CHAPTER 250: CHAPTER 248: THE COUNTY HOSPITAL

The county was quite a distance from the town, and Chen Xin’s cousin-in-law had never driven a large vehicle like Chen Xin’s motorhome before, so they drove slowly and carefully, arriving in the county only by afternoon.

The population in the county was even greater than in the town. Although there weren’t many people on the streets, the large areas of life signs shown on the radar screen allowed Chen Xin to deeply feel just how crowded the county was now, or rather, how many people had squeezed in.

Due to the initial meteor impact causing a colossal tsunami, and the subsequent high temperatures leading to the melting of ice at the North and South Poles, the southeastern coastal region of Flame Country was severely affected.

Therefore, Flame Country had begun its migration plan as soon as it received news that the meteor would strike Blue Planet.

However, three months was still too short a time. Even with the nation’s overall coordination and collaboration among various departments, the population on the coast was mostly relocated to neighboring provinces and cities, with only a small fraction moved to central and northwest regions.

This led to provinces like Anhui Province, which are adjacent to coastal provinces, receiving a large influx of population from coastal areas.

Even the ordinary small county town of Chen Xin’s old home experienced a population surge from previous figures of two to three hundred thousand to nearly five hundred thousand, doubling the population and nearly overcrowding the whole county.

If the migrating population hadn’t been relocated city by city, and if the existing municipal, medical, police, and other departments hadn’t been well structured, these departments could quickly resume operations upon arrival and coordinate with local departments, the influx of people might have caused the entire migration area to collapse just from the pressure of providing basic needs.

The impact of the population surge was also reflected in the strain on medical resources. When Chen Xin and his parents arrived at the original county hospital, they saw a waiting hall that was even more crowded than before the disaster.

Chen Xin still held a considerable familiarity with the county hospital, as his grandmother used to live across from it and served as an infectious disease doctor there, while Chen Xin’s mother’s first job was also at the county hospital.

Even Chen Xin himself spent most of his childhood here before he left.

However, the outpatient building, once familiar to Chen Xin, had long vanished and was replaced by a bunker-like structure.

Upon entering through the open protective door, Chen Xin looked around and finally understood what was happening here.

The county hospital had a long history, and this place hadn’t changed for decades since the hospital was originally established, so beneath it lay an underground air raid shelter dug in the 70s and 80s.

Before the disaster, the county government had utilized this, restoring the original air raid shelter, expanding and deepening it, and connecting it with the ground-level outpatient and inpatient buildings, then dismantling the above-ground floors of the outpatient building, reinforcing the remaining structure, and using the debris and excavated soil to create a buffer layer over the surface, resulting in what Chen Xin now saw.

At this moment, the outpatient hall was filled with people seeking medical attention, not only noisy but also exceptionally crowded, clearly due to the low temperatures causing many patients.

Nonetheless, Chen Xin wasn’t greatly affected. Most of these people had colds or frostbite, and there weren’t many bone fracture cases like Chen Xin’s, so after registering, he went with his parents to the underground departments.

If it were in the past, Chen Xin’s parents would have had many acquaintances at the hospital. Despite many of their contacts having retired over the years, they could still find some connections with a few phone calls.

However, finding connections now became very troublesome, so Chen Xin could only see a doctor according to the regulations.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the orthopedics department. Besides Chen Xin, there was only one person, looking like a construction worker, with a fractured leg.

After the doctor had examined the patient, it was Chen Xin’s turn for consultation.

The orthopedic doctor was evidently more professional than Zeng Liu, who was merely a pharmacist trained in orthopedics. After some inquiry and examination, he asked Chen Xin to get an X-ray.

"Don’t worry, young man. The person who set your bones did a good job, there shouldn’t be any major issues. The X-ray is mainly to confirm the alignment of the bones and the healing progress, no need to worry," the doctor comforted Chen Xin.

Upon hearing the doctor say this, Chen Xin didn’t care too much, but his parents felt reassured, as a fracture is a significant issue for ordinary people since it’s their son.

After the X-ray examination, the doctor gained an understanding of Chen Xin’s arm bones and explained, placing the X-ray film on the light box: "The person who set your bones did well, but there are still some areas not properly positioned. You can tell from the technique it’s experienced but lacks enough practice, so further adjustment is needed to prevent problems."

"Further adjustment?" Chen Xin recalled the pain from the last bone-setting by Zeng Liu, looking somewhat displeased.

"Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal, just a small adjustment to make your bones fit more tightly. You can see on the film that there’s still a gap between your two broken bones," the doctor seemed to sense Chen Xin’s hesitation and persuaded him: "Even if left unchecked, it won’t be a major issue, but there will be some impact, and adjusting will prevent your two hands from ending up different lengths in the future!"

Hearing this, Chen Xin hesitated for a moment, but eventually bit his lip and nodded.

The doctor, seeing this, didn’t delay and swiftly removed the bandage and splint from Chen Xin’s arm and performed another bone-setting based on the X-ray image.

Fortunately, since Zeng Liu had already relocated his broken bones, the doctor only had to make some fine adjustments. Although it still caused Chen Xin some pain, it was much less than the severe pain he felt during the initial bone-setting by Zeng Liu.

After another round of adjustments, the doctor applied medication, re-bandaged and fixed Chen Xin’s arm, and instructed him: "In the past, you could go back and eat more bone broth and milk to accelerate bone recovery, but now... just eat more nutritious food."

The doctor’s expression was quite helpless, as in this situation of resource scarcity, let alone bone broth, even milk had become extinct, and the most nutritious available were things like mouse meat and synthetic vitamin tablets.

Chen Xin noted the doctor’s advice and took his prescription to the pharmacy to get medicine.

One positive outcome from the disaster is that medical care has essentially become free.