Chapter 274: Preparing for Surgery
As the saying goes, plans can never keep up with changes.
Bai Cha had originally intended to go to the company the next day to wrap up the last of her affairs, then head to the hospital to continue receiving IV fluids.
At the very least, she hadn’t planned on undergoing surgery before entering the next instance, as she still needed to test with Shen Qingchen whether Dodder Vines could be planted on players.
Not to mention she had also scheduled a meeting with Chen Mi, intending to inquire about Yu Zhenzhen.
By the time all these tasks were cleared, merely two or three days would remain before entering the instance; undergoing surgery would make her schedule far too tight.
Given her current pain situation, however, going without surgery no longer seemed to be an option.
She headed to the emergency department, stated her purpose, and the doctor began examining her.
In truth, the checkup still revealed nothing definitive, as there were still no signs of perforation or suppuration, but her pain was fairly severe, and she had already received IV fluids during the day, so undergoing surgery remained the best course of action.
Before that, however, other issues still needed to be screened.
“Get in touch with your family or friends and have them come to the hospital to accompany you. Otherwise, it’ll be inconvenient for you to undergo surgery alone. Plus, someone needs to sign the paperwork.”
As Bai Cha followed the doctor to get examined, she spoke up: “I can sign for myself.”
The doctor was a female physician who cast a glance at Bai Cha.
Taking in Bai Cha’s slender, frail frame and haggard complexion, she shook her head instantly.
“Call someone over. Although an appendectomy is just a minor procedure, it still requires general anesthesia.”
“Let’s go. We’ll screen you for other issues first. The surgery won’t happen so quickly anyway—it’ll probably take an hour, which is plenty of time for you to find someone.”
Bai Cha was still capable of walking right now; her pain was simply rather severe, and paired with the ultrasound showing no severe complications like perforation—being purely acute appendicitis—it indeed wasn’t overly urgent. The emergency department happened to have patients in more critical condition undergoing surgery tonight anyway.
Regarding the doctor’s words, Bai Cha knitted her brows obstinately for a long while.
She had blood drawn and underwent an electrocardiogram.
Throughout this process, she remained locked in hesitation from start to finish.
A-Zhao had likely gone out for training over the past two days; judging by her social feed, she had traveled out of town.
Meng-yao was on her period these two days, lamenting continuously on her social feed.
Having them come over was truly quite inappropriate.
Yet a person like her lacked friends to begin with.
Weighing her options back and forth, Shen Qingchen was likely the sole candidate—especially since the two of them were slated to collaborate afterward anyway.
However, she hadn’t known Shen Qingchen for long, yet the other party had already aided her multiple times.
And now it was the middle of the night, to say nothing of the fact that the woman had a child at home.
“Her ST value is on the lower side; take a look.” After the electrocardiogram results came out, the examining doctor handed the printout to the female physician beside him.
“Does she have a history of heart disease?”
“No, my heart simply feels uncomfortable on occasion,” Bai Cha shook her head.
“What kind of discomfort?” the female doctor asked.
“It gets fairly painful—a dull, suffocating pain, leaving me a bit short of breath. It beats quite violently, and sometimes I experience palpitations and a fluttering chest.”
The female doctor looked thoughtful.
“Have you ever had a cardiac angiography or something similar done before?”
“I have.” When heart pain first surfaced back then, her aunt had taken her for a comprehensive examination.
“The doctor said there were no issues, claiming it might be mild regurgitation in both the mitral and tricuspid valves paired with arrhythmia. They said it wasn’t a major problem since everything else checked out fine.”
“Have you been checked for rheumatism, blood pressure, and the like?”
“Yes, those turned up no issues either.”
“What about your sleep?”
“…Long-term insomnia and frequent dreams.”
The female doctor nodded.
“How are your emotions usually? Do you tend to overthink things? You seem to carry a heavy mind. Failing to contact your family or friends for such a long stretch—are your emotions usually quite suppressed? Are you prone to anxiety?”
Bai Cha fell silent.
The female doctor nodded in understanding.
