Granting You A Second Life

Emerald hospital - Chen Wei's office - 3:00 pm

Chen Wei lent back in his leather office chair facing the window. His eyes were closed and his hands were behind his head.

Chen Wei hadn't been the same since Li Xiuying had broken their engagement. He regretted choosing Li Yu Yan over Li Xiuying. It was only a moment of weakness. He felt like he had cheated himself by choosing a one bedroom flat over a 15 bedroom fully furnished mansion.

Unity Hospital- Monday- 8:30 am

Li Xiuying entered her office with a large rucksack on her back.

She glanced at Jiang Huan briefly before walking to her desk.

Jiang Huan looked troubled. Her eyes were glassy and she was staring at her screen unmoving.

Li Xiuying sat in her chair and logged onto the computer. She completely ignored Jiang Huan.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room. Five minutes had already gone by.

Jiang Huan realized that her plan A had failed. Li Xiuying wasn't going to say anything to her.

Jiang Huan began putting plan b into action.

Jiang Huan pretended to accidentally push her pen off her desk. She then proceeded to get off her chair and looked under her desk. She grabbed the bottle of moisturizing tear drops she had placed there earlier and quickly applied them to her eyes.

She grabbed the pen and returned to her chair. Jiang Huan began typing on her keyboard and sniffing loudly.

Li Xiuying still said nothing she could clearly see through Jiang Huan's antics. She was waiting for Jiang Huan to start sobbing and crying about how her grandmother had taken a turn for the worst. Li Xiuying guessed that Jiang Huan would ask her to take the next few days off perhaps even the whole week.

Two minutes later Jiang Huan began gently sobbing. She continued typing on her laptop with the occasional use of her sleeve to wipe away her tears.

Jiang Huan turned around and faced Li Xiuying. In her mind she repeatedly called Li Xiuying cold and unfeeling. 'Who wouldn't respond to someone crying right in front of them?'

Jiang Huan spoke between sobs and sniffing: "Dr. Li I'm sorry but my, my... my Grandmother's health has taken a turn for the worst."

Li Xiuying stared at Jiang Huan before her. Maybe she should play with Jiang Huan a little.

Li Xiuying: "Home visit."

Jiang Huan hadn't expected Li Xiuying to make such an offer. She momentarily looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Jiang Huan resumed her pitiful act: "Dr. Li are you offering to make a home visit? Thank you so much for your offer but we've already had a doctor make a home visit. He said that all we can do now is to make my grandmother comfortable."

Li Xiuying: "Medication?"

Jiang Huan: "The other doctor had already provided medication for grandmother to make her comfortable in her final... her final moments. We don't think she'll make it past today."

Li Xiuying: "That unwell?"

Jiang Huan: "None of us expected grandmother to become like this. We thought it was just the flu. Who could have known this was going to happen? I wish I spent more time with her. I should have spent more time with her." She put her head down and sniffed.

Li Xiuying: "I'll drive. Informing Director Qin." Li Xiuying grabbed her phone and started typing away.

Jiang Huan started sweating. She hadn't expected Li Xiuying to offer to personally drive her home. How was she going to get out of this?!

Li Xiuying could sense Jiang Huan's frustrating and worry.

Jiang Huan looked up. She wiped the non-existent tears on her face: "Dr. Li thank you so much for your kindness but I'm fine. I'll continue working. You've already allowed me to leave early tomorrow. How could I ask so much of you? Besides they're understaffed in A&E today. I couldn't possibly ask you to leave when the patients need you."

Li Xiuying nodded: "See you on Wednesday."

Jiang Huan facade slipped for a split second.

Li Xiuying smirked but soon returned to being expressionless.

Jiang Huan was too concerned about herself to have notice Li Xiuying's taunting smile. All she was thinking about was how she needed to take the rest of the week off. Tang Tingzhe was whisking her way to a surprise location later this evening. They would be going away for six days. For Six whole days she would have Tang Tingzhe to herself.

Jiang Huan: "Dr. Li I know it's shameless of me to ask but could you please allow me to have the rest of the week off? We'll need to sort out the funeral arrangements and I really would like to be with my family during this difficult time."

Li Xiuying felt smug inside. She clearly had the skills to be a soothsayer.

Li Xiuying nodded. She opened the large draw of her desk and placed her rucksack inside before locking it.

Jiang Huan grabbed her bag from under the table and stood up. "Dr. Li thank you so much for being so understanding. I appreciate it so much."

Li Xiuying recited the second line of the proverb in a cold and low: "While the dropping flowers pine for love, the heartless brook babbles on."

Jiang Huan stilled her movements. She looked over her shoulder and found that Li Xiuying had already turned her attention to the screen. She frowned and assumed she had imagined hearing Li Xiuying speaking.

She put her bag on her shoulder then practically ran out of the office not giving LI Xiuying the opportunity to change her mind.

Li Xiuying smiled as she watched Jiang Huan's antics. In Li Xiuying's eyes Jiang Huan looked completely foolish.

