看病真难啊

情景:乔看到林芝脚上打着石膏,关切地询问。

Joe: Oh my god, what happened to you?

Lin Zhi: You mean this? I know it looks pretty bad, but it's just some bones in my foot.

Joe: Just?That sounds serious.

Lin Zhi: Well, it hurt very badly when it happened, definitely! I was talking to a friend while I was waiting to cross the road, and I put my foot out absentmindedly, and it got run over by the wheel of a car.

Joe: Ouch! Did the car stop?

Lin Zhi: No, he just drove straight on! I don't even know if he noticed, though I was screaming.I wish my friend had got the registration, but he was too busy trying to help me. He flagged down a taxi and took me straight to the hospital.

Joe: To emergency?

Lin Zhi: Yes. We got there, and he propped me up on the chair. I was in so much pain I could not remember my insurance details, so he called my work and got them. I mean, we could have paid with it with a card, I suppose.

Joe: You know, that's always a big shock to me at Chinese hospitals.

Lin Zhi: Having to pay?

Joe: Well, not that so much – though of course in England we don't pay anything, the government covers all the cost. So we don't have any of this faffing about over insurance or payment, we just get into casualty –

Lin Zhi: Casualty?

Joe: That's what we call the emergency room. Anyway, we get into casualty and into treatment as soon as possible. Well, they run triage, of course, when there's lots of people there. Most serious things first. People often come in with relatively minor things, but if you're actually bleeding, they get to you straightaway. But what throws me about the Chinese system is that you have to pay for everything as you go! You know, I went in once with food poisoning, and I even had to take the blood to be tested myself, and pay for it at a separate unit; it was bizarre.

Lin Zhi: I thought that was the way in America too?

Joe: Not usually; rather, they give you a bill for it at the end. Especially with emergencies.It's actually illegal in the US not to give emergency treatment to people, regardless of their ability to pay. So if a homeless guy shows up in a hospital bleeding from a gunshot, they have to treat him.

Lin Zhi: Doesn't that cost the hospital a lot of money?

Joe: Yeah, a lot. The government makes up some of it. I think it'd be better if they just bit the bullet and made it all free at the point of care, like we do. But anyway, you were telling me about your injury? Was it all sorted out?

Lin Zhi: Oh, yes, they got me to a doctor relatively quick. But, you know, there were other people trying to get him to see them, even while he was looking at me! My friend ended up shouting at them.

Joe: Yeah, that's happened to me too. In China, I mean, not elsewhere. You know, you're trying to see the doctor and people keep wanting to get his attention. I wish they had a better screening process; the whole thing seems badly organized to me.

Lin Zhi: Well, it all ended up OK. I mean, I have to keep this thing on – the cast – for a while, and then go back to the hospital to get it removed.

Joe: Did they give you painkillers?

Lin Zhi: When I was at the hospital, yes. But now I just have to buy lots of Fenbid! It's not so bad, it just aches.

Joe: Well, I'm glad it was just your foot!

乔:天啊,你这是怎么了?

林芝:你是指这个?我知道这看上去很糟糕,但,只不过是脚骨折了而已。

乔:而已?听上去很严重。

林芝:嗯,发生车祸那会儿的确很疼!等红绿灯过马路时,我正和朋友聊天,心不在焉地把脚这么一伸,就被车轮压到了。

乔:哎哟!车停下来了吗?

林芝:没有,车主就这么开了过去!我当时大叫,不过不知道他有没有注意到。我希望好友记下车牌号,但他手忙脚乱,只顾着照看我。他拦了辆出租车,带我直奔医院。

乔:去看急诊?

林芝:是呀。我们到了医院,他扶我坐在椅子上。我当时那么疼,根本记不住保险细节,于是他给我公司打了个电话,问清这一切。我是说,我想我们本可以用医保卡支付医疗费的。

乔:你知道的,这在中国的医院总是让我很吃惊。

林芝:付医药费吗?

乔:嗯,也不全是——不过在英国我们自然不用管任何费用,政府会支付所有花销。所以我们不必为保险金或是医疗费而奔波,只需去看急症——

林芝:急症?

乔:也就是你们所说的急诊室。不管怎样,我们去了急诊室后就会很快得到治疗。当然,有很多病人候诊时,就通过治疗类选法来安排就诊顺序,重病优先。通常,来看病的人们只是小病小灾,但如果确实有人在大出血,就会被直接推进诊室。但是让我吃惊的是,中国的医疗制度让病人不得不亲自为事事埋单!你知道吗,有一次我食物中毒,我甚至不得不亲自去验血,再单独付费。这太让人匪夷所思了。

林芝:我还以为在美国也是一样的情况呢?

乔:通常不是的。事后,医院会给病人一张账单,特别是急诊时。无论病人是否有能力支付医药费,在美国拒绝为病人实施急救是违法的。所以,如果一个身受枪伤、血流不止的流浪汉出现在医院,医务人员也得为他疗伤诊治。

林芝:那医院不会花费很多钱吗?

乔:是啊,花费不少。政府会补贴一些费用。我想,如果美国人咬紧牙关,像我们(英国)一样,从关爱公民的角度免去所有医疗费用,那样会更好。不过,你的伤势到底怎样?已经确诊了吗?

林芝:哦,是的。院方较为及时地为我找了一位医生。但是,你知道的,即使在他为我做诊断时,其他病人也要他给看病。我的朋友最后还冲这些人发火了。

乔:是啊,这也曾在我身上发生过,我是说,在中国,而不是在其他地方。你想,自己想要看医生,同时还有其他病人分散他的注意力。在我看来,这都是组织不当,希望医院有更完善的组织就医顺序的方法。

林芝:嗯,最终一切都还好。我是指,我不得不带着这玩意儿——石膏——待一段时间,再去医院把它拆下来。

乔:医院有给你开止痛药吗?

林芝:开了,在医院的时候。但现在我要买很多芬必得!这还不算太糟,就是痛的很。

乔:哎,庆幸的是你伤到的只是脚啊!

Notes:

1. flag down

意为“招手示意……停下来”。

例句:The policeman flagged down our car.

交警示意我们停车。

2. bite the bullet

意为“忍受困难或勉为其难做某事”。

例句:We don't need to bite the bullet and bear something beyond our tolerance.

我们不必凡事都扛下来。

3. end up doing something.

意为“结果是(做)……,以(做)……而告终,结果变成……,最后发展为……”。

例句:We ended up sleeping around the floor after drinking.

喝过酒,最后我们睡倒在地。

4. shout at

意为“对…大声喊”。

例句:Don't shout at me.

不要对我叫喊。

Links:

Fenbid 芬必得(含布洛芬),消炎镇痛药。

There's lots of people. 口语中的语法不像书面用语要求那么严格,所以对话中用了There's lots of people也不会影响听话人的理解。但是,在书面用语中,我们一定要用There are lots of people。