Chapter 978: 672 What are you hesitating about_3

After sending this patient away, Du Heng didn’t immediately call in the next one. Instead, he sat down on his stool and took several deep breaths.

Two unconventional patients in a row—especially the second one, who had almost mistaken him for a perverted doctor—made Du Heng’s heart beat a little faster. It had been a long time since he’d last worked in the outpatient service, and he was still adjusting to the pace.

His worries, however, proved unnecessary. The subsequent patients were all routine, presenting no strange issues or bizarre ideas. They simply answered Du Heng’s questions and followed his instructions.

This also meant he worked much faster. By the time noon arrived and it was time to break for lunch, he had just finished his morning outpatient service, so he wouldn’t need to make another trip in the afternoon.

Stretching lazily, Du Heng told the scribe beside him it was time to clock off, and they headed towards the Canteen together.

However, just as they reached the staircase, they saw that the hallway across from the Internal Medicine Clinic was bustling. Women’s high-pitched voices echoed from time to time.

Du Heng hesitated for a moment, then halted his steps towards the elevator. Instead, he walked towards the Internal Medicine Department’s outpatient service.

As he drew closer, he saw an older woman, an Auntie, rolling around and shouting in the hallway. Beside her stood a helpless-looking Director Cao from the Internal Medicine Department.

Du Heng pushed through the crowd and approached the rolling Auntie. "Auntie," he said softly, "why don’t we get up and talk things over? Making a scene like this isn’t good."

"I *want* to make a scene! I want everyone to see that you people are liars!" As she spoke, she continued to roll on the floor, kicking her feet. Even when Du Heng reached out to help her up, she violently shook his hand away.

Du Heng helplessly stood up and looked at the equally helpless Director Cao. "Director Cao, what’s going on here?"

Director Cao managed a bitter smile. "This patient came in this morning. After I prescribed her medication, she went to get it.

"Everything was fine initially. But after she went home and came back, she stormed into my consultation room, claiming the medicine we prescribed was fake and demanding compensation."

Fake medicine? Du Heng’s eyes turned cold, but he didn’t immediately get angry. He looked at Director Cao, whose current demeanor didn’t suggest the hospital had actually dispensed fake medicine, and asked, "What happened next?"

Director Cao still wore that pained expression. "I don’t believe our hospital would stock fake medicine, so I asked to see the so-called fake medicine she was talking about.

"It turned out the medicine she’d bought elsewhere was different from the medicine from our hospital’s pharmacy, yet she insisted ours was fake."

Du Heng glanced at the wailing Auntie on the floor and then turned back to Director Cao. "So, what’s she up to now?"

Director Cao sighed. "I told the patient our medicine was genuine and hers was fake. At first, she didn’t believe me, so I offered to refund the medicine we had prescribed. But she refused; she just wouldn’t return the medicine.

"I was at my wit’s end. I told her she could sue or file a complaint, anything, but she still wouldn’t agree. She just kept throwing a tantrum here, accusing us of cheating her out of her money."

"Has she made any demands?" Du Heng frowned.

Director Cao looked utterly exasperated. "Finally, she did. She demands that we refund *her* fake medicine."

Du Heng glanced at the intractable woman, then at the streaks of white at her temples. This is someone I can’t afford to provoke, he knew.

The thought immediately struck him: It’s just one box of fake medicine, right? I’ll just pay for it out of my own pocket and be done with it. This whole scene is too aggravating.

"Where’s the medicine? How much is it?"

As soon as Du Heng spoke, Director Cao knew what he was thinking. "Dean, don’t even think about it."

"What do you mean?" Du Heng asked, puzzled.

"For some reason, this patient bought over a hundred boxes. She still has a hundred boxes left, and each one costs 120 yuan." Director Cao glanced at the Auntie on the floor, then continued with a helpless sigh, "And she’s demanding we refund all of them—a total of more than 13,000 yuan."

Du Heng’s eyes widened. A hundred boxes of medicine? More than 13,000 yuan? Is she insane? Who hoards that much medicine? Is she planning to eat it for dinner?

Instantly, Du Heng abandoned the idea of paying out of his own pocket.

True, over ten thousand yuan isn’t a huge sum for me now, Du Heng thought. But I can’t be such a pushover. If word of this got out, my personal savings might not cover it. Besides, she hoarded all that medicine; why should I be the one to foot the bill? That’s not how it works!

Du Heng dismissed the impractical notion and turned his attention back to the Auntie on the floor. "Auntie, why did you buy so much medicine? You can take those medicines to the pharmacy where you bought them. They won’t just have to refund your money; they’ll also have to compensate you."

Appealing to emotions is not as effective as appealing to self-interest, Du Heng reasoned. After all, isn’t she causing this scene for money? If she heard there was compensation to be had, wouldn’t she get up quickly and demand it?

But Du Heng had clearly overestimated the situation. The Auntie sat bolt upright, glared at Du Heng, and said, "Easy for you to say! Where am I supposed to find that rotten scoundrel who sold me the medicine?"

Du Heng’s mind went a little blank. "You bought this from a private individual?"

"Yes, a young man. He came to my door, a door-to-door salesman. He said he was from your hospital. Now I can’t find him, so I can only come to your hospital."

Impersonating hospital staff to sell medicine? Du Heng scoffed internally. Even a scammer with a shred of common sense wouldn’t claim to be doing door-to-door sales for a hospital. Do hospitals even engage in outside sales of medicine? That’s utterly ridiculous!

This Auntie clearly just concocted this story to find someone to pin the blame on.

But with so many people watching, Du Heng could only say patiently, "Auntie, our hospital doesn’t conduct external medicine sales. It’s not just our hospital; no hospital is allowed to sell medicine outside its premises. You’ve been scammed."

"I don’t care! That swindler said he was from your hospital, so your hospital has to take responsibility!"

Du Heng took a deep breath. He knew there was no reasoning with her. He stood up and said to Director Cao, "What are you hesitating for? Call security to come up and watch her. Don’t let her injure any patients. And call the police immediately. Have them take her away."

With Du Heng’s backing, Director Cao no longer hesitated. Just as he was about to call security, he saw they had already arrived in front of him.

"Your priority is to protect the other patients," Du Heng instructed the security guards. "Don’t let her hurt anyone. Whatever else she tries to do, ignore it. Just wait for the police to arrive."