A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 488

Chapter 95: Dilemma (4)

The clip ligation went smoothly.

There was a slight commotion, but it concluded as Jun-hoo had planned.

‘I feel like I’m getting a little too bold these days.’

Jun-hoo chuckled behind his mask.

Actually, this wasn’t the first time he had bent a cerebral aneurysm coil with martial arts.

Only once during his residency!

He had shown it once before.

However, unlike back then when he was conscious of his seniors and professors even after using martial arts,

now, Jun-hoo was using martial arts with a nonchalant attitude.

Was it because of the title of ‘Director’?

Or because he was fed up with hiding his martial arts all this time?

Or perhaps it was because the situation and environment were so dire that he had no choice but to use martial arts openly; he couldn’t be sure.

In any case, martial arts was the main pillar supporting Jun-hoo’s performance, both in the past and now.

Perhaps that’s why.

He couldn’t even imagine himself without martial arts.

I want to become stronger.

So I want to save more people.

Jun-hoo’s ambition was endless.

It didn’t know how to dry up.

And there were no signs of it cooling down.

“Can you give me a patient status report?”

“Yes, Director.”

Jong-won continued to speak in a very disciplined voice.

“Vitals are stable, and there are no abnormalities in the electrocardiogram or electroencephalogram. Oxygen saturation is also at a normal level.”

“What about intracranial pressure?”

“It’s 10mmHg.”

Jun-hoo nodded in satisfaction. Normal intracranial pressure was 0-15mmHg.

After checking the patient’s condition,

Jun-hoo inserted a needle into the clipped cerebral aneurysm.

He injected dye.

In response, Woo-hyun, the second assistant, quickly turned off the operating room lights for a moment.

Soon after, an amazing thing happened.

The patient’s blood vessels glowed with fluorescent light like fireflies in a dark forest.

The range of light was limited only to the blood vessels.

It meant that the clip was completely blocking the blood flow into the cerebral aneurysm.

Click!

The lights in the operating room came back on.

Jun-hoo tilted his head from side to side.

He circled his wrist.

It was a warm-up before going into the second surgery.

Considering the difficulty of the surgery alone, the ‘cerebral bypass surgery’ he had to perform now was a level above the clip ligation.

The blood vessel where the cerebral aneurysm occurred was close to the anterior cerebral artery, the main artery.

It was the main passage for transporting blood to the anterior cerebral artery.

Blocking it would obviously cause problems with cerebral blood flow!

So Jun-hoo’s goal was to connect a new path to the anterior cerebral artery using a blood vessel taken from the femoral artery [the large artery in the thigh].

It was like constructing a new road.

Jun-hoo held forceps in his left hand.

He held a needle holder in his right hand.

“10-0 vicryl [an extremely fine suture material].”

The scrub nurse unwrapped the suture and handed it over. Jun-hoo gripped the suture needle with the needle holder.

Click!

The sound of the needle holder’s clasp fixing the suture needle was cheerful.

The suture looked particularly white and thin because of the surgical light.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone operate with 10-0.”

Jong-won swallowed hard.

Jun-hoo was the one doing the suturing, but Jong-won was more nervous.

His eyelids were twitching.

“It’s usually not used much because it breaks easily since it’s thin.”

“Then why are you using it, Director?”

“Why do you think?”

Jong-won paused for a moment after receiving Jun-hoo’s question.

He continued with difficulty.

“I think it’s because you’re confident you won’t break the suture.”

“You’ve finally adapted to me.”

Jun-hoo smiled brightly.

The other staff members followed Jun-hoo and burst into laughter.

In fact, Jun-hoo didn’t like showing off or acting smart.

So he had heard the words ‘humble’ so much that he was sick of it.

His thinking changed recently.

There was also healthy showing off among showing off.

Healthy showing off was a virtue especially necessary for leaders, and it could give members a solid belief.

If it wasn’t just talk.

If he had outstanding abilities like Jun-hoo, healthy showing off had more to gain than lose.

“It’ll be over in about 30 minutes. Don’t just stare blankly, watch with the thought of gaining something.”

“…….”

“Spray saline solution so the blood vessels don’t dry out. And fix the blood vessels well.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Yes, Director.”

The residents’ answers were loud.

Ring, ring~

The phone ringing at the entrance of the operating room was as noisy and annoying as a baby crying in the early morning.

During surgery,

Jun-hoo’s composure, which rarely broke, was broken for once.

A ripple arose in his calm mind.

His brow narrowed and his eyes became thinner.

Jun-hoo knew.

That there had never been good news among the calls he had received during surgery so far.

* * *

“Yes, this is operating room number 6.”

Woo-hyun, a second-year resident and an ardent fan of Jun-hoo, answered the phone in a nonchalant voice.

Who on earth is it?

How dare they call and make a fuss while the Director is operating? How can they be so uneducated?

-This is the hospital director.

Woo-hyun was startled by the dry voice.

He flinched as if he had been hit with ice water.

This is not a prank call.

The person who called is definitely the hospital director.

He had such an animalistic feeling.

“Yes! Director, this is Sung Woo-hyun, a second-year resident in neurosurgery!”

Woo-hyun answered vigorously with a shout.

-Enough. Pass me the Director.

“The Director is currently performing cerebral vascular anastomosis [surgical connection of two blood vessels], so it’s difficult for him to talk. If you tell me your business, I will pass it on.”

-Do you think I would call the operating room without knowing he’s in surgery? Don’t make me repeat myself and pass me the phone quickly.

Woo-hyun bit his lip at the hospital director’s stern order.

He had to do what his senior resident told him to do, so he had no choice but to do what the hospital director told him to do.

“Please wait a moment.”

