Chapter 417: ER Brawl

After treating this case of leg gangrene Zhou Can gained a wealth of invaluable experience—especially new insights and improvements in his debridement technique.

Once the patient had been sent out, Ma Xiaolan still hadn’t brought the next surgical patient into the room.

Zhou Can frowned. Time was precious. What was taking so long to bring in the next case?

Just as he was about to ask Luo Shishen to go check, Ma Xiaolan burst back in, panic etched across her face.

“It’s bad—there’s a fight outside!”

“Who’s fighting?”

Zhou Can pressed for details.

“A whole group of family members. They’ve already injured several doctors and nurses. It’s chaos out there…”

She patted her chest lightly, still looking shaken.

Family members causing trouble and attacking staff isn’t exactly rare in hospitals—it basically happens all the time.

Some especially difficult families spit all kinds of abuse at medical staff and sometimes even start swinging. And after it’s done, they demand compensation.

Plenty of doctors get driven to the brink by unfair treatment. Some don’t make it.

“I’m going out there!”

Zhou Can considered the ER his home. Hearing several fellow doctors and nurses had been hurt, there was no way he’d just stand by.

He glanced out at the main surgery area but didn’t see Dr. Xu—probably already outside investigating.

The ER team was always united. Whenever trouble broke out, everyone took a stand together. Not like in some cold-blooded departments, where a doctor could get beaten with no one even bothering to help.

“Dr. Zhou is so cool! That’s what a real man looks like!”

Ma Xiaolan’s face lit up, her earlier fright totally forgotten as she swooned.

“I’m heading out too!”

Luo Shishen looked a bit embarrassed. If he just hid out in the OR now, how’d he ever face his female coworkers again?

Compared to Zhou Can’s quick decisive steps, Luo was definitely reluctant about going out.

He dragged his feet.

Watching his timid reaction, Qiao Yu and Ma Xiaolan couldn’t help but feel a little disdainful.

“Qiao Yu, should we go check too? What if Dr. Zhou gets hurt?” Ma Xiaolan had started to enjoy working in the OR over time.

She was also really looking forward to this month’s paycheck.

With so many surgeries—sometimes even overtime—there was bound to be a nice bonus.

If Zhou Can got injured, she’d probably be reassigned somewhere last minute.

“Don’t worry. Dr. Zhou’s not afraid of troublemakers like that! Let’s use this chance to tidy up the OR and the supply cabinet. That way he can get right back to work as soon as he returns.”

Qiao Yu had seen first-hand just how strong Zhou Can was.

Just the other night on their way back to the dorm, a crazed patient who’d been stalking her tried to attack with a knife. Zhou Can subdued him in seconds. To Qiao Yu, Zhou Can was nothing short of a dream man.

Sure enough, twenty-some minutes later, Zhou Can returned—completely unscathed.

“Dr. Zhou, what happened out there? Are you alright?”

Ma Xiaolan had a real knack for office survival.

She rushed up to greet Zhou Can, her voice full of concern.

To be blunt, she was just buttering up the boss.

Qiao Yu was much more reserved. She stood by the operating table, just watching him with concerned eyes.

“Security’s here, and the local police responded quickly too. The main attackers have been taken away. But our ER still has four doctors and three nurses injured—Deputy Director Han even has a broken arm. That group really went too far—totally lawless.”

Zhou Can addressed both Ma Xiaolan and Qiao Yu.

“When I peeked out before, it was terrifying. They chased a nurse right down the hallway outside the OR. Those people were vicious, kicking the nurse while she was down.”

Just remembering the scene made Ma Xiaolan tremble.

“The doctor-patient relationship just keeps getting tenser. There’s no safety for us in this environment.” Qiao Yu felt the same way.

“What started the fight, anyway?”

Ma Xiaolan couldn’t help but ask.

“A critical patient was brought in by family. They only mentioned a mild fever. The attending doctor followed protocol—ordered tests and had the patient’s family take him for scans. On the way, the elderly man accidentally fell from the trolley and immediately went downhill. Medical staff tried to resuscitate him, but his condition was already bad, and after the fall, his pupils dilated and lost light reflex fast. The doctor pronounced clinical death. But the family blamed the hospital for it and demanded answers…”

Zhou Can had run into all kinds of similar situations during his career.