Jiang Huan could have just asked to take the rest of the week off to be with her family. Was there a need to lie in such a dramatic act? Who did she think she was fooling with her flawless makeup and synthetic tears?

Li Xiuying couldn't fathom why Jiang Huan had behaved in such an exaggerated manner. Li Xiuying wondered when she would recite the final line of the proverb to Jiang Huan.

...

9:25 Accident and emergency department

Li Xiuying had just finished seeing a patient when she heard the crash call.

Crash call: "A.d.u.l.t cardiac arrest private room 4. Could all available staff please make their way to private room 4. A.d.u.l.t cardiac arrest."

Li Xiuying and several doctors ran to private room 4.

There was already a doctor taking charge of the situation. One of the residents was performing c.h.e.s.t compressions on the patient.

Another doctor was establishing venous access.

The doctor in charge: "Shave the patient's c.h.e.s.t and apply the defibrillator pads."

She pointed to some of the residents: "You, you and you form a line to take turns performing c.h.e.s.t compressions. Swap every two minutes. If you start tiring out let us know and we'll swap you out. Don't feel bad if you can't do the full two minutes."

Doctor in charge looked around and spotted Li Xiuying: "Dr. Li could you please check the patients breathing and intubate?"

Li Xiuying nodded. One of the nurses prepared an intubation kit as Li Xiuying made her way behind the patient's head.

Doctor in charge: "Someone get me a set of bloods and an ABG or a VBG."

The defibrillator: "Analyzing rhythm. Shock advised stand clear. "

Doctor in charge: "Stand clear everyone. Resident stop compressions and stand back."

The doctor in charge administered a shock at 200 Joules.

Doctor in charge: "Resume c.h.e.s.t compressions. The patient is still in VT. "

Doctor in charge: "2 minutes."

Defibrillator: "Analyzing rhythm. Shock advised. Stand clear."

Doctor in charge: "Stand clear."

The doctor in charge administered a shock at 250 Joules.

Doctor in charge reassessed the patient's rhythm: "Stop compressions. Return of spontaneous circulation. Let's stabilize him. Nurse Ping could you inform the patient's family please?"

Two doctors continued to do an ABCDE assessment of the patient.

A resident entered the room and handed some blood test results to the doctor in charge.

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. All the staff that had come from other areas of the hospital began returning to their wards.

"I haven't even had my morning coffee yet."

"I'm happy we managed to stabilize the patient. If the patient had died it would have weighed on me the whole day."

"Only about 17 to 20% of patients make it to discharge after a cardiac arrest."

A first year resident still lingered in the room.

Doctor in Charge looked up from the set of results: "Everything okay?"

First year resident just nodded.

Doctor in charge: "Something on your mind?"

First year resident: "Dr. Yao I just froze when the patient went into cardiac arrest. If nurse ping didn't put out the crash call and take charge I don't know what would have happened. I feel like a complete failure."

Dr. Yao: "Have you ever been involved in a crash call before?"

The resident shook his head.

Dr. Yao: "After coming out of your shock did you help with management of the patients."

The resident nodded.

Dr. Yao: "In the future if you're the first one to reach a patient in cardiac arrest would you know what to do?"

The resident nodded again.

Dr. Yao: "That's the most important thing. No one expects you to be able to run before you can walk. It's natural to be scared. Don't be ashamed to call for help. You'll be assigned this patient. I want you to follow his case from beginning to end."

She then handed over the results to the first year resident: "Tell me what you want to do next." She grabbed the patient's drug chart, finished prescribing and handed it over to the nurse.

First year resident looked at the results: "The patient has a serum potassium level of 2.0mmol/L. I would like to give 10 mmol/hour of potassium I.V. under ECG control using an infusion device."

Dr. Yao: "Good. The patient has severe hypokalaemia. Is there anything else you want to prescribe?"

First year took a moment to think before replying: "Magnesium sulphate?"

Dr. Yao: "why?"

First year: "Magnesium enhances potassium uptake and helps maintain potassium levels."

Dr. Yao: "Good."

Li Xiuying finished connecting the patient to a ventilation machine

After the first year resident left, Dr. Yao turned to see Li Xiuying staring at her.

Li Xiuying made her way to Dr. Yao and stood in front of her.

Dr. Yao got a little defensive at being stared at so openly: "Dr. Li is there a problem?"

Li Xiuying: "Lunch tomorrow 12:30."

Dr. Yao was confused: "Are you asking me to have lunch with you tomorrow?"

Li Xiuying nodded.

Dr. Yao was still confused but as she looked into Li Xiuying's eyes she felt she couldn't refuse: "Erm okayyyy?"

Li Xiuying then left the room happily. She thought that she and Dr. Yao had some things in common and perhaps they could even become friends.

Dr. Yao looked at the semi-conscious patient: "Do you know what just happened? Because I sure don't."

Dr. Yao started checking the monitors.

The two doctors who were assessing the patient looked at each other both of them shared the same thought ' Dr. Yao is weird'.