Chapter 32: Then Go Find the Head Nurse and See Whom She Will Punish!
Page 1 of 3
“Huh?” Wu Xiumin immediately grew anxious. “The needle really slipped, didn’t it? I thought it looked that way.”
“Don’t panic.” Wen Ran glanced again toward the nurses’ station. Several nurses seemed busy with something; even after being called, none of them responded. She removed the needle from Xiaozhi’s hand, then pressed down over the puncture site. “Keep pressing for a while. After it settles down, switch hands and insert it again.”
The little boy burst into tears the moment he heard that he would have to be stuck again.
“I don’t want my hand stuck! I don’t want an injection…”
He was only six or seven years old and terrified whenever anyone mentioned an injection.
The nurse on duty, Li Hongxing, came running when she heard the crying. The moment she saw that Wen Ran had removed the needle, she flew into a rage.
Xiaozhi was different from the other children. His veins were difficult to find, making him especially hard to needle.
It had taken two or three attempts in each hand before they had finally managed to insert the needle.
Even nurses with two years of experience would not dare guarantee success. Fresh graduates from nursing school like them were even less willing to try. In the end, the head nurse herself had stepped in and succeeded.
Li Hongxing snapped, “Who told you to remove the needle?”
Wen Ran did not release the hand she was pressing over the puncture. Pointing to the slight swelling on Xiaozhi’s hand, she said, “The needle slipped.”
“We have trained professionals here to deal with that. Besides, it’s only minor leakage—nothing serious. If you don’t understand, don’t meddle!” Afraid of being reprimanded herself, Li Hongxing scolded Wen Ran first.
Wu Xiumin could not bear it any longer and spoke up for Wen Ran. “This nurse was only trying to help. Look at my son’s hand—it’s already starting to swell! I called you several times, but none of you came over. Don’t just scold her!”
“Ma’am, I was only a few minutes late. It’s not as if I wasn’t going to come,” Li Hongxing said, making excuses for herself.
Wen Ran had anticipated this reaction when she removed the needle from Xiaozhi’s hand. But if she had not removed it, the leakage would only have worsened.
Looking at Li Hongxing’s self-important expression, she asked, “Then tell me—did I handle the removal correctly or not?”
Li Hongxing fell silent.
She could not say Wen Ran had been wrong. If she had come over herself, she would have removed the needle too.
The reason none of them had come was partly because they were busy, and partly because they had all tacitly dragged their feet.
That little boy was simply too difficult to deal with.
One moment he complained that this hurt, the next that something else hurt. He had put them through no end of trouble.
Li Hongxing stubbornly argued, “Even so, you had no business removing it. We professionals were here!”
By then, the little boy had stopped crying and was staring at them with wide eyes.
Wen Ran judged that enough time had passed and released her hand.
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
She added, “I never said you weren’t professionals. You don’t need to keep emphasizing it. Although I haven’t been made permanent yet, I’m still a nurse. The head nurse always says that the patient must come first. I put the patient first—what did I do wrong?”
Li Hongxing had no answer, but she was unwilling to let Wen Ran off so easily.
Since she could not handle Xiaozhi herself, she pointed at him and said, “You removed the needle. You put it back in.”
The other nurses said nothing. Whoever stepped forward now would be responsible for needling Xiaozhi.
There were other patients and family members in the room, and everyone began whispering among themselves.
Xiaozhi clung tightly to Wu Xiumin and began working up another flood of tears.
After finishing her errand, Ruan Ling had wanted to sneak a look at He Jinyan. Instead, she happened to witness the scene.
Filled with confusion, she walked over.
A junior nurse who knew her immediately caught her by the arm and whispered, “Don’t push your way in. Be careful they don’t drag you into this.”
“What happened?” Ruan Ling peered inside and saw Wen Ran surrounded by the others.
The junior nurse lowered her voice and recounted what had happened. Then she added, “That child has tiny veins and refuses to cooperate. Even the experienced nurses don’t dare stick him. One careless move and the needle goes in wrong. This new girl is simply unlucky. If she fails, she’ll probably be disciplined.”
When Ruan Ling heard that, she was outraged. It was obvious they were setting Wen Ran up!
