April 1, 20xxBeijing
The Previous Day
Absentmindedly, Yan s.h.i.+ scrubbed her hands for three minutes before letting the cool water wash away the traces of soap.
Her mind was still processing what had transpired earlier.
She was called to the Vice President"s office and was reprimanded. Being told that one patient who came for consultation sued her for wrong diagnosis was the biggest joke she"d heard. On the lawyer"s letter, President Ming cited evidences of her misconduct and was pus.h.i.+ng for license revocation. That bald man has history of suing hospitals and Xuanwu University Hospital"s management didn"t want to be caught in between the scandal, especially the former is part of the Hospital Board. Hence, the higher level"s directive was for her to apologize.
Slytherin.
What misdiagnosis?
There was nothing wrong with her prognosis.
Five days ago, President Ming complained on having unbearable stomach pains and based on his medical history, she sent him for series of test which all came clean, but he was insistent on having stomach cancer. He requested for biopsy, CT scan and even x-ray.
She had a vague a.s.sumption that he"s trouble.
Her suspicion of his condition intensified when he is unable to stop fidgeting and keeps pointing out his own diagnosis of his condition.
Obviously, the man exhibits symptoms of hypochondria, a condition in which a person has an abnormal anxiety on having serious illnesses even though diagnostic tests show there is nothing wrong on them. This unwarranted fear of having serious disease persist even after the physician"s evaluation that what they complain about is not an underlying symptom for a serious disease.
To satisfy his demand, she relented and sent him to these tests. The next day, she sat with him and explained there was nothing wrong. Before adding ----
"But you needed to see a psychiatrist."
Upon hearing the word "psychiatrist" he paled and seconds later, he stood and yelled "I am not insane!!!"
Before storming out of the room and banging the door on the process.
Sighing, she forwarded his medical report to the VP to convince the man to undergo CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) under Dr. Xu to reduce this unwarranted anxieties. With the help of therapist, hypochondriacs like him will be able to identify their triggers and will be advised with coping skills to help manage them.
For most people, they inadvertently a.s.sociate being insane with shrinks. In fact, seeing one is not tantamount to being crazy. There are more than 200 cla.s.sified forms of mental illnesses. From the most common like anxiety disorders to extreme cases like schizophrenia, Dissociative Ident.i.ty Disorder, Cotard Delusion and etc. But most are actually treatable with the help therapy and medicine.
Now, she is being told to go apologize to the man tonight.
But she made up her mind, she won"t. As a doctor, she should to stand her ground and stick to her conclusion to maintain medical integrity.
***
As the nurse was a.s.sisting her to put on the disposable surgical gown over her scrubs, there was a sharp pain in her temples and her back.
Noticing her movement of closing her eyes, the pet.i.te nurse asked "Are you okay Dr. Yan?"
There was a short "En" before the woman stepped forward.
Returning home had become uncertain because of the the big vehicular accident at the intersection near the hospital. Doctors, nurses and interns are scrambling to treat patients.
Looking at the wounded body on the operating table, she ignored all the pain she was feeling at the moment. To her, saving this person"s life is important.
"After the operation, I will go home." she promised herself as she started the surgery to decompress and stabilize the man"s spine as he suffered from spinal cord injury after being slammed by a big truck. This is to prevent him being paralyzed.
Four hours later, the procedure ended.
Without waiting for the nurse"s a.s.sistance, she patted the sweat with on her forehead with her arm.
She started feeling abnormally hot in the middle of the operation and the pain in her head intensified, disconcerting her.
Shortly after it ended, the throb was radiating to her left shoulders down to her fingers. Her hand startled to tremble and both legs became numb. The right hand tried to clasp on something for support as the feeling of the world rotating was making her dizzier and more nauseous. The desire to vomit added to her dilemma.
At that moment, all she wanted to do was ran out of the stifling room. But before she can make another step, she knocked down the stainless steel table before her body hit the cold hospital floors. The sound of clanging resonated inside the room, startling everyone.
In her barely conscious state, she heard frantic voices around her.
"Quick, help Dr Yan."
"Put her on the stretcher." Another one followed.
She felt her body being lifted and that was the last thing she remembered.
********
Present time:
June 5, 20xx
Beijing
The man slowly stirred as the smell of disinfectant permeated into his nose.
He can feel numbness somewhere in his body but ignored it and forced his eyes open.
White ceiling … hospital bed
He sat up but returned to his original position, uttering a curse after feeling the pain.
At the same time, the nurse saw the handsome man"s action and reminded him.
"Do not get up yet."
Five minutes later, the doctor came and left after checking on him.
According to him, he can be discharged the next day.
Then, his man came with relief in their eyes.
"Boss, you are awake." Xui Yong voiced unable to restrain the worry in his tone. He unintentionally touched the arm of the man on the bed.
Li Jie looked at those hands on him and when the other man realized what he did, he let go.
However, he couldn"t stop making that thankful sign and another man inside the room laughed upon the sight of Xui Yong starting to cry.
"Don"t cry." Li Jie warned this idiot.
The man had to turn around not to show his teary eyes.
He is really glad that his boss is alive, completely extinguis.h.i.+ng the rumor floating around the Underworld that he died. Other gangs started to behave unscrupulously at the onset of this news.
"Have you found out that woman who saved me?" Li Jie suddenly queried.
The two looked at each other and shook their heads to say no. Afraid to tell him directly.
They knew his temper is not something you can take on lightly.
Bai Xiao Wen tried to explain.
"The news of your death led to chaos and we -----"
The man known as X-1 paused when his boss raised his arm, signaling for him to stop.
At this moment, Li Jie has no inclination to listen to anything other than things related to the woman who saved him.
For the first time, there was that inexplicable desire to see her again. He needed to find out, why was his heart beating erratically in reaction to her voice.
A smile curved up on his lips.
Just when he thought his life is boring, a stranger suddenly piqued his interest.
"Find her."
The next day, X-1 returned with the report on his hand.
***
Tidbit of Info:
Cotard Delusion : a rare mental illness in which the sufferer has delusional beliefs they are walking dead or ghost, or decaying and they"ve lost all his /her blood and internal organs. --- (I call it the Walking Dead Syndrome)
Dissociative Ident.i.ty Disorder - once called Multiple Personality Disorder but after countless debates, it was changed to DID as the illness refers to having distinct ident.i.ties not, personalities. The changes appeared on the DSM-IV.
You"ve probably seen this on tv a lot.
DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) lists all known mental health problems and it is used as the standard criteria for the cla.s.sification of mental disorders. At present, DSM-V is being used.