Chapter 430: The Weight of Responsibility

She stared at Zhou Can with those striking, captivating eyes, her chin lifted as she demanded an answer.

“But you had time to text me, didn’t you?”

“Uh…”

Zhou Can was instantly at a loss for words.

He’d been the one to reach out to her for help with that poor girl in the first place.

Now he felt like he’d taken what he needed and then conveniently forgotten all about it.

“I went out of my way to gather resources for that girl. In a few days I might even have to go back to her hometown with her to seek the death compensation her father left behind. It’s not just difficult, it’s downright dangerous. Old Qin is just a photographer, he can’t handle those rough folks in the mountains. Would you come with me?”

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Mu Qing looked at him and asked.

“No way. I don’t have the time.”

Zhou Can refused without hesitation.

What a joke. He was just a doctor, not some savior.

He’d only agreed to help the girl as far as his abilities allowed.

Taking time off to travel to her hometown and demand her father’s death benefits? Mu Qing was really pushing it.

“I knew you wouldn’t agree. Then just cooperate with my interview honestly.”

She was clearly playing hardball, starting high and bargaining down.

“Make a list of your questions. I’ll set aside some time to answer them for you later.”

Zhou Can quietly guessed that the hospital’s publicity department must have struck some kind of deal with her.

They probably wanted her help to write up this complicated emergency case, using it to promote the department. In return, Mu Qing would get plenty of traffic for her quality news pieces.

It was a win-win for both sides.

As for Mu Qing helping that vulnerable girl, it was out of kindness—and probably for Zhou Can’s sake as well.

No matter how you looked at it, Zhou Can owed her a favor.

He was very clear about that in his heart.

“Hey, can’t you be a little more considerate? I put in a ton of effort for that girl—all because of you! These days, I bring Old Qin to the wards whenever I have time, just to get you more publicity. But you act all distant and business-like. Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

She looked so aggrieved it was honestly heartbreaking.

Zhou Can never shied away from a fight. Difficult families, knife-wielding thugs—he could handle them all. But girls’ tears and gentle words? That’s where he always faltered.

“I can buy dinner for you and Old Qin, but only in the evening. I really can’t spare time during the day. You pick the place, a five-star hotel is fine, and you can order whatever you want. If you have interview questions, just ask me at the table.”

Left without a choice, Zhou Can compromised again.

He couldn’t just ignore her after all she’d done.

“That’s more like it. At least you’ve got some conscience! Once this patient’s mostly recovered, I’ll set something up. That girl’s situation should be taken care of by then too.”

A bright smile broke across her face.

Zhou Can’s attitude left her feeling pleased and satisfied.

With that conversation finished, Zhou Can headed straight to the operating room.

Since helping out Cardiothoracic Surgery with difficult level-three and level-four surgeries lately, he’d started to realize his own surgical skills needed work. There was plenty of room to improve.

Now that the Emergency Department’s operating room was upgraded, he could start handling more complex level-three surgeries.

When the equipment is in place but the surgeon can’t keep up, missing out on those surgeries would be just sad.

So his motivation stayed sky-high.

In surgery, making the leap from level five to level six was seriously hard.

It really wasn’t easy to rack up a hundred thousand experience points.

Zhou Can was performing surgery in the operating room—it was almost ten in the morning—when Dr. Xu came in and said he’d need to pause. There was a new emergency patient outside, and the admitting doctor couldn’t identify the illness, so they needed Zhou Can’s help.

Usually, Zhou Can didn’t get interrupted while operating.

Things seemed really urgent this time, or they wouldn’t have called him in.

When Zhou Can arrived, Director Lou and Dr. Ai Li were both already there. Deputy Director Han, after his injury and severe arm fracture last time—though he’d had surgery with Zhou Can’s help—still needed a long time to recover.

It’d take even longer for him to get back to normal.

They say it takes a hundred days for bones to heal, but that’s for the young.

Older people in poor shape might not fully recover even after six months, never mind a hundred days.

“Zhou, here’s the female patient. She was brought in by ambulance. Main complaints: cough, chest tightness, and fatigue. She thought it was just a cold and bought meds at the pharmacy herself. Four days went by, she didn’t get better—things actually got worse. She even went to a local clinic for an IV, but this morning her roommate found her passed out and called for emergency help. The standard district hospital didn’t dare take her. So they brought her straight here. Dr. Ai Li and I took a look—could be myocarditis, but it’s only a guess for now.”

Director Lou filled Zhou Can in on the patient’s situation as soon as he arrived.

“Alright, let me take a look.”

Zhou Can didn’t bother with pleasantries—Director Lou would never call him lightly.

If he was here, it meant they genuinely needed his help.

He noticed the girl’s face and lips looked bluish-purple. He took her hand—the fingertips and nails were the same, and her skin was icy cold. She was already getting pure oxygen, yet her blood oxygen was still terrible.

He touched her forehead with the back of his hand.

No sign of a fever.

“Any tests done yet?”

“No. Xiaojing and I just graduated not long ago, we’re both interning at a company, so we have to rent. She got sick this time and thought going to a big hospital would cost too much, so she didn’t dare go.”

The reply came not from family, but from the patient’s roommate.

Maybe they were still classmates too.

“Have her family arrived? Her situation is very dangerous—a lot of the emergency procedures require a close family member’s signature.”

Zhou Can pressed on.

“We’ve already called Xiaojing’s mom. She’s on her way, but she’s from another city. It might take seven or eight hours—maybe longer—to get here.”

Zhou Can nodded and let it go.

He turned to Director Lou.

“Her symptoms don’t really fit myocarditis. It’s more likely a severe lung issue. I recommend we issue a critical illness notice and move her to the resuscitation room for intubation. Once her oxygen improves a bit, we can do more tests. Let’s get Pulmonary and Cardiology here for a consult to be safe.”

He delivered his recommendation in a serious tone.

The girl’s condition was even more dangerous than he’d thought.

Pure oxygen alone probably wouldn’t keep her alive until her family arrived.

That was his call.

“Intubation is invasive. We’ll call her family and have her roommate sign for now. The Emergency side will handle the paperwork with the Medical Department.”

Director Lou clearly took Zhou Can’s advice very seriously.

Realizing how critical it was, she made her decision right there—prepare the transfer to the resuscitation room, and call both Pulmonary and Cardiology for a joint consult.

The roommate—just a twenty-something girl—was likely facing this for the first time, hands trembling, her face pale with fear.

Once she heard what the doctors had decided, she quickly dialed the patient’s mother again.

She explained the hospital’s plan for emergency treatment.

But the family wasn’t on board.

“Doctors, I spoke to her mom again. She doesn’t agree to the intubation.”

“Hand me the phone. I’ll explain.”

Director Lou was every bit the responsible leader when it came to saving a life—even more anxious than the girl’s parents.

She was pushing harder for the girl’s rescue than the family ever did.

Even after a long, difficult call, the girl’s mother refused the hospital’s treatment plan.

Just getting the mother to understand wasted nearly thirty minutes. Watching from the side, Zhou Can wanted to scream.

What kind of mother was this?

Her daughter was on death’s door, and she still stubbornly refused lifesaving intubation. He could tell the mother didn’t trust the hospital at all—believing it was just a cold, and accusing them of over-treating by declaring it critical and pushing for intubation.

That mother was definitely aware of her daughter’s condition from start to finish.

He was just floored—she hadn’t urged her daughter to get prompt treatment at a major hospital. Instead, after IV fluids at a small clinic, she let her kid fight through it alone in a rented apartment.

Ignorance really could be deadly.

These days, thanks to the flood of Putian-style hospitals and online health consultations, people were getting hurt all the time.

Those so-called “experts” might just be recent med school grads—maybe not even with proper certificates. International “hospital”? The business license could even be photoshopped.

