Chapter 17: CH 17

The green emergency surgery bag was opened, and the soft white gauze was laid out on a tray. Various silver surgical instruments made clashing sounds as the nurse neatly arranged them on top of the green cloth.

After confirming the anesthesia had set in, Zhang Yun’s abdomen was exposed, and the sterile towels were laid out, leaving only the surgical area.

The clock in the operating room ticked, and the time flew by.

With a high probability of respiratory distress in the fetus, a second faster could mean more hope for life.

Time ticked by as Zhang Yun’s body was sliced open by sharp scalpels, the silver willow blade looking cold under the white light of the shadowless lamp. Jiang Xu’s movements were crisp and fast, and with Shen Fangyu’s cooperation, every point was stepped on precisely. Shen Fangyu would make the next step for him without him even needing to make a sound.

A cesarean section was not a complicated operation, but when extreme speed and precision were required, it required a very high level of psychological quality and surgical ability.

Jiang Xu’s technique was extremely sharp, each move was quick and precise. His forehead was already covered in a thin layer of sweat, and his fingers were sweating lightly under the latex gloves.

The operating room was extremely quiet, and Chen Qi didn’t know what the two leading doctors were thinking. From his point of view, he could only see that the two doctors were working very quickly and in perfect harmony, and there was no sign of panic on their faces. However, he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat. He had not been this nervous even when he was giving a report in English for his graduation defense.

Chen Qi looked at the fetal heart monitor frequently, as if he were seeing the guillotine whenever he raised his eyes. He was flustered and suffocating from the suspense. If he, as a junior assistant, felt the immense pressure of the tight schedule, then the pressure Jiang Xu and Shen Fang Yu had to contend with was only greater.

Everyone’s faces were heavy, and there was no sound in the silent ICU operating room except the ticking of the instruments.

Soon, a baby’s weak cry pierced the air of the operating room, and Jiang Xu took out a wrinkled baby. Shen Fangyu cut the umbilical cord, removed the placenta, and began to prepare the stitches.

The operation was completed in one fluid motion.

The tense atmosphere in the whole operating room instantly faded a little, and everyone’s faces were covered in uncontrollable smiles.

The mask covering his face was moist and a little stuffy. Jiang Xu took a deep breath, glanced at the clock in the operating room, and said indifferently, “A broken record.”

“First look at who the first assistant is.” Shen Fangyu smiled as he did the stitching, saying, “It’s hard not to break the record if you let me be your assistant.” When he smiled, the lying silkworm under his eyes was so obvious that Jiang Xu was momentarily stunned.

*”Lying silkworm” refers to a protrusion at the edge of the lower eye lashes that looks like a baby silkworm and is more prominent when smiling. Will include a picture at the end of the chapter.

The child’s condition wasn’t great, but fortunately, the surgery was carried out quickly enough that his respiratory system wasn’t completely damaged and he could still make crying noises.

Perhaps it was because the mother and child were connected, but Zhang Yun, who had been in a coma, suddenly half opened her eyes.

Jiang Xu’s peripheral vision never left Zhang Yun, and he caught her awakening with a glance.

“2.1 kg, it’s a girl.” Jiang Xu said this to Zhang Yun without using any complicated terminology. Zhang Yun still had a tracheal tube in her body and could not make a sound. Jiang Xu held the baby in front of Zhang Yun for her to see, and a tear suddenly fell down from the corner of the latter’s eye.

However, the race against death was still not over. The most time-consuming part of the cesarean section was not the opening, but the suturing.

The neonatologist took over the frail baby and quickly performed the APGAR scoring while Jiang Xu re-sterilized his hands, took the surgical needle from Shen Fangyu and continued to work on the sutures in a race against time. From the myometrium to the skin, there are a total of seven layers. His hands were moving so fast that it was almost impossible to see the movements, only afterimages remained.

For better treatment, Shen Fangyu followed the neonatologist and quickly moved the baby to a new resuscitation room. As she watched her baby being pushed away, Zhang Yun lowered her eyes, which had long since turned red.

And with the stitches finished, she was once again pushed toward the ICU at the speed of an arrow.