Tuyu was a provincial-level major hospital, so things were still relatively decent.

At least there wasn’t some big brawl every few days or minor ones every single day.

Small hospitals don’t have much backing and aren’t tight with the local police, so response can be slow. Security is often just people with connections—not much help if real trouble kicks off.

You can imagine how hard it is for them to handle major incidents.

Big hospitals don’t have those problems. If troublemakers cross the line, the police will show up and deal with it.

Just like yesterday, when people made a scene at Cardiothoracic Surgery—they got nowhere.

Director Xueyan made it through unharmed too.

“Security seems to have it out for the ER. They showed up but didn’t do anything. I actually saw two security guards just standing there while a nurse got chased and beaten.”

Ma Xiaolan sounded pretty angry about it.

Misery loves company.

What happened to that nurse could easily happen to her next time.

Everyone knows the ER is at the bottom of the hospital hierarchy.

Security’s poor attitude toward ER staff wasn’t unusual.

“What’s all this chatter? Get back to work!”

Dr. Xu walked in, face stern.

He hadn’t been hurt.

At least, there were no visible injuries.

“I’ll go bring in the next surgical patient!”

Only after hearing the coast was clear did Ma Xiaolan dare go to the door to receive the patient.

“I already told Luo Shishen when I came in. He’ll bring the new patient as soon as he changes.”

You had to line up to change back into scrubs.

Luo Shishen had the lowest rank, so naturally he went last.

“Zhou, next time there’s a scene like this, even if you can handle yourself, do your best to stay calm. People daring to make a fuss in a hospital are usually either desperate or have some backing. Our priority is to protect our own. If you end up hurting someone, it’s all too easy to get dragged into bigger trouble.”

Dr. Xu’s face was grave as he spoke to Zhou Can.

Ma Xiaolan listened, surprised. Had Dr. Zhou really hurt one of those people?

Zhou Can looked so scholarly—not exactly built like a brawler. She had no idea how formidable he really was.

“Got it! I just lost my temper because I saw someone about to smash a chair over you!”

To Zhou Can, Dr. Xu was one of his most respected mentors.

If someone dared lay a hand on Dr. Xu, he’d never sit still.

He’d charged in and kicked a burly middle-aged man several meters across the room.

“Back to work!”

Dr. Xu didn’t say more.

A moment later, Luo Shishen brought in a new patient.

Everyone got busy.

Ma Xiaolan and Qiao Yu noticed something funny—whenever Luo Shishen looked at Zhou Can, his expression was as if staring at a legendary war god.

The two secretly guessed that, faced with vicious troublemakers, Zhou Can was probably even tougher than the aggressors.

…

A little after six in the evening, Zhou Can’s group clocked out.

There were no more surgical cases waiting outside.

With several ER doctors and nurses injured, there was a staffing shortage. The higher-ups had to call in help from other departments.

Two of the ER admissions windows were now manned by doctors from elsewhere, so naturally, fewer patients made it to surgery.

After work, stepping out of the OR, Zhou Can spotted Ye Tingting bringing IV saline from the treatment room to the infusion area.

“Ting-jie, you’re walking like you’ve got wings today!”

Zhou Can called out to her.

“Wouldn’t you? Three nurses are down, and the workload’s soared for the nurse station.”

Ye Tingting looked utterly exasperated.

There was even a bit of indignation in her voice.

“Those attackers were scum. They should be prosecuted and thrown in jail,” Zhou Can said, though deep down he knew those people would probably get off quickly.

Some might even be released the same day after questioning.

These days, there’s barely any cost to causing chaos in a hospital.

That’s how the plague of medical extortionists keeps growing. The worst part is the organized gangs behind it—so-called ‘medical troublemaker experts’ who pull the strings.

They won’t stop until the hospital pays up.

Most of the money ends up in the pockets of these masterminds.

