Five Years of Studying Medicine, Three Years of Flirting With Guys - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“A sense of being human?” Tang Linsheng (the senior) was coming out of the ICU and heading toward his office when he saw Tang Linsheng’s (the junior) head peeking out and ducking back in. Curious about what he was doing, Tang Linsheng (the senior) walked over, only to hear him utter that sentence with a face full of bliss.

Tang Linsheng (the junior) quickly chewed a few times and swallowed, standing up to say, “Professor Tang, you’re here. Are you hungry? Do you want some?”

“No, thank you.”

“Professor Tang, you’ve been busy for so long, come have some! Look, I have two bentos!” Seeing him refuse, Tang Linsheng (the junior) added hurriedly, “If I can’t finish them, it’ll be a waste! Help me eliminate them together!”

Seeing his enthusiastic manner and firm attitude as if he wouldn’t eat if the senior didn’t Tang Linsheng (the senior) glanced at the two bulging lunch boxes and asked politely, “Will you have enough to eat?”

Tang Linsheng (the junior), who two minutes ago felt like he could eat a whole cow, waved his hands frantically: “I’ll have plenty!! This lunch box was actually the one I saved for you!”

He quickly pushed one of the lunch boxes in front of himself and beckoned for the senior to sit down and eat. Tang Linsheng (the senior) broke apart a pair of spare disposable chopsticks from the department and sat across from him with a smile. “Then I shall respect your wishes rather than stand in ceremony.”

“Don’t be polite!” Tang Linsheng (the junior) greeted him heroically. “It was brought for you!”

Ever since the incidents back in university, Tang Linsheng (the senior) had maintained a state of cautiousness toward bentos. He picked up a small cluster of potato shreds with his chopsticks and tasted them. Finding that they were not only not spicy but also very light, he felt at ease. “How did you know I was in the hospital today?” Today wasn’t his day to be on duty; if he hadn’t come to the hospital to check some internal records, he wouldn’t have stayed in the office this late.

“Uh…” Tang Linsheng (the junior) found it hard to admit that both bentos were intended for himself, so he dryly changed the subject: “How is that myocarditis patient, Ma Laixi?”

“The pericardial effusion has been drained, and he’s slightly more conscious.” Whether or not the subject change was successful, Tang Linsheng (the senior) spoke while eating: “His condition is stable for now, but he still has a bit of a fever. We’re waiting to see the culture reports; we can only prescribe medication once the cause is found.”

Tang Linsheng (the junior) nodded and asked, “Will he get better once he’s on medication?”

Tang Linsheng (the senior) looked up at him, his gaze a bit heavy. “That will depend on him.”

“What do you mean?” Tang Linsheng (the junior) was puzzled. If it’s myocarditis, wouldn’t anti-inflammatories or something similar do the trick?

Tang Linsheng (the senior) explained patiently: “The most common cause of myocarditis is the Coxsackie B virus. When Ma Laixi first woke up, he said he was eating BBQ and drinking beer before he collapsed, and he had a cold three weeks ago. It’s also possible that bacterial vegetation dropped into the heart and caused myocarditis. For him, volume expansion and anti-inflammatory treatment are the basics, but if the culture report shows the cause is a virus… currently, there are no specific anti-viral drugs. We’ll have to wait for the report to adjust the treatment plan based on the specific situation.”

Tang Linsheng’s (the junior) eating slowed down. No specific anti-viral drugs meant Ma Laixi could only tough it out. The Senior is so amazing, he’ll definitely think of a suitable treatment plan! I hope Ma Laixi can pull through and hold on.

Because it was so late and Tang Linsheng (the senior) wasn’t entirely at ease with Ma Laixi’s condition worrying that if an emergency resuscitation were needed, he wouldn’t make it back in time if the duty doctor called him he went to sleep in the duty room with Tang Linsheng (the junior).

It was the second time I slept in a room with the Senior. Same beds, same routine. When Tang Linsheng (the junior) came out after his shower, he once again saw Tang Linsheng (the senior) reading a book on the bed. Judging by the thickness of the flipped pages, the Senior had read a lot more since the last time.

Tang Linsheng (the junior) took a curious peek and saw it was full of English letters like little tadpoles; he immediately burrowed into his quilt to prepare for sleep.

Tang Linsheng (the senior) saw his little movements out of the corner of his eye. The corners of his mouth curved as he got up to turn off the light.

“Pro… Professor Tang, you’re not reading anymore?”

“Mhm, get some rest early.”

Tang Linsheng (the junior) blinked his eyes in the darkness. Suddenly, his sleepiness vanished, and the urge to chat with the Senior grew stronger and stronger.

How can you not seize such a good opportunity?!