The doctors and nurses of the ICU were already waiting at the door, and the moment they saw them, and the moment he saw them, the lead doctor’s eyes instantly lit up, “Yes! Excellent!” He couldn’t help but say, “I didn’t expect you guys to be so quick!”

They took Zhang Yun from Jiang Xu’s hands and quickly began testing for allergic reactions and preparing the tubes and instruments for hemoperfusion.

In a flash, Zhang Yun was transferred from the emergency room to the operating room and then to the ICU with one foot in the grave.

Jiang Xu looked down at the woman on the bed. There was a catheter tied to her leg, a bottle of anti-inflammatory rehydration fluid hanging from her hand, all sorts of catheters and monitor probes all over her body, and bruises all over her naked legs and arms.

As the hemoperfusion proceeded, almost all the medical staff in the operating room looked at the changing indicators on the monitors and the color of the dialysis fluid in silence.

Zhang Yun suddenly moved her mouth.

She had recovered from her comatose state, and the nurses were regularly cleaning the mucus from her mouth. Fortunately, she did not suffer from severe toxic vomiting.

With the confinement of the intubation, she could not make a sound, but everyone present could read her lips.

“Help me.”

Many patients on the line between life and death had said this to Jiang Xu, so after lip-reading it so many times, Jiang Xu could read it at a glance.

Jiang Xu’s gaze fell on her arm, and then he shook the hand, which was filled with various instrument catheters and had little space left, and saw her close her eyes once more, falling into a drowsy sleep.

“It’s been hard work; you guys go rest.” The ICU doctor said, “It’s now up to us.”

In order to provide better care conditions for the patients, it was not suitable for the ICU to have so many people at the same time, and besides, Jiang Xu had already done all he could do in his field of expertise. He nodded and walked out of the ICU with faltering footsteps before falling heavily onto a chair in the corridor.

“Teacher Jiang, what’s wrong with you?” Chen Qi looked at him in panic. Jiang Xu was still wearing his green surgical gown, his lips extremely pale and bloodless.

Jiang Xu shook his head.

He ate irregularly and stayed up late a lot, and his stomach problems were an old issue. Especially whenever he maintained a state of tension for a long time and focused excessively on something before relaxing, it was easy to get a stomach ache.

He had just done a cesarean section, which required a great deal of speed, and he had to control the precision of his movements while pursuing speed. He has been in a state of intense concentration, like a bow being stretched to the limit, his nerves stretched into a thin line, oblivious to what was going on around him.

When he was tense, he didn’t feel it, but when he suddenly relaxed, his autonomic nerve function was suddenly disturbed, and, together with the spasm of the smooth muscle of the stomach, Jiang Xu was directly confused by the pain.

“How is the patient? Did you send her in?” Shen Fangyu rushed over from the neonatal unit after handing the baby over. He had just asked when he noticed that Jiang Xu didn’t look too well and asked, “Stomach pain?”

“They’ve sent her in; they’re already doing hemoperfusion.” Chen Qi was afraid that Jiang Xu didn’t have the strength to speak, so he replied.

“I have a box of omeprazole on my desk, Xiao Chen,” Jiang Xu said to Chen Qi, “Please help me-” He stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence.

Chen Qi looked at Jiang Xu in uncertainty, and the latter bit his lower lip to brace himself and said, “Forget it; there’s no need.”

Shen Fangyu’s eyes paused on him.

He knew why Jiang Xu had changed his mind in the middle of his sentence – omeprazole was a banned drug for pregnant women.

Jiang Xu’s face was pale under the light, and he barely looked up to say to the two of them, “I’ll just sit for a while, you guys go and get busy.”

“Is it really all right, Mr Jiang?” Chen Qi looked at him, his eyes filled with worry.

“I’m fine.” Jiang Xu waved his hand, gesturing for Chen Qi and Shen Fangyu to leave.

Hearing the footsteps around him move away, Jiang Xu finally gave up the last bit of strength he had to support his form. He slumped back and curled his body, repeatedly taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly to regulate the discomfort in his stomach.

