CHAPTER 372: 347 MANUAL REDUCTION

Du Heng had a general idea of the situation, but he also knew that with his current level of orthopedic skill, he couldn’t really help Zhu Heizi.

Zhu Heizi was a good twelve years older than Du Heng’s own big brother, now in his late forties, almost fifty. Having worked in the fields for many years, he was gaunt, with hardly any flesh on his bones.

"Brother Hei, your bone is shattered. You need to go to the hospital for surgery," Du Heng said seriously, squatting beside Zhu Heizi. "This main bone in your lower leg, the tibia, has broken into at least two pieces, and I suspect the other one, the fibula, is broken too.

I’ll drive you. We’ll go to your house first to get your ID card and Medical Insurance Card. Then I’ll take you straight to the Orthopedics Department at the Chinese Medicine Hospital. My classmate works there and can examine you."

Zhu Heizi’s face was ashen with pain, but hearing Du Heng, he shook his head vigorously. "No, I’m not going to a big hospital! Just put a cast on it. I’ll be fine resting at home for a few days."

"That won’t work, Brother Hei. A plaster cast might be okay for a simple fracture. But when I examined your leg just now, I could feel at least two large fragments. This definitely requires surgery."

Zhu Heizi hesitated for a moment. "How much does the surgery cost?"

Seeing Zhu Heizi’s expression and hearing his words, Du Heng instantly understood: money was the issue. "Wait a moment," Du Heng said, "I’ll make a call and find out for you."

Standing up, Du Heng took out his cell phone and dialed Jin Zan.

"Hey, bro, what made you call? Inviting me for a drink?"

"Quick question: how much for surgery on a broken tibia in the lower leg?"

As soon as Du Heng finished speaking, Jin Zan on the other end became serious, his tone no longer glib. "Broken? Describe it for me."

"The tibia is shattered into at least two pieces. The fibula’s condition is still unknown."

"In that case, he’ll need steel implants for fixation. At least fifteen thousand yuan."

"Before reimbursement?"

"After reimbursement."

"Why so expensive?"

"Expensive? And that’s with domestic steel implants. Imported ones would be even more expensive."

Du Heng sighed. "What about other hospitals? Are the fees similar?"

"They’re all about the same. The difference is only about three or four thousand yuan, but we should be the cheapest."

"Alright, thanks." After hanging up, Du Heng told Zhu Heizi the cost.

Hearing the amount, Zhu Heizi immediately shook his head. "Forget it, I’m not going. Just put a cast on it to hold it in place."

Du Heng frowned instantly. "How can that possibly work? Your bone is shattered! If it’s not set correctly, you’ll limp for the rest of your life, and it won’t heal properly. If you don’t have the money, I can lend it to you."

Zhu Heizi still shook his head. "No, it’s too much. I can’t repay it. Just give me a plaster cast to hold it steady."

He’d offered to lend the money, and the man still refused. He couldn’t very well say, ’Here, take it, and you don’t have to pay me back,’ could he?

Just then, Dongzi took a couple of steps forward, quietly tugged Du Heng’s sleeve, and gestured with his eyes for Du Heng to step back.

Du Heng was puzzled, but seeing Dongzi looked like he had something to say, he slowly followed.

"What’s up, Brother Dongzi?"

Dongzi glanced at Zhu Heizi lying on the ground and whispered, "Don’t try to persuade Zhu Heizi anymore. He really has no money, and he truly can’t repay it."

Du Heng and Zhu Heizi weren’t from the same village. Plus, Du Heng had been working away from home for many years, so while he recognized Zhu Heizi, he didn’t know much about his family’s situation. "What’s the story?"

"They built their house the year before last and borrowed fifty or sixty thousand yuan for it. They still haven’t paid it all off. And you know how the harvests have been these past two years. Zhu Heizi and his wife barely have enough to eat and drink, so where would they find money for medical treatment?"

Du Heng’s expression was grim. No matter how poor they were, an injury like this couldn’t go untreated, could it? This was a shattered bone, not just a simple fracture. If it were just a fracture, he might end up with a permanent limp. But if a shattered bone wasn’t treated properly, his leg could be crippled.

Hearing Zhu Heizi’s low groans, Du Heng turned back. "Brother Hei, how about this: let’s go to the Health Clinic first. We’ll get an X-ray to see exactly what’s going on, and then we’ll decide what to do."

Without waiting for an answer, he signaled his big brother, and together they helped lift Zhu Heizi into Du Heng’s car.

As they were getting him into the car, Zhu Heizi suddenly cried out, "My mule... it ran off!"

Du Ping patted his outstretched arm. "Don’t worry, we’ll find it for you. And we’ll make sure things at your home are taken care of too."

Once Du Ping finished, Du Heng said a word to his big brother, then stepped on the gas and headed for the Health Clinic.

At the Health Clinic, Du Heng handed Zhu Heizi over to Yu Haiting, who was on duty that week. Yu Haiting took him for an examination, as he was the only one there who could operate the X-ray machine.

Less than twenty minutes later, Yu Haiting came in, his face serious.

"Dean, you should call Municipal First Hospital to come and get him."

"What’s wrong?"

"Take a look at the computer; the images have been uploaded. The tibia is shattered into two large fragments and three smaller ones. The fibula is fractured and dislocated."

Du Heng squinted. This was much more serious than his initial examination had suggested. It looked like Zhu Heizi was in for a terrible ordeal.

Du Heng looked at the images on the computer; it was just as Yu Haiting had described. He sighed. "Administer some pain medication for now," he said to Yu Haiting. "I need to think carefully about how to handle this. His situation is a bit complicated."

Yu Haiting nodded and walked out.