Chapter 164 - 0158: Love, Must Be Voiced Out

Life, ah–

The patient persevered for so long, but in the end, he couldn’t wait for his son and left with regrets.

As a doctor for these years, I have seen countless partings of life and death, but this one pierced Yang Ping’s heart the most.

At the last moments of life, that look back, waiting, helplessness, sigh! It breaks one’s heart!

It was almost two in the morning, the streetlights dim, the overpass empty, the stalls had long been deserted.

The winter in the south was also cold, Yang Ping, wearing only a shirt, stood alone on the overpass, allowing the cold wind to blow in his face, entirely forgetting to shiver.

“I love you!”

He gathered the courage to send a WeChat message to Xiao Su.

“I love you!”

Xiao Su immediately replied.

“Where are you?”

“On the overpass!”

“Wait for me!”

“Mhmm”

Yang Ping leaned on the railing, his field of view dimly lit. At this moment, he really wanted a cigarette. Now he understood why, sometimes, in dimly lit places, you would see people smoking alone.

Xiao Su had already stood by his side without him noticing. She was wearing a long down coat and holding another one in her arm. She quietly approached and draped the down coat over Yang Ping.

“The patient is gone?”

“Yes, he didn’t get to see his son one last time. I couldn’t help him.”

“You did everything you could.”

“Increasing anticoagulation, switching the lung machine to V-A mode might have bought a few more hours.”

“That’s unpredictable, it could have been worse!”

“He left without seeing the person he wanted to see, without saying the words he wanted to say!”

“Life is always full of regrets!”

Yang Ping turned and took Xiao Su’s hand and placed it in his own, warming it: “I love you!”

Then he tightly pulled Xiao Su into his arms, Xiao Su pressed against his chest, holding tightly to Yang Ping, her heart pounding.

“I love you too!”

Life, ah– Love, it needs to be spoken out loud.

In the cold wind, under the streetlight, on the overpass, the two of them held each other tightly.

It took a long time for Yang Ping to gradually separate from Xiao Su, holding her beautiful face, staring at her. Xiao Su was trembling all over and slowly closed her eyes.

Yang Ping gently, slowly, pressed his lips against hers, their two frantic, fiery hearts collided in the cold wind.

The greatest distance in the world is not between life and death, but when I stand in front of you and you don’t know I love you!

—

The sun rose as usual, but the weather was getting colder.

Considering that Yang Ping had been up all night saving Mr. Ning, Director Han allowed Yang Ping to rest for the day.

The surgery for the Chinese patient from Singapore was handed over to Song Zimo. It was a procedure to treat ischemic necrosis of the left femoral head by core decompression and ceramic stick implantation, a hip preservation procedure.

Song Zimo’s surgery was excellent, but his brilliance was only overshadowed by Yang Ping. Whether it was open surgery, surgery under the microscope, or arthroscopy, he performed all with beautiful proficiency.

During lunchtime, Yang Ping freshened up. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to take a round in the ward, then go to the cafeteria to have lunch with Xiao Su.

Song Zimo had completed his surgery and was engrossed in examining the X-rays and MRIs of his newly admitted patients.

When he saw Yang Ping enter, he was surprised: “Why are you here, aren’t you supposed to be resting? I’m on the wards, don’t worry!”

Yang Ping sat next to him: “It’s fine, I had enough sleep. I came over to see if we have a new patient.”

“It’s a case of an unstable right knee joint. A month ago, the patient had a history of dislocating the right knee joint, a PCL-A[L-M], ACL-P[L-M] injury, along with instability at the patellofemoral joint. Professor Zhang admitted the case. He said that you’d be able to handle the surgery without any issues. He has absolute confidence in your skills.” Song Zimo explained the condition of the newly admitted patient.

“It’s truly a PCL-A[L-M], ACL-P[L-M] injury!” After checking the scans, Yang Ping concluded that this case was even more severe than Su Nanchen’s patient.

“How should we proceed? Step-by-step surgery or a single-phase procedure?” Song Zimo asked.

Yang Ping responded: “Complete it in one go!”

“Can we proceed with the surgery in one go? Is it feasible?” Song Zimo was still unsure. This surgery was quite complex. Without experience with at least a hundred such operations, it would be challenging to master the balance control required for successful reconstructive procedures aiming to restore knee joint stability. Stability hinged on balance.

