Surgery Godfather-Chapter 2006 - 1356: Emergency Department, Part 2

The way this person speaks is just like him, straightforward and no nonsense. But that straightforwardness isn’t reckless, it’s transparent.

"Director Xiong," Song Zimo said, "I’m not here to be an official."

Xiong Shihai was taken aback.

"I’m here to save lives," Song Zimo said, "to save more people."

He paused.

"So are you."

Xiong Shihai was silent for a moment.

Then he laughed, a hearty laugh that echoed across the whole floor.

"Director Song," he said, "you’re my kind of person."

---

The day the large emergency department opened.

The new building of Sanbo Hospital allocated a few floors to the emergency department. The first floor housed the triage and rescue rooms, the second floor was the surgery center—with two 100-level laminar flow operating rooms, one hybrid operating room, and eight post-operative recovery beds. The third floor was the emergency ICU with twenty beds, fully equipped with monitoring equipment, ventilators, and ECMO machines. The fourth floor housed the doctor’s offices and lecture rooms, and the fifth floor was for on-call dorms.

The chest pain center, trauma emergency center, stroke center... all integrated.

The opening ceremony was simple, Dean Xia said a few words, cut the ribbon, and it was over.

Song Zimo stood at the entrance of the new emergency department, looking at the brand-new sign, standing for a long time.

Xiong Shihai came over and stood next to him.

"Director Song," he said, "you won’t find another emergency department like ours in all of China."

Song Zimo nodded.

"Do you know why?" Xiong Shihai asked.

Song Zimo didn’t answer.

Xiong Shihai answered his own question.

"There are many hospitals with money, but not composite talents like you. In a few years, you’ll be able to train a group of comprehensive emergency experts."

He looked at Song Zimo.

"Also, we could build this because of Professor Yang."

"Professor Yang told Dean Xia that the emergency department is the first gate to saving lives, and the gate can’t be blocked."

Xiong Shihai turned his head to look at Song Zimo.

"The emergency department is truly where lives are saved."

---

On the first day of opening, there was a major incident.

At three in the afternoon, an emergency call came in: a multi-vehicle collision on the highway, three large trucks collided, at least five seriously injured, arriving in twenty minutes.

Song Zimo rushed out from the office, giving orders as he ran.

"Director Xiong, take people to the entrance to assist, and triage according to injury severity."

"Clear five spots in the rescue room, prepare ventilators and defibrillators."

"Surgery center, prepare two operating rooms, one team come with me, one team on standby."

"Blood bank, prepare blood."

"CT and X-rays on standby."

Xiong Shihai had already dashed out. His over-three-hundred-pound frame ran like a tank, and people in the corridor made way for him.

Twenty minutes later, the ambulance arrived.

The first to be carried out was a man in his thirties, face covered in blood, semi-conscious, blood pressure only 70/40. Song Zimo took one look.

"Closed abdominal injury, suspected liver and spleen rupture, send directly to operating room."

The second, third, fourth. Patients with fractures, pneumothorax, skull injuries.

When the fifth was carried out, everyone froze for a moment.

It was a seven or eight-year-old boy, face covered in blood, eyes closed, motionless. The accompanying paramedic looked pale.

"His parents were in the front car... both are gone."

Song Zimo’s hand paused for a moment.

He looked at the child, at the blood on his face, at his tightly closed eyes.

At that moment, he thought of another face.

Also covered in blood, also eyes closed. He held that face, crying out for his mother.

That was more than twenty years ago.

He took a deep breath.

"Send to rescue room, quickly."

---

The child quickly completed the examination, no major issues on skull CT, no major problems on abdominal ultrasound, X-ray showed a fracture in the left forearm, but it wasn’t life-threatening. The reason for the child’s coma might be excessive fright, or a mild concussion.

Vital signs stable.

Song Zimo instructed the nurse to take care of the child, and went himself to perform an emergency surgery.

