A Human Tragedy
Medical Center.
At the entrance.
A car crashed right in.
"Hands up!"
Armed security guards rushed over quickly.
There was a shooting incident a few days ago, so the security guards are on high alert and react very quickly.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I'm a pizza deliveryman! I've been stabbed! I'm dying! I need emergency medical assistance!"
A man's panicked scream came from inside the car.
When Adam helped Joe in, he heard this and glanced at Joe.
"Go ahead, I'm fine."
Joe has run a bar across from the hospital for over ten years. Even if he doesn't understand anything about it, he has a good understanding of the hospital's situation and the doctors' thoughts by listening to the medical staff chat and joke around every day.
He walked over on his own, while the pizza vendor who was yelling that he was stabbed and about to die needed immediate surgery, which was clearly a higher priority than him.
"Mary!"
Adam called out to the nurse.
"Hey Joe."
"Hi, Mary."
Nurse Mary immediately came over, took over Joe's care, and greeted him familiarly.
He was clearly a regular at Joe's Bar.
Where were you stabbed?
Adam walked over and looked at the young pizza vendor in the driver's seat, but didn't see any signs of severe bleeding from the stab wound, so he asked.
"Side! Side!"
The pizza deliveryman screamed in terror and anger, "I was just delivering pizzas, and they stabbed me! I'm going to die!"
The nurse then pushed the stretcher over.
"Relax! I'm a doctor! I'm here to help you!"
Adam reassured him, "Listen, I need to get you out of here first before I can help you with the treatment, so don't struggle to avoid worsening the wound, understand?"
"Clear."
"That's what the pizza delivery guy called out."
Adam reached out and lifted him out of the driver's seat, placing him on the stretcher.
"Operating Room number 5 has been booked. Do we need to prepare for peritoneal lavage?"
The experienced nurse prepared according to standard procedures and inquired.
"No need, cancel the Operating Room!"
Adam looked around at the right side of his abdomen, as the pizza vendor had pointed out, and shook his head, saying, "Just get some disinfectant and band-aids."
"What's wrong?!"
The pizza vendor, still in a state of extreme terror, saw that Adam and the others weren't moving and immediately yelled, "Why aren't you trying to save me?!"
The nurse was also completely bewildered.
"Does your head hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt."
Does your chest hurt?
"It doesn't hurt!"
Does your neck hurt?
"It doesn't hurt! What are you doing?"
"Does it hurt anywhere?"
"I have no idea!"
"... It's just a scratch."
Adam reminded him.
"Abrasion?"
The pizza vendor was taken aback. He straightened up and looked over, and saw a red mark there.
Although the red mark was long, no blood flowed out.
He saw everyone staring at him speechlessly.
The pizza vendor, a little embarrassed, raised his hand and swore, "That was a very, very big knife!"
I believe it!
Adam nodded.
Delivering pizzas in New York, especially at night, should have given you plenty of experience.
Those small daggers that people carry around are probably something you see every few days.
But this pizza delivery guy was so terrified that he sped along, not even having time to brake, and crashed right into the doorway, yelling that he was about to die.
It would be rather unbelievable if it weren't a large sword.
Even if it's not a 50-meter-long sword, it's probably not far off...
Of course, there is another possibility: the pizza delivery guy was too timid, and when he was stabbed for the first time, the small dagger seemed to him as a 50-meter-long cleaver.
And after being frightened, he reacted too quickly, running 49.999 meters before being narrowly grazed by the 50-meter-long broadsword.
This kind of excellence completely surpasses their successor, Glenn, the pizza delivery guy who only lived for six seasons in the Walking Dead.
"I'm fine!"
At this point, the pizza vendor, now completely calm, happily touched and stroked the pizza.
"Not necessarily, is there insurance?"
Adam gestured with his lip toward the car that had crashed into him.
"No!!!"
The pizza vendor followed Adam's gaze and then let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Judging from his appearance, Adam knew that he must be in pain somewhere.
Adam left the clown with the nurse and went to see Joe.
Where does it hurt?
Adam asked.
"No."
Qiao hesitated and said, "I just fainted suddenly a moment ago, maybe it was because of low blood sugar?"
"Come on!"
Adam advised, "I know you don't like coming here, but since you're already here, you still need to say what needs to be said and get treatment."
"The treatment here is too expensive."
Joe complained, "Just a few tests and I've worked for free for months! It's practically robbery!"
"Anyway, I already have medical insurance..."
Adam had barely uttered a sentence when he immediately realized what he'd said and exclaimed in surprise, "Don't tell me you don't have health insurance?"
"I run my own small business, where would I get the money to buy medical insurance?"
Joe said self-deprecatingly, "Besides, I'm in excellent health. I haven't been sick or in pain all these years. Spending so much money every year is a waste, since I don't use any of it!"
"You're always taking advantage of us medical staff, and we're supporting you every night, yet you don't even plan to patronize our business?"
Adam joked, "Or is it some minor ailment that you just want to see a doctor in the bar and save the expense of going to a clinic?"
"I also treated them to drinks."
Joe said shyly.
"Hehe."
Adam couldn't help but laugh.
As expected!
Those who live near mountains live off the mountains; those who live near the sea live off the sea!
Joe, by relying on the hospital, dealt with the doctors and nurses every day, and even saved on outpatient fees.
That's really shrewd.
Without this convenience, Adam would never believe that Joe would be so confident as to not buy health insurance for more than ten years.
Even if you don't have a serious illness, you'll still have minor ailments and accidents.
If you encounter this situation, without medical insurance, you simply cannot afford to see a doctor.
The doctor who frequents bars can give you a free check-up, but you have to buy the medication yourself.
Drug prices in the United States are very high.
Of course, it's completely different from the medicine used in hospitals.
Take a common painkiller like Tylenol as an example.
It costs eight cents a pill at an outside pharmacy, but $15 a pill in a hospital.
A difference of 187.5 times.
You can see the whole leopard from just one spot!
This is also why Joe was extremely reluctant to come to the hospital.
Not just Joe.
Back then, Joey didn't have any acting jobs for a while, and her medical insurance was interrupted. As a result, she developed a hernia and was in so much pain, but she insisted on finding a job first to renew her medical insurance before going to the hospital for treatment.
Without medical insurance to cover it, you really can't afford to get sick, because even a single medical visit could bankrupt you.
It's a real-life tragedy of 'living but losing all your money' unfolding.
Adam's expression turned serious.
Since Joe understands this so well, and he knows his own body, would he come over unless absolutely necessary?
With that in mind, Adam began to examine it carefully.
"Call Dr. Shepherd."
Adam instructed the nurse.
"Dr. Shepherd?"
Qiao Yizhen: "Is my condition very serious?"
How could he not know the name of Dr. Shepherd, the Attending Physician Neurosurgery at the Medical Center?
"We need to see Dr. Shepherd to know."
Adam comforted him, saying, "Lie down and rest first."
Qiao's face turned pale instantly.
He had heard all sorts of legends about Adam and knew that Adam couldn't be viewed as just an intern.
But it was precisely because he knew that he felt even more desperate.
He now wished Adam was just an ordinary intern, or even a slacker like Alex who clocked in at the bar every night.
In that case, it could be a misjudgment.
Instead of being sentenced to 'death' like this now!