Ignoring the junior nurse’s attempts to stop her, she pushed her way inside just as Wen Ran was saying, “Removing a needle takes no skill. Inserting one is a real technique. I haven’t even been made permanent yet, and you expect me to start his IV?”
Li Hongxing was aggressive. “Stop wasting time. If you won’t do it, I’ll report you to the head nurse!”
“I’ll report you to the head nurse too!” Ruan Ling said, stepping in front of Wen Ran. “You’re the nurse on duty. There’s no way to shirk responsibility more shamelessly than this. You’re treating the patient’s life with contempt!”
Not everyone in the hospital knew that Ruan Ling’s mother was a department director. Li Hongxing, who had joined the hospital at the same time as the other two, knew even less. She sneered disdainfully, “You haven’t been made permanent either. What are you acting so superior for?”
“You’re the one acting superior. Don’t you know that the patient is what matters most right now?” Ruan Ling’s temper flared, and she nearly slapped her across the face.
The junior nurse from earlier hurriedly tried to calm them down. “Stop arguing. You’re making a spectacle of yourselves. If this gets out of hand, everyone involved will be disciplined!”
“She’ll still have to do it even if she gets disciplined. Who told her to meddle?” Li Hongxing deliberately made things difficult for Wen Ran. “If she can’t get the needle in, she can go straight to the head nurse and accept her punishment.”
Xiaozhi was Li Hongxing’s patient, and she had already made up her mind to shift the blame.
How could Wen Ran fail to see what she was thinking? She retorted, “Then let’s go to the head nurse and see who gets disciplined! The patient comes first. Don’t you know what you should be doing right now?”
Li Hongxing had not expected Wen Ran to be so quick-witted, or to react so fast. If they really went to the head nurse, Li Hongxing would certainly be the one punished.
She glared at Wen Ran, then forced herself to pick up the needle and approach the child.
But the moment she brought the needle near Xiaozhi, he began screaming and thrashing, kicking wildly and refusing to let her come any closer.
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
The other nurses had been most afraid that this would happen. Sure enough, it had.
Wu Xiumin held Xiaozhi down. “Be good. Don’t make things difficult for the nurse, or Mommy won’t speak to you anymore!”
Xiaozhi paused for a moment, then began wailing again.
The onlookers whispered among themselves, and Li Hongxing suspected they were laughing at her.
She called two people over to help. Several of them pinned Xiaozhi down as though they were slaughtering a pig.
But the more they restrained him, the harder Xiaozhi fought back.
Hospitals were never short of crying and screaming, but the child’s heartrending shrieks still drew even more people over.
An IV infusion was not the same as a simple injection. With an injection, one only had to hold the patient down until it was over. This was impossible under such circumstances.
After struggling for a long while without managing to insert the needle, Li Hongxing simply gave up.
Then she began blaming Wen Ran again, accusing her of meddling.
Ruan Ling could not stand it and fired back several remarks.
Li Hongxing turned her anger on Ruan Ling. “The two of you are nothing but freeloaders. What use are you? You’re only wasting positions that could go to someone else!”
She had bullied Wen Ran and now her friend as well. Wen Ran could not possibly tolerate it.
“If you can’t insert the needle, that’s because you lack the ability. If you lack the ability, keep your mouth shut!”
Xiaozhi had cried until he was exhausted, and now only weak sobs remained.
Wen Ran took a piece of candy from her pocket. Teacher Liu had forced it into her pocket the night before. She held it out to Xiaozhi.
The little boy’s fondness for her increased slightly.
The person sent to fetch the head nurse still had not returned. Wen Ran crouched down beside Xiaozhi and said, “It won’t hurt at all when I give you the injection. Do you believe me?”
Xiaozhi hesitated, then shook his head. “How could it not hurt? You’re lying!”
Wen Ran had deliberately piqued Xiaozhi’s curiosity, hoping to ease his fear of being stuck.
She continued, “They always stuck your hands before, didn’t they?”
Xiaozhi nodded without saying anything.
Wen Ran went on, “Then this time, we’ll use a different place.”
Xiaozhi stared at her in silence.
Page 3 of 3