Patient Collapsed; Danmaku Said He Was Scamming Me

Introduction:

I was in my office sorting through case files when a nurse burst in.

Dr. Walker, come quick, Grant Chavez just collapsed in the hallway!

But just as I stood up, a line of danmaku appeared before my eyes.

Don't go. Grant hid his medical history. He's barely got a breath left in him now.

Grant wants to use his own death to run an extortion scam on you, to leave a payout for that gambler son of his.

I stared blankly at the danmaku, at a loss.

That was when Grant's son, Spencer Chavez, started shrieking outside the door.

"Why isn't Dr. Walker here yet! My dad's dying of pain!"

The noise outside swelled, and a crowd of patients shoved the office door open.

A woman screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What are you standing there for? Go save him, now!"

An old man leaned on his cane and jabbed a finger in my face.

"Grant even gave you half an apple today, didn't he? You'd let a man die at a time like this? A dog must've eaten your conscience!"

Before I could say anything, Spencer rushed to the office doorway.

"Dr. Walker! My dad keeps screaming in pain, please, just come take a look at him."

Seeing that I didn't budge, Spencer suddenly slapped himself hard across the face, twice, then pointed behind him with a sob in his voice.

"My dad has a heart condition. If you ignore him, he'll die!"

"I've still got a couple of acres back home. I'll sell them and give you the money, okay? I'm begging you..."

My resolve wavered, and I got up, meaning to go take a look first.

The danmaku appeared again.

Wake up! Are you going to gamble away your whole life?

Don't forget you're only a dermatologist. Your emergency skills aren't even up to an intern's in the ER!

I spoke fast.

"I'll get the on-call ER doctor over here right away!"

As I spoke, I quietly clipped the badge camera the hospital had just issued to my collar.

Spencer's expression went cold in an instant.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're going to let him die?"

I stayed calm.

"My specialty is treating vitiligo. When it comes to heart conditions or fall injuries, I'm not much better at treatment than you are."

"This is a hospital. There are doctors more qualified for this."

Spencer glared at me with bloodshot eyes and turned to the onlookers.

"Everyone, look at this! This is your Dr. Walker! A white coat on the outside, a black heart on the inside!"

The patients crowding the doorway got worked up under Spencer's egging.

"Dr. Walker, saving one life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. Is your heart made of iron?"

"We're all witnesses here! If you let a man die today, we'll expose you online, and you can forget about ever being a doctor again."

Their words landed on me like a whip.

I didn't argue. Instead I turned to the nurse.

"Notify cardiology and the ER right away. Don't let anyone move the patient on their own, we can't risk a second injury."

The moment I finished, Spencer dropped to his knees in the doorway with a thud.

"We're just ordinary folks, we don't understand your rules. This is a matter of life and death! If you won't go save my dad, then you're a murderer!"

"Just save my dad, and my whole family will slave for you like oxen and horses to repay your kindness."

Spencer kowtowed and talked at the same time, his eyes darting everywhere, and the second he saw someone raise a phone, his wailing got even louder.

Having watched Spencer's whole performance with my own eyes, I chose my words carefully.

"And if he can't be saved?"

Spencer's wailing cut off mid-cry. He hadn't expected me to say something so blunt.

Spencer put on a face of utter despair.

"Dr. Walker, please, don't curse my dad to death."

"You're a big doctor, you've got status, you make good money, one of your watches costs more than our whole house. Of course you wouldn't know the suffering of people like us."

"My dad is the pillar of our family. If he dies, how are we supposed to live?"

A grown man in his thirties, and he could still call a guy in his seventies the pillar of the family.

Even I, who'd seen every kind of oddball in this hospital, was meeting a rare specimen like this for the first time.

Right then, a patient outside let out a startled cry.

"Somebody, quick, Grant's coughing up blood!"

At that, Spencer went white with panic, jumped to his feet, grabbed me, and started dragging me out.

I was hauled out of the office by Spencer.

In the hallway, the crowd of patients parted on their own to make way for him.

One patient cheered.

"Thank goodness, it's Dr. Walker! Grant's saved now!"

An old woman urged me anxiously.

"Dr. Walker, hurry, help Grant up, the floor's so cold."

Grant lay curled on the floor, his face the color of wax, cold sweat soaking through his hospital gown.

Spencer shoved me down in front of Grant, staring at me with a look of desperate hope.

"Dr. Walker, they're right. Whatever else, just help my dad up first."

In front of Grant was a wide pool of blood, red going black. My brow drew tight at the sight of it.

"That color's wrong. He could be bleeding internally. We can't move him right now!"

Spencer dropped to his knees again, right there in front of everyone, and roared at me.

"Dr. Walker! I didn't drag you over here for a diagnosis. Are you really going to stand there and let my dad die at your feet before you're satisfied?"

The other patients and their families all started in too.

Someone took the moral high ground and lectured me like a saint.

"Dr. Walker, you've got parents, haven't you? When your own father's lying on the ground waiting to die, are you going to stand off to the side preaching like this? They say doctors have healing hearts. I'd say you've got the heart of a beast behind a human face!"

Someone else began questioning my medical skills.

