His Intern Nearly Killed My Son

My son had a high fever in the middle of the night, so I rushed him to the pediatric hospital where my husband works.

But my husband was in a meeting, and the one on duty was an intern.

She grabbed my son's arm with a displeased expression, wanting to draw blood.

She failed three times, couldn't get the needle in.

My son was crying his heart out from the pain, and a lump formed on his arm.

I asked her, feeling distressed, if she could get another doctor to draw the blood.

She flew into a rage and threw down the needle.

"You can't even hold your kid still and you're blaming me! Coming to the hospital over a little fever! You're so difficult!"

With that, she turned and left.

Just then, a nurse from hematology happened to pass by.

She comforted me, saying, "Let me do it. That intern is the Chief of Pediatrics' assistant. You can't afford to cross her. Half the complaints in pediatrics are caused by her."

My whole body went cold. Chief of Pediatrics? Wasn't that my husband, Ethan Smith?

The nurse's technique was steady. One needle, and the blood came out.

Before taking it for testing, she specifically told me, "That intern's name is Emma Brown. If you can't stand her, I can teach you how to file a complaint..."

Just then, Emma suddenly came back. She heard our conversation, and her face darkened instantly.

"Dr. Smith just called to chew me out. You complained, didn't you? So what if I stuck him a few extra times? You're exactly what I expect from helicopter moms!"

The nurse quickly slipped away.

My son was still crying. I held him and rocked him gently, suppressing my anger. "I didn't complain..."

Emma rolled her eyes, pulled out a chair and sat down, fingers flying across the keyboard. "Low-class moms are terrifying! They think just because they had a kid, the whole world has to revolve around them."

After the blood test results came out, Emma casually glanced at the report.

"Just a common cold. Take some medicine and you'll be fine."

I had a vague feeling something was wrong.

My son's breathing was rapid, his cough sounded phlegmy, and his forehead was burning hotclearly over 102 degrees.

I'd learned a little from Ethan. This didn't seem like a common cold. It was more like pneumonia.

However, after hearing my guess, Emma exploded.

"Am I the doctor or are you? You're one of those moms who teaches herself medicine online, aren't you! Your kid's really suffering with you as a mother!"

She hammered away at the keyboard again. "Go pay and get the medicine. Take it on schedule. If it's not better in three days, come back."

I picked up the prescription and scanned it. She'd prescribed every kind of antibiotic imaginable. Total: $876.

There were even several medications that children with colds shouldn't take, including some containing alcohol.

I couldn't stand this intern anymore.

"My husband is the Chief of Pediatrics here. His name is Ethan Smith. Call him over. Tell him his son has a high fever."

She looked me up and down, then covered her mouth and laughed.

"Do you know how many women come looking for Dr. Smith every day? And you even brought a kid with you. Older women really have thick skin, don't they?"

My son was crying in my arms. I comforted him while saying, "If you don't believe me, just go to his office and ask him."

Her eyes darted around, and she nodded. "Fine. I guess you won't give up until you hit rock bottom."

About three minutes later, she came back.

She sat down in her chair and crossed her legs. "Dr. Smith said he doesn't have a kid. Stop harassing him."

My mind went blank.

Ethan and I had been married for five years. Our son was three years old.

During that time, he'd been incredibly attentive to me and our child. It was rare for him to be unreachable like tonight because of a shift and a meeting.

There was only one possibilityshe never called him at all.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Ethan's number again, but it was still turned off.

Just then, my son suddenly began coughing violently, his little face turning bright red.

I quickly held him upright and patted his back.

As he coughed, his body suddenly went rigid.

He started having a seizure.

I made the snap decision to head to the emergency room.

But as I rushed toward the door holding my seizing son, my hand just touching the door handle, Emma charged over and blocked my way, looking at me with wary eyes.

"Where do you think you're going? The treatment isn't finished yet. Are you planning to complain about me again!"

I anxiously explained, "My child is having a febrile seizure. This isn't something that can be solved with medicine or injections anymore. I need to get to emergency!"

But her eyes shifted, she frowned, then turned around and locked the door.

