CHAPTER 369: 369 TO BE AS TOUGH AS STEEL

*(Thanks to the monthly ticket encouragement from my friends Gongjiao Bro and Ding Daqian)*

"It’s him! He’s the doctor who was at the scene administering first aid!"

Just as he stepped into the hallway of the operating rooms, he heard someone shout from the waiting crowd, and then people began to surge toward him.

Liu Banxia was caught off guard. Were they here to thank him?

Before he could react, the man at the front of the crowd threw a punch at Liu Banxia’s cheek.

"Why didn’t you save my son first? My son was in so much danger the whole way here!" The man lunged to hit him again but was pulled back by others. Nevertheless, he continued to shout abuse.

Liu Banxia’s face hardened. If only his arm hadn’t been giving him so much trouble today, he would have definitely hit back.

"You’re his father? You’ll be responsible for this punch." After saying that, Liu Banxia pulled out his phone.

"Lawyer Gao, did I disturb your rest?" Liu Banxia asked after the call connected.

"Dr. Liu, I’m not resting. What’s up?" asked Lawyer Gao.

"Nothing much, I just got assaulted again. But I didn’t fight back this time. Do you need to come here to gather evidence, or should I call the police first?" Liu Banxia asked.

Lawyer Gao was momentarily speechless. He’d thought Liu Banxia might have called about something serious, not that he’d been assaulted again. Still, it was puzzling. How could a patient’s family member dare to hit Liu Banxia, given his current standing in the emergency center? That took some nerve.

"Dr. Liu, call the police first and file a report. You have surveillance there, right?" Lawyer Gao asked.

"Yes, there’s surveillance, right at the entrance to the operating room. This time, I’m not just asking for an apology. I’m pursuing criminal charges," Liu Banxia said.

"Okay, call the police first, and I’ll be right there. Leave the rest to me," Lawyer Gao said hurriedly.

Now he understood the seriousness of the situation. The last time Liu Banxia was assaulted, it was settled with a hundred-yuan compensation and an apology. This time, it had escalated to a criminal level, which was indeed more challenging to handle.

"Doctor, Doctor! He was just too anxious! We’ll make him apologize to you!" Seeing Liu Banxia was serious, the other family members grew agitated.

"It’s no use. I won’t accept any apologies or mediation." Liu Banxia glanced at them and continued with his call.

"I am Dr. Liu Banxia from the emergency center of the Second Affiliated Hospital. I was just attacked by a patient’s family member in the corridor of our emergency center’s operating rooms. I want to report it to the police now."

"Yes, they’re all here, and the assailant hasn’t fled. Even if he had, it wouldn’t matter; we have surveillance footage here. Alright, thank you. I’ll wait here."

"Doctor, he was just too worried about his child. Please forgive him this once!"

"He heard from others that the girl’s chances of survival were slim, so he thought her treatment might have delayed his child’s rescue."

"Please try to understand. He realizes his mistake now; he’ll apologize to you."

As Liu Banxia hung up the phone, the others redoubled their efforts to persuade him.

Liu Banxia still shook his head resolutely. "If there was an error in the treatment protocol, I’ll take full responsibility. Whatever punishment I deserve, I’ll accept it. But he hit me. He made me bleed. He has to take responsibility for that."

"Do you even know? If that girl hadn’t pushed your child during the car accident, he might have been killed instantly."

"The police are still gathering information, so they haven’t notified you yet. But you should all think carefully before you act in the future. A few days in detention won’t be a loss for him; it might even do him some good."

Hearing Liu Banxia’s words, the male patient’s family members were dumbfounded; they had been completely unaware of this hidden aspect of the incident.

Liu Banxia wasn’t lying to them. The dashcam footage from the ride-hailing car clearly showed the girl using her arm to push the male patient. Although the image wasn’t perfectly clear, her action was discernible. Otherwise, the steel bar that had pierced her neck could very well have struck the male patient in a vital spot.

Moreover, after working for so long, he had established a firm rule for himself: he had to put a stop to this trend of patients or their families making unreasonable scenes. Their grief was not a shield allowing them to commit violence.

Nowadays, patients and their families were often far too demanding of doctors. The slightest mistake by a doctor would be exaggerated and blown out of all proportion.

But when patients or their families made mistakes? Many people, like those just now, would jump to forgive them, readily finding numerous excuses for their actions.

The punch he received today had truly infuriated him. He was determined to take a firm stand against this kind of behavior. Even if it meant offending many people and facing all sorts of criticism, he didn’t care anymore.

The police arrived quickly, even before Lawyer Gao. They immediately examined his injuries and reviewed the surveillance footage. Bloodstains were still visible at the corner of Liu Banxia’s mouth, and since he had been standing there the whole time, there was no way to fake the evidence.

Only after Lawyer Gao arrived did Liu Banxia go to tend to his bruised cheek. He left the subsequent matters to Lawyer Gao, resolute in his decision to reject any settlement.

