Super Doctor - Chapter 45

Xu Ze carried bags of groceries, glancing at Sun Lingfei beside him with genuine gratitude. “Thank you. Really… thank you.”

“Thank me?” Sun Lingfei turned, her large eyes sparkling with amusement. “You took care of me all night and even cooked for me. Shouldn’t I be the one saying thanks multiple times?”

She paused, then added with a playful grin, “By the way, you were impressive earlier—scaring Tao Zhixiong out of his wits with just one word. But why was he so pathetic today? At first, he was his usual arrogant self, but then he looked like he’d seen a ghost. What happened? That guy’s usually insufferable.”

Xu Ze’s eyes flickered briefly before he chuckled. “No idea. Guess he’s just a coward.”

“Hmm…” Sun Lingfei nodded, though the oddity of it still nagged at her.

Eager to shift the topic, Xu Ze smiled. “For lunch… how about scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried mushrooms, and an egg drop soup?”

At the mention of food, Sun Lingfei’s face lit up. “Perfect! Your cooking beats Xiao Rui’s by miles. I’m in for another treat.”

Then, hesitating, she added, “But… could we add a meat dish? These are all too light.”

Xu Ze shook his head gently. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll eat anything. But you shouldn’t have anything too greasy while you’re sick. These dishes are enough for the two of us.”

—

By the time they returned to Sun Lingfei’s apartment, she was out of breath, collapsing onto the sofa with an apologetic smile. “I wanted to help with cooking, but… guess I can’t.”

Her face was pale, but her spirits seemed steady. Relieved, Xu Ze nodded. “You need rest when you’re sick. The walk was already too much. Just relax—lunch will be ready soon.”

The fragrant scrambled eggs with tomatoes, tender mushrooms, and light egg drop soup worked like magic on Sun Lingfei’s appetite. She devoured two full bowls of rice before sighing at Xu Ze, who was clearing the table. “Xu Ze, this is bad. I’m eating more now that I’m sick. At this rate, I’ll get fat.”

“Eating well means recovering faster,” he said, stacking the dishes. “Once you’re better, just exercise a bit. You’ll be fine.”

After washing the dishes, he returned to the living room. “I should head out. I’ve got work this afternoon. Will you come by the clinic later for your IV?”

Sun Lingfei’s nose wrinkled in protest. “Do I have to?”

Xu Ze didn’t budge under her pleading gaze. “At least one more session. If you don’t get a fever today, you’ll be in the clear.”

Seeing his resolve, she pouted. “Fine. But… can you bring the IV here? I hate the clinic’s medicine smell.”

“Bring it here?” Xu Ze frowned, then relented. “Alright. I’ll come back this evening to set it up.”

—

The clinic was quiet that afternoon—just a feverish patient and one with a cough. For the first time, Xu Ze officially sat beside Dr. Zhang, diagnosing patients without having to sneak in examinations.

Dr. Zhang, now fully trusting Xu Ze, let him handle routine cases, only stepping in for final checks.

The first patient had a fever of 38.7°C, with a runny nose, sneezing, and a headache—classic flu symptoms. But Xu Ze wasn’t careless. Given the season, he needed to rule out viral meningitis.

After a basic exam, he checked for neck stiffness, ensuring the patient could touch their chin to their chest. No meningeal signs—just a common cold.

Dr. Zhang nodded approvingly. Xu Ze’s thoroughness was exactly what a good doctor needed: meticulous, never cutting corners.

The second patient had been coughing for days, with yellow phlegm and a mild fever. A quick listen with the stethoscope revealed bubbly rales in the lungs—pneumonia.

Still, Xu Ze double-checked. “Activate X-ray vision.”

Through his enhanced glasses, the patient’s lungs were transparent. Patchy shadows and thickened textures in the lower lobes confirmed pneumonia. No surprises.

He prescribed antibiotics and cough medicine, which Dr. Zhang verified with a listen and a signature. “Your pneumonia’s advanced,” Dr. Zhang told the patient. “Three days of IV antibiotics, then we’ll reassess.”

The patient, initially wary of the young doctor, left reassured.

Dr. Zhang smiled at Xu Ze. “Keep this up, and you’ll surpass me one day.”

Xu Ze beamed. “Thank you. I’ll keep working hard.”

The rest of the afternoon was peaceful—both men reading in silence. Xu Ze buried himself in Emergency Internal Medicine, cross-referencing future knowledge with current practices.

But the calm shattered when a group burst into the clinic. A middle-aged man carried a groaning young man, his face deathly pale.

“Dr. Zhang! Help! My son fell from upstairs—he’s badly hurt!”

Xu Ze sprang up, guiding them to the exam table. Dr. Zhang rushed over. Though the clinic didn’t handle trauma, these were neighbors. He had to assess the situation.

The young man’s condition was dire: pale, eyes shut, weak moans. One leg was grotesquely swollen and misshapen.

Xu Ze’s recent battlefield first-aid training kicked in. Fractured femur. But why the severe swelling?

Dr. Zhang confirmed the fracture, then checked vitals. His voice tightened. “Call an ambulance—now! Luo Lin, prepare 500ml glucose with Hemostamin 3.0!”

He turned to Xu Ze. “Check his blood pressure!”

Xu Ze grabbed the sphygmomanometer. The reading made his stomach drop.

“BP 50/30—he’s in shock!”