Chapter 143 Sending to the Hospital
The temperature plummeted, and after a cold night, the ground was indeed frozen. Although the hoe could not penetrate deep underground, it could still cut through the surface. The shovel was completely ineffective, so the pickaxe came in very handy.
The snowflakes gradually stopped, and sunlight streamed through the gaps in the gray clouds.
At first, everyone couldn't stretch their arms out, but later they were covered in sweat.
Finally, when it was lunchtime, everyone couldn't wait to head back.
Halfway there, Sun Hong, her face flushed, couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground.
Despite the freezing weather, her toes were sticking out of her single-layer shoes, her upper body was covered in an unpadded coat, and her lower body was covered in patches, with the seams of her trousers showing through.
Sun Hong's roommate said, "She's had a cold for several days and it hasn't gotten better."
After several months of getting to know Sun Hong, those who were familiar with her could see her predicament.
Since her argument with Wang Qun, Sun Hong has never taken the tractor out to buy anything again. From the moment she arrived at the camp until now, she has only had one pair of shoes, and her clothes are not only patched but also ill-fitting, either too long or too short.
They toiled in the fields all day long, barely surviving. Their families were all in similar circumstances, and everyone's clothes were patched. No one would gossip behind their backs about someone not being able to afford a pair of shoes.
Seeing Sun Hong collapse to the ground with a flushed face, everyone felt a pang of sympathy for her and for themselves, having to work like animals in such cold weather.
Sun Hong was carried back by a male comrade.
When the company commander saw this, he had someone carry her back into the house, light the stove, and then had someone ride a bicycle to the 19th Company to call the medic over.
There are many companies on both sides of the road from the farm headquarters to the 25th Company. Several companies that are far from the farm headquarters share a medic, who lives in the 19th Company.
Upon seeing the stove, the group, who had been working all morning and were full of resentment, finally smiled a little.
Seventeen coal stoves were needed to provide heating for more than two hundred people in the entire company.
Fifteen people can live in one room.
The company commander ordered everyone to live together in the first two rows of houses, and each room was given a stove and chimneys and other equipment were installed.
"We don't have enough coal, so we try not to burn coal during the day. There are cotton stalks piled up over there, so we use the cotton stalks at noon. Everyone will come to collect coal in a little while, but we can only collect enough for three days at a time. If we use it up without a plan, then it will all freeze."
If we can't burn coal, we can burn cotton stalks as long as we can keep warm.
The group quickly assembled the chimney and coal stove, and then started the fire.
The smoke from burning cotton stalks made everyone cough incessantly. After finally getting the fire going, they quickly put in small pieces of coal.
Once the coal fire was stable, people would occasionally throw in some broken cotton stalks.
The lighting process was incredibly grueling; the smoke was so strong it brought tears and snot to my eyes.
Only after using coal did people realize how short-lived cotton stalks were in terms of burning.
The coal supply for the three days was barely enough, as everyone couldn't stay indoors for long during the day and the coal burning was mainly concentrated at night.
Song Lubai didn't have to go to work digging ditches. Instead, she stayed by the stove to keep the fire burning and kept adding cotton stalks. Every day after work, the girls living in the apartment could feel the warmth as soon as they entered the room, and their resentment towards going to the fields to dig ditches in the cold weather was not so great.
Sun Hong didn't go to work and rested at home for four days, but her fever still hadn't completely subsided after four days.
The fever subsided during the day but returned at night, accompanied by a persistent cough. This has been going on for four days, and the person still looks unwell.
When the health worker arrived on his bicycle, he said, "You've been on IV fluids for the past few days but your condition hasn't improved. Don't let it develop into pneumonia. Take you to the health center right away."
Sun Hong didn't want to waste money at the health center, and in her drowsy state, she insisted, "No need, I'll be fine in a few more days. I feel better than I did a few days ago."
The medic disagreed: "Don't play around with your health. I've given you all the medicine I can. You still need to go to the hospital right away. Wrap yourself up tight. I'll take you there."
Seeing that Sun Hong still didn't understand, the medic said, "Do you think I'm trying to scare you? Your illness requires antibiotics, but I don't have any here, and if the health center doesn't have any either, you'll have to go to Shicheng for treatment. Our resources are limited, and if it gets worse, you won't even have time to cry anymore."
Over the years, there have been cases of people dying from colds. Due to insufficient medical resources and a lack of attention from those affected, minor illnesses have eventually developed into life-threatening conditions.
Sun Hong was frightened and had no choice but to obediently follow orders.
The medic looked at Song Lubai, who was sitting in the outer room adding firewood to the stove, and said, "Your company has a bicycle. You can come with her. She needs someone to look after her when she goes to the hospital."
Without saying a word, Song Lubai got up. "Wait here. I'll go ask the instructor for his military overcoat. I don't want her to get even worse from the wind."
The padded military overcoat was large and thick, and fearing that Sun Hong's condition might worsen, the instructor even lent out his own leather hat.
The weather was cold, and Song Lubai was fully armed, wrapped up like a bear, with her head covered by a scarf, leaving only her eyes showing.
Seeing her like this, Lu Shuangshuang, who was moving cabbages under the shed, asked, "Where are you going?"
Song Lubai said, "Sun Hong is not well yet. The medic suggested sending her to the health center."
These past few days, Lu Shuangshuang has been very friendly to her. Whenever the two meet, Lu Shuangshuang greets her with a smile.
Song Lubai was in a daze, thinking that Lu Shuangshuang was always such a friendly person.
Upon arriving at the farm's health center, the medic told the doctor about Sun Hong's symptoms and then returned to the company.
Recently, many people in the nearby companies have caught colds and fevers, and she has been so busy every day that she has no time to stay here.
The clinic has been receiving mostly patients with colds and fevers lately. Sun Hong's symptoms are not unusual, but there are not enough antibiotics, so the clinic can only prescribe antipyretics and cough suppressants for her based on her symptoms.
Song Lubai frowned as she looked at it. "These medicines have been taken for several days already. If they were effective, the patient would have recovered by now."
The nurse said, "We don't have enough medication. We'll give her another IV drip later and see if her fever goes up again tonight."
Just as Song Lubai was about to say something more, Sun Hong said, "Thank you, nurse."
After the nurse left, Song Lubai looked at her and said, "You don't have any objections?"
Sun Hong licked her peeling lips. "I'll check again tonight. Didn't you say there was some nutrient solution left?"
Since the person in question doesn't care, Song Lubai has nothing to say.
"You don't need to stay with me all the time, I can take care of myself."
Since Sun Hong had already said that, and Song Lubai wasn't the type to fawn over people, she simply went to the entrance of the state-run restaurant to block people and exchange them for meat tickets.
It had been at least a month since she last ate meat, and she was practically craving it.
He exchanged two ounces of meat coupons for two ounces of meat coupons and went into a restaurant to order a large bowl of steaming hot wontons.
While she was enjoying her meal, Wei Yang and his group, who had entered without her noticing, sat down opposite her.
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