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Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Can Only Save One
Zhou Yan pushed through the crowd, abandoning his usual cultivated demeanor, and shouted loudly, "Back off! Get him inside! Don’t block the door! Hurry—"
Several people stepped forward and carried Yan Xiao and Xiaozhao into the medical room Zhou Yan customarily used. The medical room had only two beds, one for Yan Xiao and one for Zhao Wei, while Xiao Jian and Cheng Cheng, who also had injuries of varying severity, could only rest in chairs brought over from the great hall. The originally spacious room seemed particularly cramped and crowded with the sudden addition of four patients.
Every one of them was bleeding! Zhou Yan simply couldn’t attend to them all and shouted, "Wanxi! Stop their bleeding first!"
Yu Wanxi had worked as a nursing aide in a hospital previously and knew basic medical care. Zhou Yan had called for her just as she began preparing the medical disinfection equipment, and upon hearing his shout, she immediately quickened her pace. Without regard for gender distinctions, she took a pair of scissors and started cutting along Zhao Wei’s trouser leg!
A gash as large as a palm was exposed on Zhao Wei’s thigh, and blood was steadily streaming out! ——
Everyone drew in a sharp breath.
Yan Xiao’s condition was no less dire. Apart from the cuts and lacerations across his body, his wrist was completely broken, as if bitten through by something, held together by only the last strip of sinew.
Yan Xiao’s face was as white as paper, his lips tinged blue. He clutched his wrist tightly, occasionally letting out muffled groans of pain.
Han Jiaojiao’s eyes suddenly reddened.
Zhou Yan’s voice trembled. He looked at Han Yi and said shakily, "Han Shao, I can’t do it ... I can only save one."
Yan Xiao, whose life was hanging by a thread on the hospital bed, said, " ... save Xiaozhao, save him. I can ... survive for now."
Zhao Wei’s injuries were more severe than Yan Xiao’s, and he had already lost consciousness. Naturally, the situation called for treating him first, but ——
"Yan Xiao’s wrist is completely broken. If we delay any further, the severed limb will die off completely, and there won’t be any chance of reattaching it!" Zhou Yan finished speaking urgently, then took a deep breath and mustered up his courage to say, "And ... and I can’t perform reattachment surgery! I’m a neurologist, I can deal with ordinary trauma, but reattachment surgery requires a specialist orthopedic surgeon! Han Shao ... I ... I can’t do it!"
Lu Changyuan glared at Xiao Jian and said sternly, "With such severe injuries, why didn’t you go to the hospital?!"
Xiao Jian had the Speed Ability, giving him a greater ability to protect himself, which is why his injuries were the lightest. But having to drag three wounded back alone and evade attacks while driving all the way here, he was now severely depleted, both physically and in his Ability.
Sitting next to Xiao Jian, Cheng Cheng was gasping for breath as he answered on his behalf, "Brother Lu, the hospital outright refused to take us in. They said they only treat people with an orange card."
An orange card is a Life Card held by enlisted military personnel. The cards for ordinary residents are green.
"Damn Ji Huajun!" Zhu Changfu slammed his fist against the wall in anger!
Both Lu Changyuan and Han Yi had an ashen look on their faces.
Han Jiaojiao’s eyes were red as she tried to stop Yan Xiao’s bleeding. In her heart, she hoped Zhou Yan would save Yan Xiao, but if they were to only care for Yan Xiao and not Zhao Wei, it would surely dishearten the others. However ... to watch Yan Xiao become disabled right before her eyes, Han Jiaojiao felt a wave of sadness, and tears streamed down her face.
Yan Xiao said weakly, "Ah ... what are you dropping golden beans for? That’s not helping me, later Han Ge will tear me apart ..."
Han Jiaojiao wiped her tears, both angry and upset, "What are you joking for at a time like this?"
" ... There, Zhou Ge said it, didn’t he? He can’t do the reattachment surgery, so what are we waiting for? Save Zhao Wei quick," Yan Xiao said, enduring the pain.
