Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 81

81. Becoming Bone and Flesh

“Micro forceps and a needle holder, please. And my loupes, too.”

“Loupes!?”

The nurse, who had been handing over the forceps with precision, paused and asked again.

“If you open the instrument tray, there’s a box with my name on it. Open that one.”

As Tae-kyung said, opening the box revealed glasses with microscope-like magnifiers attached to the lenses.

Loupes [magnifying eyeglasses used in surgery], as they were called, were a valuable tool frequently used by surgeons.

Using loupes allowed for more delicate surgery because the area being operated on appeared larger and clearer.

Since they were custom-made for each individual, they were quite expensive.

The only investment Tae-kyung had made while paying off his debts was these loupes. They were that essential to a surgeon.

“Please put them on me quickly.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Tae-kyung put on the glasses, picked up a tiny needle with the micro forceps, and quickly began the repair. The gap was less than 2mm. The spacing had to be consistent, and the strength had to be uniform.

The reason was that it was a passage through which a large amount of blood flowed. If it wasn’t consistent, bleeding was a given, and turbulence could cause blood clots. This could block the heart or lungs, leading to the patient’s death.

The repair Tae-kyung was currently performing required more precision than threading a needle that wouldn’t go in, more care than scooping soft tofu without it collapsing, and more speed than catching a baseball flying toward him.

In short, speed, accuracy, and consistency all had to be perfectly aligned. And the immense pressure was always a bonus.

He was meticulously suturing the blood vessel wall, considering the mechanics with each stitch.

While Tae-kyung was performing the loupe repair, all the staff in the operating room held their breath.

‘Is that even possible…’

Watching Tae-kyung’s insane concentration, Lee Chan-hee could hardly believe what he was seeing. It was a level of concentration that wouldn’t waver even if you shouted into his ear with a megaphone.

There was a reason they called him the conductor of the operating room.

Just as everyone was focused on the problematic blood vessel, Tae-kyung raised his head and released the bulldog clamp that had been blocking the blood flow.

“Oh! Bleeding…”

“There’s no bleeding.”

“The patient’s bleeding has stopped.”

It was true.

The blood vessel that had been gushing blood so fiercely was now calm, as if nothing had happened. He had completely repaired the damaged blood vessel at the perfect moment.

“Doctor, there’s no bleeding.”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

Unlike the staff, who were as happy as if it were their own accomplishment, Tae-kyung’s response was indifferent. In fact, Tae-kyung was also happy inside. But since the surgery wasn’t over yet, he decided to put that joy aside for the moment.

“Alright! Let’s remove the rest of the lymph nodes.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Fortunately, there were no special incidents when dissecting the remaining lymph nodes.

“I’ll do irrigation. Please prepare five 10cc syringes.”

Tae-kyung sprayed the saline solution with a light heart.

“Give me the sutures for closing the fascia here.”

“Here you go.”

“Alright! We’re almost there. Let’s finish up.”

The subsequent process proceeded very quickly.

He sutured the fascia, closed the subcutaneous tissue above it, and finally closed the skin.

The slight difference was that, because it was the neck, unlike other surgical sites, he used dissolving sutures and buried the knots under the skin. Finally, he sealed it with medical glue, and the surgery was completed.

‘Everything’s gone.’

Tae-kyung’s favorite moment was this very moment.

‘The sulfur and formalin are all gone too.’

He felt good at this moment when all the smells disappeared as if by magic, as soon as all the surgery was successfully completed.

‘Yes, this is the smell it should be.’

The unique smell of the operating room, felt in its entirety, couldn’t be more refreshing.

“Ha! Doctor, you worked hard.”

“Yes, Doctor Lee, you worked hard too.”

“I felt like I was on a roller coaster earlier. It was like watching a miracle.”

“Lee Chan-hee, your flattery has increased a lot.”

“It’s true.”

“Doctor Lee is right.”

Nurse Lim Jung-sook and Doctor Eui-jin, who were next to him, shared their feelings in turn.

“I was so nervous about the blood vessel earlier… You worked hard.”

“Doctor Jung, you worked hard too, and everyone else, thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After exchanging greetings with the staff, Tae-kyung made a phone call somewhere.

-Yes. This is the 3rd floor ward.

“Hello, it’s me. For patient Lee Go-cheol, please make sure he fasts today and tomorrow due to the risk of bleeding. Check his calcium levels in the morning and evening.”

-Yes, Doctor.

“And give him the calcium supplements that are usually prescribed to total thyroidectomy patients starting tomorrow morning. Make his breakfast porridge.”

-I will inform the cafeteria.

“If the patient experiences severe pain in the meantime, give him the PRN [pro re nata, meaning “as needed”] prescription I prescribed. And of course, if the patient’s surgical site swells or his voice sounds strange, call me anytime. I’ll go check on him at the ward later.”

-Yes, I understand.

Tae-kyung hung up the phone and looked at the operating room clock.

The numbers indicating the surgery time showed 6.

“When did the time go by like that.”

It was a surgery that took a whopping 6 hours.

He had performed surgeries lasting 27 hours during liver surgeries, but now he felt a similar level of fatigue, perhaps because he was nervous.

As the tension eased, fatigue rushed in instantly.

Beep-

Tae-kyung led his tired body out of the operating room.

“I’m starting to get hungry now that the tension is gone.”

It was a pleasant feeling of emptiness. He wanted to run to the cafeteria, but there was somewhere he had to go first.

