Chapter 592: When an Overprotective Mother Endangers Her Child

With Dr. Tang Fei’s orders, the department’s specialists had no choice but to give their full cooperation.

Great leaders always came with an innate charisma and an unmatched ability to rally those around them.

Even knowing that Dr. Tang Fei had taken on a real hot potato, everyone still rushed to the hospital at the first sign, ready to dig in for a tough fight.

After finishing up with his last patient, Zhou Can prepared to check in again on the critically ill child who’d nearly lost his life thanks to his mother’s misguided efforts.

Though a series of emergency measures had temporarily stabilized the child’s vital signs, the risk of death still hovered close.

Just as Zhou Can stepped out of the clinic, his phone buzzed. Dr. Tang Fei was calling.

She told him not to clock out just yet—a severely ill child coughing up blood would be arriving soon.

In the world of pediatrics, Zhou Can was the go-to problem solver for difficult and mysterious cases. He excelled at diagnosing rare illnesses, handling critical emergencies, performing most surgeries and especially those technically demanding operations in cardiothoracic surgery.

You could say that having Zhou Can on the team was Dr. Tang Fei’s biggest source of confidence in taking on this mess.

Dr. Tang Fei had spoken—there was no way Zhou Can would refuse.

With the incoming emergency patient not yet here, Zhou Can decided to grab a quick bite and then check in on the recently rescued child in the ward.

He wolfed down two pieces of bread and drank a glass of milk in record time.

At least his painfully empty stomach felt halfway human again.

He hurried to the ward. Even down the hallway, he heard the nurse explaining things to the child’s mother.

“Is there a problem?”

Zhou Can stepped up to the bedside, his tone still gentle.

Truth be told, he had no patience for mothers who acted like this.

No matter how much they loved their children, doubting every action of the medical staff or even secretly interfering could only be called foolish.

“Dr. Zhou, you’re just in time. My son has a high fever—41 degrees! Why won’t you give him medication to bring the fever down? Instead, you’re using all these antivirals, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and sedatives?”

The boy’s mother was clearly stopping the nurse from administering medication.

Zhou Can noticed the child’s face turning cyanotic again, breathing abnormally fast.

Examining closer, he saw the child’s shirt had three buttons undone, the smell of alcohol hung in the air, and a bottle—likely full of alcohol—sat by the bed. The mother clutched a damp towel in her hand.

“Did you just use a wet towel to lower your child’s temperature?”

Instead of answering, Zhou Can fired the question right back.

“Yes! The nurse and the attending doctor refused to give my son any fever meds, saying they had to follow standard procedure. But I’ve heard lots of experts say a child’s fever over 39.5 can damage the brain and push the body into organ failure. They recommend using ice, alcohol or wet towels under the armpits, neck and groin for physical cooling. And they say physical cooling doesn’t have any side effects—it’s even safer than meds…”

The mother rattled off her supposed expertise, sounding even more ‘professional’ than Zhou Can.

“Don’t use any medication just yet. Quickly check the child’s heart rate, breathing, and measure his blood oxygen.”

In practice, measuring oxygen saturation levels is easiest with a fingertip monitor.

Just clamp it on and the reading would show up.

These readings tended to be pretty accurate.

“Heart rate: 195 beats per minute. Breathing: 61 breaths per minute. Oxygen saturation: 91 percent.”

The nurse finished the checks and reported to Zhou Can.

“Your child’s life is in danger!”

Zhou Can looked straight at the family, his voice deadly serious.

“What? But I thought you said after resuscitation he was stable?” The mother panicked instantly.

“That’s true. After rescue, your child’s vital signs were hanging on, but then you used alcohol to cool him down. Because he’s still so young, his skin absorbs things fast, so now he’s showing signs of alcohol poisoning. And you interfered with our nurse’s treatment, hitting him with a double whammy. Maybe it’s best if you take him to those experts for care. We honestly can’t do anything more here.”

Zhou Can could barely stop himself from lashing out at the woman.

But he kept his frustration in check.

You just couldn’t afford to push doctor-patient tensions any higher.

The mother’s face went pale with panic. “What do I do? All the experts said alcohol works faster than water—how could my child end up poisoned?”

“You should start transfer procedures right away. I’ll help you myself.”

