The Surgeon's Studio

Su Yun scowled but regained his composure almost immediately. He blew at the fringe in front of his forehead and sneered, “I’ll wait for you to come and beg me to do the surgery.”

However, Chu Yanran felt Chief Xia’s explanation was reasonable. The routine blood test and C-reactive protein levels indicated no inflammation. Why had Zheng Ren concluded that it was acute gangrenous cholecystitis caused by gallbladder torsion?

Weird.

Zheng Ren was not one to be that careless, but he had truly slipped up this time.

However, deep down inside, she still felt Zheng Ren was right, which was even weirder.

As he watched Zhou Wenxiang direct the caretaker in moving the old lady onto the stretcher trolley, Zheng Ren sighed and said, “You really don’t want to have surgery? I strongly suggest that you do it.”

Zhou Renxiang stopped all pretenses and ignored Zheng Ren out of scorn, saying to Chu Yanran, “Yanran, you’re wasting your life in Sea City with your qualifications. You should find the opportunity to go to Provincial Capital. It’s nearer to your home, and you can also take care of your mother.”

Although he was not speaking to Zheng Ren directly, it was obvious that he was telling her not to waste her time around this useless chief resident.

Chu Yanran glowered furiously, but she had no idea how to argue. Internally, she added a mental note not to take on similar cases anymore.

There was no reason to embarrass Chief Zheng like that.

Zheng Ren sighed and shook his head before saying dejectedly, “Let’s head back, then.”

“Chief Zheng, please don’t be mad,” Chu Yanran said timidly, feeling ashamed.

“It’s fine.” Zheng Ren waved.

Chu Yanran did not know that Zheng Ren was more fixated on how to receive Fang Lin in Sea City than the attitudes of Chief Xia and the patient’s stubborn family member.

“Be patient,” Su Yun said, “Soon they’ll be begging you to do it. You can decide whether or not to then, depending on your mood.”

“Stop talking nonsense. I don’t hold grudges, why wouldn’t I agree to it?” Zheng Ren said.

The three of them returned to the emergency ward. Chu Yanran did not follow them in and went to the operating theater instead, most likely to brood.

Zheng Ren had intended to ask her if Xie Yiren had reappeared, but did not have a chance to after the whole commotion.

Back in his office, Zheng Ren started reading the General Surgery magazine while Su Yun sat behind him on a chair, bored and tapping away at his phone.

Chang Yue seemed to overlook their presence. She was busy going from ward to ward to chat with patients, inquire about their condition and strengthen their fortitude.

How nice if every day were this peaceful, Zheng Ren thought as he read.

Even if it meant that he would be unable to showcase his skill, it was still better than adrenaline-fueled, high-stakes emergency rescues.

The sun was very bright in the afternoon, its warm rays shining through the office windows and onto the pages. Zheng Ren was surrounded by warm sunlight and the pleasant scents of paper and ink.

It was as if he was back in his student days, free from the stress of emergencies.

“Do you get your surgical skill from reading books?” After observing Zheng Ren reading for an hour, Su Yun could not stifle his curiosity any further.

“Reading, performing surgery, and reflection,” Zheng Ren said, brushing Su Yun off while keeping his eyes on the magazine.

Su Yun kept quiet and returned to his phone.

He pretended not to have asked anything.

The freedom to read leisurely on a sunny afternoon was not the fate of an emergency department physician.

Less than ten minutes after their conversation, Zheng Ren’s phone rang uncontrollably.

His heartbeat shot up to 110 beats per minute.

It had been ages since he had last experienced such a rush. Although he had only just returned, he adapted to it instantly.

Zheng Ren picked up and heard the nurse from the emergency department saying, “Chief Zheng, fall injuries!”

“Noted.” Zheng Ren hung up immediately and closed the book before hurrying out of the emergency ward.

“Why can’t people live normally? Jumping off buildings and all,” Su Yun grumbled behind him.

The peak of property development was over. All construction would have stopped by now as it was already winter in northeast China.

Patients with fall injuries were usually those who attempted suicide by jumping off buildings.

“Do you think everyone’s like you, with natural talent, a good family background, opportunities, luck and health?”

“I have troubles too. There are too many girls chasing me and it’s really bothersome.”

“…”

Both of them jogged towards the emergency department.

A young woman was lying on the stretcher trolley, her exposed skin pale as if completely drained of blood.

The nurse had already inserted an IV catheter and was connecting it to a bag of saline.

An ECG monitor showed a blood pressure of 60/30 mm Hg and a heartbeat of 160 bpm.

From the upper right corner of his vision, Zheng Ren saw the System’s diagnosis: ruptured liver, ruptured spleen, multiple fractures in the pelvis, femoral shaft fractures on both sides, multiple fractures on the tibia, fibula, and calcaneus, retroperitoneal hematoma…

Fortunately, her chest area was safe. If she had ruptured lungs and multiple fractured ribs, Zheng Ren would have had to consider leveling his cardiothoracic surgery up to Master rank.

“Get the emergency B-scan ultrasonography; take her blood and send it to the blood bank,” Zheng Ren yelled.

Everyone worked according to standard protocol. Emergency department nurses were efficient; when the doctor from the emergency department arrived with the B-scan ultrasound on a trolley, they had already prepped the patient for gastric and urinary tube insertions.

Knowing the patient was going for surgery, they set everything up in case Chief Zheng began yelling again.

The doctor performed a B-scan ultrasound and reported the results accurately to Zheng Ren.

“Where is her family?” Zheng Ren asked loudly.

“I’m here,” a young man in his late twenties answered from behind Zheng Ren.

“What’s your relationship with the patient?”

“She’s my fiancée.”

“She needs emergency surgery, can you sign off on it?”

“Yes.” The young man seemed rather responsible, unlike some cowards who ran off the instant they heard that their signature was required.

“Su Yun, take him to sign the pre-surgery consent form and pass it to Chang Yue,” Zheng Ren ordered.

“Doctor, my fiancée won’t die, right?” the young man asked gravely.

“I can’t guarantee anything. Her condition is very serious, but we’ll try our best to save her.” Once the B-scan ultrasonography was complete, Zheng Ren called another physician and a nurse along to rush the patient towards the operating theater.

As he ran, Zheng Ren pulled out his phone and called the operating theater to prepare for surgery.

The journey to the operating theater was not far, but it could still save them a few extra minutes.

In an emergency rescue, every one of those minutes could decide if the patient lived or died.

They reached the operating theater at record speed. “Enter the hybrid operating room and prepare for laparotomy to stop the bleeding,” Zheng Ren said.

Another hybrid surgery? He truly had had no chance to rest after returning to the emergency department.

It was not that Zheng Ren’s duties were extra arduous. When he was not around, the patients would be referred to their respective departments for surgery since no one else was capable of doing it all at once.

After the emergency department doctor and nurse assisted the Chu sisters and Xie Yiren in transferring the patient onto the operating table, they left the room.

Zheng Ren slipped into the isolation suit as fast he could and entered the operating room.

“How long until the packed red blood cells arrive?” he asked.

“20 minutes. I’ve asked the emergency department to send for it.” Chu Yanran was reliable.

Zheng Ren said nothing further as he began sterilizing and putting on the sheets.

Under the surgical lamp, the patient’s skin was so pale that the light reflecting off it was eye-watering; it only regained a sense of vitality when iodophor was applied.