Practicing Medical Skills in a Small Clinic-Chapter 52: A Healer’s Compassion

"Xiaogao! Xiaogao... don’t just stand there like a dead person, help me back. Staying here too long, I’m starting to feel a bit of heatstroke."

Even in a situation like this, Boss Zhao didn’t miss an opportunity to spread some negative comments about Sunshine Clinic.

It was basically a way to tell the customers, don’t stay here, leave quickly, or you’ll get a heatstroke too.

Xiaogao got scolded in front of everyone, drooping his head, he didn’t talk back, supporting Boss Zhao as they headed outside.

Li Jingsheng raised his hand to pick up the plastic bag containing the heart medicine but eventually put it down again.

Judging from the situation, Boss Zhao probably wasn’t suffering from heatstroke, it seemed more like a heart attack.

At this moment, it was best not to provoke him, otherwise, if the family blamed Li Jingsheng, it could become troublesome.

Watching Xiaogao support Boss Zhao, stumbling awkwardly out of the clinic, Li Jingsheng let out a sigh of relief. As long as he didn’t collapse in his own clinic, considering Boss Zhao’s condition, it seemed that he’d need to be sent to the hospital soon.

The female journalist was watching Boss Zhao the whole time with a curious gaze.

She might have thought this middle-aged man was quite strange.

"It’s not hot in here, how did he get a heatstroke?"

She curiously asked Li Jingsheng.

"Maybe overweight people are more sensitive to heat!"

Li Jingsheng’s answer was somewhat perfunctory.

He instinctively felt a bit resistant towards journalists.

No clinic or pharmacy owner likes dealing with journalists. Usually, when they see a journalist coming, they treat them like a potential threat.

Fearing that the journalist would catch some negative news.

"Aren’t you a doctor? You could help him with treatment!"

She asked, puzzled.

Li Jingsheng clearly knew that middle-aged man, so why was he so indifferent seeing the other having a heatstroke?

She had just been preparing a positive report on Sunshine Clinic and Li Jingsheng, maybe he’s just a fame-chasing doctor?

She re-evaluated Li Jingsheng.

"His family runs a clinic too, he’s a doctor himself, and that young fellow supporting him is also a doctor, they have no need for my help. If I did step in, they’d be unhappy."

Li Jingsheng explained.

The female journalist nodded slightly in understanding.

"Oh, they’re in the same business! I get it. If you step in to help with treatment, he’d think you’re showing off your superior medical skills, right?"

"You could understand it that way."

Li Jingsheng thought this female journalist was rather clever.

The smarter she seemed, the more wary he became of her.

Very intelligent women are often hard to deal with.

He certainly didn’t want her digging out any negative news about the clinic.

"Hey, is that banner something a patient just gifted you?"

The female journalist’s eyes were fixed on the banner casually placed on the counter by Li Jingsheng.

In fact, she had been eyeing that banner several times already.

She just hadn’t found the right moment to ask about it.

She only considered things worth further investigation if they had interview value and were helpful to her work.

"Hmm!"

Li Jingsheng nodded slightly.

"May I take a look at it? A banner of such quality is rare indeed! I believe the patient must be extremely grateful to you to have spent money on such a nice custom banner."

Her insight was sharp.

She could tell this was a high-quality banner and deduced a lot from it.

It seems that in any field, outstanding talent usually comes with high professional acumen.

The same goes for journalists; by being observant and digging deeper into seemingly trivial details, they might uncover more valuable news leads.

"Feel free to look at it."

Li Jingsheng thought it was just a banner, it was meant to be displayed anyway, so letting her look at it didn’t matter.

At that moment, Xiaogao’s cries for help came from outside the clinic.

"Dr. Li, Dr. Li, help, my boss is in a bad way! He told me to ask you for a gift, but I don’t know what he means."

Having just helped Boss Zhao out the door, Xiaogao unexpectedly rushed back in, his face full of fear and panic.

Most novice doctors lacking practical experience behave like this.

Faced with a patient’s sudden minor accident, or when receiving a more severe patient, they instantly panic, not knowing how to handle it. The emergency skills they’ve studied from teachers and books become hazy.

In a rush, it’s perfectly normal for the mind to go blank.

Many medical students, upon seeing a patient die for the first time, can’t eat for a day or two, or even vomit or cry on the spot, these are quite common occurrences.

If Xiaogao had interned in a big hospital, he wouldn’t be working in Boss Zhao’s clinic for a meager monthly salary of a thousand as an apprentice.

"What’s wrong with Boss Zhao?"

Compared to Xiaogao, Li Jingsheng was on a completely different level.

He was extremely calm and collected, not flustered at all.

"I don’t know, as soon as I helped him out the clinic door, he collapsed. Now he’s unconscious and doesn’t respond, please come take a look!"

Xiaogao was so anxious he was stamping his feet, his hands trembling.

His speech was somewhat incoherent.

"Sister Tang, please come with me to check Boss Zhao’s basic signs. I have a feeling it’s not heatstroke."

Li Jingsheng grabbed a thermometer gun and rushed outside.

Tang Ping grabbed the blood pressure device and followed closely behind.

The female journalist and a few customers who just bought medicine followed the commotion.

Boss Zhao was lying on the sidewalk outside the clinic.

Now Xiaogao was flustered too, with the sun out and unaware he should move people into the shade before seeking help.

