Chapter 44: The Probability of the Impossible

If I can't beat you, I'll steal your girlfriend!

Gu Tao felt intense resentment within his heart, causing his mind to wander.

Beside him, Jin Mingcheng struck the table firmly with his hand. "Did you hear a word I just said?"

"I told you to completely forget about the conflict between yourself and Fang Ziyan, do you understand?"

"As a doctor, the most important thing is your own professional capability!"

Jin Mingcheng spoke with evident impatience.

Gu Tao quickly concealed the anger in his eyes and replied, "I understand, Uncle."

"Out here, you must address me as Director Jin!" Jin Mingcheng rebuked angrily.

Meanwhile, Fang Ziyan had finished changing his clothes and was preparing to discuss the situation with Zhu Zixiao when the harsh wail of an ambulance reached them from outside.

"Quickly, we have an incoming patient."

Shen Qingyue called out from the hallway, leaving Fang Ziyan with no choice but to rush out hurriedly.

"What is it, Lao Fang? Was there something you wanted to tell me?" Zhu Zixiao asked promptly, seemingly guessing that Fang Ziyan had something on his mind.

"It's nothing. Let's wait until we've dealt with this patient first."

Without elaborating, Fang Ziyan quickly made his way to the entrance.

"The patient is a painter who was struck by a falling billboard, resulting in an injury to the jugular vein and multiple trauma across his body," the accompanying paramedic reported swiftly.

Upon hearing this, Cao Chong nodded. "Get him into the operating room, quickly."

"Take an electrocardiogram, draw blood, and run a full-body scan."

At Cao Chong's commands, the medical team sprang into action.

Inside the operating room, Cao Chong stepped up to the operating table and carefully assessed the patient's condition.

The electrocardiogram showed a steady eighty-six beats per minute with no abnormalities, and all other vital metrics were within the normal range.

Therefore, he held out his hand directly. "Prepare for surgery. Scalpel, please."

Zhu Zixiao quickly stepped in to assist as the first assistant.

Standing to the side, Fang Ziyan knew that with his own proficiency, he didn't strictly need hands-on operational opportunities, making it better to leave them to others.

He stood behind Zhu Zixiao, his gaze fixed on the ECG monitor.

However, as the electrocardiogram waveform continued to update on the screen, Fang Ziyan suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

"Wait, something's not right. The ECG seems to have changed."

"We need to perform an echocardiogram."

Hearing this, the medical team currently performing the procedure paused in surprise.

"Ziyan, what is it? Did you spot something?" Cao Chong raised his head, frowning as he asked the question.

"The ECG voltage seems to have dropped. Low amplitude indicates low pressure."

"I'm afraid there might be a problem," Fang Ziyan said quickly, his tone growing serious.

Just as his voice fell, a harsh alarm bell began to ring from the monitoring equipment.

"Blood pressure is starting to drop!" the anesthesiologist called out.

"But there's no sign of internal bleeding," Zhu Zixiao said as he checked the patient, a layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Suture first! Then prepare for an echocardiogram!"

Cao Chong glanced at Fang Ziyan, then back at the monitor, and finally made a resolute decision through clenched teeth.

He trusted Fang Ziyan implicitly, and given that this sudden shift had occurred, there was definitely something wrong.

Exchanging glances, the team quickly followed Cao Chong's instructions to initiate the echocardiographic scan.

At the same time, Cao Chong looked at Fang Ziyan and asked, "What made you suspect an echocardiogram was necessary?"

Fang Ziyan remained silent, staring intently at the readout on the monitor before suddenly blurting out, "Pericardial effusion?"

Cao Chong was taken aback, his expression growing even more solemn.

Yet moments later, the echocardiogram results appeared before everyone, showing no anomalies.

"How could this be?"

Zhu Zixiao asked with a hint of astonishment.

For the first time, he felt that something was off.

Up until now, Fang Ziyan had never made a single mistake in the emergency department.

In fact, he had repeatedly pulled off unexpected feats that left everyone in awe.

Yet this time, it seemed his judgment had failed.

"The echocardiogram shows no abnormalities. Your guess was wrong."

"No!" Just as the words finished echoing, Fang Ziyan shook his head once more.

He stepped up to the ECG monitor and repeatedly played back the recorded data.

Finally, at a certain moment, he tapped a key on the keyboard.

"There is a depression deformity in the patient's right atrium. It's extremely subtle, but it's definitely there."

Hearing this, Cao Chong walked over as well. After examining the screen closely, he gave a slight shake of his head.

"Even if you are right about that, it still shouldn't cause a pericardial effusion."

Fang Ziyan let out a soft breath, his mind racing furiously.

Indeed, Director Cao was right.

The patient might not be suffering from a pericardial effusion, but what else could cause the amplitude of the electrocardiogram to diminish?

Something must have infiltrated the area. What could it possibly be?

Fang Ziyan fell silent. At a certain fraction of a second, he suddenly lifted his head.

Drawing upon his experience from his past life, a bold hypothesis formed in his mind.

"What if glass shards entered the blood vessels?"

"The glass fragments traveled from the jugular vein into the brachiocephalic vein, and then up to the superior vena cava."

"Causing blood to seep from the posterior aspect of the heart, restricting ventricular expansion during diastole and preventing adequate blood filling—that would produce exactly this kind of symptom."

Fang Ziyan laid out his bold supposition.

Yet the words he spoke left everyone present momentarily stunned.

Was such a thing even possible?

If that were truly the case, this patient might as well go buy a lottery ticket today.

The probability of this happening was even harder than winning the grand prize; it was simply absurd!

Exchanging bewildered looks, no one answered.

As the attending physician, Cao Chong furrowed his brow deeply.

After a long moment, he pressed his lips into a thin line and briskly re-entered the sterile field of the operating room.

"I'll trust you this once."

"Switch to a fourteen-gauge needle."

With those words, the team scrubbed and disinfected once more, returning to the operating table.

Under the bright lights, Cao Chong proceeded with methodical precision, making his incision.

The medical staff monitored the ECG closely as they investigated the scenario Fang Ziyan had theorized.

Moments later, Cao Chong slowly raised his head, looking at Fang Ziyan with a shock he couldn't entirely conceal.

"Director Cao, what is it?"

Fang Ziyan asked promptly.

A look of disbelief surfaced on Cao Chong's face. "Your guess was spot on."

As he spoke, he slowly extended his hand. Clutched in the jaws of his forceps was an extremely minute fragment of glass.

Everyone inside the operating room instantly drew in a sharp breath.

No one had imagined that such an astronomically improbable occurrence would actually be successfully predicted by Fang Ziyan.

A faint smile appeared on Fang Ziyan's lips.

This was the terrifying intuition born from his past life.

Having performed countless surgeries and navigated endless clinical cases, he had forged this kind of clinical instinct.

Even events with the slimmest of probabilities are, in reality, prone to happening under the right conditions.

Cao Chong placed the glass shard into a tray and resumed the remainder of the surgical procedure.

Once the operation concluded, the patient's condition was finally considered stable.

Watching as the patient was wheeled away, Cao Chong nodded with a sense of gratification.

"You kid, managing to guess even something like this—it really is outrageous."

"But you were right. You can never afford to lower your guard when facing any medical problem."

"The slimmer the possibility, the more it reveals a doctor's true capability and just how far they will be able to go in their career."