followed by an orthopedic consultation would likely suffice.

If there were internal abdominal trauma or internal bleeding, the patient would be sent straight to the operating room. This also gave Qi Wentai opportunities to perform surgery.

But in the current situation, it was impossible to immediately judge whether the patient had internal bleeding.

Even though the patient had walked in by himself after the fall, an initially minor bleed might have formed a hematoma, which then, due to his hopping around, could have progressed to active hemorrhaging.

This patient was relatively lucky. The abdominal ultrasound showed no problems, blood flow in his leg was normal, and no blood vessels were damaged. He had also worn a helmet. His injuries consisted only of a leg fracture and extensive abrasions.

Qi Wentai didn't need to handle the cleaning and suturing; it was directly assigned to his intern, Li Hao.

By the time that was done, the CT scan results for the first patient Liu Banxia had attended to also came out. Looking at them gave Liu Banxia quite a shock.

"Sister Li, help me call neurosurgery. It looks like a meningioma, about four centimeters in diameter," Liu Banxia said.

"Doctor, is this benign or malignant?" the patient's son asked, his face now etched with worry.

"It's more likely to be benign. Benign tumors grow slowly. For it to be this large, it must have been growing for several years," Liu Banxia explained after a moment's thought.

"Your father has become quieter in recent years, right? He hasn't spoken much since he arrived at the hospital. It might all be due to the influence of the brain tumor."

"However, for the exact diagnosis, we have to wait for our neurosurgeon to examine him and conduct further tests. Only then can we give you a precise judgment."

"Thank you, Doctor. Thank you," the patient's son expressed his gratitude.

"You should thank Doctor Liang. If she hadn't noticed it... Although its current effect on the patient is mainly increased sleepiness, it would cause more problems in the near future. It's really too big. Such a large mass in his head is definitely compressing brain tissue," Liu Banxia pointed out.

"Thank you, Doctor Liang," the patient's son said, turning to thank Liang Xiaolin again.

"You're too polite. This is our duty as doctors," Liang Xiaolin hurriedly responded.

The neurosurgeon arrived quickly. It was another attending physician from neurosurgery named Xiao Jun.

"Such a large tumor can only be removed by surgery. If you agree to the operation, we will conduct some precise tests and then schedule it," Xiao Jun said after reviewing the CT scans.

"We'll do the surgery. We must do the surgery," the patient's son promptly affirmed.

"Doctor Liu, shall I admit him to our department then?" Xiao Jun asked.

"Alright," Liu Banxia nodded.

For other patients, he might have considered keeping them in the emergency department. However, with such a large brain tumor, this patient would undoubtedly be sent to the ICU after surgery and then transferred to a neurosurgery ward. It was more prudent for neurosurgery to oversee his care.

"You've really grown. My painstaking efforts haven't been in vain," Liu Banxia said, giving Liang Xiaolin a thumbs-up.

Although Liu Banxia's praise was a bit jarring, Liang Xiaolin felt pretty good. After all, she was the one who had noticed something was off about the patient; she did indeed deserve some credit.