Zhou Can spoke with a flat, emotionless face.

The nurse said nothing, but her relieved expression made it crystal clear how she felt.

No nurse enjoyed serving this type of ‘problem mother.’

The job was hard enough without wasting so much extra time and energy explaining things over and over to parents like this. Anyone would lose patience.

Worse, parents like these often tried to interfere behind the scenes.

Take IV drips—some medications needed to go in slowly. Impatient relatives thought as long as the drug made it into the body, it was fine. So, they’d secretly turn up the drip speed, causing a four-hour infusion to finish in just half an hour.

If something went wrong or the patient died, who would the blame land on?

Whenever there was a problem or a death, the family would be the first to storm the hospital, demanding answers and compensation.

And to top it all off, they’d curse the doctors as incompetent.

Zhou Can insisted on the transfer because this mother was just too dangerous.

“Dr. Zhou, I know I was wrong. Please, I’m begging you to save my son…”

Great, now the mother had dropped to her knees.

Zhou Can could only sigh—parents who liked to grovel at his feet left him feeling helpless.

“It’s not that I won’t save him. You’ve nearly destroyed your child single-handedly! Transfer him now!”

Zhou Can’s face remained cold as he refused.

“I was ignorant, I made a mistake…”

Smack. Smack. Smack!

The mother slapped herself so hard, her face instantly swelled.

“Hey, hey, stop it! Don’t do this!”

The nurse put down her tray and hurried to restrain her.

“Please, I’m begging you—save my child. He’s my only one, please, I’ll never listen to those so-called experts again…”

She wept inconsolably.

Of course she regretted everything now that things had come to this.

Some people really did need a hard lesson.

“If you insist on keeping your child here, that’s possible. But his condition is extremely severe now—he’s on the verge of dying. We’ll have to issue a critical condition notice right away and transfer him to the ICU for emergency care. That’s not cheap. It’ll run at least seven or eight thousand a day, maybe more. And even then, we can’t guarantee he’ll pull through.”

Zhou Can laid it all out for the family.

He didn’t hold back, painting the grimmest picture.

“I agree! As long as there’s even a one percent chance, I’ll pay whatever it takes to save my son.”

As soon as she heard the hospital would keep treating her son, the mother didn’t hesitate for a second—she agreed immediately and repeatedly.

Next, they started the ICU transfer paperwork.

The mother’s finances were solid. She prepaid a full 100,000 yuan on the spot.

On paper, you’d expect someone well-off to be smart, capable and wise in all aspects. But this mom didn’t seem like that at all.

Zhou Can wondered quietly if maybe she just came from a rich family.

Maybe it was her father’s money, or her husband’s.

But that was their private business—Zhou Can had no intention of getting involved.

The money was in, the child was safely transferred to the ICU, and that was all that really mattered.

“Dr. Zhou, is the child’s condition really that serious?” the nurse whispered.

“It’s serious, sure. But with our hospital’s skills, we should be able to save him. Still, you saw how things went. If his mom stays by his side, she’ll probably finish him off. You can hardly get a single shot or IV in without an endless debate. It’s better for everyone if he’s cared for in the children’s ICU.”

Zhou Can winked.

The nurse smiled and nodded, completely understanding.

“You always think of everything, Dr. Zhou. If we run into this kind of case again, your way is definitely worth learning from.”

With families like this, not putting the child in the ICU would be a disaster.

Sure, treatment costs would skyrocket—but there was no way around it.

The family had brought it all on themselves.

Money could be earned again. But if you lost a child, nothing could replace that.

Originally, five thousand would have covered it. Now, it might climb to fifty thousand. For the family, at least, maybe they’ll finally learn not to blindly follow ‘experts’ in the future.

With that settled, Zhou Can headed straight for the consultation room.

Just ten minutes ago, Dr. Tang had called to ask him over; the Health Bureau director’s daughter had already been transferred in.

Over the last two years, Tuyu Hospital and Provincial People’s Hospital had been collaborating and learning from each other, turning a relationship that started out distant—even hostile—into one of real closeness.

It was Zhou Can who’d fostered this exchange, and the impact on both hospitals had been profound—a true win-win.

But up to now, Tuyu Hospital had barely any dealings with the Provincial Children’s Hospital.