Woo-hyun scurried back to the operating table.

He informed Jun-hoo that the hospital director had called.

Jun-hoo nodded and headed to the entrance of the operating room.

He answered the hospital director’s call.

“The hospital director called the Director directly? Even during surgery? This doesn’t seem like a normal matter?”

Jong-won said with a mix of exaggeration.

“That’s right. His voice was grumpy, and it felt like something was seriously twisted.”

Woo-hyun chimed in.

“It’s probably not good news, right?”

“I guess so. But is there anything to find fault with the Director? It doesn’t seem like it.”

Woo-hyun tilted his head.

Jun-hoo’s performance was dazzling.

He heard from here and there that Jun-hoo was the professor who saw the most outpatients the fastest in the hospital.

Even the satisfaction of patients and guardians with the treatment was top-notch.

Not only that.

While other professors were doing 1-2 surgeries a day, Jun-hoo was performing as many as 5-6.

There could be no more overwhelming performance as a surgeon than this.

The atmosphere in the department became rough as Jun-hoo fought with the deputy professor’s group, but this was a problem that could happen in any department.

Newcomer VS Established.

This structure was no different from a long tradition.

“Well, you never know. Just because we like the Director doesn’t mean the higher-ups will too.”

Jong-won said with a bitter smile.

“If you want to find fault, there’s no end to it in this field, right?”

“I hope it ends well. I’m addicted to the Director now. I don’t think I can last a day without the Director.”

Woo-hyun had fallen deeply in love with the massage Jun-hoo gave him every morning.

After receiving the massage, his energy soared like a tiger.

He was fine until at least midnight.

“I hope so too. He’s like a savior to us.”

The two men’s eyes were fixed on Jun-hoo.

Because the distance was so far.

They couldn’t eavesdrop on the call even if they pricked up their ears.

However, the call that didn’t end easily was foreshadowing something ominous.

The wait stretched like a rubber band.

Only after a moment that felt like an eternity did Jun-hoo return to the operating table.

“Director, what did the hospital director say?”

Woo-hyun couldn’t help but ask first.

* * *

“…….”

“Director?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Can you tell us what the hospital director said?”

Only then did Jun-hoo hear Woo-hyun’s voice. His head was so complicated that he had reflexively rejected Woo-hyun’s words.

“He told me…….”

Jun-hoo continued with a sigh.

“To stop the surgery I’m doing now and come out. He told me to see another patient.”

“Ah…… The hospital director is trying to entrust you with a VIP surgery.”

“That’s about right.”

Jun-hoo’s gaze turned to the patient.

More precisely, it stayed on the exposed brain.

It was rare but not impossible to replace the surgeon during surgery.

If the difficulty of the regular surgery was relatively low.

If the condition of the emergency patient was critical.

If there was a surgeon with time to spare.

The surgeons could be replaced at any time by adjusting the schedule.

Things were seriously twisted.

What to do?

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The upper and lower teeth collided incessantly due to anxiety and frustration.

Since being appointed as the director, Jun-hoo was facing a very high hurdle for the first time.

What is the right thing to do?

He wasn’t sure about either side.

First of all, surgery replacement was impossible.

There were two professors who could perform cerebral vascular surgery, but one was already in surgery.

The other one had just been appointed as an assistant professor, so there was a high probability that he wouldn’t be able to handle ‘cerebral angiography’ [imaging of blood vessels in the brain].

Even the professor who was in surgery was from Deputy Professor Kim Han-sang’s faction.

Even if Jun-hoo begged earnestly, he wouldn’t help.

He would probably laugh at him, saying it served him right.

In other words, there was no alternative.

Was there no choice?

Should he just ignore it?

Jun-hoo came to the conclusion that he should pretend not to know about the hospital director’s call.

What’s so important about a VIP?

Isn’t everyone’s life the same?

Also, suddenly abandoning a patient who had entrusted his life to him was not the way of a surgeon.

But…….

Jun-hoo couldn’t just ignore the hospital director.

The hospital director was at the top of the hospital’s power structure, excluding those from the foundation.

There was no answer if you were targeted by the hospital director.

Even the current hospital director was a vindictive person.

Jun-hoo clearly remembered the mean and petty behavior the current hospital director had shown when he was the director of the Seoul headquarters.

So he could clearly imagine how terrible the adversity and hardship that would befall him if he ignored the hospital director’s call would be.

If he turned his back on the hospital director now, there was a risk that he would collapse before he could build the power to defeat the hospital director.

Cerebral aneurysm patient?

The hospital director’s VIP?

His heart naturally leaned towards the former, but today his head was particularly cunning.

It grabbed his ankle so that he couldn’t let go of his attachment to the latter.

Ring, ring~

The phone rang again.

This time, Woo-hyun ran to the entrance of the operating room, answered the phone, and returned.

“Is it the hospital director?”

Jun-hoo asked with a painful expression.

“It’s not the hospital director, it’s the hospital director’s secretary. He asked if you had left to see the VIP patient. How should I answer? I haven’t hung up yet.”

As expected, he was a persistent hospital director.

The hospital director was putting persistent pressure on Jun-hoo.

Because the hospital director knew Jun-hoo’s personality well.

If Jun-hoo was left alone,

he knew that he would definitely treat his patient.

“…….”

“…….”

A heavy silence fell on the operating room.

The staff members were worried and saddened by Jun-hoo’s situation, but they were also secretly looking forward to what decision he would make.

An unavoidable either-or choice.

Depending on Jun-hoo’s choice, the true inner self of the human being called Jun-hoo would be revealed.

No.

There’s no time to hesitate anymore.

Jun-hoo’s eyes, who had made a decision, became sharp.

“This surgery is…….”