maternity hospital

As expected of an eight-handed Jetta, a tire burst shortly after entering the mountain.

The spare tire is old and under-inflated, and the jack is a bit rusty.Zheng Zhiqing rummaged in the trunk for a long time but couldn't find the cross wrench to remove the buckle of the wheel. He planned to call for rescue, but the phone showed no service.There are no shops in front of the village or in the back of the dilapidated place, so we can only pin our hopes on the passing cars.

"I knew it would be no good to come out with you, so I'm convinced." He Quan wrapped Zheng Zhiqing's windproof jacket and squatted behind the car to hide from the mountain wind, but his curly hair was still blown into a chicken coop.

Zheng Zhiqing took out the thermos and handed it to He Quan to let him drink some hot water to warm his body, and smoothed his hair for him.He Quan's snot was about to freeze, but fortunately, he warmed up immediately after taking a sip of hot tea.

"Goji berries, honey, ginger, red dates..." He Quan smacked the flavors, tasting the last ingredient, "Angelica."

Kicking away the gravel and sitting next to He Quan, Zheng Zhiqing said, "It's a mistake. It's not angelica, it's American ginseng."

He Quan frowned, took another sip, smacked his lips and said, "Although American ginseng can invigorate Qi, it is cold in nature, so you should not put it in warming tea."

"My mother is suffering. I'll tell her when I get back." Zheng Zhiqing smiled helplessly. "She called me yesterday and asked me to go home for dinner. I said I would go to the mountains today, and she sent me home early in the morning."

"Your mother loves you so much."

He Quan poured out a bottle of cap soup and handed it to Zheng Zhiqing.The heater in the car was broken, and when I got out of the car just after a flat tire, Zheng Zhiqing felt his hands were cold, so she immediately took off the windproof jacket and put it on for him. .But the moment the fingers touched, He Quan found that the opponent's hand was still hot.

"Well, my mother loves me a lot, and sometimes even my brother is jealous." Zheng Zhiqing screwed the lid on after drinking the hot tea, then wrapped He Quan's hand in his palm to cover it, frowning slightly, "It's so cool, I I remember your hands were quite hot before."

"When I'm old, I can't compare it with when I was young." He Quan said lightly.

The fact is that since the miscarriage, his hands and feet have been cold in summer, and he had to rub his hands to warm them up every time he palpated, otherwise the patient would complain that his hands were cold.Since I was talking to Qiao Qiao’s mother—He Quan called her my aunt—about cutting his appendix, it was during the dog days that the other party was worried that his wound would be inflamed, so he turned on the air conditioner at full capacity every day, and always fed him iced watermelon as a substitute. Fruit after meals.After staying at his aunt's house for a week, He Quan returned to the dormitory, where he had to cover himself with a thin quilt to sleep in the 36-degree heat.

That summer, despite continuous high temperature warnings, he was bone-chillingly cold.

After waiting for nearly an hour, a pickup truck finally passed by.The driver was kind and not only lent them jacks and cross wrenches, but also helped Zheng Zhiqing change the tires together.

After work, the driver gave them cigarettes.Ordinarily, they should thank others for smoking, but Zheng Zhiqing doesn't smoke, so naturally he doesn't carry it with him.He Quan's pack of cigarettes has been in his pocket for almost two months, and he is too embarrassed to give it to others. The only thing he can do is to smoke a cigarette with him to take a break.

The driver looked at them and saw that they didn't look like they were supposed to drive a Jetta, so he asked, "Are you going to travel in the mountains?"

"We are doctors, and we go to the town's health center for free consultation." He Quan tapped the other party's hand for helping him light cigarettes to express his gratitude.

"That's a good relationship. The doctor in our crappy health center is like a veterinarian." The driver smiled and exhaled smoke, "No good doctor is willing to come to a poor place."

Although it is only less than [-] kilometers away from the city, due to the surrounding mountains, underdeveloped roads and a gathering place of ethnic minorities, the town He Quan is going to visit this time is a notoriously impoverished area.He started to come here for free clinics when he was in the Central Hospital, and he came here twice a year. The last time he came was just in time for a cesarean section.

