The Enhanced Doctor

(Thanks to a supportive friend for their encouragement.)

For those who frequently drive, it can really feel monotonous. No matter what kind of car you drive, if you drive two to three hours every day, what's the point?

But for a beginner who just learned how to drive? Driving becomes an exciting experience. Now, Liu Banxia is a true beginner, really passionate, I tell you.

He hasn't even hit the expressway yet, and his speed has already reached a normal level, occasionally overtaking smaller cars.

This left Wang Xiaoyan and Jiaojiao, sitting in the back, in a bit of awe. Can a person really be that good? From a slow, hesitant start to being so at ease at the wheel, is this the same person?

Whether it's the same person or not is beside the point. The truth is Liu Banxia was really getting the hang of it. After hitting the expressway, he pushed the pedal a bit more.

This so-called "expressway" is actually Binhai City's ring freeway. With a speed limit of 100 km/h, Liu Banxia just cruised at that speed.

You have to admit good cars are exceptional, with their powerful acceleration. Liu Banxia felt if he pushed a bit more, speeding to 180 or 200 km/h would be a breeze.

There was none of that reckless driving often seen in movies. He safely arrived at Linyu Villa, carried Qiaoqiao into the house and onto the bed, gave Tang Dou a good rub, and then he was off.

If it were up to him, he would have preferred to take a cab back to the hospital. But he was in the mood for driving today. Well, I'll just be a bit rude and borrow Qiaoqiao's car for now, he decided. After all, even if he called a Didi Taxi, it would probably take about forty minutes for one to arrive in this area.

This was a bona fide upscale neighborhood, where two to three cars per household was standard. Counting both garage and street parking spots, there were four available here.

"Yanzi, what are you up to? Trying to set Qiaoqiao up with Dr. Liu?" Jiaojiao asked with a grin.

"Hehe, this silly girl doesn't even know it herself, but she's constantly thinking about Dr. Liu. And then what? She treats him like one of the guys," Wang Xiaoyan explained.

"This girl actually fell asleep on the ride over. Can you imagine if she was like usual, half-drunk and half-awake, and started undressing the moment she got home? That would be hilarious."

Jiaojiao laughed. "Yanzi, you've known Dr. Liu longer. Do you think he has feelings for Qiaoqiao? Our Qiaoqiao isn't bad, you know. She has looks, she has wealth; it's just that her temper is a bit short and her education a bit lacking."

"I really don't know. Let's just try to push them together and see," Wang Xiaoyan suggested.

"I've been observing too. Right now, the biggest threats seem to be Linlin and Qing Kewa. And going by Western dating habits, if Qing Kewa decides she's interested, Dr. Liu will have a hard time resisting."

"As for Linlin, she's more reserved, and it doesn't look like she has any such interest in Dr. Liu at the moment. And Dr. Liu? Haven't you noticed? He's hopelessly dense."

"But it's a good thing he's like that. Otherwise, who knows what chaos would erupt at their hospital. So, this is Qiaoqiao's chance. If she misses it, finding someone else like him will be tough."

"Sigh… Dr. Liu is hopelessly dense, and Qiaoqiao is pretty clueless herself. Trying to pair these two up has a high difficulty rating," Jiaojiao said with a wry smile.

Wang Xiaoyan glanced at Qiaoqiao, who was sleeping soundly while hugging Tang Dou tightly, and felt a wave of helplessness. Qiaoqiao never played by the conventional rules.

Meanwhile, Liu Banxia was thoroughly enjoying driving the small car. In less than an hour, he arrived at the hospital.

"Boss, I'm back. Any situations?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Nothing much. Not even a single drunkard has shown up yet. Well, I'd better get going. I need to go home and get a good night's sleep," Shi Lei said, stretching lazily.

"Dr. Liu, you were out having fun all day. Didn't you bring us back anything tasty?" Xu Dan asked pitifully. Xu Yino and Liu Yiqing, who were also on duty, gathered around.

"If I told you I barely made it back, you probably wouldn't believe me. How about some fruit?" Liu Banxia offered.

"Hehe, we've already had a round of fruit. Actually, I was thinking of getting some ice cream, but I was afraid it would upset my stomach," Xu Dan said cheerfully.

"How about I get you some fried chicken then? The cafeteria just launched it, and I heard it's pretty good. They have fried chicken cutlets, chicken nuggets, and sweet plum potato fries," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

At his words, the three girls looked troubled. Fried chicken is delicious, but eating it also leads to weight gain.

They knew the cafeteria had added these new snacks to satisfy the foodies. However, unless it was a group order, they felt a bit embarrassed to order them just for themselves.

"I'm going for it! I have to eat," Xu Dan declared after a moment's hesitation, gritting her teeth.

"Haha, just call them directly and place the order. Get about two hundred yuan worth; otherwise, it won't be enough for everyone. Everyone can get a taste, but don't expect to get full," Liu Banxia said with a grin.

These three girls didn't stand on ceremony with him; they had grown accustomed to him treating them to food from time to time. He would buy snacks every few days. There weren't many people on the night shift in the emergency department, so a few dozen yuan could feed everyone. For something more substantial, one to two hundred yuan would cover it.

"President Liu, are you looking forward to the new office building? I heard we might be able to move in about half a month," Xu Hui, who had joined them, asked.

