Chapter 1011: 685 An inconspicuous needle_2

Doctor Yan looked at the older nurse with the expression of a meddling busybody. "I just gave her a quick check-up, didn’t even prescribe any medicine. It’s not a big deal."

The older nurse didn’t dare provoke the woman in the hospital bed and could only continue speaking to Doctor Yan, "I don’t care about that. I’m responsible for this ward. Whether something goes wrong or not, if there’s an investigation, I’ll be held responsible too. So, Doctor Yan, please don’t make things difficult for me."

"Our department is full of young women, and they all know how to stir things up. If they make a big deal of this with the head nurse and the Director, you, as a staff doctor at our hospital, will be fine. But I’m just a regular nurse; I can’t bear the punishment for violating regulations."

Doctor Yan’s eyes widened, and she immediately prepared to counter the term "regular nurse." "You are not a ’regular’..."

The nurse quickly interrupted Doctor Yan, "Please don’t make things difficult for me."

"It was just a simple physical check-up. Why are you making such a fuss?"

"Doctor Yan, let’s talk about this outside. It’s not good to say these things in front of the patient."

As she spoke, the nurse grabbed Doctor Yan’s arm and pulled her out of the room, causing Doctor Yan to lose face and feel very annoyed.

Once out of the hospital room, the nurse still didn’t let go, directly pulling Doctor Yan to the doctors’ office.

Meanwhile, in the doctors’ office, everyone who had gone out to watch the commotion or attend to other matters had returned. They were gathered around the intern, discussing what had just happened and what Du Heng had said.

Especially after hearing the intern describe the man with the glasses, everyone in the office felt a wave of lingering fear, yet also immense relief, all muttering how lucky they were not to have acted rashly.

Seeing Doctor Yan and the nurse suddenly being pulled and dragged, someone couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong with you two? Talk things out calmly. You’re colleagues; there’s no need to get so agitated."

Upon reaching the office, Doctor Yan forcefully wrenched her arm free from the nurse’s grip. Looking at the nurse angrily, she said, "Such a big deal over nothing! Do you know how much face you made me lose in front of the patient?"

But the older nurse just rolled her eyes at Doctor Yan and said coolly, "Do you know what that woman was holding?"

"What does it matter what it was? What does it have to do with you or me?"

"Just a hypodermic needle. It really has nothing to do with me. But whether it has anything to do with you, well, that I don’t know."

The nurse showed Doctor Yan no warmth. After rolling her eyes again, she immediately turned and walked out of the office, heading back to the hospital room. "Sorry, Doctor Yan has something to attend to right now. She’ll find you later."

With that, the nurse pushed her cart and left the hospital room again.

In the office, Doctor Yan was suddenly dumbstruck, her beautiful, bright eyes blinking innocently twice.

"A needle? What do you mean?"

But by the time she asked, the older nurse had already left the office.

A colleague suddenly approached. "Doctor Yan, what needle? What happened?"

Doctor Yan seemed a little dazed, her innocent, wide eyes staring at the doctor who had questioned her. Then, voice laced with grievance, she recounted what had just happened.

"What? Your finger was pricked?" The questioning doctor staggered back dramatically.

Her colleague’s overt retreat made Doctor Yan feel slighted. "What’s that supposed to mean?" she demanded, annoyed.

Seeing Doctor Yan, who still hadn’t quite grasped the severity of the situation, the questioning doctor quietly took another step back before recounting what had happened with the man with the glasses.

After hearing the story, Doctor Yan finally understood. The words that had flashed through the nurse’s mind now flickered in hers. As these words connected to form a complete picture of the incident, she suddenly felt a cold dread wash over her.

She looked again at the finger that had been pricked.

In an instant, her hand began to tremble, her gaze wavered uncontrollably, her body shook, and her heart fluttered anxiously.

Drug addiction and HIV weren’t necessarily linked, but the probability of co-occurrence was high—over 80 percent.

Besides, could one really afford to be complacent in such a matter?

Seeing Doctor Yan looking utterly distraught, the doctor who had spoken earlier quickly reminded her, "Doctor Yan, hurry and find the Director to get a blocking needle! This matter requires extreme caution; you couldn’t be too careful, even if you were 120,000 times more so."

Only after being reminded did Doctor Yan snap back to her senses. She hurriedly clutched her pricked hand and ran towards Director Gao’s office. As she ran, she felt an exceptionally sharp pain in her finger, an agony that seemed to tear through her.

At this moment, in the Director’s office, Gao Qin’s forehead was slick with cold sweat.

Du Heng glanced at Gao Qin’s terrified appearance and asked softly, "What about those two?"

"They left," Gao Qin said softly, her voice sounding weak. "They said they wouldn’t get treated at our hospital and would go to the First Affiliated Hospital of JZU."

"Let them go. It’s for the best that they’ve left," Du Heng said, a wave of relief washing over him.

Although he was a doctor and shouldn’t express such emotions, as a person and a leader, he truly didn’t want himself or his colleagues to be constantly exposed to danger.

"What about the other one?"

"I don’t know," Gao Qin shook her head. "After we explained everything, the couple left, and we haven’t seen them since."

"Then don’t worry about it. If she wants treatment, she’ll come back to find you," Du Heng said, standing up to leave. "For the two already admitted, make sure their treatments are progressing, especially the man. The damage from the toxic sore must be minimized, or he’ll probably be too ashamed to face anyone in the future." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Du Heng finished speaking and was about to leave. But just as he opened the office door, a rushing Doctor Yan collided with him, sending him stumbling back into the room.

Seeing the frantic Doctor Yan, both Gao Qin and Du Heng frowned. Gao Qin, in particular, was visibly displeased.

However, just as she was about to question her, Doctor Yan’s words nearly made her stumble.

"Director, Dean, I’ve been infected with HIV!"

Damn it all!

Du Heng’s heart plummeted. A choice expletive almost escaped his lips.

But he managed to hold it back. "What exactly happened? Don’t rush, tell us slowly."

Doctor Yan frantically explained the situation, then showed her finger to them.

When they saw Doctor Yan’s slender, fair finger, another internal curse almost escaped them. There wasn’t even a red mark, let alone broken skin. Yet, seeing Doctor Yan’s dramatic distress, Gao Qin nearly slapped her.

All that fuss nearly scared this old lady into wetting her pants!

Du Heng had a similar expression, but he first reassured Doctor Yan. Then, to be on the safe side, he called the Disease Control Center in front of her to request blocking medicine.

"Don’t be afraid, it’s nothing serious. Go back to your office and wait for the medicine."

"Thank you, Dean. Thank you, Director."

Watching Doctor Yan leave, glancing back every few steps, Du Heng turned to Gao Qin. "Director Gao, you need to reinforce safety awareness concerning these kinds of situations."

"I will make the arrangements as soon as possible."

Du Heng nodded and then left Gao Qin’s office.

Doctor Yan, who had left by then, gradually began to compose herself. Her initial panic subsided further when she learned Du Heng had arranged for the blocking medicine to be sent to her.

Seventy-two hours—as long as the blocking medicine was taken within 72 hours, there was a more than 95 percent chance of preventing transmission.

Now, her thinking was to err on the side of caution.

Although the blocking medicine had some side effects, they were only temporary physical discomfort and wouldn’t affect her future life. Therefore, regardless of whether she had been infected, she was determined to take it.

However, while waiting for the medicine, she had one more thing to do: find the nurse from earlier and sincerely say, "Thank you."