Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Trying to Make Her the Scapegoat Again?

Zheng Jinxin’s face alternated between flushed and pale. Her nails were digging so deep into her palms they almost broke the skin.

She held it in for a long moment before finally forcing out, “Doctor Su is truly… observant.”

Her tone was so sour you could wring juice from it.

’How could she have known Su Tang would even ask what medication the patient had taken before?’

’She never imagined that after returning from advanced training, she’d stumble over something as basic as a drug interaction.’

Su Tang slid her pen back into the pocket of her white coat without even glancing at Zheng Jinxin. She just tossed out, “Nurse Zheng, it’s good that you’re back from your training. But when a doctor misses something, it never hurts for you to ask one more question about the patient’s history.”

“Oh, right. I heard you want to transfer to a clinical position…”

Su Tang didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone understood the unspoken part.

’Someone like Zheng Jinxin wants to transfer to a clinical position?’

Su Tang left, leaving Zheng Jinxin standing there, frozen in place. Her face was burning with shame, and a fire of rage surged within her, searing her from the inside out.

’Su Tang! It’s always Su Tang! Why can’t I just crush her?!’

Zheng Jinxin watched Su Tang’s back disappear through the doorway, her gaze so dark it could drip ink.

She snatched the prescription slip from the desk—the one Su Tang had pointed out the error on—and viciously crumpled it into a ball, her nails nearly tearing through the thin paper.

“Fine, you’re so clever!”

She ground her back teeth, her voice so low only she could hear it.

“You can run, but you can’t hide. We’ll see about this!”

’Zheng Jinxin refused to believe Su Tang could stay this lucky forever!’

The days flowed by like water.

Su Tang went about her routine, going to and from work, her thoughts on the news about Lu Xiao’s hospital expansion, hoping they could be reunited soon.

During her days off, she even went to visit Lu Xiao.

The training intensity over there was much higher than here, and she could see the clear exhaustion on Lu Xiao’s face.

Su Tang told Lu Xiao many things, including how Lin Jianqiu had recently gone on a performance tour to other military camps, and Chang Jia had specifically taken leave to go with her.

The two of them were getting along incredibly well now, and Lin Jianqiu said she had Su Tang and Lu Xiao to thank for it.

Everyone was doing well, but Su Tang found the longing from their separation made it difficult for her to sleep.

She had been used to being alone, but now that she had Lu Xiao, being apart from him again felt wrong in every way.

Lu Xiao comforted Su Tang, saying he would keep an eye on things and let her know as soon as there was definite news.

Seeing Su Tang like this, Lu Xiao’s heart ached too.

But his position was special; protecting his country was his duty.

Country before family.

…

After that humiliation, Zheng Jinxin seemed to have quieted down on the surface.

But Su Tang knew she was petty and was probably just biding her time, plotting something nasty.

Su Xinyao had been making out-of-hospital calls recently, so she spent very little time at the hospital.

With her gone, Su Tang didn’t have to see her, which was actually a relief.

Otherwise, if both Zheng Jinxin and Su Xinyao were working against her, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

That afternoon, the atmosphere in the hospital was noticeably different.

Footsteps hurried down the corridors, and even the nurses who normally loved to joke around wore stern expressions.

Su Tang had just returned from her rounds when she overheard a few junior nurses whispering together.

“Did you hear? A VIP showed up!”

“Who, who?”

“Apparently a relative of some big leader from up high. I don’t know the details, but the director himself was waiting at the entrance to receive them!”

“What’s wrong with them? Why all the fuss?”

“No idea. They were sent straight to the special care unit. All the department heads were called over, and none of them looked too happy…”

Su Tang didn’t pay it much mind. It wasn’t unusual for important people to seek treatment here.

She had just sat down and opened a patient’s chart when the office door was thrown open with a BANG.

Nurse Xiao Liu rushed in, panting, a look of urgency on her face. “Doctor Su! Quick! Over at the special care unit, the director is calling all attending physicians and above for a consultation! It’s a code red!”

Su Tang’s heart skipped a beat. ’Looks like something serious has really happened.’

She dropped the chart and ran after Nurse Xiao Liu.

Outside the special care unit, a large crowd of white coats had gathered. The director, vice director, and various department heads all stood with furrowed brows. The atmosphere was so tense you could wring water from it.

Through the glass window on the door, she could see a middle-aged man in his fifties lying inside. His face was ashen, his lips purple, and his breathing was frighteningly rapid. A pile of machines beside him beeped and whirred incessantly.

The director was wringing his hands in anxiety. “Everyone, speak up! What’s the situation? All the test results are back, his cardiopulmonary functions are declining, but what’s the cause? If we can’t find a clear etiology, how can we treat him? We can’t let this drag on!”

The head of internal medicine wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Abnormally high blood pressure, arrhythmia, rales in the lungs… It looks like acute heart failure or a pulmonary embolism, but the biochemical markers don’t quite fit…”

The head of surgery shook his head. “No obvious trauma or surgical history. We can temporarily rule out a surgical emergency.”

The other specialists chimed in one after another, each with their own theory, but no one could offer a definitive diagnosis, let alone an effective treatment plan.

At the end of the hall, the patient’s family paced back and forth, their stifled sobs and anxious gazes lashing at everyone’s conscience like a whip.

Just as a heavy silence fell over the gloomy scene, a deliberate voice, not too loud and not too soft, spoke up.

“Director, department heads.”

Zheng Jinxin took a small step forward, her eyes flicking toward Su Tang, who was standing in the corner.

“Don’t we have an expert in difficult and miscellaneous cases right here? Doctor Su Tang! Wasn’t she the one who cured that strange illness last time?”

“This situation seems quite complex as well. Why not let Doctor Su give it a try? Maybe she’ll have a solution!”

As soon as she said this, all eyes snapped to Su Tang in an instant.

Su Tang sneered inwardly.

’Zheng Jinxin never gets tired of this trick, does she?’

’Last time she pushed me out to take the fall, and now she’s trying the same thing again.’

’This patient is clearly in critical condition. Even all these senior experts are at a loss, and she wants me to step in?’

’If I succeed, Zheng Jinxin gets the credit for ’recommending’ me. If I fail, all the responsibility and blame will be mine!’

’And she gets to completely ruin my reputation in front of the leadership.’

The director was at his wit’s end. Hearing Zheng Jinxin’s words, he grabbed onto them like a lifeline. Without a second thought, he immediately looked at Su Tang. “Doctor Su? Do you… do you have any thoughts?”

In an instant, all the pressure landed on Su Tang’s shoulders.

She could feel Zheng Jinxin’s gloating gaze, filled with unconcealed malice.

Among the other doctors around her, some looked skeptical, some sympathetic, and others were simply waiting to see what would happen.

Su Tang took a deep breath.

’This isn’t the time to be petty. A patient’s life is on the line.’

She took a few steps forward, moving closer to the door to get a better look at the patient inside.

Rapid breathing, cyanotic lips… various possibilities flashed through her mind.

“Director, may I go in and see the patient? I need to observe the details more closely.”

Su Tang’s voice was calm, betraying no panic.

“Quick! Go on in!”

The director hurriedly signaled for a nurse to open the door.

Su Tang put on a mask and gloves and walked quickly to the bedside.

She didn’t look at the complex instrument data first. Instead, she leaned down to carefully observe the patient’s complexion and fingernails, then listened closely to his chest sounds.

Su Tang was extremely thorough, even noticing that the skin on the patient’s neck seemed abnormal—it didn’t look like a typical bruise.

A bold idea suddenly flashed through her mind.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep