The Enhanced Doctor
Chapter 31 - 031 Happy, spin around

Chapter 31: 031 Happy, spin around

The path to the operating room wasn’t far, but Liu Banxia felt as if he was about to exhaust all his energy in such a short time.

Why? Because I’m holding on to a slick, damaged blood vessel, not a flimsy grass rope. The patient’s vital signs are only temporarily stable; the blood vessel hasn’t been repaired yet.

The journey to the operating room was bumpy as Shen Lin and Xu Dan pushed the gurney. He had to concentrate intensely, ensuring he kept a firm grip on the opening of the blood vessel without causing further damage to the patient’s other organs and tissues.

"Why is it you?"

Upon arriving at the operating room, Liu Banxia found Qin Hai already in a surgical gown, holding up his hands while a nurse helped him put on gloves.

"The patient is the priority. I’m not done with you regarding today’s incident," Qin Hai muttered. "Everyone, pay attention. Move the patient. On my count: one, two, three, move!"

At Qin Hai’s command "move," everyone carefully yet swiftly lifted the patient onto the operating table.

"Anesthesia, suction! Liu Banxia, keep holding it steady!" Qin Hai ordered.

Liu Banxia was taken aback. This was the first time he had seen Qin Hai in the operating room. He seemed somewhat different from the Director Qin he usually encountered in the emergency department.

Qin Hai operated with such seriousness, skillfully using his hemostatic forceps, that Liu Banxia felt a pang of envy.

"Alright, I’ve clamped it. You can release your hand now; let’s see," Qin Hai said after suctioning for a moment.

Liu Banxia released his grip. Seeing that the patient’s vital signs remained unchanged, he finally, truly relaxed.

DING! Gained 20 experience points and 5 points in Diagnostics skill proficiency.

"What are you still standing there for? Get out. Don’t contaminate the sterile field," Qin Hai said to Liu Banxia nonchalantly.

Liu Banxia was frustrated. He had wanted to ask Qin Hai if he could re-scrub and return as first assistant. But after Qin Hai’s dismissal, it was clear that wouldn’t happen.

Is Qin Hai planning to perform the surgery alone?

"Preliminary assessment: Grade 2 splenic laceration and a ruptured colonic mesentery. We’ll repair the spleen first, then the damaged splenic artery. 3-0 sutures."

As Liu Banxia was walking out, he heard Qin Hai’s voice from behind him.

Regret washed over him. He’d only observed a splenic repair with Shi Lei once. If only he hadn’t shouted at Old Qin in the emergency department today! He might have been able to scrub in on this one.

"Doctor Liu, how’s the patient?" Xu Dan asked eagerly when she saw Liu Banxia emerge from the operating room.

Liu Banxia smiled. "He should be fine. Grade 2 splenic laceration, ruptured colonic mesentery, and then some vascular repair will do it."

"YEAH!"

Xu Dan struck a victorious pose, beaming, and the nearby nurses were also overjoyed.

"Hurry up and change. You’re all covered in blood," Liu Banxia said once their initial celebration subsided.

"Oh, no wonder it smells so strongly of blood in here!" Xu Dan exclaimed, startled. Glancing down at her blood-stained clothes, she mumbled an excuse and hurried off.

This patient had lost a tremendous amount of blood. How many units were transfused in the ER? The path to the operating room was now dotted with bloodstains.

Without a second thought, Liu Banxia found a mop and began cleaning the hallway. He didn’t want to trouble anyone else this late at night, especially since people might slip on the bloodstains if they weren’t careful.

He was still inwardly exhilarated, his movements almost comically energetic as he mopped the floor.

"Huh? Boss, what are you doing here?" Just as he rounded the corner, he saw Shi Lei standing right in front of him.

"You’ve got some nerve," Shi Lei glared at him. "I rushed over as soon as I saw Xu Dan’s message. How’s the patient?"

Liu Banxia tossed the mop aside, enveloped Shi Lei in a bear hug, and spun him around in a small circle.

"You—! Let go of me! What do you think you’re doing? Let go!" Shi Lei stammered, starting to panic.

