svetikya Chapter 2 Hidden Edge
Chapter 2 Hidden Edge
The corridor fell silent.
Li Ranmo threw the blood-stained gauze into the bucket in the corner and washed his hands. The water was very cold, and it felt a little bit icy on his hands.
Shen Qiushui stood beside him without saying a word.
She looked at Li Ranmo's hands, which were washed white. These hands had just cut through the skin, separated the fascia, and drained pressure with incredible steadiness. Every cut was precise; any more would have damaged the blood vessels, and any less would have failed to relieve the pressure.
This is definitely not "having studied a little in the UK".
"Dr. Li," Shen Qiushui said.
Li Ranmo turned around and wiped his hands with a towel.
"Um?"
"I've never seen the hemostasis technique you just used," Shen Qiushui said.
Li Ranmo pushed up his glasses.
"Really?" He smiled憨厚ly. "It's just ordinary pressure to stop the bleeding, with some gauze packing."
"No," Shen Qiushui shook her head, "The way you pressed it was very unusual. Also, the direction of your stitches was different from most people's."
Li Ranmo did not respond.
He took a small notebook out of his pocket, opened it, and wrote a few words in it. Shen Qiushui glanced at it; it was a record of medicine consumption.
"I need to go to the pharmacy to pick up some things," Li Ranmo said. "Nurse Shen, could you keep an eye on things here for a while?"
"it is good."
Li Ranmo nodded, picked up the old leather suitcase, and left.
Shen Qiushui watched him disappear at the top of the stairs, then took out her notebook from the pocket of her white coat.
Turning to the latest page, a line of text was written:
"Li Ranmo's hemostasis technique is unusual, suggesting he may have received systematic battlefield first aid training. His suturing skills far surpass those of ordinary surgeons."
She added another sentence below:
"Deliberately concealing their strength."
After she finished writing, she closed the notebook and put it back in her pocket.
Footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
Chen Qitai walked over, glanced at the old soldier's hands which had regained their color, and then glanced at Shen Qiushui.
"He did it?"
"Yes."
"How long did it take?"
"About ten minutes."
Chen Qitai remained silent for a while.
"Did you watch him do it?"
"I watched the whole thing."
"How do you feel?"
Shen Qiushui thought for a moment.
"Very professional," she said. "More professional than an ordinary doctor who just returned from abroad."
Chen Qitai nodded.
"He'll come to my office tonight," he said. "You come too."
"I?"
"Yes." Chen Qitai turned to leave, then stopped. "Take today's medication consumption record with you."
"clear."
Chen Qitai has passed away.
Shen Qiushui stood there, looking at the empty corridor.
The pharmacy is located at the very back of the first floor.
Li Ranmo pushed open the door, which was filled with wooden crates and sacks, and the air was filled with a mixture of musty and medicinal smells.
The person in charge of the medicines was an old man wearing reading glasses, who was dozing off on the table.
"Get gauze and iodine," Li Ranmo said.
The old man opened his eyes and glanced at him.
"The order form."
Li Ranmo handed over the piece of paper he had just written.
The old man looked around, slowly stood up, and walked to the shelf to rummage through it. After searching for a while, he threw over two rolls of gauze and a small bottle of iodine.
"That's all," the old man said. "Iodine is limited to one bottle a day."
Li Ran glanced at the bottle of iodine; it was enough to treat at most three wounds.
"We receive at least twenty wounded soldiers a day from the front lines," he said.
The old man shrugged.
"I can't do anything about the rules set by the higher-ups."
Li Ranmo didn't say anything more, picked up his things and left.
Back on the second floor, he changed the dressings for several wounded soldiers. There wasn't enough gauze, so some wounds could only be simply cleaned, without even needing to be bandaged.
Shen Qiushui walked over, carrying a tray in her hands.
"Dr. Li."
"Um?"
"The patient in bed three has a fever," Shen Qiushui said. "His wound is infected."
Li Ranmo went over to take a look.
The wound is red and swollen, with blackened edges and pus oozing out.
"Antibiotics are needed," he said.
"No," Shen Qiushui shook her head. "Sulfathiazole has been out of stock for half a month. There's also a shortage of sulfonamide drugs."
"What should we do then?"
"The patient can only rely on themselves to endure it." Shen Qiushui's voice was calm, but Li Ranmo sensed a hint of suppressed emotion. "If they can endure it, they will live; if they can't, they will die."
Li Ran remained silent.
He looked at the feverish wounded man, a young man, no more than twenty years old, with a childlike face.
"What's his name?" Li Ran asked silently.
"I don't know," Shen Qiushui said. "She was unconscious when she was brought here, and she didn't have any identification on her."
Li Ranmo reached out and touched the wounded soldier's forehead.
It's too hot to handle.
"I'm going to find Vice Dean Chen," he said.
"It's no use," Shen Qiushui said. "The drug quotas are set by the Department of Health, and Vice President Chen can't get them allocated."
Li Ranmo stood up.
"We have to give it a try."
He turned to leave, but Shen Qiushui called him back.
"Dr. Li."
Li Ran silently turned around.
"When you were in England," Shen Qiushui looked at him, "were the hospitals there also so short of medicine?"
Li Ranmo pushed up his glasses.
"Britain doesn't need it," he said, "but I spent a few months in a field hospital, and they need it there too."
"A field hospital?" Shen Qiushui's eyes lit up. "Which war zone?"
"Spain," Li Ranmo said naturally. "I went there last year and stayed for three months."
Shen Qiushui nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
But Li Ranmo knew that she had remembered it.
At 7 p.m., Li Ranmo knocked on Chen Qitai's office door.
"Come in."
Li Ranmo pushed the door open and went in.
Chen Qitai sat behind his desk, a pile of documents spread out on it. Shen Qiushui stood beside him, holding a notebook.
"Sit down," Chen Qitai said, pointing to the chair opposite him.
Li Ran sat down silently.
"Today's events were handled well," Chen Qitai said. "The veteran's hand was saved."
"Of course."
"However," Chen Qitai changed the subject, "I saw your technique. It's very unique."
Li Ran smiled silently.
I studied in England.
Which hospital?
"The Royal London Hospital"
"Who is your mentor?"
"Professor John Harrison."
Chen Qitai nodded and took a piece of paper from the drawer.
"This is the resume you filled out when you reported for duty," he said. "It says you served in a field hospital in Spain for three months last year."
"Yes."
Why go there?
Li Ranmo pushed up his glasses.
"I want to see what real war is like," he said. "And I want to see how people are rescued under those conditions."
Chen Qitai stared at him.
"So what did you see?"
"I saw many people die," Li Ranmo said. "Because of the lack of medicine, equipment, and personnel. I saw doctors who clearly had a solution, but because they had nothing, they could only watch helplessly as the wounded breathed their last."
The office was silent for a few seconds.
Shen Qiushui paused for a moment while holding the pen.
"So that's why you came back to China?" Chen Qitai asked.
"right."
"What do you want to change?"
"Every little bit helps."
Chen Qitai leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.
The smoke rose, blurring his face.
"Dr. Li," he said, "you've seen the situation at the hospital. We're short of medicine, staff, and money. There's very little we can do to help the wounded who are brought in every day."
"clear."
"So," Chen Qitai flicked his cigarette ash, "I hope that every doctor can use the limited resources where they are most needed."
He paused, looking at Li Ranmo.