However, he did not agree with the driver's words.

"Do you know the doctor surnamed Xie in the health department?" He Quan asked.

The driver nodded: "Yes, Xie Miao, he is the only one who treats people like animals."

"No way, Xie Miao is a famous doctor." Zheng Zhiqing's expression was slightly surprised, "He is our senior brother, and there is a special exhibition room in the school to introduce his deeds."

"Yo, I'm sorry, I also heard it from others." The driver waved his hand awkwardly, "Before the mountain was opened, a man was buried by the rocks blown down. He went and saw his legs directly."

Looking at Zheng Zhiqing, He Quan shook his head: "It is to prevent blood clots, excessive blood loss and infection, he is saving lives."

"Oh, so, that's really wrong to blame Dr. Xie." The driver sneered, crushing the cigarette butts thrown on the ground, "I have to go, this batch of goods has to be delivered to the city before noon."

Zheng Zhiqing reached out and shook hands with the other party: "Thank you, safe journey."

"See you later."

The driver got into the car and drove in the opposite direction from them.Zheng Zhiqing watched the pickup disappear out of sight, then turned to He Quan and asked, "Why did Xie Miao become a doctor here? Didn't he become the director of the emergency department in the central hospital?"

He Quan shrugged his shoulders casually.

"For love."

The mountain road is winding, although the straight-line distance is not far, but it goes around and around, and the broken engine of the eight-handed Jetta is whistling like asthma, and it is only a little closer to the town.He Quan stayed on the night shift, slept in the car for a while, and got out of the car screaming hungry.

The two found a small restaurant to eat something casually, and then rushed to the clinic immediately.The free clinic started at two o'clock in the afternoon. According to He Quan's past experience, there were at least four and no. 50 people queuing up, all of whom came from the surrounding villages.This place is poor, and young people often go out to work to save some money so that they can marry a wife and carry on the family line.Everything is expensive outside, and most people choose to send their wives back to their hometown to have children.When He Quan came here for the first time, he found that many people didn't know what a prenatal checkup was.

Zheng Zhiqing hadn't seen Xie Miao for ten years. When meeting this time, he couldn't help being surprised that the other party's hair was already gray.In fact, Xie Miao was about the same age as Zheng Zhijie, but he looked at least ten years older than him.No wonder, he is the only doctor and nurse in the clinic. Although the population in the area under its jurisdiction is not large, there are nearly 5 people in total. If there are emergency visits, it is estimated that they will not be able to sleep for three or four hours a day, and they will definitely grow old quickly.

Xie Miao specializes in trauma surgery, and also majors in internal medicine diagnosis, and can also do obstetrics.It's just that compared with He Quan, who fights wits and courage with his big belly every day, his professional level is not so high.Zheng Zhiqing and Xie Miao were considered to be half colleagues, and they also had a background in trauma surgery. The two of them had a lively chat as soon as they met.

"Hey, stop bragging, help with some work!" He Quan kicked the stool Zheng Zhiqing was sitting on, "Didn't you see that the line outside is turning the corner?"

Zheng Zhiqing smiled helplessly at Xie Miao, turned around and moved the stool next to He Quan, and gave him half of the wooden table for consultation.His first patient was a young woman with a baby who seemed to be about one year old on her back, but her belly was already protruding.

"What's wrong?" Zheng Zhiqing asked softly.

He had a friendly attitude, and soon a line of people lined up behind the young woman—the doctor with big eyes and a moustache next to him looked a bit fierce, and he just heard him swearing.

He Quan glanced at Zheng Zhiqing for this.

"The legs and feet are so swollen that I can hardly put on my shoes." The young woman said, lifting her trousers, "Please show me."

Zheng Zhiqing bent down and reached out to press the opponent's calf, only to see that the deep pit on the skin could not be recovered for a long time, so she couldn't help frowning slightly.Edema is very common in late pregnancy, but to this extent, it is likely to be related to kidney function.

"Let's do a urine test first, and then measure the blood pressure." Zheng Zhiqing handwritten a test sheet, "Go to the back and find a nurse."