"Why did Grant start vomiting blood? Because there's something wrong with the drugs you prescribed! I want a different doctor. I wouldn't dare let her treat me!"

One man went further and just held up his phone, going live.

"Everybody in the stream, take a look. This is the big-shot doctor who pulls in tens of thousands a month! And she's standing here watching a patient die right in front of her!"

My specialty is vitiligo, so most of my patients come to me for that.

Their faces covered in white patches, spit flying, they dumped every strange stare they'd ever endured onto me all at once.

Every one of them contorted, like vengeful ghosts crawled up out of hell.

I drew a deep breath and tried to explain.

"The treatment plans I give everyone are topical ointments. There is no way they could cause vomiting blood."

"Spencer said it himself a moment ago, Grant has a heart condition. The ER doctor will be here any second. Everyone step back, let the air move around Grant."

They heard my explanation, and instead of calming down, they only got worse.

Smack!!!

An old man rushed straight at me and slapped me across the face, cursing.

"You bitch! The man's dying and you're still dodging the blame."

"You're an animal. Grant won't let you off even as a ghost!"

I had my hand over my face, and before I could get a word out, an old woman grabbed my hair and slammed me down toward Grant with all her strength.

"Open your damn eyes and look! Grant's barely breathing!"

I clawed at the old woman's hands, just managing to keep myself from falling.

Grant was in critical condition. If I came down on top of him, there really would be no saving him.

Beside us, Spencer heard that the ER doctor was almost there, and his face went darker.

His bloodshot eyes fixed on me, he slipped around behind me and kicked me in the leg.

I couldn't hold on any longer and dropped to my knees.

And just then Grant's eyes flew open. Once he made out that it was me kneeling in front of him, he strained to lift his head...

Ptooh!!

A mouthful of old blood, spat squarely into my face.

Right after, Spencer's roar exploded next to my ear.

"My dad's throwing up blood again! Hurry up and save him!"

"Don't think that just because your family's got money you can look down on a life. If my dad dies and you don't pay me five million, I'll follow you around every single day!"

"Dr. Walker, you're bound to be alone sometime, aren't you? My life's worthless anyway. Trading it for yours is no loss to me!"

Spencer had my head pinned down and I couldn't move, but in one breath I caught the hole in what he'd said.

"How do you know my family has money?"

"We only have a doctor-patient relationship. Not even my coworkers at the hospital know about my family. So how do you know?"

The hallway, an instant ago in an uproar, fell suddenly silent.

People glanced at one another, doubt in their eyes, working it over...

A young man was frowning, as if something had just occurred to him, and was about to speak, when the nurse beside him cut in first:

"Dr. Walker, shouldn't we clear Grant's mouth and nose first? There's blood blocking them, I think he's having trouble breathing."

I looked the nurse over a few times, the one with the head of dyed-blond hair. She didn't look familiar.

Ours was a top-tier state hospital, well known across the state, with strict standards. How could there ever be a nurse walking around with dyed hair?

I knew every nurse in the dermatology department. They were all older women with plenty of experience.

The hospital had trained us for situations like this. The first thing you did was notify the emergency department.

Before I could think further, Grant broke into a violent fit of coughing.

Flecks of blood sprayed from his mouth and nose.

I wasn't the right kind of specialist, but even I knew backflowing blood could choke a person. You had to turn the patient onto his side, ideally tap his back gently to keep the blood moving.

"Dr. Walker? Grant's about to choke. Hurry, do something."

The nurse pressed me again.

Spencer Chavez sat slumped on the floor wailing, while the surrounding patients and their families hurled blame at me for all they were worth. The scene had spiraled into total chaos.

Just as I couldn't hold back and was about to step in myself, the danmaku appeared again:

Grant's blood vessels have already ruptured. Never mind you, not even a miracle could save him now.

Every single word you say right now is evidence Spencer Chavez will use to claim damages against you!

I froze mid-motion and even took a few steps back, then looked at the nurse:

"I won't touch him. But I won't stop you either. The hospital nurses go through training and testing every month, so you should be more skilled at this than I am."

For an instant the corridor went silent again, with only Grant's coughing left, ticking down like a countdown to death.

Spencer Chavez stopped wailing and roared at me:

"Walker! Do you have any humanity left in you? Will you only be satisfied once you've watched my father die right in front of you?!"

"What did my family ever do to you, that you'd want to wipe us all out like this!"

I said coldly:

"Spencer Chavez, if I were you, I'd go find an emergency doctor right now instead of howling here like a ghost."

Spencer Chavez ground his teeth and came at me, grabbing hold of me to drag me over in front of Grant:

"I don't care! You're saving him today!"

"If my father dies, you're the murderer! You'll pay for his life!"

I clung with all my strength to the safety rail on the corridor wall, but Spencer Chavez was frighteningly strong, and he hauled my whole body clean off the ground.

"Don't you dare frame me. Everyone saw it. I never once touched Grant from start to finish."

"You hid his condition, he collapsed in the hospital, and instead of getting an emergency doctor you forced a dermatologist to try and save him. You're the one who wasted the critical window. If your father dies, that's on you!"