Like Provincial People’s Hospital, Provincial Children’s Hospital was an established, elite center—packed with experts, long history, deep resources.

Strong hospitals like these all had their own sense of pride.

Pediatrics was already a challenging field, and while Tuyu’s department was first-class, it was Provincial Children’s Hospital that saw itself as top dog—never once acknowledging Tuyu Hospital’s pediatric standing.

Even a few years back, when Zhou Can cured a complex case Provincial Children’s Hospital couldn’t handle, it hadn’t changed this attitude.

Still, he maintained a close relationship with Wei Zhengru, a top-tier expert at that hospital.

They exchanged greetings on holidays, and occasionally discussed medical techniques and research.

In academic discussions, it was usually Zhou Can seeking advice from the other side.

But when it came to medicine, they’d often debate as equals.

By the time Zhou Can reached the consultation room, multiple pediatric experts were already gathered. It was after 9 p.m.—a time when these specialists would usually be home asleep.

Getting everyone together at this hour was no small feat.

Almost every time there was a case discussion, Zhou Can showed up last.

Not that he was trying to be dramatic—he was just always swamped.

“Dr. Zhou, we just finished a discussion but there’s still a major point of disagreement. When the child was first admitted to Provincial Children’s Hospital, the main complaints were fever, abdominal pain and bloody stool. After six days of treatment, nothing improved. This afternoon the child started vomiting blood, though they’re still alert. What we’re stuck on is if it’s upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding.”

Dr. Tang Fei had both knowledge and status—and she was strikingly beautiful.

Her presence lit up the entire room.

Even in her forties, she was every bit as radiant as ever.

Seated at the head of the consultation room, she truly was a sight to behold.

When Zhou Can came in, she immediately began briefing him on the child’s case.

It was clear how much she relied on Zhou Can’s judgment.

“What color was the bloody stool?”

“Jam-colored.”

“Did it happen often? Was there a lot?”

“Before admission, two or three times a day, with a high fever of 39.6. Since treatment at the Provincial Children’s Hospital, it’s been on and off—sometimes still two or three times daily, sometimes none or just a little. The fever’s also been recurring: just when it looked under control, the temperature would shoot up again after a day or two.”

Zhou Can frowned slightly at Dr. Tang Fei’s report.

Illnesses that rebounded like this were always the hardest to diagnose.

After treatment, when the symptoms returned, it usually meant the real root cause hadn’t been found.

Sometimes, a malignancy might be misdiagnosed as a simple intestinal inflammation.

Medication could bring some initial improvement, but as soon as the drugs stopped, the illness would come roaring back, even worse than before.

It always came down to missing the true cause.

“Was this the first time the child had vomited blood today? Was there a lot?”

Zhou Can kept the questions coming.

“Should be the first time. The vomiting wasn’t much.”

It seemed even Dr. Tang Fei didn’t know all the details.

“Why don’t we bring the family in to answer questions directly? It’s getting late and everyone has work tomorrow—I don’t want to keep you.”

With that, she had someone fetch the family member from outside.

Meanwhile, Dr. Zhuang handed Zhou Can the child’s file.

“Dr. Zhou, why don’t you take a look at the child’s test results and treatment records. What worries me is that this could be Crohn’s disease.”

Gut illnesses came in many forms.

Crohn’s was infamous for being tough to diagnose and even tougher to treat.

With modern medicine, it meant a lifetime of medication.

No one had figured out its exact cause—not even the experts, globally.

Some said it was genetic; others blamed seafood, or even just coming down with a cold or exhaustion after a hike.

The only comfort was that, even though incurable, it could at least be controlled with medicine.

Trouble was, imported drugs were expensive and domestic ones just didn’t work as well.

For patients, the financial burden was often immense.

Zhou Can studied the patient file carefully.

This was a VIP child—every test and lab result, medication and nursing record from Provincial People’s Hospital had been sent over, all in detail.

Usually, when a regular patient was transferred, complete medication and treatment details were hard to get.

That was because of potential disputes between hospitals.

The previous hospital always hedged their bets: what if the family got the data, hired an expert, and then made trouble?

It was like restaurant or food shop inspections—people dreaded them.

Most of the time everything ran smoothly, but as soon as someone checked up on you, they’d always find something wrong.