Chapter 245: A High-Stakes Puncture

The moment Yu Xin heard Zhou Can speak so gravely, anxiety flooded her.

“I—I’ll head to the ward right away! That elderly woman is just impossible. Why won’t she listen to reason!” she blurted, already on her way out.

“If Dr. Zhou can’t convince her, you’ll have even less luck. Chief Resident Luo’s the go-to for these family disputes. You should ask him for help.”

Dr. Chi gave her this advice.

The Chief Resident had a hand in nearly everything—handling patient disputes and headed off hidden dangers all the time.

When it came to tricky family members, Luo Shengsheng had seen it all.

Logically, since he practically lived at the hospital, always on duty, Luo Shengsheng should know all about the family at Bed 73. Yet, he hadn’t bothered getting involved.

In the end, it was just another case of, “Not my problem, not my mess.”

Even if something happened to the family member, it wasn’t really on him.

“Speak of the devil—and here he is! Isn’t that Luo Shengsheng?”

Luo Shengsheng strode into the office, face etched with exhaustion and a trace of irritation.

“Which bed is making trouble now?” he grumbled, grabbing his mug and downing several big gulps.

“The family member at Bed 73 caught a nasty Salmonella infection—it’s pretty serious. But she downright refuses to see a doctor and just stays by the patient’s side toughing it out. What do we do with that?”

Duan Zifu jumped in and quickly explained everything to Yu Xin.

Luo Shengsheng showed no reaction. He’d clearly known about this already.

After all, this was exactly what the Chief Resident handled.

With a hundred beds spread across Gastroenterology, there wasn’t a patient Luo Shengsheng didn’t know.

“What can you do? You can’t force a three-hundred-pound water buffalo to drink. If the family doesn’t care, why should we bend over backwards? Sooner or later that woman will give in and come for treatment herself.”

Luo Shengsheng shrugged, clearly unfazed.

“But… what if she ends up dying at the hospital? Wouldn’t it affect the doctor in charge?”

Duan Zifu was thinking of Yu Xin, bringing up her biggest worry.

He voiced the question she’d been holding in.

“It’ll have some impact but not much. All we can do is advise them to get checked out quickly. If they won’t listen, there’s not much anyone can do. Don’t worry about it. She’ll figure it out herself.”

Luo Shengsheng’s solution in a nutshell: just give up.

If the family member dies here, so be it.

“Chief Luo, isn’t there really a better way?”

Yu Xin couldn’t help but push back.

Duan Zifu, who wasn’t always the sharpest, nearly agreed with the “give up” approach. But Yu Xin was an idealistic doctor—there was no way she’d just stand by and watch.

She believed Luo Shengsheng must have a better answer.

He simply didn’t want to help.

“Of course there are better ways. You can keep persuading the family member to seek treatment or come up with other ways to help her understand the situation for what it is.”

Luo Shengsheng spoke briefly, then finished his drink, tapped away at his computer and studied the screen.

Less than a minute later, he stood and headed out.

“The patient at Bed 16 needs an abdominal puncture. Didn’t go well the first time. I have to give it another shot. If something else pops up, try to handle it yourselves, alright?”

With that, he left Yu Xin and Duan Zifu behind without a second glance, making for the office door.

Chances were, Luo Shengsheng only popped back in to look up some materials on abdominal puncture—maybe to practice his technique or pull up an anatomical diagram.

Given the situation, Yu Xin realized she’d have to figure things out on her own.

But she was at a loss.

She couldn’t just drag the patient’s family in by force.

Maybe only Chief Luo could handle this.

“Wait—Chief Luo needs to do an abdominal puncture for a patient, right?”

Zhou Can called out to Luo Shengsheng.

“Zhou, do you need my help with something too?”

Luo Shengsheng paused, turning to face Zhou Can.

His attitude was much more polite than when dealing with Yu Xin or Duan Zifu.

“I’ve got some experience with punctures. How about I go along and help out?”

Zhou Can smiled, offering to lend a hand.

Normally he wouldn’t volunteer so quickly, but this time was for the sake of his fellow trainee, Yu Xin.

That elderly woman was impossible to persuade—only Chief Luo might manage it.

“This patient’s abdominal effusion is pretty severe, and the area’s right up against the thoracic cavity. That’s where the organs are packed in tight. Puncture’s risky business here.”