"You're not going anywhere! If this blows up, Dr. Smith will yell at me again. I told you it's just a normal fever. Why are you making such a fuss?"

My son was convulsing in my arms, his eyes rolling back, white foam starting to appear at the corners of his mouth.

I said through gritted teeth, "I won't complain. I promise I won't let Ethan scold you either."

She tilted her head at me. "You really think Dr. Smith is your husband? Getting too into your act, aren't you? Just stay put!"

I forcibly suppressed the urge to argue with her.

The soundproofing here was good, and there were few people around at night. Arguing would only frighten my son further and wouldn't solve the problem.

I dialed Ethan's cell phone again.

Still off.

I decided to call the police.

But Emma seemed to understand my intention. She rushed over, snatched my phone away, and smashed it hard on the ground.

"Your kid has a seizure and you're calling the police on me? If I lose my job, will you compensate me!"

My temples were throbbing with anger, but I forced it down.

"If you trap me here now, something will really happen! If you treat my child, I promise I won't complain!"

But she acted like she couldn't understand. She turned and went back to the computer. "If emergency can treat him, why can't I? Worst case, I'll just order you a few more tests!"

I forced myself to calm down. Ethan had mentioned that to prevent incidents, every examination room had an emergency button that would bring security immediately.

Looking around, I spotted that red button on the side of the desk.

Moving quickly, by the time Emma realized what was happening, I'd already pressed it.

Footsteps rapidly approached from outside. "What's going on in there! Open the door!"

She shouted toward the door, "Nothing! It's a misunderstanding! Everything's fine!"

But not only could the people outside not hear her, when they discovered the door was locked, the pounding became more urgent. "Open the door!"

She pressed her body against the door, but the glass door couldn't withstand the force and shattered with a crash.

Two security guards rushed in. "What's going on?"

I decisively rushed out holding my son.

Glass shards cut my neck. I didn't care about the pain and burst through the door. Not knowing which way the emergency room was, I could only shout at the top of my lungs:

"Help! My son is sick! Help!"

Several family members waiting for medicine in the lobby looked up, and some seemed to be debating whether to help.

But the two security guards from behind caught up, and Emma shouted:

"Her kid just has a common cold and fever! I prescribed medicine and drew blood, but she won't accept it! She's insisting her kid is dying, trying to cut the line for emergency resources!"

The few passersby, seeing this, hesitated to help.

Just then, a doctor passing by stopped. I rushed up to him pleading, "Doctor! My son has a high fever seizure. Please help look at him!"

The doctor was just reaching out to take the child when Emma rushed over and shoved him aside. "She's a fraud! She just smashed things and called the police in the examination room. You must have heard all that noise, right?"

The doctor clearly recognized this as the legendary always-causing-trouble Emma. Seeing the blood on my neck, he sighed.

"Fine. Your department's problems are yours to solve."

He turned and left.

I was so angry I wanted to tear her mouth apart.

But looking back and seeing the security guards about to catch up, I couldn't think about it and just ran.

Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared around the corner ahead.

It was the hematology nurse from earlier, coming out from the ward area.

I rushed up to her again, pleading, "Nurse, please help me! You saw it earlier, my son's condition. Please call a doctor!"

Seeing my convulsing child in my arms, her face changed. She reached out to take him.

Emma caught up again. "I was personally trained by Dr. Smith! You're just a nursedare to interfere and see what happens!"

The nurse's hand froze in mid-air. Hesitation flashed across her face, and she looked like she was about to run too.

I immediately grabbed her arm, leaned close to her ear, my voice low and urgent: "Please go find the Chief of Pediatrics and tell him my name is Vivian Winters!"

Her eyes widened instantly. I didn't have time to say morethe security guards caught up and grabbed my arm.

I looked at her with pleading eyes. The nurse's expression was complicated. She turned and walked away quickly.

Emma directed the security guards to grab my arms and drag me back.

I was hauled back to the pediatric examination room. The guards pressed me down into a chair.

My son was still in my arms. His convulsions had slowed down.

Emma sat back at the computer and started typing away again. "Chest X-ray, EEG, and..."

