Chapter 63: The short-lived meaning of the midday sun...
The midday sun was scorching, but the atmosphere in the ward was freezing.
The girl's trembling voice suddenly silenced everyone, and everyone looked at Zhou Shudie with pity. But Zhou Shudie had long since had enough of that kind of look. It felt like thousands of ferocious and wild insects were biting at her core, causing her to break out in a cold sweat. The immense shock seemed to intensify the pain, but she almost shouted with all her might:
"Didn't they say my surgery was very, very successful and I can walk like a normal person now? Why did they have to amputate? Why! Why!?"
Chen Song's heart felt like it was blocked and he couldn't breathe. He opened his mouth but didn't know how to comfort the girl whose wings were about to be cut off. Faced with the girl's anger and questioning, as a doctor, he didn't know how to comfort a patient for the first time.
Ding Hongwen was in a state of panic. Before he could calm Zhou Ningxia down, Zhou Shudie had another attack. He was about to speak when Zhou Ningxia stood up, hugged her, and said, "No, no amputation. How could that be? The doctor was joking. Didn't Mom tell them? It must be a misdiagnosis."
Zhou Shudie struggled violently, breathing rapidly, and threw off the quilt to escape: "I won't do it! I'm not sick! It's time for dance class! Mom... I'm not in pain anymore, let's go, I want to go to dance class."
Zhou Ningxia felt a pang of sadness in her heart, and she reached out to support her. "Xiao Die... Xiao Die... Let's get well here first, and then go to dance class, okay?"
Ding Hongwen stepped forward to stop them: "Given her current condition, surgery is necessary immediately. Delaying surgery will only increase the risk!"
Zhou Shudie pushed everyone away: "You said the same thing last time! But why am I still broken now! Why! Why! Why!"
Zhou Shudie angrily beat her legs: "Why do I always fail? Why is it so hard for me to be an ordinary person? I just want to walk properly! What did I do wrong?!"
"Stop!" Zhou Ningxia grabbed her hand, "Stop..."
Zhou Shudie cried out, the pain and the suffocating feeling of shortness of breath made her faint. Zhou Ningxia was horrified and held her face in her hands: "Xiaodie? Xiaodie!"
Ding Hongwen looked at Chen Song and said, "Go prepare for the surgery first. I'll take care of everything here."
Chen Song nodded and immediately rushed out of the ward to the disinfection room. On the way, he met Dong Jingming and Ye Wenzhou who had rushed over.
"What's wrong, boss?" Ye Wenzhou stopped breathlessly, turned around and immediately followed Chen Song's pace, and Dong Jingming also followed at the same pace.
Chen Song squeezed his sweaty palms and tried to calm down. "The reconstruction prosthesis is severely infected. Amputation is required immediately. Come with me to disinfect it."
At Chen Song's command, both of them felt their hearts sink, and they immediately entered a serious surgical state while feeling grief-stricken.
"good!"
In the other ward, Ding Hongwen said to Zhou Ningxia, "Ms. Zhou, she will die if she doesn't have surgery! How could we possibly joke with a child's life? After the surgery, we will get the best prosthetic limbs for her so she can walk! The most urgent thing is to save her life!"
Zhou Ningxia was truly frightened upon seeing this, and compromised with a painful heart: "Okay... okay... let's do it, we'll do it."
Zhou Shudie woke up when she entered the operating room. She seemed to have lost all strength due to the pain. Her originally quirky peach blossom eyes were now wide open, staring at Chen Song intently. She opened her mouth and said weakly, "I... hate you... it's you... the operation was unsuccessful... it's you who ruined me..."
Chen Song's mask revealed only his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly. Beneath the mask, his nose exhaled deeply. He reached out to touch the girl's head, but stopped mid-air and retracted his hand. His lips moved slightly, and he leaned forward and whispered softly, "I'll succeed this time. I'll make you the best prosthetic limbs. You'll be able to walk just like... you."
Zhou Shudie's eyes twitched twice, and then he looked at the ceiling weakly: "Tell me, what's the meaning of such a life?"
Chen Song paused, his fingertips trembling slightly.
"Actually, I've lived for so long, and I still don't know the meaning of my life." Chen Song stood up straight. "But I know the meaning of my existence right now, which is to help you with this operation."