Luo Shengsheng clearly didn’t have much faith in Zhou Can’s puncture skills.

Sure, trainees have to master four major puncture techniques, but most fall flat in real-world practice.

Plenty of people go three years without ever getting truly good at it.

Chest, abdominal, lumbar, bone marrow puncture—not a single one is easy. The difficulty scares off most newbies.

But Zhou Can’s technique had already reached level five, two full ranks above a regular resident like Luo Shengsheng.

What felt impossible for Luo might well be a walk in the park for Zhou.

“No worries—I’ll go and observe at least. If I can’t help, at least I’ll get to learn something.”

With that Zhou Can followed Luo Shengsheng out.

They reached the ward, where an elderly woman lay in Bed 16, her abdomen swollen tight as a drum. Her body was little more than skin and bones, except for her belly, which was shockingly large.

Anyone clueless might even think she’d pulled off a medical miracle and gotten pregnant.

The trace of disinfectant was still visible on her abdomen. A nurse bustled at her bedside and the patient looked to be in real pain.

There were fresh wounds from earlier punctures, though at least the bleeding had stopped.

The puncture itself left only the smallest mark.

“Dr. Luo, do you think you could try the puncture again? The patient’s been complaining she can’t stand the discomfort.”

The nurse looked to Chief Luo for help.

Two family members hovered anxiously by the bed.

“Alright, no need to panic. The fluid has squeezed her organs out of place, so this one’s tough. I’ll do my best, but any doctor would get the same result here.”

Luo Shengsheng agreed, pulling on sterile gloves and lightly palpating the area on her abdomen again.

Meanwhile, Zhou Can studied her scans.

Not only was the fluid severe, it was dangerously close to the thoracic cavity. As Luo had said, several organs had been pushed out of line.

No wonder Luo Shengsheng called this one a tough case.

Still searching for a safe puncture spot, Luo Shengsheng moved his gloved hands about. Having read the scans and checked her in person, Zhou Can already had a game plan.

But now wasn’t the time to steal the spotlight.

A tree needs its bark, a person needs dignity.

You always have to protect someone else’s pride.

If you embarrass someone—even if you help them—they’ll only resent you.

Zhou Can waited for the right moment.

Finally, while the family watched with bated breath, Luo Shengsheng gave it another try. The needle went in and, success—abdominal fluid began to flow. He broke into a grin.

He thought he’d nailed it.

But like last time, just a tiny trickle came out before stopping.

Her belly was as high as a full-term pregnant woman’s, but they’d only drawn a few milliliters—nowhere near enough to help.

“Chief Luo, may I try? You can supervise while I operate.”

Zhou Can thought the timing was right.

Luo Shengsheng now looked thoroughly defeated—his only choice left was to call in a senior doctor.

If it were that easy, he’d have already called Dr. Chi for backup.

For a trainee or intern, it’s normal to ask a senior for help after failing. But for a veteran resident like Luo Shengsheng—almost a full attending—it was embarrassing to struggle with an abdominal puncture.

It’d make the senior doctors look down on him.

They’d start questioning his practical skills.

That would really hurt his reputation.

“Alright… but be careful and don’t rush it.”

After a couple seconds’ hesitation, Luo Shengsheng agreed.

He’d heard of Zhou Can’s feats in other departments. Everyone knew he was impressive—directors across several departments had taken a shine to him. By now, Zhou Can was a star trainee here.

When he rotated through Critical Care, the hospital had already pegged him as someone to groom.

After finishing his General Surgery rotation, his reputation had soared.

He’d gone from just another star trainee to being part of the hospital’s elite “Famous Doctor” program.

Back when he was in Surgery, Director Xie could still push Zhou Can down a bit. But now, unless Xie had lost his mind, he wouldn’t even dream of trying it.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to—it was that he couldn’t.

Going after Zhou Can now would be picking a fight with the hospital’s upper management. As department chief, Xie didn’t even outrank a vice-president.

If he really didn’t get it, he’d be replaced with the flick of a pen at a meeting.

That’s why Director Xie had been keeping his head down lately.

“Can’t you bring in a senior doctor with more experience? My mother’s already been jabbed twice with no success. Now you want a trainee to try? Are you just experimenting on her?”

One of the family members scowled, objecting.

Two failed attempts from Luo had them deeply unhappy.

Now letting someone even more junior try—did they think this was just practice on a living patient?