I shouted it straight at the surveillance camera in the corridor.

The moment they heard it, the crowd flew into a frenzy again.

Someone came over and started prying my fingers loose:

"Listen to that, is that something a doctor should say? Selfish like this, you don't deserve to be a doctor!"

"Let go and go save him! We're all your witnesses, we'll testify for you!"

Someone else aimed a phone at me:

"We all saw it, you deliberately stalled and refused to treat him, and that's what killed Grant!"

These people had me over the fire, forcing me toward the edge of the pit. They wanted me dead.

My heart went cold all the way through. I screamed:

"He isn't even dead yet! And you're already pinning this on me. Are you people even human?!"

But my screaming didn't stop them. It only brought more of them surging in to grab me.

They snapped my fingers, and my whole body was flung onto Grant like a torn sack.

Beneath me, Grant felt as soft as cotton.

Puh

Grant coughed up another big mouthful of blood. Warm, it splashed across my neck and ran down inside my white coat.

Not stopping to care about the blood, I scrambled off Grant and shrank away to one side.

At that moment the on-call doctors from the emergency and cardiology departments finally arrived.

Spencer Chavez threw himself down in front of Grant, kneeling and crying out:

"Dad!! Wake up, the doctor's here to save you!"

The emergency doctor crouched in front of Grant, felt his neck, listened with a stethoscope, then said with a grim look:

"The patient is already dead."

Spencer Chavez went blank, then looked at me:

"You bitch! You killed my father, and I'm going to sue you! I'll make you pay with your life!"

I spoke up at once:

"I did not! I never touched Grant from start to finish. How can you say I killed your father?"

But Spencer Chavez only sneered:

"You crushed my father to death just now, and there are this many people here who saw it. You still want to deny it?!"

And the very people who had just helped Spencer Chavez rough me up now spoke as one:

"That's right! We all saw it. She's the one who crushed Grant to death."

"This doctor is morally rotten. She should be dragged off to prison!"

Animals, all of them!

How could there be people in this world who twisted right and wrong like this?

I had poured everything into treating them, worked overtime as a matter of course.

I'd even pulled strings through my own contacts to help them get imported specialty drugs.

And now, with no warning, no discussion, every one of them had turned on me at once.

I was shaking with rage.

"You threw me onto Grant! I'm a doctor. Even if I knew nothing about emergency care, I would never jump onto a patient like that!"

The emergency department doctors were seasoned. They called the police on the spot.

Just then Spencer stepped up beside me and lowered his voice to my ear.

"Dr. Walker, don't say I never gave you a chance. Five million, and I'll clear your name."

I wiped the blood off my badge, adjusted the angle so it pointed straight at Spencer, and ground out through my teeth,

"Aren't you afraid of what you'll bring down on yourself? Trading your father's life for money, the whole internet will bury you for it!"

Spencer let out a scornful laugh.

"It's just my reputation. I don't care about that."

"Old Lawrence slapped you earlier, right? Money's on the table, how about I break one of his legs for you?"

I said coldly,

"The hospital corridors are covered in cameras. And there's dispute over your father's death. A forensic examiner will step in and investigate!"

Spencer only glanced sideways at the busy ER doctors, a cold sneer full of mockery on his face.

The police reached the hospital fast, and I stood there covered in blood, hemmed in on all sides by the hospital leadership who had rushed over.

"Naomi, what on earth happened here? How could you let a patient die right in front of you?"

The director's face was grim, his tone hard.

The office chief held up his phone.

"Director, look! The whole internet is nothing but bad press about our hospital right now! This has blown up, Director!"

There on the chief's screen, I was already trending.

A doctor watches an old man cough up blood. Where's her conscience?

Wealthy heiress doctor lets a man die. Insider says she isn't afraid of paying damages.

On the screen I stood expressionless and looming over everyone, Spencer on his knees at my feet, Grant curled up on the other side coughing blood. The composition was charged with tension.

The inpatient chief spoke up too.

"Director, a lot of patients are checking out. Our trust rating has hit an all-time low!"

The director shot me a savage glare and dumped every problem onto me, head-on.

"Look what you've done! You could have at least put on a show of trying!"

"How can a dermatologist not know basic emergency care? Is this how your teacher trained you?!"

I clenched the badge hard and argued back.

"Grant had a heart condition and a fall. You're the hospital director. Don't you understand that every field has its specialty?"

"You should be looking into why the ER is right nearby, yet they only showed up after Grant was already dead."

Hearing my reasoned defense, the director's face went dark. Then he caught what my hands were doing and reached for my chest.

"Give me the badge! I'm copying the footage inside it!"

I covered it with both hands on instinct.

The gesture made the already furious director angrier still.

"Naomi Walker! Don't push your luck! Hand me that badge now!"

My head was a mess. I kept shaking it and held the badge tighter against me.

"Grab it off her!" the director ordered, stone-faced.

And at that very moment, the forensic examiner and the PR unit arrived together.

Toolbox in hand, the examiner planted himself in front of me.

"You're Dr. Walker? I'm a forensic examiner. I'll need you to cooperate with my work."

I looked up, into a face I half remembered.