The person who was waiting for the patient’s surgery to end more than anyone else. It was the guardian waiting room.

* * *

‘Please save my husband. He has lived diligently until now. Please give us the strength to live with my husband and our child. Please save him. Give strength to the doctor performing the surgery, and hold onto everyone so that the surgery can be completed successfully without getting tired.’

“…tion?”

“Guardian?”

At Tae-kyung’s call, Phuong, who was sitting on a chair with her head bowed in prayer, immediately got up from her seat.

“Doctor?”

“Did you wait long?”

“No. How is, how is my husband…”

“The surgery went well.”

At that, Phuong let out a sigh of relief and collapsed into the chair, her legs giving way.

The monitor in the guardian waiting room and her cell phone displayed messages notifying her that the surgery was over, but Phuong hadn’t noticed because she had been praying for over an hour.

“Is my Kkan-ddam’s dad okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine.”

Tae-kyung sat down next to Phuong and continued.

“There was some bleeding in the blood vessel area in the middle, but we managed to stop it.”

“As expected, you’re the best doctor. Thank you so much. Thank you.”

“He’s in the recovery room now, so he’ll probably be moved to the ward in a little while.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Phuong got up from her seat and bowed to Tae-kyung several times.

Because Lee Go-cheol’s condition was not good, she was worried about what would happen if something went wrong. But she had a strong belief that Tae-kyung would save her husband.

She was so grateful to Tae-kyung for repaying that faith.

“The doctor saved my husband. You’re our family’s benefactor.”

“You worked hard too. Go to the ward quickly.”

“You’re a really good doctor. I won’t forget this kindness.”

Phuong, with slightly reddened eyes, finished her greetings, which were not enough no matter how many times she repeated them, and headed to the ward.

* * *

“…so, you know. Doctor Choi, are you listening to me?”

Lee Chan-hee, who had come to the doctor’s office to take a break after checking all the emergency room patients, was pouring out his experiences to Choi Mona, who had come to rest for a while.

“How thin is the arterial blood vessel? Huh? But the blood was gushing out from there! At that moment, I thought this was 100% a table death [death during surgery].”

“…”

“But the crazy doctor put on the loupes… wow!”

Lee Chan-hee was forcibly conveying his overwhelming emotion by drawing blood vessels on the whiteboard with his terrible drawing skills.

“The calmness, concentration, and skill at that time were truly unbelievable unless you saw it with your own eyes.”

“…”

“Choi Mona, are you listening to me?”

Choi Mona, who was looking at the monitor with a nonchalant expression, still didn’t answer.

“Hey, are you listening?”

“No.”

“It’s a story that will become bone and flesh if you listen to it.”

“I don’t know. You can have a lot of that bone and flesh.”

“This is a precious story that you can’t even hear for money. Listen with interest.”

“Not really.”

She answered briefly as if she had no interest at all, but in fact, Choi Mona’s heart was the opposite.

Until now, she had been pretending not to listen and had been listening carefully to Lee Chan-hee’s story, and she was very interested.

She was deliberately looking at the monitor because she thought it would be embarrassing if she listened too intently.

“I really respect our doctor so much. This feeling of my chest swelling, my friend, don’t you know it?”

“Lee Chan-hee, stop it!”

“Why are you getting angry all of a sudden?”

“Can’t you see I’m concentrating on looking at patient data right now?”

“You were looking at patient data? Sorry. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Choi Mona, who had been ignoring Lee Chan-hee’s words, suddenly raised her voice and blamed the non-existent patient data.

It was somewhat sudden, but there was a reason for it.

‘I’m getting worked up.’

It was because she was getting worked up and resentful. The fact that only Lee Chan-hee had participated in the surgery while she hadn’t made her feel somehow resentful.

The day before, she had heard about Lee Go-cheol’s case from Tae-kyung and had been preparing in her own way, even looking up data at home.

To be honest, she really wanted to participate in this surgery, so she was annoyed.

‘How did Lee Chan-hee get in?’

Choi Mona thought she would be the assistant. It wasn’t that she was looking down on Lee Chan-hee, but at least she didn’t tremble, fear, or be afraid in the operating room.

At this point, it seemed like Tae-kyung was subtly favoring Lee Chan-hee.

‘Why isn’t it me? Why is it Lee Chan-hee?’

Choi Mona still didn’t know why she hadn’t participated in the surgery.

Bang!

“Ah, you scared me.”

Lee Chan-hee raised his head at the sound of the desk being slammed and shifted his gaze to the opposite side.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“No matter how I think about it, this isn’t right.”

“What are you talking about? What’s not right? Doctor Choi, you’re a bit strange today.”

Choi Mona, with a mixture of injustice and resentment, couldn’t just let it go.

‘Yeah, let’s ask directly.’

She decided to go to Tae-kyung and ask him why. Otherwise, she felt like there was no way to relieve this uneasy feeling.

Creak-

“Doctor Choi, where are you going?”

Ignoring Lee Chan-hee’s question about her destination, she walked towards the door.

Step by step-

‘He must be in the examination room? Or the cafeteria. If not, the emergency room…’

Thinking about where Tae-kyung might be, she reached the door,

Thud-

“…!”.

Tae-kyung came in as the door burst open.

“D, Doctor.”

Choi Mona, who hadn’t expected Tae-kyung to come, stopped in her tracks.

“Oh, Doctor Choi. Where are you going?”

“I was about to go to you, Doctor.”

“Why to me? What, do you have something to say?”