Chapter 57: Come on, mister, it's a new pump

At this moment, Wu Bin had no idea that he was already being watched by the higher-ups.

He lay in the intensive care unit, watching a group of medical staff in full protective gear tinker with instruments and record various data about him.

"Student Wu Bin, do you currently feel any symptoms like chest tightness or shortness of breath?"
"Or is there any part of your body that hurts?"

Wu Bin shook his head.

"The only thing I feel right now is thirsty. The hotpot was a bit too salty earlier. Doctor, can I have some water?"

Hospital President Bai Tianyi shook his head.

"Given your current condition, you cannot drink water for the time being."
"Don't worry, though. We are giving you an IV drip, so feeling thirsty is normal, but your body is not lacking in fluids."
"If you feel extremely thirsty, we can have a nurse use a cotton swab dipped in water to moisten your lips."

Wu Bin, lying in bed, felt a sense of utter despair.

This President Bai Tianyi was even more cautious than Lu Changshi from the Second Hospital!
He clearly said he was fine, yet they insisted on placing him in the intensive care unit.
It was just an IV drip, was all this really necessary?
Couldn't they leave the intensive care unit for patients who actually needed it?

If it were Li Guotai, he would have transferred him to a regular ward by now!
This was the fifth day he missed old Li.

Just as Wu Bin was lying in bed missing old Li, a doctor rushed over with the latest test report, looking utterly terrified.

"President, his latest medical report is out. It's incredible, simply incredible!"

Bai Tianyi took the test report from the doctor and instantly froze.

Platelet count: 1200!

Are you kidding me!
Either it's 1, or it shoots straight up to 1200, are you playing games with me?!

Bai Tianyi said in a deep voice, "It looks like we need to perform a bone marrow puncture on him to see what on earth is going wrong."

"President, there are a few other reports here. Would you like to take a careful look at them first?"

The doctor handed several other test reports to Bai Tianyi.

When Bai Tianyi looked at them, he felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
Platelet count: 1, Platelet count: 300, Platelet count: 600?

"Wait, are you sure these are all blood data from Wu Bin alone?"

The doctor smiled wryly and nodded.

"President Li Guotai specifically called earlier to instruct us to conduct dynamic examinations on Wu Bin."
"So we drew blood samples from Student Wu Bin four different times at different intervals."
"As a result, we found that the platelet count in the blood samples varied across every single time slot. This... I have never seen such a bizarre phenomenon in my life."

Everyone fell silent.

Generally speaking, a normal person's platelet count is between 100 and 300.
Anything below 100 carries the risk of leukemia or aplastic anemia.
Simply put, it means your blood clotting ability is malfunctioning. When someone else gets a small cut, a scab forms shortly after, but you keep bleeding out like a human fountain.

However, if the platelet count is too high, it is also a problem.
Exceeding 300 means excessive clotting capacity, which leads to thrombosis.
If a thrombus travels through the blood vessels into any organ in the body, it is fatal.
A thrombus entering the heart causes a myocardial infarction, entering the brain causes a cerebral infarction, and entering the kidney causes renal thrombosis.

In short, platelets are the kind of thing where anything over 300 has a massive impact on the body.
Not to mention 1200!

What baffled Bai Tianyi and the others the most, however, was this:
Wu Bin's platelet count fluctuated wildly, going up and down unpredictably, displaying a sheer lack of discipline.
They had never encountered such a situation before; it was completely unexplainable!

The only possible explanation was to assume that Wu Bin had 100 hematopoietic stem cells in his body.
For a moment, all 100 were working.
A moment later, only 50 were working.
Another moment later, only 1 was working.

Theoretically speaking, this explanation was possible.
But.
Hematopoietic stem cells were just cells!
Their sole purpose for existence was to proliferate and differentiate with progenitor cells into megakaryocytes, which then fractured into platelets.
Did they even take breaks, for crying out loud?

Hematopoietic stem cells: I'm taking a single day off today, not going to work.
Hematopoietic stem cells: I'm tired, taking a nap.

Does that make any sense at all?

At this very moment, Bai Tianyi finally understood why Li Guotai had specifically called to urge them to take good care of Wu Bin.
This was a living, breathing specimen!

The look Bai Tianyi gave Wu Bin grew fiery, filled with the feeling of having struck gold.
If he could crack the secret of why the platelets in Wu Bin's body fluctuated so wildly, then the leukemia patients of the Dragon Country would be saved!

"Student Wu Bin, we detected that there is a slight issue with your body, so from now on, we will draw a tube of your blood for testing every five minutes. I hope you don't mind."

Wu Bin: ???

Come on, big brother, didn't you put me in the intensive care unit precisely because you were afraid I would hemorrhage to death?
If you draw my blood this frequently, aren't you afraid I'll drop dead right here in front of you?!

Wu Bin argued, "President Bai, I feel like I've fully recovered. How about you let me be discharged? I'm done treating this illness."

Bai Tianyi's strong and powerful hands firmly pinned Wu Bin down onto the hospital bed.

With a smile on his face, he said, "Student Wu Bin, your body is very weak right now, and your illness is not yet fully cured. You must not move around recklessly, and we will take good care of you!"

Bai Tianyi exchanged a glance with someone.
Immediately, a nurse stepped forward and used straps to bind Wu Bin securely to the hospital bed.

Wu Bin panicked.

"What the hell are you guys doing?"
"Treating an illness is one thing, why tie me up!"

Bai Tianyi said very kindly, "This is to prevent Student Wu Bin from falling off. After all, your body is extremely fragile right now, and we are doing this for your safety."

I believe you, you old ghost!
You old geezer, you're wicked to the core!
It's over, I've fallen into a shady underground hospital!
I'm going to be dissected!

It's all the system's fault. Couldn't you have given me some decent, normal skills?
You just had to give me flashy special-effect skills!
Well, look at me now, turned into a fancy little lab rat!

To survive, Wu Bin started shouting at the top of his lungs!

"If you tie me up like this, how am I supposed to use the bathroom? I need to pee! I need to go to the toilet!"

Bai Tianyi pushed up his glasses and said calmly, "Insert a urinary catheter for him."

Wu Bin: ……

Damn it, that didn't phase him at all!

Seeing the nurse pull out a tube the thickness of an index finger, Wu Bin instantly caved.

"Uncle, I was just joking! How could I possibly need the toilet when I haven't even had any water?"
"Cut it out, seriously, don't do that. What if you damage my brand new equipment?"
"I'll cooperate, I will definitely cooperate! Just don't stick any weird things into my body."

Seeing that Wu Bin had quieted down, Bai Tianyi waved his hand, signaling that the catheter insertion could be postponed for now.

"Well then, Student Wu Bin, get some good rest, we'll be leaving you now."

The assistant reminded him from the side, "President, do we need to leave a nurse to take care of Wu Bin?"

Right now, there were three nurses in the intensive care unit: two gentle and cute girls, and one slightly burly tomboy.

Bai Tianyi pondered for a moment and said,
"Wang Gang stays, everyone else out."

Thus, the burly Wang Gang pulled up a stool, sat down beside the hospital bed, and engaged in a staring contest with Wu Bin.