“Alright then, no matter. Let’s wait for the blood test results. If there are no other underlying causes, you can undergo general anesthesia surgery. This heart issue of yours might primarily be emotion-driven. Are you still in school? Have you been screened for depression? Are you attending university?”
Bai Cha shook her head.
“Never been screened. I’ve already graduated.”
“Then you’re quite impressive, having graduated already.”
Patted her on the shoulder, the female doctor said, “Go get checked at the psychiatry department after you’re discharged later on. It could very well be caused by emotional factors—including this appendicitis of yours as well. You’re still young, so generally speaking, there shouldn’t be major physiological issues. Hurry up and call your family over; the blood test results will be out shortly.”
Saying this, she called a nurse over, arranging the required medications.
“Take her along, write up a prescription slip to retrieve the medication, and then arrange a ward. Put her on IV fluids first, and as soon as her family arrives, we’ll perform the surgery on her. Hurry up and have your family come over.”
That final sentence was directed at Bai Cha. Having finished speaking, she went off to attend to other matters.
Bai Cha followed the nurse to write up the prescription slip once more.
While waiting for the medication, the nurse instructed her to sit aside and rest for a bit, as the medicine needed to be prepared as well.
Only then did Bai Cha place a call to Shen Qingchen.
“Hello?” Shen Qingchen’s voice carried a trace of sleepiness.
“What’s wrong?”
Bai Cha pursed her lips, saying, “Sister Shen, I’m at the hospital. I have acute appendicitis and need surgery. Could you come over to sign the paperwork for me?”
She added supplementary details: “I don’t have other friends around here, and my family lives far away, so…”
“Which hospital?” Shen Qingchen asked directly.
“First People’s Hospital.”
“Alright, I’ll be right there.”
The rustling sound of putting on clothes echoed from the other end of the line, and before hanging up, Bai Cha caught the sound of Yang Qingyun’s voice as well.
“Where are you going in the middle of the night?”
“Xiao Cha needs surgery…”
Sitting inside the hospital while clutching her stomach, Bai Cha felt a deeply complex emotional state.
A wave of inexplicable irritability and powerlessness washed over her.
She knew full well this originated from within herself.
She truly despised her own body for always malfunctioning like this.
Even as she reminded herself that a condition like appendicitis was inherently beyond her ability to decide, making harsh self-blame thoroughly unnecessary.
Shen Qingchen held an ongoing collaboration with her to begin with, so seeking her help didn’t count as begging for aid—and even if it were a plea for help, so what?
When help ought to be accepted, one should simply accept it.
She understood the logic completely, yet she remained incapable of doing it all the same.
And yet she was forced to do so nonetheless.
It made her appear overly dramatic and sensitive.
She thoroughly detested this aspect of her personality as well.
“Teacher Bai, let me take you upstairs to find a ward for you,” the nurse called out to Bai Cha.
Bai Cha hesitated briefly over this form of address, though she refrained from insisting on correcting it.
At times, nurses in certain hospitals indeed addressed patients this way, lacking clarity on how else to call them, after all.
Toward elders, they could address them directly as Aunt or Uncle.
Calling peers Brother or Sister felt quite bizarre, so whenever she went for examinations, she would catch nurses addressing people this way as well on occasion.
Diverted by this form of address, she managed to briefly suppress those emotions.
Shen Qingchen arrived very quickly, wearing a casual dress draped with an outer jacket, primarily carrying a small blanket alongside a few other necessities in hand.
Coincidentally, Bai Cha’s examination results came back as well, with everything normal.
“Alright, once this bottle of IV fluid finishes running, you can go in for surgery. Patient’s family member, please follow me—there are a few prep tasks.”
Patting Bai Cha on the shoulder, Shen Qingchen followed the nurse out.
Bai Cha sat there in silence, cooperating with the subsequent series of preparations.
Then, she entered the operating room.
By the time she entered the operating room, daylight had broken outside, the time already reaching six in the morning.
The effects of anesthesia set in very rapidly, and Bai Cha plunged into sleep before long.
Yet absurdly enough, she actually experienced a dream amidst her general anesthesia slumber.
An instance dreamscape.
Dog game.
