Hospital 444
Chapter 37 - 9 The First Auscultation

Chapter 37: Chapter 9 The First Auscultation

Dai Lin hadn’t been able to bring anything other than business cards out of Hospital 444 before, and since Gao Heyann could, it seemed that certain procedures were required to take things out.

"I will start now, checking Mr. Jiang’s soul status every thirty minutes."

"Okay, thank you for the trouble."

"Dr. Dai, you are responsible for recording in Mr. Jiang’s outpatient medical records and then signing. I will combine the inspection data from Mr. Jiang’s last hospitalization and conduct some comparisons to see if there are any changes."

Dai Lin nodded and said, "Okay."

...

The night was deep.

After removing the stethoscope from Jiang Han’s chest for the fifth time, Gao Heyann said, "No change."

"By the way, what can this stethoscope hear?"

Jiang Lan had asked a question that Dai Lin was also very curious about.

This stethoscope couldn’t possibly be for listening to heartbeats or wet or dry rales in the lungs, right?

"Ordinary people can’t hear anything with it." Gao Heyann replied to Jiang Lan, "It seems that now we can only wait for him to wake up."

"I, I’m still a bit scared."

That day’s experience had been truly terrifying for Jiang Lan.

As time passed by every second, this wait was also quite torturous. According to the surveillance footage retrieved from the residential area, each sleepwalking episode occurred around four o’clock in the morning.

"You should go get some sleep," Gao Heyann patted Jiang Lan on the shoulder, "We’ll keep watch. We have cursed objects in our bodies, so as long as we intend to stay up all night, we won’t feel sleepy. But you’re an ordinary person, and can’t hold up."

"I..."

"It’s still early before four in the morning. Rest now so you can help your father later."

Jiang Lan thought about it and decided it made sense.

"Alright then... I’ll go sleep for a while, thank you, Dr. Gao."

"I am a doctor, and I will do my utmost."

After Jiang Lan left, Dai Lin looked at Gao Heyann with a measure of admiration.

That phrase, "I am a doctor," reminded Dai Lin of... Dr. Luo Zheng from the past.

The father of his best friend, and also the doctor who inspired him to ultimately study medicine.

"Dr. Gao, next time, will you teach me how to use the stethoscope?"

"No need for next time, let’s do it now." Gao Heyann took off the stethoscope and handed it to Dai Lin, "Ms. Jiang isn’t here right now, why don’t you give it a try?"

"This?"

"I won’t rely on your diagnostic result; I will personally listen again in half an hour."

So, Dai Lin took the stethoscope.

"The Soul Stethoscope can be used on the left and right chest walls and the abdomen, the results won’t differ much."

"Then..."

"Don’t ask questions yet, just listen. Tell me what you hear afterward; otherwise, my words might affect your subjective judgment. I want you to intuitively listen. Rest assured, no sound from the heart, lungs, or any artery or vein can be heard with this stethoscope."

"Understood."

Dai Lin habitually placed the stethoscope’s chestpiece over the left chest and put on the earplugs.

About a minute later.

"It sounds like a sort of ripple, vibrating very regularly."

"Right," Gao Heyann nodded, "your ears will also distinctly feel the vibration. This very regular vibration is the normal state of a soul."

"What’s the principle behind these ripple vibrations and the soul?"

"I’d like to know that too, but there’s no principle. However, your attitude towards learning is still commendable." Gao Heyann continued to look at the sleeping Jiang Han, saying, "Many doctors still in their internships find it hard to accept the career they have switched to. Particularly in surgery, many people, after rotating through departments, ultimately don’t want to choose to be surgeons."

"I used to be a surgeon."

"A surgeon at Hospital 444, where the mortality rate is about the same as that of a narcotics officer."

"Choosing between surgery and internal medicine isn’t really up to me, right?"

"That mainly depends on the upper management’s assignments, though some people play the interpersonal game cleverly to get into the department they want. When I joined the hospital, I went directly into surgery, and my sister went into... the emergency department. Compared to that, the risks in outpatient are nothing..."

As he mentioned "emergency department," Dai Lin noticed that Gao Heyann’s eyes became extremely sorrowful.

Dai Lin remembered what Yin Wuque had told him about Gao Heyann’s sister, whose awakening the hospital staff felt could only be expected by a miracle.

And Dai Lin knew that he might just be the miracle she was waiting for.

The main difference between the emergency department and other departments is that any patient in need of urgent treatment could present with any symptom, meaning emergency doctors need a very extensive knowledge base, in other words, they ought to be general practitioners. He had experienced that himself during his departmental rotations years ago, knowing that working in an emergency department in a hospital is really a trial. In such a hospital, if a patient were to be treated in the emergency department, they would definitely be facing extremely terrifying, malevolent ghosts. Therefore, the emergency center building of Hospital 444 is scarier than any haunted house in the world!

"You will have your rotation in the emergency department as well," Gao Heyann reminded, "that place in the emergency center building is the most torturous rite of passage for Paranormal Doctors. If you can survive it, it will benefit you greatly. Of course, it’s still too early to talk about this now."

Not too early.

Dai Lin thought to himself.

He now had only six months left.

Before then, he absolutely had to visit the emergency department.

"But remember, in this hospital, besides ghosts, people can be just as frightening."

"I’ve realized that."

"You also know, Hospital 444 isn’t subjected to the constraints of health bureaus or commissions or medical insurance agencies. The director is the absolute ruler of this hospital. The majority of people working here have never spent a day in medical school, so most of them aren’t motivated by a mission to save lives and give help, but just to survive and earn more Spiritual Therapy Points to exchange for money and lifespan. This is true for many departments."

Having said this, Gao Heyann looked towards Jiang Han, lying on the couch.

"As a surgeon, you should be very clear that living a healthy, safe life is not something to be taken for granted, right?"

Upon hearing this, Dai Lin realized that Gao Heyann, too, had a story.

He nodded.

"You’re right. Therefore, health and safety are the greatest happiness."

"But I didn’t always think that. I used to believe that a happy family was to be taken for granted. However, that’s not the case; happiness, for anyone, is just a stroke of luck."