The first time, you already wasted the chance for deep communication between the two of you!

Hurry up and find a topic to chat about!

Tang Linsheng (the junior) spurred himself on internally and gave a light cough. “Ahem, Professor Tang, are you sleepy?”

Tang Linsheng (the senior) was still thinking about the possible scenarios if Ma Laixi’s condition deteriorated. Hearing the question, he responded, “No.”

Tang Linsheng’s (the junior) hand, hidden under the quilt, gripped the blanket nervously. He asked in a small voice, “Professor Tang, I heard you graduated from B University Medical School?” Hurry up and ask how I know! Then I can answer that I graduated from B University Medical School too!

“Yes.” Tang Linsheng (the senior) was simulating the rescue process and treatment plans in his mind, so he only had time to answer simply.

Tang Linsheng’s (the junior) expectations fell through. He had no choice but to change the subject: “Was today’s meal good, Professor Tang?”

“It was quite good. Why?” Tang Linsheng (the senior) had finished organizing his treatment plan and replied, “Did you make it?”

“No, no, no, it wasn’t,” Tang Linsheng (the junior) clarified quickly. “My dad made it. I was worried you wouldn’t like it. I was also worried the taste might be too bland, without any spiciness at all.”

There was a pause from the Senior’s side. “I can’t eat spicy food, so it was actually quite delicious.”

“You can’t eat spicy food?” Tang Linsheng (the junior) was stunned. He thought most people nowadays liked things with a bit of spice! He never expected the Senior actually disliked spicy food! Then… What about the bento he sent last time? That bento was empty; did the Senior force himself to eat it out of politeness? He felt he could already imagine the Senior’s face while eating that bento. It was all his fault for sending it blindly without checking first!

And… he had also sent one back in university, and that bento box had been empty too. So… the Senior had suffered! The more Tang Linsheng (the junior) thought about it, the more he felt he was too stupid. Of course you can’t chase someone by sending the wrong food! No wonder he never got any response back in university!

He wanted to bang his head against the wall!

If the hospital bed weren’t so narrow, he would have rolled around a few times. If the Senior ever found out he was the one who sent them, it would be so embarrassing!

Feeling suspicious vibrations coming from the connected beds, Tang Linsheng (the senior) suddenly thought of something. He quietly raised an eyebrow, gave a silent smile, and said, “Time to sleep. Goodnight.” He left the time to Tang Linsheng (the junior) to do what one should do at night; after all, he was young and full of vigor he could understand.

Tang Linsheng (the junior) listlessly thumped the bed a few times with his hand. Hearing the Senior say that, he quickly replied, “Goodnight, Professor Tang!” He definitely wouldn’t send the Senior a spicy bento next time!

That night, Tang Linsheng (the senior) couldn’t sleep until dawn. Around three or four in the morning, the door to the men’s locker room was opened. The duty doctor ran over to ask him to check on a patient in the ICU. Besides Ma Laixi, another patient was having an emergency.

Tang Linsheng (the senior) put his index finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet so as not to wake Tang Linsheng (the junior). He briskly and efficiently dressed, turned off the light that the duty doctor had just switched on, and headed to the ICU. Ma Laixi’s culture report had also come out overnight, matching his suspicions. He immediately issued medical orders for Ma Laixi’s treatment and monitored his vital signs. The other patient had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest; when he arrived, medical staff were already performing chest compressions. Seeing Tang Linsheng (the senior) arrive was like having a pillar of support; the originally distressed faces instantly turned into courageous fighters against the Grim Reaper.

The duty doctor who had called him over watched as Tang Linsheng (the senior) accurately and decisively led the resuscitation, his eyes welling with tears of gratitude. Thank goodness Professor Tang was in the hospital today; such a treacherous situation tonight was something he, a newly promoted attending physician, couldn’t have handled!

Even with good coordination, they had to perform resuscitation followed by post-resuscitation treatment and nursing. By the time Tang Linsheng (the senior) returned to the duty room, it was already past five in the morning. He used the flashlight on his phone to light the way, walking softly to his bedside. He had just lifted his thin quilt when he got up again and walked toward Tang Linsheng (the junior).

He placed his phone face down on his own bed; the faint glow still allowed him to see the quilt that Tang Linsheng (the junior) had kicked aside. Tang Linsheng was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, sleeping spread-eagled. Perhaps because he had kicked the quilt and then tossed and turned, the hem of his shirt had been pulled up, revealing a nicely shaped belly button and a large patch of abdominal skin.

Tang Linsheng (the senior) stifled a laugh. He stepped forward to properly cover him with the quilt that was about to fall to the floor. In the dark of the night, he watched the person sleeping soundly and gave a light sigh with a smile: “This kid.”