CHAPTER 676: THE NUMBER OF PREGNANT WOMEN DOUBLES, OVERWHELMING THE HOSPITAL

On the third day of Garrett Nordmark’s management of the hospital, early in the morning.

“Master Nordmark! Master Nordmark!”

Bang, bang, bang, bang. The door was pounded heavily. Garrett shot up from his bed and shouted back:

“What is it?”

“There are so many pregnant women at the door! They’re refusing to leave, some are about to give birth! You must come and see!”

Hearing the first sentence, Garrett was already fully awake;

Hearing the second sentence, he jumped out of bed barefoot, quickly putting on his clothes;

Hearing the third sentence, he didn’t even have time to wash his face, directly casting a cleaning spell on himself, and flung open the door:

“Are all the beds full?”

“All full!” The person at the door was sweating profusely and in a panic:

“All the midwives are busy, they can’t handle it! You must come and see!”

Garrett glanced at him, a familiar face, but couldn’t remember the name, just knew he was introduced a few days ago. However, Garrett understood the consequences of a group of pregnant women blocking the door, possibly giving birth at any moment without treatment.

If a pregnant woman were to miscarry at the hospital’s doorstep, or worse, die along with her child, it would be blamed on the hospital for not admitting them. Public outrage could force the hospital to shut down!

At that moment, doors on both sides were already opening, and Garrett’s staff from Nevis were poking their heads out. Garrett ran outside, shouting to them:

“Help! Go help in the wards! Open the operating rooms!—Appa!”

His last words were shouted out. In the distance, a silver moon deer came galloping, scooping Garrett onto its back. Garrett leaned forward, grabbed the antlers:

“To the front gate! Quickly!”

The hooves clattered, swift as a storm, racing to the hospital gate. The level 8 magic beast ran like a silver streak, stopping in front of the hospital gate in no time. Faces full of pain, worry, and hope turned to him.

“Sir, please let us in…”

“My wife is about to give birth…”

“It hurts… Ah—”

Garrett looked around, the road was lined with carts, wheelbarrows, or two or three people helping a pregnant woman, sitting on the ground with just a piece of clothing. The long queue stretched on both sides of the hospital gate, far more than just twenty or thirty groups.

At the gate, four guards linked arms, blocking the crowd, shouting repeatedly:

“Don’t push!”

“All the beds are full! We can’t take anyone! Even if we did, there’s no one to deliver the babies!”

“Go home! Find your midwives! The longer you stay here, the bigger the trouble later!”

The shouting and shoving, the crowding made one’s blood pressure rise just by looking. In the distance, it seemed someone was watching from a narrow alley, but it was too dark to see clearly.

“Will this really work?”

In the alley, a man in a dark gray cloak, hood covering half his face, was whispering. Beside him, another man adjusted his felt hat, bending low:

“It will work! My daughter-in-law asked a familiar midwife, there are only 20 beds inside, all full! They can’t fit more, and seeing pregnant women left outside, it’s obvious they don’t care!”

“No unrelated person would come to watch, right?”

“Rest assured, I’ve contacted a reporter from the Daily Express and a painter. They’ll be here soon. Seeing this, they’ll definitely write a big article!”

These whispers were too far for Garrett to hear. He was just surprised: Why so many suddenly?

Garrett frowned, quickly calculating in his mind:

The Royal Maternity Hospital has 60 beds for obstetrics, accounting for labor, observation, and transition, each woman stays for three days on average, meaning 20 beds open daily;

The population of the capital is similar to Nevis, about a million people, with a similar birth rate, about 40,000 births a year, averaging just over 100 births a day;

These 100 births are handled by various temples, midwives, and home births, the maternity hospital’s 20 beds daily should be sufficient;

So why did the number of women coming to the hospital suddenly double? Obstetric hospitals aren’t like infectious disease hospitals where patient numbers suddenly spike; if it were due to a newspaper advertisement, the incoming would be literate, middle-class, not these poor women…

But now wasn’t the time to investigate. Garrett urged the silver moon deer, running up and down the line of pregnant women, quickly assessing:

Less than 30, no problem!

“We can take them!”

“Appa, let’s go back, and then you take care of them! Use healing spells on the pregnant women, make them hold on longer!”

He patted the silver moon deer. Appa turned back, dropping Garrett at the administration building door, then dashed back to the hospital gate. Garrett took a deep breath, starting to direct:

“Add beds! Immediately add beds! One more bed in each room, then add beds in the hallways!”

Financial manager Mr. Dodge grimaced, but before he could speak, Garrett shouted at him:

“Bring out all the spare beds, if not enough, use everyone’s beds, start with mine! If still not enough, lay down straw mats and blankets, and go purchase more immediately!”

Mr. Dodge bowed and rushed out with the logistics manager. Garrett turned to the head midwife:

“Admit all the pregnant women, set up a triage station at the door, have old Nina and the most experienced midwife with Joanna check all the women!”

“Those not urgent, send to the wards, urgent ones to the delivery room, critical to the operating room! Notify Cirella to prepare for surgery!”

Only 30, we can handle it with extra beds!

In his past life, he had seen obstetrics at its busiest, beds filling hallways, emergency rooms crammed with stretchers and chairs. He had experienced such scenes more than once!

Thankfully, his efforts the past few days weren’t in vain. He had recruited staff, brought in midwives from Rose House and White House, trained them in seven-step hand washing, enforced strict sterile procedures, establishing some authority. With one command, the hospital roared to life.

By the time the Daily Express reporter and painter arrived, the hospital gate was quiet except for the silver moon deer pacing back and forth. Families of the women stood in groups, waiting eagerly.

And the reason they had been drawn here, the supposed women left outside, had all vanished…

“Didn’t you say this hospital neglects life, leaving pregnant women outside to die?”

The reporter, dragged out of his bed early, was already displeased. Adding the effort of getting a painter here, only to find nothing, he was even more annoyed, grabbing the informer and questioning:

“Where are they?!”

“They were admitted… What good is admission alone?”

The man in the felt hat pressed the brim to absorb sweat, stammering:

“There are only so many midwives and mages! Admitted, lying there struggling, still counts as admitted! Why not let families in? Let’s see if anyone inside dies!”

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