Chapter 90

“M-mas… no, Professor.”

Yang Jaewon, so happy to see him, almost blurted out the wrong word and snapped back to his senses.

‘Hearing “Slave, Slave” all the time, it must’ve messed with my head.’

Fortunately, Kang-hyuk didn’t hear Jaewon’s slip.

That was thanks to the assistant nurse hanging up right after saying, “He’s doing his best, but the bleeding…”

She’d only gone to open up more silk ligatures.

But how could Kang-hyuk have known, without being clairvoyant?

He’d dashed over, worried the patient might have died.

“Huff, huff.”

He was now breathing so heavily it seemed like he might collapse.

“You bastard… you’re still fumbling with the [mesentery]?”
(T/N: A fold of tissue that attaches the intestines to the abdominal wall and supplies them with blood, nerves, and lymphatics.)

Even now, Kang-hyuk couldn’t help but scold Jaewon.

Progress was slower than he’d expected.

“Well, it’s… it’s cut in half…”

Jaewon spoke in a dying voice, pointing to the [mesentery] that had been pulled out.

Once a representative fatty structure and the first shield of the abdominal cavity, it now lay on the table, completely bloodless.

“Then just control the bleeding at the cut end and go in, right?”

Kang-hyuk looked fully recovered now.

He stood ramrod straight, inspecting the surgical site.

There were several spots he clearly wasn’t happy with.

“And why did you just leave this here? Trying to drain blood? Are you nuts?”

The spot Jaewon had been about to ligate was the most glaring.

He quickly clamped it with the [Kelly] he was holding.

Jang-mi, quick as ever, handed him a ligature.

Jaewon used his well-practiced tying technique.

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

Three precise knots in quick succession, each in a different direction.

So they wouldn’t come undone.

Just like the textbook.

“Cut.”

“Yes.”

Jaewon looked back at Kang-hyuk with an oddly proud expression.

The intern, too, did their best to cut the suture neatly, thinking they had to show something here.

But cutting a suture is something anyone can do.

“What are you staring at?”

But Kang-hyuk’s reaction was not what Jaewon expected.

“Sorry? But… I controlled the bleeding perfectly.”

“You did. But I don’t like it.”

“Huh?”

“Look over there. That spot. See what happens later.”

Kang-hyuk pointed to the spot Jaewon had tied right after all the blood had spurted out.

He’d been in a hurry.

He’d been clumsy.

“Whew…”

He hadn’t pulled the vessel out properly before tying it.

The knot was already loosening.

Not because the tie was bad, but because he’d tied a chunk of fat with it.

The slippery fat tissue was causing the suture to slip out.

“I’ll redo it!”

“No. Wait. Go to the assistant’s spot and wait.”

“Ah… yes…”

The command to move to the assistant’s position while the surgeon washed their hands.

It was unmistakably a sign of disappointment.

Jaewon’s face instantly fell.

Almost as much as when he’d thought the patient might die.

Jang-mi, knowing how he felt, offered words of comfort.

“Don’t take it too hard. Professor Baek is always super picky.”

She wasn’t just saying it.

Kang-hyuk’s assessments of other doctors were infamously harsh.

Even chiefs and famous doctors from other departments weren’t safe.

Considering his skill, though, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

Either way, getting scolded by him wasn’t something Jaewon should be disappointed about.

“But this was my first case… I didn’t do well enough…”

“You’d have to be a monster to get it perfect on your first try! The patient’s still alive. It’s not like you did nothing while waiting for the professor. Don’t you remember how it was when you pulled that thing out earlier?”

She pointed to the steel structure they’d set under the table because it was too big and ugly to leave on top.

It had been embedded deep in the patient’s abdomen.

When they pulled that out, blood had gushed out like crazy from the abdominal cavity.

Even though Professor had stopped all the bleeding from the skin, Jaewon had still panicked.

“It was no joke…”

“And you stopped it with just four packs? Honestly, if anyone else had done it, I think the patient would be dead.”

“I… I can’t say for sure.”

“Come on, you know it’s true, don’t you?”

“Well… a little?”

“See, there you go.”

Jang-mi was so good at consoling him, it made one wonder if she wasn’t actually a psychiatrist.

Thanks to her, by the time Kang-hyuk returned, Jaewon had completely pulled himself together.

“Professor, I already rinsed with saline.”

So, before Kang-hyuk could even give the order, Jaewon was ready with warm saline to irrigate the abdominal cavity.

That was only possible because Jang-mi had prepped it in advance and told him to do it.

If she hadn’t comforted him first, no amount of advice would have gotten through.

Anyway, it helped.

“Well, not totally useless, I guess. Any more bleeding?”

“It’s still coming from inside the [mesentery]… but nothing else. There’s some [oozing], though.”

“[Oozing] is still bleeding, isn’t it? Gotta stop that.”

Kang-hyuk spoke as he donned a surgical gown and gloves with Jang-mi’s help.

Jaewon quickly bowed his head to keep him satisfied.

“Yes. It has to be stopped. You’re absolutely right.”

“You little punk… anyway, Gangster! Hand me a [sharp mosquito].”
(T/N: [Sharp mosquito] is a small, fine-tipped surgical forceps.)

