Chapter 14 — The One Who Keeps The Venom Saves People

The ambulance carrying fresh frozen plasma left Vinh Khe Provincial General Hospital at five forty-five in the morning. Hua Dieu Tram sat in the front seat next to the driver, clutching a smaller insulated foam box, inside were twelve units of plasma that had been carefully packaged according to cold storage standards.

"The provincial road passing Da Chong bridge is flooded, we have to detour." The driver said, his eyes glued to the navigation screen showing an orange-yellow alternative route, signaling unfavorable traffic conditions.

"How long will it take to reach the meeting point with Son Trach?" Tram asked, glancing at the clock on the dashboard.

"If the detour is okay, about an hour and a half." The driver replied, accelerating on the still dry road. "But you know, anything can change at any moment now."

Tram nodded, did not say more, just looked out the window, where the scenery on both sides of the road was still in the dim darkness of a morning that had not really begun. She thought about the conversation she had with Khang not long ago, about the bold but well-founded decision she had just proposed, and wondered if she had missed anything in her hasty calculation.

Her phone vibrated, Khang's number.

"Miss Tram, where is the car going?" He asked, his voice still somewhat worried even though he had signed the transfer application.

"Just left the city, taking a detour because Da Chong bridge was flooded." Tram replied. "It's expected to take about an hour and a half until the meeting point."

"I just received a report, another case of gastrointestinal bleeding was admitted to the hospital twenty minutes ago, the condition is quite serious." Khang said, his voice a bit tense. "I won't withdraw more from the main reserve, don't worry, it's an indicator to let you know that the situation here is still tense."

"I know." Tram replied. "Thank you for reporting. Can you handle it over there?"

"Okay, the duty team is still capable." Khang replied. "Just focus on the trip, don't worry about coming back here."

The call ended, Tram put down the phone and took a deep breath. She understood that the decision she and Khang had just made was not without risks — if the situation at the provincial hospital suddenly worsened, they would have to face the difficult question of having transferred resources out just when they were needed most. But she trusted her calculations, believing that the soon-to-expire batch was actually a safe surplus, not a reckless gamble.

The car continued to roll through the dark roads, occasionally jolting when rolling over flooded potholes that could not be seen clearly in the dark. About forty minutes later, the driver suddenly slowed down and braked suddenly, causing Tram's whole body to lean forward.

"What's up?" She asked, still holding the foam box tightly in her lap.

"A fallen tree is blocking the road." The driver replied, opened the door and got out to check. The headlights clearly showed a large tree trunk, perhaps blown down by the storm, lying across the entire road surface, its branches spreading wide, blocking both lanes of traffic.

Tram walked down and stood looking at the obstacle in front of her, feeling a sense of helplessness that she had never felt in her many years working in the medical field. She had calculated every number, every process, every risk professionally, but she could not foresee a tree suddenly falling in the middle of the road.

"Is there another way?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm even though she was confused inside.

The driver opened the map on his phone and shook his head after a few seconds of consideration. "This road is the only way to the meeting point, the other road has to go around another thirty kilometers, and I'm not sure if that part will be flooded or not."

Tram looked at the clock. Six twenty minutes. She picked up the phone and immediately called the local traffic rescue team whose number she had saved from previous coordination sessions, her voice decisive and urgent.

"Hello, I'm Hua Dieu Tram, Pharmacy Department of Vinh Khe Provincial Hospital. I was transporting emergency goods when a fallen tree blocked the road at km twenty-three, the national highway bypassing Da Chong bridge. Need help clearing the road urgently, there is a patient waiting."

On the other end of the line, a male voice answered quickly. "Received, our team is nearby dealing with a landslide, should arrive in about fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes." Tram repeated, looking at the driver. They both understood that every minute of waiting here meant prolonging the time a child was struggling with uncontrolled bleeding.

She returned to the car, opened the foam box to check the temperature inside again - still stable within the safe threshold, but this delay was gradually eroding the margin of safety she had calculated before leaving.

While waiting, she called Thu at the district hospital to report the situation, not wanting to keep them waiting in the dark for information.

"My car is blocked because of a fallen tree. The rescue team is coming, expected to be about half an hour later than the original plan." Tram said, trying to keep her voice calm even though inside she was as impatient as the listener.

"I got it." Thu replied, her voice clearly showing tension even though she tried to suppress it. "Your side is still holding on thanks to the temporary serum from the snake farm, but your plasma is still needed to replace the blood lost due to internal bleeding."

"I'll be there as quickly as possible, as soon as the road is clear." Tram promised, even though she knew that promise depended on many factors beyond her control.

Twelve minutes later, the lights of a small crane appeared in the distance, accompanied by two motorbikes from the traffic rescue team leading the way. A group of four people quickly deployed tools, using chainsaws to neatly cut large branches, while a crane prepared to pull the main tree trunk out of the road.

"We need about twenty minutes to finish cleaning." The rescue team leader spoke to Tram, still directing his brothers' actions. "You have emergency supplies, right? Let us give priority to opening the way for your car to go first, without waiting for everything to be cleared."

"Thank you very much." Tram said, truly grateful for the agility and responsibility of the rescue team in the middle of a rainy night like this, strangers who were ready to rush out into the street in the middle of a rainy night just because of an emergency call.

True to promise, after only eighteen minutes, a path large enough for an ambulance was opened, although both sides were still strewn with branches and leaves that had not yet been cleared. The driver carefully drove through that gap, the wheels grinding against a few small branches left on the road.

"Thank you guys!" Tram shouted loudly through the window as the car passed, receiving waves from the rescue team who were continuing their work of cleaning up the remains.

The car accelerated again on the clear road, the driver tried to make up for lost time by going faster on safe roads, even though he still had to slow down carefully through each slippery turn because of the rain.

"How far is it to the meeting point?" Tram asked, without taking her eyes off the clock, recalculating the time lost compared to the original plan, trying to mentally see if this delay had any effect on the storage temperature.

"About forty minutes, if there are no further problems." The driver replied, his voice becoming more confident when the road ahead appeared clearly under the headlights, with no obstacles blocking the view.

Tram sat back in the chair, clutching the insulated foam box in her lap, looking out the glass window where the sky was gradually turning the light gray of dawn obscured by dense rain clouds. She thought of last night's conversation with Khang, of the decision they both made together, and told herself that no matter the final result, they had done exactly what they could within their limits.

Her phone vibrated with a new message from Khang: "This case of gastrointestinal bleeding is stable, no need for more plasma. You can rest assured that you can complete the trip." After Tram finished reading, a light smile flashed across her tired face — at least, part of her worry was removed.

She texted back briefly: "Thank you for letting me know. The meeting point is almost here." Then she put the phone in her pocket, focusing on looking at the road ahead, where the lights of a small residential area began to peek out from behind the trees, signaling that they were approaching the border of Son Trach district.

"Almost there, sister." The driver said, his voice relieved, his hands loosening their grip on the steering wheel for the first time since leaving the hospital. "Only a short distance to go."

Tram nodded, clutching the styrofoam box tighter in her arms, as if that action could help keep the remaining minutes passing faster, getting these twelve units of precious plasma to where they needed to be before all of tonight's efforts became too late.