"At some point in the future, you will surely find the meaning of your existence, so please keep living. Time will slowly reveal the answer. As long as you are alive, there are many ways to solve problems. Let's work together to help you find the best one."
"Perhaps, the meaning of my life is to perform this operation for you now."
Chen Song laughed softly, and Zhou Shudie heard it.
The anesthesia took effect, Zhou Shudie slowly closed her eyes, and two lines of tears slid from the corners of her eyes and dripped onto the cold operating table.
After a long and delicate operation, the red light outside the operating room finally went out. A nurse came out to explain the situation to Zhou Ningxia, who hurried forward.
"The operation was successful."
A huge weight finally fell from Zhou Ningxia's heart, but it sank into her flesh. She said sadly, "Okay... okay... I'm fine as long as I'm alive... Being alive is enough."
Zhou Shudie was pushed into the intensive care unit for observation, and Zhou Ningxia could only wait outside the ward.
It was four in the morning, and the corridor was deserted. Outside the window, the darkness was so thick that it was pitch dark. Chen Song took off his surgical gown and put on his white coat again.
"Aren't you going back, boss?" Ye Wenzhou asked him, "You've been doing this for so long."
Dong Jingming took off his surgical cap and mask. "Go back and rest first, Doctor Chen. We'll come back tomorrow. Doctor Ding will be on duty and will see if everything is fine. Besides, this is a violation of hospital regulations, and your salary should be deducted."
Chen Song wiped his sweat with a tissue, and the paper soon became soaked.
"It's just one night, no problem. I'll apply for a day off then. You two can go home first. You've had a tiring day."
The two knew that they couldn't stop Chen Song, so they didn't say anything more. After they had sorted things out, they went back.
After Chen Song tidied himself up, he walked towards Zhou Shudie's ward. After walking a few steps, his ankle hurt so much that he stopped. He stood there and leaned against the wall to relax.
Suddenly, a furious male voice erupted from the deadly silent corridor:
"Why did you agree to perform this surgery on her? Why did you chop off Xiaodie's legs? I didn't ask you to raise a daughter like this! How can you be a mother? Are you her real mother?! You've made it so Xiaodie can't dance for the rest of her life!"
A crisp slapping sound followed, and the woman screamed, "Li Shan! You dare to hit me? I'll fight you! I don't want to live anymore! Let's die together!"
"You're crazy! How dare you bite me!"
"ah!"
Chen Song endured the pain, taking one deep step and one shallow step at a time, and ran around the corner. A man and a woman were grappling in front of the intensive care unit. The woman was clearly not in the upper hand, and bloody palm prints were left under her disheveled face.
"I told you to cut off Xiaodie's legs! I told you to cut off Xiaodie's legs!" The man rode on the woman, grabbed her hair and slapped her madly, his eyes bloodshot and he had long lost his mind.
Chen Song yelled, "Stop!"
Li Shan still didn't stop.
Chen Song wanted to use his phone to call security, but when he felt his pocket, he couldn't find where his phone had gone. Chen Song couldn't pull Li Shan away, so he grabbed his collar and said angrily:
"Stop fighting! Xiaodie is still in there, don't disturb her rest!"
Li Shan suddenly stopped, released Zhou Ningxia, and stared straight at Chen Song. Li Shan's face was covered with dense pits and a centipede-like scar on his right cheek. His eyes were dark and ghostly, and Chen Song couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
"Xiao Die's dad, calm down."
Li Shan rolled his eyes, looking at Chen Song strangely, and said in an extremely calm voice: "Doctor Chen, didn't you perform the surgery? Didn't you say it was successful? How did it suddenly get infected again? Was it infected during the last surgery? In fact, the surgery was not done well at all!"
Li Shan slowly grabbed Chen Song's collar and lifted him up from the ground. His movements were extremely slow but his eyes were extremely sharp, fierce and ferocious, just like a python slowly and tightly strangling the thing in its bag.
After escaping danger, Zhou Ningxia immediately crawled to the wall and coughed violently. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears were flowing out, but her eyes were fixed on Chen Song at this time.
The words on Chen Song's throat trembled. The fear in his heart did not come from them, but from himself.
Even though surgical failure was perfectly normal, he still doubted himself for the first time. He meticulously recalled the details of the reconstruction surgery. There had been no flaws, a 99% success rate. Everyone had witnessed it, everyone had confirmed it.