The family’s anger flared instantly.

“Dr. Zhou here is rotating through our department as a legitimate physician—not a trainee. He’s licensed and actually famous in surgery—better at this than me. That’s why I asked him to operate. As for him asking me to supervise—that’s just to give me face.”

Luo Shengsheng was good at handling difficult families.

In a few words, he soothed the family’s outrage.

“Dr. Zhou, you may proceed!”

By now, Luo Shengsheng was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He could only pray Zhou Can wouldn’t mess up.

Otherwise, he’d never be able to explain to the family.

Zhou Can nodded, unhurried and calm. He took the needle and plunged it into the preselected site.

Quick and decisive.

Luo Shengsheng’s heart just about leapt out of his chest.

It was terrifying to watch.

Was this even a puncture? It looked more like vaccinating cattle—brutal and fast.

This was a human patient!

And he was operating dangerously close to the thoracic cavity, packed with vital organs.

If there was liver or stomach bleeding, how would you pick up the pieces?

The family’s briefly relieved expressions were replaced with horror—their anger was rising again.

But before they could explode, the nurse shouted, delighted, “It’s out! The fluid’s flowing!”

Golden fluid spurted from the catheter—the puncture had worked.

It gushed out, completely different from Luo’s earlier attempts.

Both times before, Luo’s attempts had yielded just a slow trickle of fluid.

[Injection Technique EXP +1.]

[You’ve completed a high-difficulty abdominal puncture. Injection Technique EXP +100 awarded.]

The system never seemed stingy.

When it said 100 points, it meant 100—never a bit less.

“What… what kind of wizardry is that? Success in one go?”

Luo Shengsheng was stunned. Everything he’d learned before suddenly felt fake. Zhou Can’s bold style—upon reflection—was both efficient and impressive.

Was it possible the right way was actually to be as bold as Dr. Zhou?

Maybe he was being too cautious with his technique.

But as Luo calmed down and took a closer look, he got nervous again.

That puncture site—right where critical organs and major blood vessels intersected.

He’d considered going for that spot, but the risk had scared him off.

To attempt a puncture there—no matter how skillful—could injure organs or vessels.

How had Zhou Can managed it?

But the fluid was clear, with no blood at all—proof that not a single vessel or organ had been harmed.

The biggest nightmare was piercing through to a vessel—a spray of bright red blood.

If that happened, it was game over.

You’d have struck a major blood vessel.

That’s also why attending doctors never let trainees try high-risk procedures.

If something went wrong, even crying wouldn’t help.

“Is she really okay now?”

The family, overwhelmed, were at a loss for words.

After watching Luo’s failed attempts, they knew how tough the case was. Yet this young Dr. Zhou had resolved it in a single attempt—too fast for anyone to object.

He’d been so quick, no one even had time to object.

But he’d succeeded.

They started wondering if Luo’s earlier failures had been an act.

The family’s eyes on Zhou Can shifted from suspicion and anger to respect and gratitude.

To a family, whoever cures their loved one is an angel.

“I’ve never seen a puncture as smooth and effortless as what Dr. Zhou just did! That’s right up there with our chief physicians.”

Most of the nurses were young women.

This one looked about twenty-three or twenty-four—very young.

Impressed by Zhou Can’s skill, she couldn’t help looking at him with admiration.

Her smile warmed as she started a conversation.

“Heh, you flatter me! I’m nowhere close to a chief physician yet.”

Zhou Can’s Injection Technique might’ve reached attending level, but to reach chief, he’d need a staggering 100,000 EXP points. The climb was daunting.

He was still a long way off from the top.

Now that several of his medical skills were level five, gaining levels had become painfully slow.

That’s just how it goes.

Most doctors spend twenty or thirty years reaching chief physician level—if they’re the talented few.

Some, sadly, will spend a lifetime as just an attending.

“Just from the scans, it looks like the patient’s abdominal effusion won’t stop until the underlying issue is fixed. So it’s best to keep the drainage tube in. But be careful—once it stops draining, take it out immediately to avoid any infection.”

Zhou Can reminded the nurse.

When it came to patient care, the hospital never said only nurses could do it.

Doctors and nurses always worked together to manage the patient and get them healthy enough for discharge.

“Chief Luo, the puncture’s all done. But about the Bed 73 family—could I trouble you to step in and handle that?” Zhou Can asked Luo Shengsheng.