Chapter 5

Zhang Lixue settled the middle aged lady in a chair and sat opposite her, paying great attention to her mannerism. She concluded that this woman would likely exaggerate what happened in the ward if she was not pacified. Not wanting to have to be called to explain about the incidence Zhang Lixue wanted to settle this without involving a third party, however she would not tolerate insults to any of the staff who were sacrificing their personal time to serve the patient. Therefore she decided to be diplomatic testing the grounds first to see if she could reason with the mother, "hello ma, I presume from available records that you are the mother of the patient on admission. I am sorry about the lack of information to our patients relatives, we were supposed to reach out to you about the rules of visitation for the patient but this was probably not done due to how busy the unit has been. We decided to restrict visitors from getting near him for fear of infection and the possibility of an unstable spinal injury. Though the results say otherwise, we prefer to err on the side of caution.I truly regret any inconveniences."

" Oh is his condition that serious, I thought the initial report was that of minor injuries, are we going to loose him? Madam Ming cried with deep concern and alarm.

"No madam, he will surely wake up. For now we can only estimate the level of injuries he has sustained, when he wakes up a more comprehensive test will be done for him," Zhang Lixue replied.

Listening to the young lady talk, Madam Ming finally calm down and decided to cooperate with the medics.

"So what you are saying in essence is I wouldn't be able to get too close to Longwei until he wakes up? asked Madam Ming.

"Yes ma essentially that, this is also for his own good" replied Zhang Lixue.

"Alright if you say so i won't insist, I'll leave some guards here for his protection, here's my number if there is any change in his condition don't hesitate to call me at any time."

Bringing out a name card she gave it to Zhang Lixue and at the same time collected her number. She felt assured and left behind four mean looking body guards. She wanted her son's accident to be kept a secret even from his friends till he recovers and also till they were able to find out who was behind the accident. The Ming family had it's fair shares of enemies.

After she left, Zhang Lixue politely asked the body guards to wait outside for her. Together with the nurse they erected a glass barrier to ensure that visitors do not cross the warning red line. The turned on the warning red light and the 'please be quiet' display light. Feeling satisfied with what she had done she quickly gave a call to the director to obtain a written authorisation note to activate the visitors restriction order. When she finally had this in her hands she called the front desk and requested the restriction except for two close relatives likely the mother and the father since they were documented as the next of kin. She also called the orderly in charge of checking the visitors who came into the unit and placed similar orders while making allowances for the bodyguards.

After she finished documenting all the recent details about the patient she personally went to sort out the bodyguards showing them a place to stay at the entrance of the ward. She also asked them to get their finger prints recorded at the front desk for proper documentation.

The patient's condition remained the same for rest of the shift which passed quietly with Zhang Lixue and the nurse handing over the patient to the next shift by 8pm. She made her way home feeling very exhausted. She would take the hospital up on their offer of temporary accommodation tommorow, she resolved.