Every second in a rescue is vital. Seeing Han Yi with a stern face and silent, Zhou Yan bit his lip and turned to rush to Zhao Wei’s bedside to get busy.
The people standing at the doorway to the medical room were silent, the only sounds were Yu Wanxi’s footsteps moving back and forth and the clinking of Zhou Yan’s medical tools.
Han Jiaojiao, holding onto Yan Xiao’s severed hand, dared not let go. Looking at Yan Xiao’s weakened state on the bed, her heart couldn’t help but ache, and the tears couldn’t stop falling.
Yan Xiao felt a sense of urgency in his heart, thinking if you keep crying like this, even if my hand heals, I won’t live much longer.
But he was too weak, and even speaking took a lot of effort, so he could only watch helplessly as Han Jiaojiao held his wrist and cried.
"Who is the best orthopedic surgeon in the base?" Han Yi’s cold voice suddenly rang out.
Zhou Yan paused in his actions, then quickly and methodically continued, answering at the same time, "Hao Boming."
"Is he married?" Han Yi continued to ask.
Once Zhou Yan heard this, he immediately understood Han Yi’s intention and replied, "He’s married, has a five-year-old daughter, and lives in the Joined Community of the East District." He had also spent time in the base hospital, where the families of the doctors mostly lived.
Han Yi turned to Lu Changyuan, "I’ll go and invite Hao Boming over. For the Joined Community, you go there in person."
Lu Changyuan nodded.
Han Yi then turned to Zhu Changfu and said, "Old brother Zhu, it’s tough on you to keep watch here, don’t let any irrelevant people in."
"Rest assured! Not even a fly will get in!" Zhu Changfu said, thumping his chest.
"Don’t worry, brother." Han Jiaojiao followed, "If someone tries to force their way in, I’ll have Xiaogua and Xiaodou come down." Until now, Han Jiaojiao had never let the Space-Time Beasts move freely in the yard, fearing they might be discovered. But in an emergency, she couldn’t worry about that.
"I’ll be back soon. — Kerry, how many people can you make invisible at most?" Han Yi spoke as he already glanced towards Bai Kairui.
When Bai Kairui heard Han Yi call him, he immediately looked up, his face covered in tears and snot, and he was crying even harder than Han Jiaojiao. On a normal day, everyone would have started teasing him by now, but at this moment, each person had a heavy heart.
"If speed is not an issue, I can make three to five people invisible."
"Good, come with me."
Han Yi hurried out with Bai Kairui, Lu Changyuan took Heizi, Zhou Xiaoliang, and Yang Qi to the Joined Community, Zhu Changfu sent others to guard the outside courtyard, to prevent a crowd from disturbing Zhou Yan’s treatment.
"This kid’s got luck on his side." After finishing the debridement for Zhao Wei, Zhou Yan couldn’t help but remark, "It didn’t hit the major artery, the damaged capillaries can be stopped with a high-frequency electrocautery device, and the shock is due to excessive blood loss."
"Does he need a blood transfusion?" Zhu Changfu asked from the door.
"Ideally, he should have a transfusion so he can wake up faster."
Zhu Changfu waved his arm and said, "With so many of us here, surely we can find a matching blood type, just not sure what Xiaozhao’s blood type is."
Zhou Yan continued working without stopping, and said, "Blood testing needs a blood cell counter and blood collection needles, reagents... we have all these. Wanxi, go bring the equipment over here, I will test his blood. Brother Zhu, after the blood test, could you send someone to the hospital? They have ready-to-use blood bags for sale in the blood bank, we don’t have time to test everyone’s blood, let’s just buy blood bags."
"Alright! Let me know whatever you need!"
Zhou Yan wiped sweat from his brow and looked at Yan Xiao, seeing that the bleeding from his wrist had stopped, his gaze turned to Han Jiaojiao in astonishment.
"...Is it an Ability?"
Han Jiaojiao’s complexion was slightly pale, and she nodded, "Yes, it can temporarily maintain the cellular activity of the wrist wound... I can only do so much."
Joy erupted across Zhou Yan’s face, "You’ve already been a great help!"