After the surgery, Song Zimo returned to see the child, stood by the bed, looking at that pale face.

Five or six years old, just like he was back then.

The nurse standing nearby softly asked, "Director Song, what should we do with this child...?"

Song Zimo was silent for a few seconds.

"Contact his other relatives," he said, "if you can’t reach them, contact social services. For now, let him sleep."

He turned to leave.

Just as he reached the door, the child woke up.

"Mom..."

Song Zimo stopped.

The child opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling in confusion.

"Mom..."

The nurse walked over and gently said, "Little friend, you’re awake? Auntie is here, how do you feel?"

The child looked at her and suddenly burst into tears.

"Where’s mom? Where’s my mom?"

The nurse didn’t know how to answer.

Song Zimo came back and sat by the bed.

"What’s your name?" he asked.

The child looked at him, sniffling.

"Zhang Ke."

"Zhang Ke," Song Zimo said, "your mom got hurt too, she’s in the hospital. Doctors are treating her; you need to get well first so she can come to see you."

The child was stunned.

"Really?"

"Really."

The child’s tears gradually stopped.

"Can... can I go see her?"

"Once you’re better, you can."

The child nodded, lay back down, and closed his eyes.

The nurse looked at Song Zimo, her eyes red.

Song Zimo stood up and went out.

Xiong Shihai was waiting for him in the corridor.

"Director Song," he said, "that child just now..."

Song Zimo said nothing.

Xiong Shihai looked at him, knowing those words were meant to deceive the child.

Song Zimo said, "His mom is already gone, but we can’t let him know now. Let him live, we’ll deal with everything else later."

Xiong Shihai stood there, watching him, suddenly at a loss for words.

Song Zimo was already walking away.

---

That night, Song Zimo sat alone in the office until very late.

The child was now asleep, the nurse said he kept asking when his mom would come to see him before falling asleep.

No one could answer.

Song Zimo remembered many years ago, someone told him, "Child, don’t be afraid, your mom will get better."

Who that person was, he couldn’t remember. He only remembered that the voice was very low, very gentle, as if afraid of scaring him.

He never saw that person again.

But he always remembered that sentence.

Now he was the one saying it.

He stood up and walked to the window.

Outside, the lights were bright, and the sign of Sanbo Hospital was glowing in the night. The lights of the emergency department were on, ambulances coming in and out. Some were saving lives, others were crying, some were rescued, some couldn’t be saved.

This is the emergency department.

This is where he would be in the future.

Not cardiothoracic surgery, not neurosurgery, but the most chaotic, exhausting, and disorderly emergency department.

Because this is where the most people need him.

A knock on the door.

"Come in."

Xiong Shihai walked in, carrying two bottles of beer.

"Director Song," he placed one bottle on the table, "fancy a drink?"

Song Zimo looked at him.

"No drinking during work hours."

Xiong Shihai grinned.

"I know, but this bottle isn’t beer, it’s water. Mineral water in beer bottles."

He unscrewed the cap and took a swig.

"See, it’s really water."

Song Zimo was momentarily surprised.

He took the "beer" and drank a sip.

It was indeed water.

The two of them just stood there, drinking mineral water from beer bottles, looking at the night outside.

"Director Song," Xiong Shihai suddenly said, "I saw you handle that child today."

Song Zimo said nothing.

"When you lied about his mom still being alive, I almost couldn’t hold it."

Song Zimo looked at him.

"But you held it."

Xiong Shihai nodded.

"I held it because I know you’re right—to get him to live first, deal with everything else later."

He looked at Song Zimo.

"But when you lied to him, I saw your eyes were red."

Song Zimo was silent for a few seconds.

"Your eyes were red too."

"Alright, let’s not mock each other."

He raised the bottle.

"Director Song, from now on, we’ll carry this emergency department together."

Song Zimo raised his bottle too.

"Together."

The two bottles clinked together with a crisp sound.