Chapter 333: Public Outcry and a Desperate Plea in the Pediatric Ward

The hospital definitely doesn’t want the family to keep making a scene. Finding a way to settle things quickly is always the go-to approach.

Zhou Can had done nothing wrong in this whole mess, so he remained calm and composed.

The era when waving a couple of banners and causing a ruckus in the outpatient hall could force a hospital to pay up is long gone.

It’s not just top-tier hospitals like Tuyu. Even county hospitals these days aren’t afraid of families making a commotion, as long as there’s no fault on their side. Especially now that the authorities are cracking down hard on professional medical troublemakers—hospitals are standing taller than ever.

Soon after, Zhou Can arrived at the pediatric outpatient corridor.

The moment he stepped around the corner from the elevator, he spotted a crowd gathered at one end of the hallway.

That spot was exactly where Clinic Room 17 was. No surprise—the troublemakers were right there. Onlookers love drama; the bigger the ruckus, the happier they are.

Tuyu Hospital’s security had already called over quite a few guards and were working hard to keep things under control.

“Please make way, everyone! Give us some space!”

Zhou Can pushed his way through the crowd.

“Dr. Zhou is here!”

Someone shouted, and instantly every patient and family member turned their attention to Zhou Can.

“That’s the doctor who saw the child that day. He looks so young!”

“That’s exactly why problems happen. I’m telling you, never let a young doctor treat you—always go for the older ones, can’t go wrong that way.”

“That poor kid—all purple like that, it’s terrifying! Did Dr. Zhou do that to him?”

“Of course Dr. Zhou messed up the treatment! Why else would the family be causing such a fuss?”

Gossip spread like wildfire.

The power of rumors hits as hard as a knife. You can drown just from the spit.

One word led to another, and the story got more twisted with every telling.

Zhou Can had only diagnosed the boy, but now he was suddenly accused of botching the treatment. A less steady doctor might explode from the pressure on the spot.

“That’s him! He was the doctor who saw us yesterday!”

As soon as the boy’s mother caught sight of Zhou Can, she grew visibly agitated.

The other three family members also stood up together, radiating an intimidating energy.

Zhou Can kept a straight face and walked right up to the family and the sick child, who was completely purple and hooked up to oxygen.

“So, why are you here today?”

His tone was a little chilly.

Even if the whole family had come to make trouble, he wasn’t about to back down.

“Dr. Zhou, it’s my fault for not listening to your diagnosis yesterday. My child suddenly lost consciousness today. We took him to the Provincial Children’s Hospital, and their diagnosis matched yours—it’s congenital heart disease. They even issued a critical illness notice. Please, I beg you, save my son!”

With tears streaming down her face, the strangely confident mother dropped to her knees right at Zhou Can’s feet.

“What on earth are you doing? I’m totally confused here!”

Zhou Can looked at the mother kneeling in front of him, genuinely at a loss.

Wasn’t she supposed to be here with the rest of the family to make trouble? Now things had gone off-script, and it was nothing like he’d imagined.

Acknowledging her mistake and publicly kneeling to beg him for help—this was way too fast a turnaround.

Even if the Provincial Children’s Hospital issued a critical notice, there was no need to come back begging a young doctor like him.

She probably had some mental issues—this wasn’t normal logic.

The crowd of bystanders was thrown into an uproar.

They’d all thought Zhou Can had made a mistake treating the child, but now it was clear—the mother ignored Zhou Can’s advice.

“See? The doctors at Tuyu Hospital are actually really good!”

“This Dr. Zhou seems capable, huh!”

“Does the pediatrics department here really have a doctor like him? I didn’t see him on the sign-in sheet!”

“Sure! That’s Dr. Zhou’s clinic number, see? But he only does clinic hours on Wednesdays.”

“Only one clinic day a week? That’s not much!”

The onlookers’ opinions of Zhou Can did a complete 180. That’s public opinion for you—one minute they’re condemning him, the next they’re singing his praises.

Public opinion is as fickle as the wind.

Some say you can be good your whole life but make one mistake and you’re branded a villain. Others do wrong their whole life but one good deed, and they’re hailed as returning to the right path.

“Stand up first—talk to me after you get up!”

Zhou Can didn’t feel right helping her up himself, so he just made a gesture as if to support her.

“Come on, help her up!”

He called to the other family members.