Those folks depend on search ranking and all kinds of tactics to steer patients their way, then set up in-person appointments.

Once the patient shows up, that’s when the money traps really start.

If you’re not a pro, you can’t see through their game. The place looks legit, staff seem enthusiastic—the hospital seems great on the surface.

But a hospital isn’t a service business at heart.

Doctors and nurses aren’t there to wait on you, either.

Some patients complain that doctors are unfriendly or cold—like they’re checking into a hotel instead of a hospital.

Medical care, in a way, is like a resource.

It’s a rare resource that can save your life at the very worst moment.

Yet some hospitals, chasing profits, train staff to always smile and treat patients like five-star guests. It’s almost laughable—a sad joke for our times.

Right then, the patient suddenly started having convulsions, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Director Lou, at this point even intubation might not help anymore.”

Watching, Zhou Can felt his heart was bleeding.

A young life—barely in her twenties—gone just like that.

“Ah…”

Director Lou turned, eyes on the patient—her face flushing with anger.

“We’re sorry, but because you trusted your own judgment, online experts, and DIY medical advice, your daughter lost her window for rescue. We’ll do our best, but that’s all we can do now.”

Director Lou had a lot of patience.

If it were Zhou Can, he’d have verbally torn that mother to shreds.

Unbelievable.

“Just proceed with the resuscitation.”

Director Lou didn’t bring up intubation again.

Zhou Can was equally frustrated and glum.

“Zhou, go back to the operating room and keep working.”

Director Lou waved him away, exhausted.

“I seriously think her lungs are the problem. If only we’d had more tests, we could’ve known if it was pulmonary embolism—then maybe thrombolysis would have had a shot. Now it’s just up to fate. It’s terrible, this girl had to be stuck with a mom like that!”

Zhou Can let out a long, heavy sigh.

This wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed something like this.

But every time, it hit him hard.

Doctors have limits. No matter how good you are, if patients or their families won’t cooperate or trust your expertise, all you can do is worry.

Like in the ICU—sometimes patients have a real shot at recovery, but the family is so afraid of losing money that they insist on giving up. If they want the tube pulled, then out it comes.

When you get sick, you have to hope for a good doctor and trustworthy family or loved ones.

For some major surgeries, if the family won’t sign, all the hospital can do is try to convince them. There’s nothing else.

Back in the operating room, Zhou Can still felt gloomy.

But it didn’t dampen his passion for operating—he quickly snapped back and focused on the next surgery.

After this tragedy, he cherished every surgery even more.

After all, every procedure relied on the trust of the patient and their family.

……

At lunch, Zhou Can got word—the girl had died despite all the ‘resuscitation’ efforts.

He wasn’t surprised in the least.

When he saw her seize and her eyes roll back, he knew she’d missed her last chance.

Even emergency intubation wouldn’t guarantee her survival.

But at least she would have had a shot.

“Dr. Zhou, have you seen this news? The Cardiothoracic Surgery at Third Hospital just completed another ultra-complex heart operation. The patient was a big mogul from Magic City. Four hours after surgery, he was back at work. That’s almost unbelievable!”

Qiao Yu could tell Zhou Can was in a bad mood.

She deliberately brought up some industry news to distract him.

“Yeah, I saw that piece. It checks out. The Japanese heart surgeon at Third Hospital is really skilled. He’s doing minimally invasive, endoscopic surgery, and his surgical team just expanded. I heard one of our own top domestic heart surgeons even agreed to serve as his assistant.”

Zhou Can was always busy, but it didn’t mean he lived in a bubble, ignoring everything outside.

He regularly kept up with the latest in the industry.

As for that famous domestic heart surgeon who became the Japanese expert’s assistant, Zhou Can had no comment.

There’s no need to see it as betrayal or treason.

Just take it for what it is.

Plenty more people want to learn from that Japanese surgeon—not just the top experts.