"Ah, the original plan was for us to have moved already. I'm really hoping we get more colleagues; it would save us from having to constantly call for consultations back and forth," Liu Banxia said.

"You should be content. We're using all new equipment; the people in the inpatient department are green with envy," Wei Yuan chimed in.

"Haha, actually, I'm even more excited. At the very least, we'll be able to do bedside X-rays easily, instead of having to push patients back and forth," Liu Banxia said.

"Shoutian, hurry and change! A car accident patient is being brought over right now! Abdominal penetrating injury. They were originally taking him to the city hospital, but he's gone into hypovolemic shock, and they're diverting to us now!" Zhou Li shouted at that moment.

"Quick, prepare five units of O-negative blood! Notify the operating room to get ready! Call Dr. Shi out here!" Liu Banxia said urgently.

The previously relaxed atmosphere instantly tensed. Hypovolemic shock—if resuscitation was delayed, the patient would die.

Liu Banxia, Shi Lei, and Wei Yuan quickly put on disposable surgical gowns and gloves and waited outside the entrance to the main hall.

In less than five minutes, the ambulance pulled up steadily in front of the door.

"Patient is a 27-year-old male. Trauma from a car accident. Puncture and laceration wounds to the abdomen caused by a guardrail from a traffic divider, with partial intestinal exposure. Currently unconscious, blood pressure 50/70 mmHg, heart rate 100 bpm. Intubated, blood transfusion, and fluid resuscitation initiated on site. Family states no prior medical history."

"You have to save Dongzi! Please, you must save Dongzi!" a young girl who had accompanied the patient cried out, her voice filled with anguish.

"Resuscitation Room One! See if we can find the bleeding point and achieve temporary hemostasis to buy some time. Family, please step back," Liu Banxia ordered.

The patient was pale, breathing rapidly, and his pulse was weak—classic signs of hypovolemic shock. However, his abdominal wound was packed with a large amount of gauze, making it impossible to assess the full extent of the injuries at that moment.

"One, two, three—lift! Connect the monitor, open another IV line, and start rapid fluid resuscitation! Get a rapid preoperative blood panel and crossmatch. Dr. Shi, perform an abdominal ultrasound," Liu Banxia directed.

"Banxia, the abdomen is full of fluid; I can't see anything clearly. We'll have to do an exploratory laparotomy right here, as soon as possible, to find the source of the bleeding. I also suspect intestinal perforation and concurrent sepsis. The patient's temperature is very low; he might be acidotic," Shi Lei reported after performing the ultrasound.

"Alright, the three of us will work together. Administer 150 micrograms of Fentanyl. We need to draw more blood; I'm afraid he won't last until the operating room," Liu Banxia said.

"I'll make the incision. If the spleen is ruptured, Dr. Shi will repair it. Dr. Wei, you locate any intestinal perforations. I'll search for other bleeding points. Xu Yino, manage the suction. Liu Yiqing, get another suction machine; you two work together."

After giving his instructions, Liu Banxia swabbed the patient's abdomen with povidone-iodine, exchanged a look with Shi Lei and Wei Yuan, and then swiftly made the incision with the scalpel.

Liu Banxia was no stranger to such scenes. The patient whose bleeding he had stopped with his bare hands that night was in a similar condition. However, today's patient was in even greater danger.

The bleeding in that previous patient had only just started when Liu Banxia managed to pinch the vessel closed. This patient, however, had been bleeding for some time, to the point of hypovolemic shock.

As his scalpel moved, Shi Lei and Wei Yuan, who were prepared, immediately opened the abdomen. A large volume of blood gushed from the incision site onto the bed.

"Ruptured right spleen! Colon laceration, about three centimeters! Suction, quickly!" Liu Banxia called out after a mere glance.

Startled for a moment, Xu Yino and Liu Yiqing then began to operate the suction devices.

"There's too much blood. Let me try to feel for the source first," Liu Banxia said quickly after a few seconds, seeing no significant reduction in the bleeding.

Wei Yuan, at the side, had already lifted out a section of the patient's intestines. He needed to address the torn segment he had just seen and also check the mesentery for any bleeding points.

"The splenic artery is ruptured! I've got it pinched off," Liu Banxia announced. He had been palpating for nearly two minutes, and it was just as he'd suspected: with such massive bleeding, the splenic artery had to have ruptured.

"The patient's blood pressure hasn't significantly increased," Zhou Li reported, her eyes fixed on the monitor.

"Surgical field is visible. I'll ligate the splenic artery," Shi Lei then called out.

Once Shi Lei began the ligation, Liu Banxia carefully tried to sense the flow of the newly accumulating blood in the abdomen. His heart skipped a beat; although the flow was faint, it seemed to be coming from the direction of the pancreas.

"It should be mesenteric arterial bleeding, but the tear doesn't seem very large. How's the blood pressure now?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Blood pressure is rising: 60/90 mmHg, heart rate 100 bpm," Zhou Li replied, her voice filled with joy.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. The major bleeding had finally been controlled. Now, they just needed to ligate these bleeding points, and then they could move the patient to the operating room for definitive surgery.

"Dr. Liu... the patient's pH value is... 7... 7.1!"

Just as everyone was feeling most elated, Xu Dan rushed over, out of breath, holding up a lab report.

Everyone's heart sank once more. Acidosis. It's always one thing after another. A pH of 7.1—the acidosis was already severe.