"Banxia, what happened to you?" Zhou Li was taken aback when he returned downstairs and saw his condition.

"Nothing much, just got beaten up by a patient’s family again. I’ll go wash my face first," Liu Banxia said.

"The male patient’s family?" Zhou Li asked.

Liu Banxia nodded with a faint smile. "I’ve already called the police. I’m rejecting any compromise and insisting on detaining him for a few days. From now on, this is the rule in our emergency center: if anyone dares to cause trouble or assault staff, we absolutely will not compromise."

Zhou Li frowned. "Will the hospital agree to that?"

"I don’t care anymore. Let them do what they want. Otherwise, these disruptions will never end. We’ve been pushed around enough; it’s time to be firm," Liu Banxia said, heading straight for the bathroom after his statement.

This time he was truly determined. Even if some in the hospital opposed it, he would see it through. This was his affair and had nothing to do with anyone else. If the hospital leadership objected, then he’d just have to propose a new rule: ’If you get bullied, you just have to endure it.’ Let them see how that sounded.

After washing his face, he stepped out of the bathroom and paused, surprised. "What are you all doing here?"

"Dr. Liu, we support you!" Nurse Zhou Qian shouted.

"Yes, we support you!"

The others chimed in with their support.

Hearing everyone’s shouts, Liu Banxia felt a warmth spread through his chest, and his eyes stung a little. "Why are you all gathered here talking nonsense? What if an emergency comes in? Lunch and dinner tomorrow will have extra chicken legs! My girlfriend’s loaded, anyway."

Everyone laughed, their spirits noticeably lifted.

As he walked back, he saw a few people waiting. He had a vague impression they were also the male patient’s family. Seeing them approach, Liu Banxia shook his head at them.

His stance was already perfectly clear: that man had to be dealt with. Regardless of his reasons or thoughts, he had assaulted someone and had to accept the punishment.

The group exchanged glances, then silently took the elevator upstairs.

About ten minutes later, the police escorted the man downstairs. Liu Banxia remained expressionless, unbothered even by their resentful glares.

"Dr. Liu, he’ll be detained for five days and then fined," Lawyer Gao informed him, stepping to his side.

"However, you should be careful. These people are very resentful, and their child’s surgery isn’t over yet. Otherwise, how about he’s just detained for one night, and I’ll go over tomorrow to follow up?"

Liu Banxia shook his head. "Sometimes I’m just stubborn. I’m still the ER’s chief resident. If they dare to beat even me, is there anyone they wouldn’t dare to beat?"

"It’s like those patients’ families from last time. We can understand their feelings, but we cannot condone their actions. People who do such things generally don’t have good character to begin with."

"They just listen to what others say and believe it. I’m the doctor; I was right there on the scene. If I hadn’t made a viable assessment of the situation at the time, I wouldn’t have dared to take such a risk."

"Lawyer Gao, I’m sorry to make you run over here so late at night. I just used up my last day off yesterday. Next time I get a break, we’ll go to Jinbao and have some really good drinks."

"Haha, that sounds great! The food at Jinbao is excellent. I’ll be looking forward to benefiting from your treat and enjoying some special consideration," Lawyer Gao said with a laugh.

He understood Liu Banxia’s feelings. From the two incidents he’d experienced involving Liu Banxia, he knew that being a doctor could indeed be incredibly frustrating at times.

Take the previous incident, for example. Although the other party backed down and apologized, there was still some negative public opinion. That’s how it often was: people could say whatever they liked, not based on right or wrong, but simply on their preferences.

Honestly, he wasn’t very optimistic about Liu Banxia’s insistence this time either. However, as Liu Banxia’s legal counsel, after offering his advice, his role was to support his client’s decision.

Qi Wentai and the others came out of the OR soon after. After all, it was just an intestinal resection and anastomosis, along with a splenectomy—common procedures in the emergency center. Sometimes, even a simple fall could rupture a spleen. Isn’t the emergency center precisely where such traumas are handled?

"Sent to the ICU. I heard his family gave you trouble?" Qi Wentai asked.

Liu Banxia pursed his lips, showing his swollen cheek to Qi Wentai. "Five days detention. I’m going to stand firm against them this time and put a stop to this rotten trend."

"Good. Call me if you need anything," Qi Wentai nodded vigorously.

This was his way of supporting Liu Banxia. Incidents like this would infuriate almost any medical staff member. Their work was already incredibly hard, and being blamed was a common occurrence, but why on earth did they also have to endure being assaulted?

It was just a job, a way to earn a tough living. It wasn’t as if the medical staff owed the patients anything just because they came for treatment.

Frankly, it was a fair transaction. Nurses providing diligent care, doctors working hard to treat illnesses—that was already fair.

For patients and their families to demand even more on top of that was sometimes truly going too far.