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Chapter 242: Chapter 232 City First Hospital
A few people stood outside the county hospital, looking completely at a loss, not knowing what to do now.
"Yunfang, what, what do we do?" Dashuan’s wife asked.
The few of them had just been chased out by that doctor.
"To the city," said Shen Yunfang firmly.
To the city? Everyone’s heart skipped a beat. It was already a big deal to come to the county, why go to the city? That was so far away.
Immediately, Dashuan’s wife was the first to nod in agreement, "Okay, let’s go to the city hospital, the child is the most important."
After she mentioned the child, the two men also fell silent.
However, going to the city for medical treatment wasn’t easy either, if you got sick you couldn’t just go wherever you wanted for treatment, rural people needed a referral to the nearest hospital. For residents like those from Gaijiatun, with a referral they could only come to this hospital in the county. If they wanted to go to a hospital in the city, the referral issued by the village wouldn’t work, they had to have a certificate from the county hospital proving that the patient couldn’t be treated here, only then would the city hospital accept them. It was a bit like the transfer certificates in later times.
"You all wait here, I’ll go ask that doctor for a certificate," Dashuan’s wife bustled into the hospital.
Shen Yunfang lay down on the horse cart to wait. More than ten minutes later, Dashuan’s wife came out with a pained expression, without having to say a word everyone already knew, she definitely couldn’t get the certificate.
"What do we do, that doctor absolutely refused to give me one," Dashuan’s wife fretted.
Shen Yunfang glanced at the sky and made up her mind, "If he won’t give it, then so be it, I still have to go to the city."
"What if they don’t let us get treatment?" Dashuan’s wife asked.
"Don’t worry about it, we’ll figure it out when we get there," said Shen Yunfang as she closed her eyes, caressing her belly, the slight movement of the fetus inside reassured her quite a bit, for the sake of her child, she had to try no matter what.
Nobody else had a better idea, so they all got back on the horse cart, heading toward the city.
After wasting almost an hour at the county hospital, they set off for the city. By the time they left the county, the sky was starting to darken.
Dashuan’s wife sat on the horse cart, holding Yunfang’s hand, offering silent support. Perhaps she was the only one in the cart who could understand Yunfang’s feelings at the moment, both being mothers, they were infinitely anxious and protective over their children, even if it meant making a trip to the city in vain, it was better than living with future regrets if problems arose.
Hungry and cold, the group hurried along all the way until it was completely dark out, around seven in the evening, when they finally reached the city. Shen Yougen drove the cart straight to the City First Hospital.
The City First Hospital had emergency duty doctors at night, and upon seeing Shen Yunfang and her group arrive without a certificate from their local hospital, they attempted to drive them out. The group begged and pleaded, and after recounting their story, the doctor relented.
The doctor sighed and said, "Well, if that’s the case, let the patient be admitted for now, and in the morning when the obstetrician comes, we’ll have a look."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; being admitted was good enough, at least in the hospital they could receive immediate help if anything serious happened.
After understanding the situation, the emergency department doctor gave a preliminary diagnosis; it seemed to be a threatened miscarriage. The situation could either go well or badly. Some people could go home to rest and have no issues until the birth, while others wouldn’t make it, with the amniotic fluid becoming cloudy without them knowing, only to discover at the time of birth that the baby had died in the womb.
However, the emergency department doctor wasn’t specialized in obstetrics, so he only had a superficial understanding. The exact condition would need to be confirmed by an obstetrician the next morning.
However, his few words did manage to ease the worries of these rural folks.
"Have you decided, do you really want to be hospitalized? You don’t have an employer, and no one will reimburse you for whatever money you spend in the hospital," the emergency department doctor asked again.
It must be known that every month, he would encounter people like them coming for medical treatment, but very few of them actually chose to be hospitalized, as the cost was not cheap. Not to mention the daily bed fee, there were also injections for pregnancy maintenance. Both patients and their companions had expenses for everything, food, drink, defecation, and urination, and all of these added up to a significant amount of money even for present-day folks. Even urban residents with regular salaries chose to recuperate at home whenever possible rather than being hospitalized, let alone rural folks who were even poorer, many of whom couldn’t afford the cost.
Shen Yunfang had made her decision all by herself, "Doctor, I’ll be hospitalized."
"We’ll stay in the hospital. Just tell us how much the deposit is, doctor. We have money," said Dashuan’s wife, reaching into her cotton trousers and rummaging around before finally pulling out a handful of money, with a mix of different denominations.
When she came, she brought all the money her family had, just in case there was an emergency and they didn’t have the funds to handle it.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t let Dashuan’s wife pay; she was already grateful that she could come and take care of her. "Sister-in-law, you don’t need to. I brought money, definitely enough," she said, also pulling out a handful of money from her coat pocket. However, unlike what Dashuan’s wife had produced, the money she brought out was all ten RMB notes.
Why earn money if not to prepare for times like these? For her child, she was willing to spend whatever amount was necessary.
Shen Yunfang stuffed all the money in her hand into Brother Dashuan’s hand and said, "Brother Dashuan, here’s five hundred. Please help me with the hospital admission procedure, and ask if this amount isn’t enough, I’ll pay more." Since they didn’t live in the city and had no employers, they had to pay a higher deposit for hospitalization, probably because hospitals were worried about patients running off without paying their bills.
Dashuan stood there, not knowing what to do with the money, as his wife insisted that he also hold on to their home’s money; he was uncertain which to use.
Once again, it was the emergency doctor who came to his rescue. "There’s no rush for this, it’s late now and the staff has surely gone off duty. How about this, we’ll admit you first, and you can take care of the formalities tomorrow morning." The doctor saw that they indeed had money and were keen to pay the deposit, so he decided to make things a bit easier for them.
They all felt incredibly grateful towards the doctor and by the time Shen Yunfang was lying in the hospital bed, it was already half-past eight in the evening.
"How are you feeling, any discomfort after all the trouble to get here?" Dashuan’s wife asked, sitting by the bed.
Shen Yunfang checked in with herself, "There’s nothing uncomfortable, and my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore." With a man present, she felt too embarrassed to say that she was no longer bleeding down there, but she could feel it.
"That’s good, that’s good," Dashuan’s wife expressed relief as if praying.
"You all don’t need to stay here with me. You’ve been out since noon and haven’t eaten yet; you must be starving. Now that I’m settled, you first go look around nearby to see if there’s any place selling food. Don’t worry about what it is; just fill your stomachs first," Shen Yunfang said, then took out twenty RMB and a five jin Food Coupon from her pocket and handed them to Dashuan’s wife.
Dashuan’s wife backed away from the money and coupon offered, "I couldn’t take it, I have money in my pocket."
"You may have money, but do you have a Food Coupon?" Shen Yunfang asked.
She knew that rural people, if they did not travel, would not usually exchange their grain for Food Coupons. They preferred to go hungry while visiting the county or city, reasoning that the worst was missing out on just a couple of meals at most, which they could tolerate.
Dashuan’s wife hemmed and hawed; she indeed didn’t have any Food Coupons in her pocket.
"Sister-in-law, please take it, I don’t have the strength anymore," said Shen Yunfang, feigning weakness.
Dashuan’s wife quickly took the money and coupons from her hand and tucked Shen Yunfang’s hand back under the blanket.
"Alright, I’ll use it for now and give you back whatever’s left later," she said.