“Yes, Professor.”

“See? Gangster always has it ready and hands it over right away. That means she already knows this is the instrument to use.”

Kang-hyuk praised Jang-mi, then stabbed the [sharp mosquito] into the fatty tissue with its pointed tip.

Unlike how it looks, fat tissue isn’t elastic—it tears easily.

So if you poke and spread it, it just opens right up.

And, as if by magic, the troublesome blood vessel that had been causing issues revealed itself.

It was so easy that Yang Jaewon wondered if this was some kind of prank.

“If you find it like this and ligate it, there’s no way it’ll bleed.”

Kang-hyuk acted like it was the most natural thing, clamping the vessel with the [sharp mosquito] and tying it off with suture.

Not even a two-handed tie—a one-handed tie.

Yet, it looked much more secure than what Jaewon had done earlier.

“See? Just ligate the vessel, and it’s clean. Same with this spot here.”

Kang-hyuk went around, retying every site Jaewon had previously ligated.

To Jaewon, it felt like his own efforts were being denied, but he couldn’t protest.

Anyone could see these knots were far more secure.

“All right, let’s check inside now.”

Kang-hyuk pushed the now bloodless [mesentery] aside.

Other abdominal organs, hidden by thick fat, now came into view.

Considering the massive steel structure that had been embedded there earlier, it was surprisingly intact.

The [mesentery] absorbing enough force to be sliced in half was what had saved them.

“Seeing this, it’s hard to just tell patients to lose weight no matter what.”

The [mesentery] may be called that, but it’s really just fat.

The dreaded visceral fat everyone criticizes.

But in moments like this, it can actually be a lifesaver.

If the patient’s BMI was in the single digits, like a fitness athlete, they’d probably be dead.

The internal organs would have been shredded instead of the [mesentery].

“Yes, thankfully… only [blunt trauma]. No direct lacerations.”

Yang Jaewon, who had felt like he was walking on thin ice, finally managed to chime in.

He hadn’t been able to check inside in detail because of ongoing bleeding from the [mesentery], but the saline flushes gave him some idea.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

And, to his relief, Kang-hyuk’s opinion was no different.

Jaewon sighed in relief and continued.

“Should I just take care of the [oozing]?”

“Hold on. [Blunt trauma] is always trickier, especially in the abdomen.”

“Yes, yes.”

Kang-hyuk put off Jaewon’s hasty conclusion and continued exploring the abdominal cavity.

In abdominal injuries, [blunt trauma] can be much more dangerous.

There are organs that can rupture, after all.

Like the [pancreas].

“This is fine. If it had ruptured, the patient would be dead already.”

Kang-hyuk nodded, seeing the [pancreas] was intact.

He spent a long time carefully examining the organs.

Some might call it a waste of time, but it was a crucial step.

A doctor’s complacency always leads to a cold, harsh outcome—death.

If there’s one place where blind optimism is truly dangerous, it’s the operating room.

“Hmm. Good. If that’s all, let’s cauterize the bleeding spots and close up.”

“Whew.”

When Kang-hyuk finally said it was safe, Jaewon and the rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, and Jaewon.”

“Yes?”

“You did pretty well for your first surgery. For a first surgery.”

“What? Didn’t you just redo all my ligations?”

“You think there’s any knot stronger than mine? That’s obvious. The important thing is you kept the patient alive until I got here. That’s more than enough.”

“Oh…” (T/N: Waiiittt!!! Did this ever happen in the drama? Did he really praised Jaewon? I gotta watch this episode again!)

It was almost the same as what Jang-mi had said earlier.

Only now did Jaewon feel even the last bit of anxiety leave his heart.

Recognition from the doctor he believed to be the best in the world—of course it made him feel like he could fly.

‘Emergency OR 2, Code Blue.’

Just as Jaewon was about to leap with joy, an announcement blared from the ceiling speaker.

It was from the neighboring room.

The patient with both legs shattered was in surgery there.

“Code Blue?”

Kang-hyuk tilted his head, thinking about the meaning of the announcement.

‘Do they need CPR?’

[Code Blue] meant an absolute emergency.

How could a code blue occur during surgery for bilateral leg fractures?

Even if the patient had diabetes and open fractures, post-op issues would be the main concern.

There was only one thing that could cause such a serious problem during surgery.

Kang-hyuk rushed out of the OR, shouting,

“Jaewon! You finish up! Closing is easy, right?”

“What? Yes! But… are you heading next door?”

“Yeah! If we don’t move fast, that patient will die!”

“Why, why is there a code blue?”

Usually, a surgeon’s role is extremely limited in a code blue.

Unless it’s massive bleeding, medical (not surgical) intervention is needed.

Most surgeons don’t even know the real cause.

But that was only true for most surgeons.

“Pulmonary embolism!”
(T/N: A blockage of an artery in the lungs, usually caused by a blood clot, which can be life-threatening if not treated immediately.)

Kang-hyuk already knew the answer.

* * * * * * * *

(T/N: Still not back to a regular upload schedule, but I’ll be uploading at least 5 chapters per series every week, in order based on the most recent series I picked up. No fixed days yet, but I’ll keep the bulk uploads coming as best as I can!)