A hospital ward was a place of examinations, assessments, various treatments and nursing care, and—most importantly—communication.
Ward rounds weren't just about checking on every patient. Most clinical decisions were made right at the bedside. It was the most efficient way to organize the hospital's medical work.
Rounds began in the morning. For newly admitted patients, the responsible resident physician would report their initial thoughts and the measures already taken since admission.
Then, Director Huo would make a summary and final decision. He would summarize the characteristics of the patient's current condition, offer a preliminary diagnosis, determine what further tests were needed, decide on the current course of treatment, and identify what needed to be communicated in detail to the patient's family.
If it were a surgical case, they'd consider whether an operation was needed and what to emphasize in the patient's records.
As for patients who had been admitted earlier and were already familiar to Director Huo, the report needed to cover their current condition and the results of recent tests.
Director Huo placed great importance on the junior doctors' thought processes, especially how they arrived at a treatment plan. His questions were always meticulous.
Before long, they arrived at Bed 19, where Luo Ming's patient, Zhang Li, was.
Seeing it was his turn, Luo Ming could only brace himself and step forward. Wu Ting followed at his side, responsible for taking notes on the medical records.
"Bed 19, Zhang Li. What's her condition?"
Huo Yun turned his powerful gaze on Luo Ming.
Luo Ming took a deep breath. He knew this was unavoidable. Dejectedly, he began to report on Zhang Li's condition.
"...Based on the initial diagnosis, we administered broad-spectrum antibiotics to fight the infection and traditional Chinese medicine to bring down the fever, but the results have been negligible. The patient's liver and spleen are still enlarged, her platelet count is low, and she has painless swelling of superficial lymph nodes all over her body..."
"...The diagnosis has reached an impasse, and the patient is growing anxious and restless..."
Huo Yun's brow furrowed at Luo Ming's report; he was clearly dissatisfied. He himself had spent time reviewing the patient's symptoms and signs, looking into a vast amount of material on complex and rare diseases. He had even consulted experts in other fields.
He had especially sought the opinion of his old friend, Shen Guofeng, the director of the Emergency Center at Jinggang University Affiliated First Hospital, and now he had a promising lead.
He wasn't surprised that Luo Ming couldn't pinpoint the exact cause, but to see him running around like a headless chicken was unacceptable. If Luo Ming had truly put in the effort, he should have at least been able to offer a few hypotheses.
"So, do you have any new ideas? I'm not asking for a definitive diagnosis. Even a few educated guesses would be acceptable."
Huo Yun asked again. He was very strict with the doctors under his supervision and hated to see them give up easily when faced with a problem. A little more thought, a little more consideration, and a breakthrough might be possible.
For a doctor, it's only a sacrifice of some rest time. But for a patient, it's their very life on the line.
Faced with Huo Yun's questioning, the pressure on Luo Ming mounted. Honestly, he was completely out of ideas.
He had been counting on Director Huo to re-evaluate the patient today.
But he knew Director Huo's temper. If he admitted he had nothing, he would surely face the director's thunderous wrath.
After a moment's thought, Luo Ming blurted out the long shot Wu Ting had tried yesterday.
"Director Huo, I have another theory. Could it be a gram-negative bacterial infection?"
Luo Ming didn't have much faith in this answer; he just hoped it would be enough to get Director Huo off his back.
Watching the exchange between Director Huo and Luo Ming, the other groups of doctors held their breath, feeling a sympathetic tension.
Everyone watched Director Huo's reaction, worrying on Luo Ming's behalf.
Hearing Luo Ming's answer, Huo Yun's interest was piqued. "Oh? A gram-negative bacterial infection? Explain your reasoning. What led you to that conclusion?"
He had hoped to just gloss over it, but under Director Huo's pointed follow-up, Luo Ming couldn't hold up. His face flushed beet red as he stammered, ultimately unable to string together a coherent explanation.
"Just a wild guess?"
Huo Yun muttered, the spark of interest in his eyes fading. It was a bit of a letdown.
"Actually, that wasn't my theory. It was Wu Ting's idea. I'm truly out of other ideas."
Under the weight of Director Huo's pressure, Luo Ming finally confessed the truth.
Everyone present was stunned to hear it was Wu Ting's theory.
'Especially the other resident trainees. They never paid any attention to the guy; he was practically invisible. He dared to try diagnosing a patient? Talk about overestimating yourself.'
Hearing that it was Wu Ting—a resident trainee with little clinical experience—Huo Yun was impartial:
"Wu Ting, how did you come up with this idea? Was it based on something specific, or was it just an off-the-cuff remark?"
In such a suffocating atmosphere, being questioned by the chief director would make any resident trainee incredibly nervous.
Everyone held their breath for Wu Ting.
Wu Ting himself, however, wasn't the least bit nervous. In fact, he felt a flicker of excitement and anticipation.
"Director Huo, to be precise, I suspect the patient is suffering from the rare disease brucellosis, which is caused by Brucella, a gram-negative bacterium."
As soon as Wu Ting finished his explanation, some of the junior doctors and resident trainees looked completely lost.
A few of the senior attending physicians, however, had heard of the disease.
Qin Donglai, a senior attending in the emergency department, had heard of it:
"Brucellosis is usually found in places like Mengtu City and Lambo City. It's a zoonotic infectious disease, extremely rare here in Jin Province. How did you even think of such a rare pathogen?"
Huo Yun was also amazed, but he kept his expression neutral and continued to question him:
"What's your reasoning?"
Wu Ting explained calmly and methodically:
"First, the clinical characteristics of brucellosis—prolonged fever, profuse sweating, joint pain, and an enlarged liver and spleen—can also cause systemic damage and limited mobility. This is highly consistent with the patient's symptoms."
"Second, during my conversation with the patient, I learned she lives in the countryside. With further questioning, I discovered that two weeks ago, she helped a neighbor's ewe give birth. She could have been exposed to Brucella in the ewe's birth canal secretions, amniotic fluid, or placenta. I suspect that's when she was infected."
"Of course, this is just my own personal conjecture. Please, Director Huo, I welcome your correction."
After hearing Wu Ting's analysis, everyone was rather surprised; it sounded surprisingly logical and well-supported. Still, many different diseases share similar symptoms, so it was impossible to be certain.
Cheng Feng, standing behind Qin Donglai, felt a knot of tension in his stomach. He hoped Wu Ting was right so the patient could get the proper treatment. And yet, he also hoped Wu Ting was wrong.
It was the classic dilemma: you worry when your buddy is down on his luck, but you're secretly jealous when he hits the big time.
"Wu Ting, your line of thinking coincides perfectly with my own."
Just as Director Huo said that, a nurse hurried over, holding a report that was fresh from the lab.
"The results are in! They're in!"
"The blood antibody results for the patient in Bed 19 are back! Based on the biochemical and serological reactions, it's a confirmed case of *Brucella melitensis*—the ovine strain!"