When the results came out and it was confirmed that the edema was not caused by kidney problems or pregnancy-induced hypertension, he was really relieved for the patient.Doctors can only diagnose or perform surgery, but this is inseparable from drugs and instruments.Looking at the young woman's attire, he guessed that she couldn't afford the high cost of treatment, but fortunately she was fine.

After sitting in the consultation for six hours, Zheng Zhiqing listened to He Quan swearing at others for three hours.Of course, He Quan didn't scold the patient, but mainly scolded the patient's spouse.Especially when the two babies are too close together, he can't wait to call and scold her husband.

"42 days! You can't have intercourse within 42 days after giving birth, understand!" He Quan said this sentence probably a hundred times, "It takes at least three months for the uterus to recover, and the first and second children are within twelve months. Stand alone in a row for me!"

So more people stood in the same row as Zheng Zhiqing.

Near nine o'clock, Xie Miao's lover came to bring them dinner.Several people sat around the wooden table that served as both a treatment table and a dining table, eating under the yellowed light.Xie Miao's lover, Pan Yongxiu, is from the She nationality. It is said that the surname Pan used to be a common surname of the She nationality, but it is rare now.He has a square face, his facial features can see the unique style of ethnic minorities, his eyebrows are delicate, and when he smiles, there will be thin smile lines at the corners of his eyes.

Pan Yongxiu is good at singing and dancing. I heard that when he was in his twenties, he used folk songs to attract countless suitors, but he didn't like any of them.Xie Miao is a tone idiot, with incomplete pentatonics, not outstanding in appearance, and a little shorter than Pan Yongxiu, but Pan Yongxiu just thinks he is very handsome with his earnestness in treating people.The two met in a free clinic and fell in love at first sight. For the sake of his beloved, Xie Miao gave up his high salary and future, and went to the corner of the mountain to become a door-to-door son-in-law.

Now the two have a son and a daughter, and the life away from the hustle and bustle of the city is as plain as water but also comfortable.In order to allow Xie Miao to treat illnesses and save lives with peace of mind, Pan Yongxiu never bothered him with the work in the family's field. He drove more than ten miles every day to deliver dinner to him, and occasionally stayed overnight and left at [-] o'clock in the morning to go back to the elderly and children Prepare breakfast.

When Pan Yongxiu heard He Quan praise that the steamed bacon with winter bamboo shoots he made was delicious, his eyes narrowed into slits, and he explained that he would send them some winter bamboo shoots and bacon at noon tomorrow, and bring them back to the city to make by himself.Thank you, He Quan, and frankly told the other party that he really didn't have time to cook, and the kitchen was almost full of cobwebs.

Zheng Zhiqing disagreed: "I don't often make breakfast for you?"

He Quan's face tensed, and he stepped on Zheng Zhiqing under the table.Xie Miao and Pan Yongxiu looked at each other with a smile, then turned to ask He Quan: "I remember you two were together when you were in college, why did it not end until now?"

The atmosphere was a little awkward, and He Quan kept his head on the table.Zheng Zhiqing looked at He Quan, and explained: "I went abroad after graduation, and Ah Quan waited for me for ten years."

He Quan almost sprayed out the rice grains.

Xie Miao said with emotion: "Ten years? Zhiqing, then you have to treat He Quan well. How many decades are there in your life?"

Holding He Quan's hand on his knee under the table, Zheng Zhiqing nodded firmly: "For sure, I will never let him down again in this life."

He Quan raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not withdraw his hand.

This place is high above sea level, although it is located in the south, it still snows.It was windy in the first half of the night, and snowed in the second half of the night. He Quan loved to ride the quilt, so cold that he kept squeezing towards Zheng Zhiqing in his sleep.Zheng Zhiqing was awakened by him, stretched out her hand in a daze, and found that He Quan was sleeping with the quilt in between, so she opened her own and wrapped him with the quilt in her arms.

Holding He Quan like this, Zheng Zhiqing felt extremely at ease.After falling asleep again, he had a sweet dream.

In the dream, there was a baby with curly hair like He Quan, smiling sweetly at him.