These aren’t lone grifters—they’ve got entire teams, including legal experts to help skirt the law.

They’re a cancer on the medical world.

What’s worse, hospital execs and the authorities favor whoever kicks up the biggest fuss.

When medical disputes happen, the usual response is mediation, payouts, apologies, and settlements.

After all, compensation is all the troublemakers want.

Leadership just wants stability, the troublemakers want money—so both sides get what they want. The only losers are doctors and nurses on the front lines.

Some nurses get punished even when everyone knows it’s the family or the patient at fault.

But when complaints roll in, the hospital still makes nurses apologize and docks the wages of the doctors and nurses involved.

Every complaint means losing fifty yuan. Doing an overnight shift, which according to regulations should net fifty yuan, might actually end up being just thirty if you’re lucky.

Take away fifty yuan for a complaint, and that wipes out two nights’ overtime pay for a doctor or nurse.

Who wouldn’t feel cheated?

After feeling wronged, all that’s left is bitterness—and eventually, resignation letters.

“That’s enough complaints—I’ve got to get these IVs to my patients. My legs are about to cramp from exhaustion. I hate those attackers!”

Ye Tingting grumbled.

“Hey, wait! Isn’t Deputy Director Han pretty badly hurt? Where is he being treated?”

Zhou Can wanted to check in on him.

He got along pretty well with Han Changqing, and after an injury like that it was good to drop by and show support.

When Zhou Can’s uncle was hospitalized, Deputy Director Han had helped out too.

You have to return favors—relationships are built on mutual support.

You scratch my back, I scratch yours—that’s how friendships last.

“Director Han went over to Orthopedics. His arm’s broken—pretty bad.” After speaking, Ye Tingting leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “I heard Director Lou went to the leadership about it.”

“Alright, I’ll let you get back to work!”

Zhou Can nodded.

It was no surprise that Director Lou went to complain to the hospital top brass.

With ER performance high last month and steady this month, he had plenty of leverage.

It’s like they say—the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Director Lou would make sure to fight for some perks from the higher-ups.

If he could get approval for a dedicated laminar flow OR, that would be a big win.

As for filing a complaint about Security’s inaction—it probably wouldn’t go anywhere.

Security is packed with people protected by relationships, and hospital leadership rarely takes them on—unless there’s a truly major failure and Director Zhu is furious enough to spark a shake-up.

In most cases, minor incidents won’t put a dent in Security’s firmly entrenched position.

Once Zhou Can learned where Deputy Director Han was, he finished up his own work, checked the ER inpatient wards, bought some fruit, and headed straight for Orthopedics.

He knew almost every surgical department in Tuyu Hospital.

He’d spent three months in Orthopedics.

And two months in the Inpatient Unit.

After all that time away, he wasn’t sure if anyone would still recognize him.

“Hey, keeping busy?”

Zhou Can called to a nurse at the station with a friendly smile.

The nurse looked up from her charting, a hint of confusion on her face, like his handsome face seemed familiar. After a few seconds, her eyes lit up in recognition and a big smile spread across her face.

“Dr. Zhou! It’s been ages since I last saw you! Did you finish your residency?”

“You remember me! Yeah, I finished a while back—now I’m working in the ER. I wanted to check on a patient—Han Changqing. He’s got a broken arm and should be admitted here, right?”

Zhou Can thoroughly enjoyed being remembered after more than two years apart.

“You’re asking the right person! He’s in bed 57, just over there.”

“Thanks a lot!”

Even after more than two years, Zhou Can noticed Orthopedics hadn’t changed much—pretty much the same as he remembered.

He found the ward easily and spotted Deputy Director Han sitting on bed 57.

Only a frail older woman sat beside him, quietly taking care of him.

That must have been his wife.

Zhou Can walked over.

“Director Han, how’s your injury?”

He called out as he approached.

“Hey, Dr. Zhou! What brings you here? Nothing serious, just a broken right arm.”

Deputy Director Han couldn’t have had worse luck today.

He’d been on shift when the fight broke out. As the department head, he’d rushed out to intervene, only to be attacked by the rampaging family members.