Acute Myocardial Infarction-Reflections on Escaping Death (3)

I used to think that if I had no computer, no Coke, and no cigarettes, I wouldn't be able to live even a single day... I was wrong. After lying in a hospital bed for three or four days, I discovered that I could live quite well without them, though I felt a sense of emptiness and loss. I also understood that even after I was discharged, aside from the computer, Coke and cigarettes would be leaving me for good. Whether it was my wife or my body, neither would ever again let me enjoy the pleasure those two things brought me...

The Intensive Care Unit was the most important ward in the Cardiovascular Department on the sixteenth floor of the inpatient building. It was also the largest ward, with four officially designated beds and two extra beds squeezed in. Basically, none of those six beds were ever vacant.

Generally speaking, patients who were about to undergo surgery or had just finished surgery were sent to the Intensive Care Unit for monitoring. After a few days, once doctors confirmed that their condition had improved and their bodies had recovered, they would be transferred to a three-person or two-person ward. That meant they could be discharged two or three days later...

I stayed in the Intensive Care Unit for nine days, becoming the most senior patient there. Of course, it wasn't anything to be proud of. Just as I complained to the doctor, "Why did someone who came in two days after me get transferred to a two-person ward before I did?" The doctor looked at me scornfully. "Apart from slightly high blood lipids, that person has nothing wrong with him. You have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high blood lipids, and obesity. How can you compare yourself to him?"