But the family refused to help. They needed Zhou Can to agree to save the child right here.

“If you won’t save our child, Dr. Zhou, then we’ll kneel with her too.” The child’s father-in-law, who looked to be over sixty, his hair snowy white, spoke up.

Having an elderly man kneel to him in public was way too much for Zhou Can.

Even though he suspected they were doing this on purpose, trying to pressure him to say yes, he couldn’t risk ignoring it.

“Our Dr. Zhou will definitely do his best to treat your child, but you can’t force him to promise a cure in front of everyone. Doctors are only human, not miracle workers. Please get up so he can examine the child and we can start treatment. Every moment counts, and kneeling will only waste precious time!”

At that moment, triage nurse Zhou Yanqing stepped forward to help out.

With her coaxing, the child’s mother finally agreed to stand up.

Zhou Can let out a small sigh of relief.

He’d thought he’d have to argue with the family, but instead everything turned unpredictable—and now his only priority was to save the child.

Still, with a family like this, he knew he had to be extra cautious.

It’s always the ones who kneel easily whose support is worth the least. Zhou Can had learned this during his rotations in other departments.

If the patient’s treatment goes well, things stay peaceful. But if the patient worsens or dies, the family can turn against you in an instant.

“Director Dai, have you checked the child’s condition?”

Zhou Can turned to Director Dai, the senior-most doctor present.

Despite the commotion, only Director Dai was handling the scene. The other chief physicians were hiding, wary of trouble.

People always gravitate toward safety.

Director Dai had probably just been unlucky, unable to avoid the situation—or maybe it was simply her shift today.

“I’ve checked, and the situation is very bad. The child’s lung function is extremely poor. I can’t even say if he’d make it off the operating table. On top of that, the surgery is extremely complex and fraught with risk.”

Director Dai looked grim, clearly reluctant to take on this hot potato.

“Why aren’t you having him treated at the Provincial Children’s Hospital? Their skills are top-notch—wouldn’t surgery there make more sense?”

Zhou Can asked the family.

“The specialist at the Provincial Children’s Hospital told us straight up, even with surgery it’ll be a close call—the risks are sky-high. They told us to prepare for the worst. But yesterday when I brought my son to see you, Dr. Zhou, you didn’t seem worried. I figured you must be more confident, so we discussed it as a family and decided to come back and ask for your help.”

Turns out, the mother wasn’t irrational—her reasoning was clear.

At least she had her wits about her.

She must have weighed all the options and figured the chances at Tuyu Hospital were better, so they brought the child back.

Zhou Can glanced meaningfully at Director Dai.

Looks like Director Dai could’ve handled things but chose to drag Zhou Can in, maybe to dodge responsibility. A bit of slyness there.

Of course, Zhou Can saw through it but kept silent, now aware of Director Dai’s true character.

Not that Director Dai was a bad person, but self-interest ruled the day.

“Dr. Zhou, we didn’t know much about you before. It was my father who saw you on the news. After asking around, we learned you’re young but extremely skilled. Please, you must help my son—it took three generations to have him.”

The child’s father joined in, adding to their pleas.

Being featured on TV news meant a lot more than Zhou Can had imagined—it carried serious clout.

The influence was enormous.

He finally understood why news programs and personalities were vetted so strictly.

Without strict supervision, it’s all too easy to cause harm or even help criminals get away with things.

“After your child lost consciousness, what treatment did he receive at the Provincial Children’s Hospital?”

Zhou Can leaned in to examine the boy lying on the bed.

Even with oxygen support through one nostril, the boy’s skin was still a deep, frightening purple.

Especially his face—it looked like someone had strangled him for several minutes, on the verge of suffocating.

“They only did a pulmonary artery angiogram and put him on oxygen.”

Since the family had brought him to the Provincial Children’s Hospital, all the tests done at Tuyu Hospital would be useful for reference.

The attending doctor there must have reviewed his medical history.

The pulmonary artery angiogram was done to clarify the blood vessel situation and prepare for further treatment.

Zhou Can took the angiogram report and read it carefully.

He realized the Provincial Children’s Hospital had performed an aortic angiogram and, through a still-open arterial duct, also did a pulmonary angiogram.

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The results: the diameters of the left and right pulmonary arteries at the lung hilum were 7mm and 9mm, the descending aorta at the level of the diaphragm was 9mm, and the mean pulmonary arterial pressure measured by cardiac catheter was 1.9 kPa.