Where would Yang Ping go to get experience with a hundred such surgeries? He was well aware of the standard of sports medicine at the City People’s Hospital. It was a mere trickle. Even the few cases they encountered each year were handled by First Attached Hospital.

“Why divide a procedure that can be done at once? Are you complaining about a lack of surgical opportunities?” Yang Ping scoffed at him.

Song Zimo had hit a dead-end, but he didn’t care. He was already beaten black and blue; a few taunts couldn’t hurt him anymore.

Yet Song Zimo cautioned, “It’s challenging to master this balance.”

As young people, it’s easy to get carried away. He knew he too sometimes needed someone to keep him grounded.

“If the balance isn’t correctly established and revisions are needed, it would be troublesome. The options for the selection of tendons are not good,” Song Zimo pointed out.

“Relax, completing the surgery in one go is actually better as it offers better control over balance. Division of the procedure is the helpless choice of those whose skills are not up to the mark. We certainly don’t need to resort to that,” said Yang Ping, nonchalantly.

“What about that little girl?” Yang Ping recalled.

Song Zimo answered, “I checked up on her during rounds. She’s doing quite well.”

“I’ll go and check on her. You continue analyzing this patient’s scans.”

Ping went alone to see the little girl, who was playing with a Rubik’s cube. She was surprisingly fast with the 3×3 cube.

“You are so good at this! You can solve the Rubik’s cube so quickly!” Yang Ping complimented her.

“I’m not good. I lost to that big brother,” the little girl said, looking upset.

“Which big brother?” Yang Ping asked.

“The really tall one, taller than you,” the little girl described.

She must be talking about Song Zimo. Song Zimo can solve Rubik’s cubes? But then again, is there anything Song Zimo can’t do?

“I’m practicing now so that I can beat him. One day, I will defeat him,” the little girl said confidently.

“Are you going to be the one to perform my surgery?” The little girl suddenly asked.

“I’m researching a plan to use an ‘invisible knife’ for your surgery. It won’t make you bleed nor cause any pain, but it will get rid of the fibroma in your body,” Yang Ping said, demonstrating with his gestures.

The corners of the little girl’s mouth twitched, as though she wanted to say something but refrained.

“Hmm! I believe you can do it. Because that tall brother said you’re the best doctor he has ever seen,” the little girl gave a thumbs-up.

“He was boasting!” Yang Ping replied in a disdainful tone.

“No, he wasn’t boasting. He said he could beat me with one hand on the Rubik’s cube. I thought he was bragging, but he really did beat me using only one hand. So, I believe him. You are the best doctor,” the little girl asserted.

“I was thinking, no matter how good a doctor’s skills are, people can’t live forever,” the little girl said thoughtfully, her chin in hand.

“Why not? If scientists crack the aging code, humans might well become immortal,” Yang Ping teased.

“Impossible! The Earth, the Sun, the entire Milky Way galaxy will eventually be destroyed. The universe itself has an expiration date. How could humans possibly live forever? At best, we can extend our lives a bit. If people could live forever, the Earth would become overcrowded and eventually collapse under the weight. If these people choose not to have children, then they would be too selfish. Why not give new life a chance?”

Yang Ping looked at her in surprise. Was this the thought the process of a nine-year-old?

“Ding dong! Reward of thirty-eight thousand points. Extra points for palliative care task!”

The system sounded unexpectedly.

It seemed that this task was not limited to nerve root blockage. The bronchial intubation for the pneumothorax case and the endoscopic hemostasis were also included as task contents, although the latter two were under stealth mode.

Thirty-eight thousand points, Yang Ping laughed. Truth be told, he was more concerned with gaining points in the system than earning money in reality, almost dozens of times more.

Since participating in the rescue of the tumor patient, Yang Ping now wanted to unlock thoracoscopy, laparoscopy, gastroscopy, even interventional procedures, at least to a perfect level. However, since the challenge for sports medicine was not yet conquered, advancement to the next level was locked. He had to take one step at a time.

Before the Golden Knife Award, he had to unlock the entire orthopedics skill tree. The task was hefty, but it was a must.