His stomach felt like a large, dark, and heavy stone had been shoved into it, weighing down on the soft mucous membranes and muscles of his stomach, causing him to gasp in pain. However, the stifling, heavy pressure was growing heavier and heavier, as if rusty steel knives were grinding into his internal organs.

Suddenly, a pink, piggy-shaped hot water bag appeared in front of his eyes. He couldn’t straighten up to see who it was, so he could only lower his gaze and gaze at the piglet’s innocent smile.

“I borrowed it from Xiao Ting at the nurse’s station, so just return it to her when you’re done.” Shen Fangyu’s voice came from above Jiang Xu’s head: “I’ve adjusted the water temperature so it won’t be too hot; you can apply it for a while.”

Jiang Xu took the hot water bag in silence and applied it to his upper abdomen through a layer of clothes.

He really did not have the strength to raise his head, cold sweat was falling, and he could only see that the pair of feet on the floor had not moved.

He wanted to say, “Why aren’t you leaving?” But Shen Fangyu spoke up before him, “Don’t be a hero.”

Jiang Xu gave a “chortle” and made a move to take out his phone.

“If you want to call the police,” Shen Fangyu said, “I already did when I filled the hot water bag for you; the police will be here soon.”

Jiang Xu didn’t ask how Shen Fangyu could guess what he wanted to do; although they were rivals and hated each other, Jiang Xu had to admit that Shen Fangyu was the person he had the most tacit understanding with when it came to work.

“Go away,” Jiang Xu said, “I’ll return the hot water bag.”

“When will you stop kicking me away?” Shen Fangyu asked.

The warmth of the hot water bag had gradually spread across Jiang Xu’s abdomen, it was warm and comforting, like a flowing hot spring, slowly diluting the pain he felt.

Therefore, he also gave Shen Fangyu a rare amiable expression, “In another life.”

Shen Fangyu: “……”

“Let’s go.” He didn’t have the habit of putting a hot face on a cold ass, and his relationship with Jiang Xu had never gotten any better after all these years. He brought the hot water bag only because Jiang Xu looked really pained. There was also the matter of the child, he felt quite guilty when he calmed down.

*Putting a hot face on a cold ass is pleasing someone who is indifferent to you.

He wanted to make it up to Jiang Xu, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed listening to Jiang Xu’s cold words.

The pair of shoes in his vision disappeared, and Jiang Xu listened to Shen Fangyu’s footsteps fading away.

He didn’t know how long it took before the burning pain in his stomach faded away and the hot water bag was much warmer, not as warm as it had been initially.

He stood up with the hot water bag in his arms and walked step by step down the corridor and stairs toward the department. He had just reached the corridor when he heard the noise in the lobby on the ground floor.

No matter what time of day the hospital closed, the lobby was much quieter than during the day, so this noise seemed particularly loud.

Jiang Xu looked over and saw a man pass by him. Zhang Yun’s husband was cursing and arguing while the police held him up and dragged him to the police car.

He thought of the bruises on Zhang Yun’s body, and how her condition was nearly missed because her husband refused to admit to a history of pesticide consumption and the words “help me.”

As Dr. Jiang, he had to save Zhang Yun in the hospital bed, and as Jiang Xu, he had to save Zhang Yun in general.

When the hot water bag was returned to Xiao Ting, the other party’s already large, watery eyes widened, like she couldn’t understand why the hot water bag that Dr. Shen had borrowed was given to Dr. Jiang, with whom he had the worst relationship in the department.

But Jiang Xu didn’t explain to satisfy her curiosity; he just politely thanked her.

After going home and taking a shower, Jiang Xu switched on the bedroom light and opened the document he was halfway through. It was getting later in the night, but he had no intention of going to sleep until the neonatal department and the ICU sent him one message after another to report that his patients were safe.

Zhang Yun and her daughter were both out of danger for the time being.

Only then did Jiang Xu put down the tablet and turn off the soft sleep light.

Zhang Yun’s partner might not care about her life and death, but Dr Jiang would care about the welfare of every one of his patients.

A pic to show the “lying silkworm”