I was going crazy. "He's having a febrile seizure right now. He can't have a chest X-ray! Besides, the child is too young. X-rays have radiation!"

Emma pulled out the order form with a cold snort and walked over to me.

"Didn't you say it might be pneumonia? Don't I need to check everything? What if I miss something and you complain me to death?"

With that, she grabbed my son's arm and tried to pull him away. I held on and wouldn't let go, but suddenly one of the guards wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled backward.

I screamed, afraid my son's arm would dislocate. My hands instinctively loosened.

She snatched my son away and ran out holding him.

I chased after her. She turned into the CT room, laid my son on the examination table, and started fiddling with the machine.

My son was completely still now, his little face ashen, his chest barely rising.

She grabbed the restraint straps and tied my son's hands and feet to both sides of the bed, binding them tightly.

I tried to rush in, but the security guards blocked the doorway.

She fumbled around for a long time, pressing this button, then that button. The machine beeped but didn't move.

I shouted desperately toward the inside, "He's not seizing anymore! Let him down! He needs emergency care!"

Emma didn't even turn her head. "If he stopped, that's good. Proves I handled it right. Stop making noise, I'm trying to figure out this button."

She kept pressing. The machine still didn't respond.

My son's face grew paler and paler, while the two guards at the door kept their eyes fixed on me.

I was angry, anxious, and heartbroken, my voice trembling:

"Emma isn't a CT room doctor. What she's doing right now is illegal operation! When it's discovered, she'll definitely be disciplined!"

One of the guards seemed to hesitate a bit, but the one who had grabbed my waist earlier remained stone-faced.

"This child belongs to Chief of Pediatrics Ethan Smith! And I just asked someone to get him!"

Thinking of that nurse, I actually wasn't sure if she would help me.

"Emma is still young. If she loses her job, she can find another one! But what about you two!"

The two guards exchanged glances and turned their backs.

The CT room had no other exit, only an emergency stop button right next to the machine.

I steeled myself, suddenly rushed in, shoved Emma aside, and pressed the emergency stop.

The machine stopped. I fumbled to undo the restraints.

"What are you doing!" Emma lunged at me and grabbed my hair.

I undid the last buckle, scooped up my son, and held him tight against my chest. Thank God he was still alive.

I turned and slapped Emma. "If anything happens to my son, I'll make you pay with your life!"

She covered her face in shock and screamed, "Someone! Security!"

The two guards rushed in again and grabbed me, dragging me out.

I protected my son, struggling desperately. "He needs emergency care! If something happens to him here, none of you can escape responsibility!"

But Emma looked completely unconcerned.

"Throw her out! If something happens to them outside, it has nothing to do with us!"

The two guards decisively dragged me out of the CT room, through the corridor, toward the main entrance.

"Let me go! My son really can't hold on much longer!"

"Dr. Brown is right! With all this commotion tonight, if he dies in the hospital, none of us can escape responsibility!"

I was dragged to the entrance. Below the steps was the concrete pavement outside.

The guard pulled me down. I slipped, fell, and my knee hit the edge of the step.

I held my son tightly, my whole body aching from the impact, my vision going dark.

Emma walked over and kicked my shoulder. "That's for complaining about me!"

She then pointed at me and told the guards, "This kind of mother! From now on, block every single one you see. Don't let them in to cause trouble!"

I didn't argue with her. I immediately looked down.

My son in my arms had his eyes closed. He'd stopped convulsing, his breathing so shallow it was almost undetectable.

My heart filled with despair. So much time had passed and my husband still hadn't come out. That nurse probably hadn't helped after all.

And even if I took a cab to another hospital now, given my son's condition, by the time we got there, he would probably...

Just then, a hand with prominent knuckles reached in and pulled open the glass door.

Bang! The glass door slammed to the side, the frame seeming to tremble.

A man in a white coat walked out. Tears streaming down my face, I looked up desperately.

Ethan.

Emma immediately put on a forced smile and went up to him. "Dr. Smith, perfect timing!"

"This woman came to cause trouble. She even pretended to be your wife and smashed up our examination room! I was just having security throw them out..."