After reviewing both the aortic and pulmonary artery angiograms, Zhou Can started considering possible surgical plans.

He was still just a resident, even with clinic privileges now, and a risky congenital heart surgery like this was way above his pay grade.

A case like this needed a chief physician to take charge.

Not to mention, this surgery was already classified as a top-level, grade-four operation.

And with the boy’s condition so critical, establishing extracorporeal circulation and then performing a total cavopulmonary connection had to happen right away.

Thankfully, Zhou Can had rotated through cardiothoracic surgery for several months and taken part in numerous major operations, so his diagnostic thinking was pretty solid.

“Director Dai, I think you’ll need to admit this patient yourself.”

Zhou Can was straightforward—no beating around the bush.

He knew Director Dai could be slippery, so he made sure to leave her no room to back out.

“I’m not the best at treating congenital heart disease. You’d better report this straight to Director Tang—for something this serious, you need a doctor who specializes in it.”

The older, the wiser.

Director Dai deflected the responsibility masterfully.

And left no room for criticism.

“Don’t worry. I’ll call Director Tang about this right away. The child looks scary, but in the short term he shouldn’t be in immediate danger. He definitely needs to stay in the hospital, though, just in case.”

Zhou Can added one final reminder.

After all, he was worried this oddly confident mother might take her child home again.

Seeing the whole family so anxious, Zhou Can quickly phoned Director Tang.

He pulled out his phone and moved to the window next to the elevator shaft, dialing Director Tang.

“Director Tang, I have a patient situation to report!”

“Are you still on pediatric duty today?”

Director Tang Fei sounded surprised.

“I’ve already gone back to the gastroenterology department. But yesterday I saw a four-year-old boy with full-body cyanosis…” Zhou Can gave a brief rundown of the situation.

“Which chief physicians are on the scene?”

Tang Fei was clearly ready to delegate.

“Director Dai is here, but she says she’s not skilled with congenital heart cases. We need a specialist chief physician for this.” Zhou Can really wasn’t trying to throw Director Dai under the bus.

He was just stating the facts.

“Understood. Do your best to keep the family calm. I’ll see if I can send a chief physician over right away,” Tang Fei said and hung up.

Zhou Can waited quietly.

He didn’t waste the time—instead he pored over the child’s test results.

Given how complicated the boy’s heart disease was, and how difficult the surgery would be, Zhou Can thought a two-stage operation would be safer.

Gradually, the surgical plan took shape in his mind, becoming clearer with each detail.

“Who’s Dr. Zhou Can?”

“That’s me!”

Zhou Can looked up and saw a man in his fifties stride toward him—long face, horse-like features, thin build.

Despite his plain looks, the man’s eyes were clear and sharp, and he radiated confidence.

“I’m Zhuang Sheng, chief physician of Neonatology. Director Tang Fei sent me over for this case. I’ve heard a lot about you, Dr. Zhou, and in person, you’re even more handsome than I expected!”

The atmosphere had been tense and serious, but Zhuang’s sudden compliment instantly lightened the mood.

The tension in the room lifted in a flash.

“Ha, nice to meet you!”

Zhou Can smiled and shook his hand.

Somehow, hearing a chief physician say he’d heard of him made Zhou Can feel a little flattered.

It definitely made him happy.

“Now that the specialist’s here, I can finally breathe easier. Here are all the test results—please, take a look and let us know what you think.” Zhou Can handed over the reports.

The patient’s condition needed no explanation—it was plain for all to see.

As the chief physician of neonatology, Dr. Zhuang was no stranger to a wide range of newborn illnesses. Congenital heart disease might be rare for most people, but not for Tuyu Hospital’s neonatology department.

They saw cases like this all the time.

After reviewing the reports carefully and checking the child himself, Dr. Zhuang nodded.

“All the necessary tests are already done, so we don’t need to waste time with more screenings. That’ll give us the best chance to start treatment as soon as possible.”

He looked up at those gathered nearby. “Which of you are the child’s family?”

“That’s us—all of us!”

All four family members hustled over, voices overlapping as they answered.

“Wow, whole clan turned out today—what a crowd! People say kids are the emperors at home, and you all sure set the standard. Looks like everything you do is for your child.”

Dr. Zhuang’s kind words immediately won the family’s goodwill.