Chen Lan and Yang Jinglong came this time to get better acquainted with Lin Jie. Now that their goal is achieved and both have work to attend to, they soon took their leave.

An Kexin came personally to sign a sales contract for ENT surgical microscopes and other medical equipment with the clinic.

Luo Shanshan was also thinking that perhaps, amidst this wave of attention, a patient with vocal cord or throat discomfort might just come knocking.

The extremely excited Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang prepared a lavish seafood feast at noon, specially delivered to the clinic.

After a brief celebration and clamor, the clinic returned to its usual calm.

By evening, Lin Jie was on the night shift, leaving him alone in the entire clinic.

After sending away a teary little kid who had crammed a peanut up his nostril and couldn't get it out, Lin Jie went online to check his email and found a new message from Hu Yuanqing.

The email only attached a patient's cranial tumor CT image and medical record.

Ever since Mr. Tan's surgery, Hu Yuanqing no longer asked Lin Jie to review or give input on the surgery plans he devised. Instead, he sent the patient's information and had Lin Jie come up with a surgical plan.

Lin Jie didn't bother to delve into the reason for this change since the compensation from Hu Yuanqing was quite decent.

In July alone, Lin Jie assisted Hu Yuanqing with four surgical plans and received a total of thirty-six thousand yuan as compensation.

If this income could be sustained, combined with the payment from Luo Shanshan, Lin Jie thought of buying a big house after Lin Miao's surgery.

This girl had always longed for a place of her own.

Using more than half an hour, Lin Jie designed a simplified surgical plan based on Hu Yuanqing's surgical skills and sent it to him.

Afterward, he connected with Li Ting through a video call, intending to ask about difficulties encountered during his studies.

Due to working at the clinic, Lin Jie no longer had time to go to the gym or meet face-to-face with Li Ting, so they switched to online communication.

However, just as the video call connected, a clear, childlike voice echoed around: "If you don't take me out to play tomorrow, I'll keep bothering you."

On the computer screen, Lin Jie saw Li Ting tussling with a four or five-year-old, cherubic little boy. She seemed a bit annoyed, grabbed the boy by the nape, tossed him out of the room, and quickly locked the door.

Sitting in front of the computer, Li Ting said somewhat helplessly: "That little guy is my brother, Li Haoran, my biological brother. My parents think I'm a failure, so they had another one, a naughty one!"

Amused by Li Ting's words, Lin Jie couldn't help but laugh, "You've lost some weight now; the 'major version' is returning to normal. Why's he pestering you?"

"Didn't you and Miaomiao agree to go karaoke tomorrow afternoon? This little brat is clamoring to join us. He doesn't stay put anywhere for long. If we take him, we definitely won't be able to enjoy karaoke."

"You have to hold your ground then!" Lin Jie quickly encouraged.

Children are fickle and have short attention spans, and Lin Jie didn't want a hard-earned leisure activity disrupted by a little kid.

Their video tutorial lasted over an hour before it ended when a patient came in.

This patient was a man in his thirties, dressed plainly, with a somewhat simple appearance and a crew cut.

A peas-sized mole was located above the left corner of his mouth.

Upon seeing Lin Jie, he was momentarily stunned, looked around, and asked quietly, "Is Doctor Zhu not here? Hmm, then how about Doctor Luo?"

This situation had become common for Lin Jie these days, and he smiled, "Dr. Zhu Heping and Dr. Luo are both off tonight, and I'm covering this shift. I'm also a medical graduate. If I can't ascertain your condition, I will call Dr. Zhu to come over."

"Oh..."

The crew-cut man let out a long "Oh," yawned, sat softly on the diagnostic chair in front of Lin Jie, scratched his calf, and whispered, "Then there's no need to trouble Doctor Zhu; I just have a cold and fever!"

"Can you give me some medicine, or just an injection?"

Lin Jie gently smiled and carried out the examination systematically!

A low fever at 38.5 degrees, according to his description, he also felt nauseous, had no appetite, and a slight headache. Overall, it was an indication of cold symptoms.

Just as he was about to prescribe medication, Lin Jie noticed the man's hand scratching his calf again and asked, "Is your calf very itchy? Bitten by an insect?"

The crew-cut man nodded and said, "Yeah, it's been itchy for more than a day. Today's mosquitoes are becoming more vicious."

"Hmm? Let me take a look!"

Lin Jie, a bit concerned this might be a tick bite, had him roll up his pant leg.

After being bitten by a tick, one may also experience symptoms like fever, fatigue, and appetite loss, which are easily mistaken for a cold.

Ticks can transmit a pathogenic virus when they bite humans.

Once the virus causes illness, there's no specific cure aside from antiviral and supportive treatments.

If the best treatment time is missed, the patient's condition can dramatically worsen, posing life threats with a mortality rate ranging from 12% to 30%.

Upon seeing the condition on his calf, Lin Jie's heart sank.

What he saw was worse than a tick bite disease: on the man's calf were two deep-colored bite marks, one of which had been scratched open.

Lin Jie stood up and asked, "Do you feel any tightness or dryness in your throat?"

"Yes, it feels a bit tight and dry!"

Holding onto a shred of hope, Lin Jie asked, "Were those bite marks on your calf from a dog, or...?"

"Oh, a little dog bit me a few days ago. There wasn't any bleeding, so I didn't pay much attention..."

The crew-cut man suddenly stopped speaking, evidently realizing the crux of the matter, and stared at Lin Jie, anxiously asking, "Doctor, doctor, you wouldn't suspect it to be..."

By now, Lin Jie was ninety-nine percent sure this person had rabies and that it had already manifested.

Rabies in its early stages presents with low fever, loss of appetite, nausea, headache, fatigue, resembling a "cold."

The only diagnostically significant early symptom is abnormal sensations, such as numbness, itching, or pain at or near the wound, caused by the virus stimulating neurons.

Since confirming rabies requires blood, urine routine, and cerebrospinal fluid tests, and the clinic lacked such testing facilities, Lin Jie couldn't offer a definitive diagnosis.

He could only say, "I'm young and inexperienced, prone to think of the worst. I can only say there's a possibility, but it's not a large, perhaps even a tiny one."

"If you agree, I'll inform Doctor Zhu to take you to a larger city hospital for a checkup, would that be okay?"

The crew-cut man watched Lin Jie for a while, then unexpectedly smiled as if relieved, "There's no need. I know about rabies; once it's onset, there's no cure."

"If it truly is rabies, then tests or no tests, the result is the same for me. If it isn't rabies, testing would just be a waste of money."

The man stood up, was silent for a moment, then asked, "Doctor, if it is rabies, how much time do I have left? I mean, time when I'm still clear-headed and can control my actions."

"As short as two days, as long as four days, it varies," Lin Jie responded.

"Only two days at shortest? Well, that's enough time."

After saying this, the man turned and left, but after taking two steps, he turned back to thank Lin Jie before leaving again.

Watching the man leave the clinic like this, Lin Jie had a bad premonition and immediately dialed Luo Shanshan's number.

PS.

New book seeking collection!! Seeking recommendation!! Seeking all kinds of support!!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.