Liu Banxia paid him no mind. He was ecstatic and just wanted to spin. Not only had he saved a life, but he had also overcome a significant internal hurdle. He was determined to keep spinning; whether Shi Lei yelled, protested, or struggled, Liu Banxia wouldn’t stop.

"TSK-TSK. What are you two up to? Quite the high-level maneuver, eh? TSK-TSK."

Liu Banxia, still reveling in his spinning, heard a teasing voice from nearby.

He skidded to a halt and saw several people standing in the hallway: Li Mingwu, the Deputy Chief Director and also the head of cardiac surgery; Chen Jianyong; Wang Chao; Liang Xiaolin, with whom he’d had a past disagreement; and several residents and interns.

Even though Liu Banxia was still excited, he felt a wave of awkwardness at having such an audience for his... enthusiastic interaction with Shi Lei.

"Ah... haha! Hello, Chief Director Li!" Liu Banxia chuckled. "Did you have to operate on that other patient yourself?"

"Initially, that patient only showed signs of abdominal effusion. Later, we found a ruptured pulmonary vessel was the cause. Director Li had just come out of surgery when I dragged him over. Thankfully, both mother and child are safe now," Chen Jianyong explained with a smile. _{free\we,bnovel.c o(m)}

"But what on earth were you two doing, Shi Lei? I thought you’d gone home. Couldn’t bear to be away from your protégé, Shoutian, so you had to rush back in the middle of the night?"

Shi Lei rolled his eyes. "It’s all because this kid here got too cocky."

Liu Banxia scratched his head sheepishly. "I had just finished suturing another patient’s head wound when a critically injured man was brought in. He’d pulled a metal rod out of his own abdomen. The situation was so critical, I had to perform an emergency laparotomy in the trauma bay and manually occlude the bleeding vessel with my fingers."

DING! Shi Lei’s "Worry" task progress: 40%. Reward: 200 experience points.

"My God, seriously? You actually managed to occlude it?" Wang Chao asked, astounded.

Liang Xiaolin, who had been observing him with a cool gaze, also started in surprise, her eyes widening.

Being in the same profession, they all understood the immense difference in difficulty between manually pinching a blood vessel shut with one’s fingers and clamping it with a hemostat.

Forget Wang Chao; even Chen Jianyong had never attempted such a feat. He now deeply admired Liu Banxia’s audacity—the kid had nerves of steel.

"Yes, I occluded it. Director Qin is repairing the spleen and splenic artery now," Liu Banxia confirmed with a nod.

"Haha, Shoutian, congratulations!" Chen Jianyong’s eyes lit up. He naturally understood that Liu Banxia’s daring act signified he had overcome his psychological barrier.

"What’s the story here?" Li Mingwu asked, his curiosity piqued by their expressions.

It was Shi Lei’s turn to explain. After all, Liu Banxia was under his wing. He then recounted the incident from the other day in the Emergency Department involving the rescue of the pregnant woman.

"Actually, Doctor Liang was there too; she arrived with the pregnant woman and was also involved. This kid here wasn’t even as composed as Doctor Liang. He was so troubled by it that he nearly gave up on general surgery." As he finished, Shi Lei clapped Liu Banxia on the shoulder.

"So, you’re that resident physician," Li Mingwu remarked, looking intently at Liu Banxia, his words carrying a significant undertone.

Liu Banxia tensed. Connecting this to Director Jiang’s earlier words, he realized it was indeed about him.

Liang Xiaolin felt a similar wave of apprehension.

If Shi Lei hadn’t brought up that incident, she would have just been a mildly surprised bystander and moved on. But hearing him mention it, her mind immediately flashed to the wound on her waist and Liu Banxia’s... inappropriate touch.

At this thought, a flicker of annoyance crossed her face, and she shot Liu Banxia another glare.

The others, unaware of what had transpired between Liu Banxia and Liang Xiaolin, were quite moved by Shi Lei’s account. Apart from the new interns, most of them had faced similar challenging experiences in their careers.

The longer one worked as a doctor, the more such experiences they were bound to accumulate.