How did you get infected?
Zhou Ningxia came to the hospital five months ago and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma around her knee joint. After two months of treatment and preparation, she underwent surgery to remove the tumor and then reconstruct the prosthesis.
Although the whole process was difficult, the result was more satisfactory than everyone expected.
"Sorry..." Chen Song said with his eyes lowered.
Li Shan threw him against the wall and approached him: "Being a doctor isn't something you can just apologize for! You've ruined my daughter's life! What's the difference between you and killing her? Does that mean if I kill you and then say sorry, everything will be fine?!"
Zhou Ningxia was startled and immediately stood up to pull him: "Are you crazy, Li Shan? What do you want to do?"
"What do I want to do?" Li Shan sneered and pushed her away. "I just want revenge for my daughter! I'm going to kill you all! Why did you chop off her legs without my consent?"
Zhou Ningxia was frozen all over, trembling as she got up and ran away. She was truly terrified, because Li Shan would really do this!
"Aren't you afraid, Doctor Chen?" Li Shan smiled faintly, but was very interested in Chen Song's composure.
Chen Song's gray eyes were filled with death. He lowered his eyes and said, "I'm not afraid of death. But... I'm quite afraid of pain."
Li Shan's brows furiously said, "When you cut off Xiaodie's legs, why didn't you think about how much pain she was in? The pain she felt physically was far less than the pain she felt emotionally! Do you understand this feeling? Do you understand? Do you understand what it feels like to be completely despaired at such a young age?!"
Chen Song was speechless.
Li Shan punched Chen Song in anger, but Chen Song didn't dodge and took the punch.
Chen Song's submissive look only angered Li Shan even more. Li Shan raised his fist to hit Chen Song in the stomach, but before the punch landed, he was subdued by the security guard who came running over.
"Take him away quickly!" said Ding Hongwen.
Two burly bodyguards immediately carried Li Shan away.
Li Shan struggled and kicked his legs. "Just wait! Chen Song! I'm going to make you pay! Die, quack doctor! Die!"
Chen Song fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Ding Hongwen squatted down and tried to help him. Chen Song waved his hand.
"I'm fine. Let me... sit here for a moment."
——
It drizzled in Hangzhou at night, and the sound of raindrops hitting the glass.
Gu Xingjue sat at his desk and rubbed his temples. His right eyelid had been twitching all day, making him uneasy. He glanced at his watch. It was almost five o'clock. Another sleepless night.
Long periods of insomnia gradually wore him down, and his body grew heavier day by day. He slept less, ate less, and yet his longing for Chen Song surged like a surging tide.
Gu Xingjue put down the documents in his hand, stood up, opened the window and looked at the rain outside.
It always rains in the south city, making it wet and sticky. He doesn't like it, so he doesn't like it either.
Chen Song was a man with a strong sense of time. Whenever it rained, he would hold Gu Xingjue in his bed for a while before going out. At this time, Gu Xingjue would always kiss him and tease him for a while. When Chen Song couldn't stand it anymore, he would run away and make breakfast for him.
"Ding-ling-ling~Ding-ling-ling~" The ringing of the cell phone suddenly broke the silence of the rainy night.
Gu Xingjue's heart sank when he saw the caller ID. He had a bad feeling. He swiped the phone and put it to his ear: "Hello."
"Hello, Mr. Gu. I'm Wu Xuan, and I wanted to tell you about Dr. Chen."
"What happened? How is he?" Gu Xingjue turned over the small corner of the document and held his breath.
"People... were beaten."
"Beaten?" Gu Xingjue's voice suddenly turned cold. "Who beat him? Is it serious? How is he now? What are you security guards doing?"
Gu Xingjue glanced at the rain outside, picked up the car keys on the table and walked out.
"He's fine now, just a few minor injuries. But the man who hit him seems like a lunatic. He's a bit mentally unstable. Dr. Chen is currently involved in a difficult medical dispute. Those involved in medical disputes are often very extreme. I'm afraid something might happen... He said... he wanted to kill Dr. Chen."
Gu Xingjue's eyes suddenly darkened. He went to the underground garage, opened the car door, sat down, and started the car: "What's his name?"
"Li Shan. I heard he was in jail before."
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