A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 471

Chapter 92: A Divine Move (2)

Benches lined the corridor leading to the operating room.

It was called the surgical waiting room for families.

As many families as there were, there were just as many ways they behaved.

Some clasped their hands together, praying for hope, while others bowed their heads in despair.

Some looked up at the ceiling, blaming the heavens.

Some were already sobbing sadly.

Among them, So-hyun was almost smiling. She struggled to suppress the giggles that kept escaping her lips.

“Excuse me, is your child hurt?”

A woman a few seats away spoke to So-hyun.

So-hyun composed herself, instantly changing her expression. Her face turned gloomy, a chameleon-like transformation.

“Yes, my daughter is in surgery.”

“My son was in a traffic accident. Some crazy bastard was drinking during the day and…”

The woman couldn’t continue, choking back her tears.

So-hyun moved closer to the woman.

She gently patted the woman’s shoulder.

As if the comfort had released the emotions she had been holding back, the woman began to sob.

The crying was quite loud.

But no one paid attention to the woman.

In the surgical waiting room, wailing was nothing special.

The families all had their own sorrows, and they were all ready to wail at any moment.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I just started crying after talking to you for no reason.”

The woman wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

She moved towards the restroom as if fleeing.

So-hyun stared intently at her back.

So-hyun envied her.

Because she genuinely loved her child.

Unlike So-hyun.

So-hyun’s gaze turned to the operating room entrance.

‘She’s really dead now, right?’

A sinister smile appeared on So-hyun’s lips. Many people were mistaken about why her daughter had fallen from the balcony.

Her daughter didn’t fall while playing.

She fell because So-hyun pushed her.

That was the truth.

There’s an expression that says, ‘a child raising a child,’ and So-hyun was exactly that.

Even though she was the one who gave birth to her daughter, So-hyun hated her own child.

Rather than finding her daughter lovely, she simply found taking care of her daughter bothersome and annoying.

She preferred meeting friends and enjoying the glamorous nightlife.

Buying luxurious designer goods.

And having fancy dinners.

If people knew that So-hyun had directly pushed her daughter and caused her to fall, many would point fingers at So-hyun.

A heartless mother.

A mother in human disguise, and so on.

They would point fingers while adding all sorts of condemning labels.

Still…….

So-hyun didn’t care.

Isn’t that how things are in the world? If you don’t get caught, it’s all good.

Fortunately, So-hyun only disliked her child and didn’t usually assault or beat her.

There was no chance of her being caught.

‘I’ll be free soon. I can live the way I want.’

So-hyun stretched languidly.

And she stroked her own hair as if praising herself.

There was a divine move in this plan.

It was exploiting the religion called ‘Sacred Soul.’

In fact, So-hyun was not a follower of the ‘Sacred Soul.’ She had never believed in gods and had no plans to do so in the future.

But the reason she used the religion was simple.

It was to ensure her daughter went to the afterlife.

What would happen if a blood transfusion couldn’t be done during such an urgent surgery?

So-hyun was not a doctor or a medical professional, but she could easily guess that the difficulty of the surgery would be multiplied.

While her daughter was fighting against the Grim Reaper.

So-hyun was leisurely pondering her dinner menu.

Pasta? Pizza? Or spicy mala [Sichuan spicy and numbing stir-fry] soup?

* * *

The spinal surgery was definitely going smoothly.

There was a fracture in L1-L2 [lumbar vertebrae 1 and 2], and if the fractured fragments were not removed quickly, the nerves could be compressed, leading to paralysis.

Therefore, Jun-hoo incised the patient’s waist skin and incised the fascia [layer of connective tissue].

Wee-ing.

Using a diamond drill, he resected the posterior arch, which was compressing the patient’s disc.

He also removed the bulging ligament that was compressing the nerve.

By reversing the surgical process.

The spinal decompression surgery would be over as soon as the lumbar structure was restored.

The finish line was right in front of him.

An unexpected problem had erupted.

“The intracranial pressure has risen to 30mmHg [millimeters of mercury]. Blood pressure is 160mmHg/125mmHg. Oxygen saturation has also dropped to SPO2 90 [peripheral capillary oxygen saturation].”

The anesthesiologist notified him of the patient’s condition in a somber voice.

Jun-hoo nodded instead of answering. He couldn’t take his eyes off the patient monitoring device.

The electrocardiogram, and the electroencephalogram as well.

The waves were high and low, fluctuating, and the intervals between the highs and lows were excessively short.

Jun-hoo’s mood was as uneasy as the unstable waveform.

There were definitely no mistakes.

Why did this happen?

“Administer high-concentration oxygen and increase the mannitol (diuretic) drip rate to 50gtt [drops per minute]. Administer antihypertensive IV [intravenously] and perform a head elevation (raising the head higher than the body).”

“…….”

“Ye-na, take a portable CT scan of the brain.”

“Yes, Chief.”

Jun-hoo issued orders like lightning, and the staff followed the instructions in an orderly manner.

He wanted to examine the patient with his internal energy, but there were many eyes watching. He couldn’t ignore the infection issue either.

‘We’re doing our best. Please hang in there a little longer.’

Jun-hoo’s gaze turned to the patient.

He couldn’t see her face because she was covered with surgical drapes.

Isn’t a 7-year-old child a flower that hasn’t fully bloomed yet?

He couldn’t let the child be lost in vain like this.

And if the child passed away.

How much more would the parents’ hearts be torn?

The prescription temporarily put out the urgent fire.

The brain CT results also came out.

“Chief, there’s bleeding in the right middle cerebral artery.”

“Really?”

