Chapter 54 Transfer?

A dozen minutes later, they arrived at their destination for the trip, a place that somewhat surprised Li Yancheng.

The Public Security Hospital?
The person was right here at the Public Security Hospital?
On second thought, it made sense. Didn't Su Xiaotong mention that this person was crucial to a case he was handling?
Since he was important, he would naturally be placed in either a military hospital or a public security hospital. Only places like these could guarantee sufficient security.

This location was also very close to his home, with a straight-line distance of just a few hundred meters. It would take only a dozen minutes to walk back. If he could work here, it would truly be much more convenient.
He wouldn't have to endure his current routine at the First Hospital, where he had to leave the house before seven o'clock every morning and spend two hours commuting back and forth—freezing to death in the winter and roasting to death in the summer.

"Would you like to come and work here?"
Su Xiaotong drove the car directly into the hospital grounds, and the person sitting in the gatehouse guardroom didn't even spare them a second glance.
After parking the car, instead of getting out immediately, he suddenly posed the question.

"Huh? Come work here?"
"That's right. This is a hospital too. Compared to civilian hospitals, this place is in even greater need of professional doctors. Didn't you frequently treat patients with traumatic injuries and fractures when you were in the military? Coming here would be a better fit."
"Uh... I've never even thought about working here."
"Think about it. If you're willing, I can help make it happen, and Luo Yang can too. This place is much closer to your home and more convenient.
However, the workload here is definitely heavier than at a civilian hospital, because the doctors here are also responsible for the health of all detained prisoners in the city's detention centers and prisons."

None of that mattered.
Li Yancheng was quite tempted by Su Xiaotong's proposal.
Compared to regular hospitals, he felt that the Public Security Hospital might actually be a bit simpler in some ways.

Clearly, this wasn't the time to ponder that question. He followed Su Xiaotong out of the car and they walked together toward a small two-story building.
In a first-floor ward, Li Yancheng met the patient who was currently in a coma.
The man lay on the hospital bed as if he were simply asleep, with a gastric tube and a urinary catheter inserted into his body, an IV drip running into his arm, and all four limbs secured to the iron railings on the sides of the bed.

There were no monitoring devices like ECG monitors; such equipment was far too expensive and entirely imported. The country probably hadn't imported very many of them in total. In the eleven or twelve years he had been in the medical field from his student days until now, Li Yancheng had never actually laid eyes on one, though he had heard of them.
A female nurse was sitting by the bedside, with a stethoscope hanging around her neck, a sphygmomanometer placed beside her hand, and a notebook. She presumably had to measure the man's vital signs at fixed intervals to monitor his physical condition.

Hearing the ward door being pushed open, the female nurse, who had been reading a newspaper, turned her head to look. Seeing that it was Su Xiaotong who had entered, she put down the paper and stood up.

"Good day, Section Chief Su."
"Ah, thank you for your hard work, Little Liu."
"It's all part of the job."
"Yancheng, take a look. This is the person on the bed. See if you have a way to wake him up."
After exchanging greetings with the nurse, Su Xiaotong turned his head and motioned to Li Yancheng that he could begin his examination.

"How long has he been like this?"
After walking up to the bedside, Li Yancheng didn't rush to examine him hands-on. He stood there, observing the man lying on the bed carefully for a moment before suddenly asking.
"It has been half a month already."
"Didn't you say his head was struck? How come I don't see any wounds?"
"On the back of his head," Su Xiaotong said, raising a hand to gesture. "It wasn't smashed open; he was just knocked unconscious on the spot and never woke up again."
"Has anyone else examined him?"
"The doctors at this hospital certainly examined him."
"What did the doctors say?"
"Uh... after the examination, they just said there might be internal cerebral hemorrhage pressing on some nerve."

The nurse named Little Liu had retreated to the side by this time. She looked with curiosity at Li Yancheng, whom she had never seen before, finding it hard to understand why Section Chief Su would bring such a young doctor here.
Li Yancheng didn't ask any further questions. He simply nodded, reached out, and placed his fingers on the wrist of the man lying on the bed to take his pulse.

Seeing him take a pulse, Nurse Little Liu's eyes widened in disbelief. Was this actually a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
This was probably the fastest pulse-taking Li Yancheng had ever performed. In less than ten seconds, he withdrew his hand and turned to look at Su Xiaotong, who was standing not far away, with a peculiar expression on his face.

"When do you want him to wake up?"
???
Su Xiaotong was stunned by the question. What did that mean? What was the deal with "when do I want him to wake up"?
"Yancheng, of course I want him to wake up right now."
"Heh, consider it done."
Li Yancheng smiled faintly and pulled out his specially brought acupuncture needle pouch from his overcoat pocket.

"My friend, are you going to wake up on your own, or shall I prick you awake?"
The words coming out of his mouth startled both Su Xiaotong and Nurse Liu. No matter how slow their reactions were, they finally understood what he meant.
"What? Yancheng, do you mean he's already awake? The coma is an act?"
"That's right. As soon as I walked into the room and saw him, I noticed something was off. The reason I asked you how long he had been in a coma was just to confirm it—his current physical state is completely different from someone who has been comatose for over ten days.
Actually, almost any doctor you brought in could have figured it out. Uh... you didn't have anyone give him a thorough checkup, did you?"

Su Xiaotong felt a blush of shame. Over the past few days, he hadn't let any other doctors near this person precisely out of fear that something might go wrong.
While speaking, Li Yancheng had already taken the acupuncture needles out of the pouch. Seeing that the man on the bed was still stubbornly pretending, he turned his head to look at the nurse.
"Nurse, please hand me some alcohol swabs."
"Ah? Oh, right away, I have them right here."

Nurse Liu hurriedly retrieved a tray from the small cabinet beside her, which contained tweezers, cotton balls, alcohol, and a tourniquet.
Upon hearing this, Su Xiaotong could no longer remain calm.
To think he had been put through the wringer for all these days, only to find out this fellow was faking it.
"Yancheng, how can a person manage to pretend to be like this for so many days without eating, drinking, or moving?"
"Whether such people exist is something you should know very well. Besides, his coma during the first few days was probably genuine."

After saying this, he lowered his head to look at the man who was still lying motionlessly on the bed, and suddenly made a move, driving an acupuncture needle straight into the wrist of the man's restrained right hand.
*Swish*
"Ah..."

The moment the needle pierced the wrist, the right arm of the man on the bed jerked violently, his eyes flew open, and a cry escaped his lips involuntarily.
Su Xiaotong, standing beside the bed, stared with wide eyes at the man who had now opened his eyes.
A moment ago, he had harbored lingering doubts, but now that the facts were laid out right before him, he had no choice but to be convinced.
Gritting his teeth as he glared at the fellow who had finally opened his eyes, Su Xiaotong walked over to the spot Li Yancheng had cleared for him, leaned down, and spoke in a chilling tone, "Kid, you dare pull this stunt on me? I'll make sure you enjoy yourself thoroughly."