American Medicine: I survived the death knell thanks to the devil.

Julian's expression was complicated.

Besides resentment, there was also a little bit of admiration that he wanted to hide but failed to do so well.

"How did you train to have such skills?"

Lynn glanced at him.

"When I'm on the night shift."

Julian scoffed.

"Next time there's an orthopedic patient in the ER, I'll call you."

After saying that, he left without looking back, afraid that Lynn would realize he wanted more opportunities to observe and learn.

After finishing writing the surgical record, Lynn instructed the nurses to check the finger temperature and capillary return time every fifteen minutes.

After the blood vessel is relieved of pressure, there will be a reperfusion process, which requires continuous observation for at least four to six hours to confirm that blood flow has been fully restored and there is no delayed thrombosis.

While he was writing the postoperative medical instructions, the automatic door to the trauma area was knocked open.

A short Latina woman rushed in, carrying a two- or three-year-old girl on her back and holding the hand of a boy who looked to be a little over ten years old.

The woman was wearing a faded hoodie, and her hair was casually tied up with a rubber band.

The boy was wearing sneakers that were clearly two sizes too big, and he tied the shoelaces very carefully.

"Jose—"

The woman practically pounced on her.

The little girl was frightened by the chaos and started to cry.

The boy didn't cry, but his lips were trembling, and he was clutching the hem of his mother's hoodie tightly.

José put his right arm around his wife's head, his voice hoarse.

"It's alright. It's alright. Your hand is saved."

The woman buried her face in his shoulder, trembling like a leaf.

The boy gently patted his sister's back and said in Spanish, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Daddy's okay."

The other patients and their families all looked in this direction.

In places like the emergency room, people are used to seeing pain.

But the image of a family embracing each other still has a certain power to move people.

After a while, the woman released her husband and turned around to see Lynn standing next to the control panel.

Her eyes were red-rimmed.

"Did you save his hand?"

"Of course."

The woman walked over, and Lynn assumed she wanted to shake hands.

She suddenly bent down and bowed deeply to Lynn at a ninety-degree angle.

"Thank you." Her English had a heavy accent, and she spoke each word slowly and carefully.

"His hands are our family's lifeline."

Lynn asked her to sit down.

The woman gripped her husband's right hand, tears streaming down her face, but her words became increasingly clear.

Her name is Rosa.

She and José have been in New York for eight years, having come from Honduras. José has been working as a carpenter on construction sites.

The family's income mainly comes from José, who works odd jobs at a laundry shop, earning just under the minimum wage.

"We only bought insurance for him."

Rosa lowered her head as she said this, as if she were ashamed of something.

"Neither my child nor I have it. It's too expensive; the premium for one person is over four hundred yuan per month..."

A New York carpenter's weekly wage is roughly between nine hundred and twelve thousand.

The lowest tier of health insurance, the bronze plan, covers only one person, with a monthly premium of just over four hundred dollars and an annual deductible of seven thousand US dollars.

This means that Jose has to pay 7,000 euros out of his own pocket every year before the insurance will start reimbursing him.

For them, the out-of-pocket portion will be converted into a medical installment loan.

But it's better than having no health insurance at all, otherwise the loan amount would be terrifyingly high.

Twelve months interest-free, after which the annualized interest rate is 26.99%.

If the payment is overdue, the debt collection agency will take over.

Debt collection can negatively impact your credit score.

A drop in credit score can affect renting a house, car loans, and even mobile phone contracts.

Then you'll become homeless.

You have to fill in your home address when you look for a job, so you might not be able to find a new job...

"You made the right choice," Lynn said.

Rosa nodded, and her tears finally stopped.

Then, she frowned and counted on her fingers.

Another loan...

But at least his hand is saved, as long as José can still climb the scaffold.

This house can still turn around.

At this moment, the nurse in charge of triage walked over with a writing board, followed by two caregivers pushing a wheelchair.

"José Martínez?"

"A bed has been arranged in the orthopedic ward on the fourth floor. Post-operative blood circulation needs to be closely monitored. This is the formal admission procedure; family members can go to the window over there to complete it."

Upon hearing the word "admission," Jose's face instantly turned even paler than during the surgery.

He had heard too many stories of his fellow workers going bankrupt because they had to be hospitalized.

"No... I don't need a hospital room."

His voice trembled, and he looked at his wife with a terrified expression.

"The hallway is fine. I'll stay in the hallway. I don't need a room."

The nurse frowned and impatiently interrupted him:

"Sir, this is the policy. Post-operative observation in a ward is mandatory. What if a vascular crisis occurs? Who will be responsible for the area in the corridor?"

She gestured for the caregiver to come forward and move the person.

"Go and complete the formalities; it's for the good of your hand."

Rosa stood there, at a loss, tears welling up in her eyes again.

They knew very well what entering the ward meant.

The cost of a bed and nursing care for one night is equivalent to two weeks' wages for Jose.

"etc."

A hand rested on the writing board.

The nurse looked up and saw Lynn's face.

"Cancel hospitalization."

Lynn took a pen out of his pocket and drew a big X on the form in the nurse's hand.

"Change him to emergency observation. Right here, find him a spot against the wall."

The nurse was stunned.

She instinctively wanted to retort:

"But Dr. Lin, this isn't standard procedure. Orthopedic surgery usually requires hospitalization, so this would..."

She thought that this would allow her to collect more money.

Moreover, admitting patients is a standard procedure.

"Am I the doctor, or are you the doctor?"

The nurse was about to argue when she suddenly choked.

Looking at the young Chinese-American doctor in front of her, she suddenly remembered the hospital-wide announcement that had just been issued.

Acting Chief Resident Physician.

Although he has the word "agent" in his name, he is the legendary "Lin".

The nurse swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

She looked at Lynn with some confusion.

Shouldn't a new leader focus on achieving good results?

Admitting patients to the hospital is a major source of revenue for the department.

Why are you still pushing money away?

But she didn't dare ask.

In this rigidly hierarchical white tower, orders from superiors are ironclad rules.

"Okay, Dr. Lin."

The nurse reluctantly put away the form and waved for the two caregivers pushing the wheelchair to leave.

"I'll go arrange for the gurney to be moved."

Lynn turned around and looked at Jose and Rosa.

He didn't mention money; he simply pointed to a relatively quiet corner at the end of the corridor.

"There are visitation rules for the upstairs wards; children cannot stay overnight, and only one family member can stay."

"But nobody cares about that in the emergency room corridor."

He looked at the sleeping child in Rosa's arms.

"Here, your family can be together, you don't have to be separated."

Jose paused for a moment.

The rough-looking man's eyes instantly welled up with tears.

He understood.

Lynn knew about their predicament.

Rosa covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face again. She took her two children's hands and bowed to Lynn once more.

Ten minutes later.

The husband's gurney was placed in a corner of the corridor against the wall, and Lynn arranged for a nurse to draw a thin blue curtain.

The wife sat on a plastic chair on the edge of the cot, and her younger sister was asleep in her arms.

The older brother sat on the floor, and by the light filtering through the curtain, he took out a crumpled notebook from his schoolbag and began to do his homework.

The curtains couldn't block out the lights and noise in the corridor.

The family squeezed together behind the curtain, quietly.

Lynn was walking home from get off work when she saw this scene through a gap in the curtains and paused for a moment.

The Lantern Festival is almost here.

I wonder how that elderly couple on the other side of the ocean are doing now.