"Dr. Gao, come and give me a hand, let’s first move him to the shade by the wall."

Li Jingsheng touched Boss Zhao’s forehead; it wasn’t hot.

If it were heatstroke, the body temperature would be very high.

However, forehead temperature is not the gold standard for diagnosing heatstroke. Some heatstroke patients may not have high forehead temperatures—this varies from person to person.

In the vast majority of people, body temperature quickly rises above 38 degrees after suffering from heatstroke.

If not treated promptly, one can quickly die from heat exhaustion.

"The body temperature in the armpit, ear, and groin is only about 36.8 degrees. Though his face is a bit pale and pupils tend to dilate, his consciousness is nearly absent, but it doesn’t seem like heatstroke."

Li Jingsheng’s diagnosis was clear and precise.

Quickly ruling out heatstroke-induced coma.

"Does Boss Zhao have heart disease?"

Li Jingsheng measured Boss Zhao’s breathing while questioning Xiaogao.

"No, I’ve never heard of the boss having heart disease."

Xiaogao affirmed.

"Breathing reached 57 times per minute, obviously abnormal. Let me measure his heart rate."

While Li Jingsheng measured Boss Zhao’s heart rate, Tang Ping was measuring his blood pressure.

"Heart rate reaches as high as 170 beats per minute, plus there is sinus arrhythmia. Sister Tang, what’s his blood pressure?"

"Systolic pressure is at 160mmHg, diastolic pressure 110mmHg. Stage 3 hypertension."

Her brow had furrowed into a knot.

Despite deeply disliking and fearing Boss Zhao, seeing him unconscious and life-threatening, she instinctively felt concern as a medical professional.

After listening, Li Jingsheng nodded, from various signs, symptoms, and basic signs could basically determine that Boss Zhao likely was having a heart attack.

"Sister Tang, you call 120 for emergency help, I’ll get quick-acting heart-relief pills for him to take."

Facing Boss Zhao’s life-threatening situation, Li Jingsheng didn’t hesitate and extended a helping hand.

Those two heart-relief pills gifted to Boss Zhao finally came in handy at this moment.

It’s estimated Boss Zhao originally wanted to grit his teeth to walk back to Quick Recovery Clinic and then self-medicate. Unexpectedly, gritting his teeth only got him to the door of Sunshine Clinic.

Before losing consciousness, he should have intended for Xiaogao to take back the ’gift’ from Li Jingsheng to save his life.

Yet before he could finish speaking, he was directly unconscious.

After feeding the two heart-relief pills, Li Jingsheng closely monitored Boss Zhao’s condition.

Heart-relief pills can be taken during a heart attack and have some effect.

However, they can’t relieve the patient’s hypertension.

Li Jingsheng had antihypertensive drugs in his clinic, hesitated a moment, and still took three pills to feed Boss Zhao.

Whether it was the heart-relief pills or the antihypertensive pills taking effect, Boss Zhao slowly regained consciousness.

A crowd of onlookers had already gathered.

The female reporter and photographer, as if finding treasure, kept taking photos of Boss Zhao and the rescuing Li Jingsheng.

This left Li Jingsheng speechless.

Everyone only considers their own interests.

The female reporter and photographer are delighted, lucky enough to bump into a very eye-catching news story.

As for what impact the report might have on Li Jingsheng and Sunshine Clinic, they wouldn’t even consider it.

"Boss Zhao, how do you feel now?"

Li Jingsheng asked.

Boss Zhao’s opened eyes looked a bit dazed, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word.

His right hand tried to rise but weakly only lifted a little.

"Don’t move, don’t move, the ambulance will arrive soon. Just fed you heart-relief pills and antihypertensive pills, they should save your life. You reached stage 3 hypertension, being a doctor yourself, not controlling your blood pressure is really inappropriate."

Li Jingsheng found in such a situation, he couldn’t bring himself to cruelly see death without rescuing.

A benevolent heart for a doctor, he couldn’t stand worldly suffering.

Even if enemies with Boss Zhao, seeing him near death, still resolutely extended aid.

Really, he didn’t think much at the time.

If he were more ruthless, he surely would watch Boss Zhao die.

In that case, Quick Recovery Clinic would be basically finished.

Then, only Sunshine Clinic and Jinkui Clinic would remain on this street.

Even if Quick Recovery Clinic passed to Boss Zhao’s children or wife, business certainly would continuously slide, unable to form strong competitiveness.

"Dr. Li, can I interview you with a question?"

The female reporter raised a recording microphone.

Mind you, though she’s just a newspaper reporter, without needing video or audio content, she can provide it to colleagues.

Or use it as a raw source for refined news.

"Miss, do you think it appropriate to interview in such a scene? The patient is life-threatening now, could you have some sympathy?"

Li Jingsheng glared at her.

Making the reporter’s face immediately tainted with grievance, unwillingly withdrawing the microphone.

Soon, an ambulance from the Second Hospital arrived with a roar.

Being close is good, after calling, they swiftly rush to the scene to save.

The attending doctor changed but the nurse was the same as the one from that night, the driver was the same too.

"Ha! You guys at this small clinic have a pretty high incident rate, huh!"

The female nurse sarcastically remarked.

That night, the elderly woman’s heart disease caused her to collapse, unrelated to Li Jingsheng. Today this patient surely couldn’t have fallen by himself again?