“Why did bleeding suddenly occur in the blood vessel? If bleeding was going to occur, shouldn’t it have happened with the anterior cerebral artery when the initial trauma occurred?”

Ye-na’s voice was sharp.

It was more of an expression of resenting this terrible situation than resenting Jun-hoo.

“It seems that pressure was applied to the relatively weak blood vessels as the stagnant cerebral blood flow returned to normal.”

“Then what do we do?”

“We have to do brain surgery again. Let’s start with the temporal craniotomy [surgical opening in the temporal bone] again.”

“Ah…….”

Ye-na bit her lip.

In the case of general surgery, even if additional surgery was performed, it would not be a big burden.

Only the staff would be a little more tired.

But the patient was undergoing bloodless surgery.

When performing a craniotomy with the most bleeding.

Could the plasma substitute and the blood stored in the cell saver hold out?

Honestly, it was questionable.

Why did bleeding occur in the right middle cerebral artery of all places?

If it had been near the anterior cerebral artery, there would have been no need for additional craniotomy. There would have been no shortage of blood either.

Ye-na gritted her teeth.

Did the heavens really intend to abandon Jun-hoo and the patient?

Otherwise, how could such absurd trials come one after another?

Although she didn’t show it, Ye-na felt the flame of hope in her heart fading away.

Since repairing the bleeding in the right middle cerebral artery was the top priority, the staff went back into brain surgery.

This time, a craniotomy was performed on the temporal bone instead of the frontal bone.

“Chief, the cell saver blood is almost running out. It looks like we can’t last even 30 minutes. We’ve used too much plasma substitute too.”

Around the time the craniotomy was finished.

The resident urgently notified the situation.

Jun-hoo turned his gaze to the cell saver and plasma substitute connected to the patient.

‘Is this the end after all?’

Jun-hoo couldn’t help but feel bitter.

He struggled to minimize the amount of bleeding, but there were limits to his efforts.

Even his internal energy and martial arts, which had solved almost every problem like a cheat key, were helpless this time.

Even with internal energy and martial arts.

He couldn’t create blood out of nothing.

Jun-hoo’s hands, which were always busy, stopped moving for the first time.

Like a lost child.

If he continued the treatment in a situation where he couldn’t replenish blood, the patient’s condition would worsen.

Jun-hoo had always found a way out even when the sky was falling, but today he couldn’t see a way out at all.

He just felt trapped in a maze, and his chest was stuffy.

“…….”

A silence mixed with frustration weighed down the operating room.

The one who broke the silence first was, unexpectedly, Ye-na.

“Chief, can I say something?”

* * *

Ye-na’s voice echoed in the operating room.

Everyone paid attention to Ye-na.

“I hesitate to say this, but I think we should stop the surgery here.”

“You’re saying we should give up on the child? Kill the child?”

Jun-hoo asked back with a bitter smile.

“Please reconsider, Doctor. It’s too bad to give up after coming this far.”

The resident, who had been silent, joined the conversation.

“We need to transfuse blood to save the patient, but the guardian is a follower of the Sacred Soul. There’s no other way.”

“Can’t we transfuse secretly?”

“The guardian will find out if they get a detailed statement of medical expenses.”

“Can’t we just not include the blood transfusion item in the system and keep our mouths shut?”

The resident didn’t back down either.

The resident’s eyes were burning with the will to save the patient at all costs.

“You’re saying we should just deceive them completely?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think, Chief?”

“It’s a good method, but it’s not perfect.”

Jun-hoo shook his head from side to side.

“If the guardian takes the surgical record to another neurosurgeon, there’s a high probability that the fact that we transfused blood will be revealed. Because the answer will come out if you compare the amount of blood loss with the blood supplied by the plasma substitute and cell saver.”

“Would the guardian really go that far?”

“That’s exactly the kind of person they are.”

Jun-hoo recalled the guardian who had glared at him with a fierce look, insisting on bloodless surgery.

The guardian was someone who valued the afterlife more than this life.

They would want the child to die without a blood transfusion rather than survive with one.

Of course, this surgery would not just pass by.

They would do everything in their power to find out whether a blood transfusion had been performed.

“You can call me cold-blooded if you want. But I don’t think any more surgery is meaningful.”

Ye-na’s voice was still clear.

“Why should we do something that will get us cursed by the guardian and even sued? We’re only losing out if we transfuse blood, right?”

“Still, leaving the child like this…….”

The resident said hesitantly.

“If we’ve done all we can, there’s nothing we can do, right? It’s no use begging the guardian for a blood transfusion now. You agree with this too, Chief, right?”

“Yes. I agree.”

“The staff all understand that your skills are amazing and that we’ve come this far because of you.”

“…….”

“We also know that it’s not your fault even if the patient dies in vain like this.”

Ye-na continued to speak rapidly.

“If we transfuse blood, it could 오히려 [rather] cause a big stain on your reputation or fame. You’ll be 정신없어지실 [overwhelmed/mentally exhausted] because of the lawsuit.”

“…….”

“I think stopping the surgery is a necessary evil.”

As soon as Ye-na finished speaking, everyone’s eyes turned to Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo was ultimately the captain of the ship called the operating room. The surgery would be stopped or continued according to Jun-hoo’s will.

What kind of judgment would Jun-hoo make…….

The staff waited with anxious hearts.

Beep. Beep.

The insensitive patient monitoring device emitted regular beeping sounds.

“I never dreamed that I would be in trouble like this.”

Jun-hoo’s voice was mixed with deep anguish. Jun-hoo checked the blood remaining in the cell saver and then murmured quietly.

“Give me just 20 minutes. I’ll come back and decide.”

Jun-hoo left the operating room alone. And exactly 20 minutes later, he returned to the operating room.