System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

October 14th, Thursday, the weather was drizzling, and the night had deepened.

Lu Cheng, who had just entered the elevator, immediately rushed out of the elevator to the first floor. To save time, he didn’t even go to the underground garage; he braved the rain on his electric scooter and hurried to Long County People’s Hospital!

Upon entering the emergency department, he brushed the drizzle off his body. Ignoring his wet hair, Lu Cheng dashed straight towards the surgical operating room.

Upon entering, he grabbed two sets of scrub suits, using one to dry himself and the other to wear.

Six minutes later, Lu Cheng arrived at Operating Room 7 in the surgical building. As he stepped through the pneumatic door, four or five heads turned in his direction.

”Director Du,” Lu Cheng announced his arrival.

”Wash up and get on stage,” Du Qiang’s voice was mild yet undeniable. He barely glanced at Lu Cheng before lowering his head and continuing the surgery.

As Lu Cheng turned around, Fang Baorui and Dou Siyuan, who stood by Du Qiang, were both buzzing with astonishment.

They exchanged glances and saw confusion in each other’s eyes.

Wasn’t it said that Du Qiang was at odds with Lu Cheng from the emergency department?

Wasn’t it rumored that Director Du had shattered a desk corner during Lu Cheng’s shift?

Wasn’t it said that Director Du wanted to make things difficult for Lu Cheng?

How come a single phone call from Director Du had brought Lu Cheng into the operating room in under fifteen minutes?

Which of the hospital rumors is true?

There was no one to answer the questions in their hearts.

The operating room and obstetrics department are gathering places for gossip, and the circulating nurse Cao Yingying, unclear about the actual situation, spoke up, ”Director Du, this Dr. Lu, did he?”

”Did he really come?”

Du Qiang couldn’t have made the call himself while on the operating table; having a circulating nurse make calls is routine in the OR.

The operating room is one of the fastest places for gossip to spread; by the day after Lu Cheng’s previous shift, the tale of Du Qiang the macho shattering his office desk had already circulated in the operating room.

Everybody knew that Lu Cheng might be somewhat unlucky, being targeted by the general surgery director; would he have a good time thereafter?

Furthermore, the general surgery department often snatched surgeries intended for the emergency department. Surgeries like appendectomies, routinely carried out in the emergency department, were reclaimed by general surgery…

When Cao Yingying heard Du Qiang instruct her to call Lu Cheng, she felt a twitch in her brain, and upon seeing Lu Cheng come rushing over, she momentarily wondered if he was some kind of masochist.

Does he have a propensity for abuse?

Du Qiang couldn’t care less about her. To Du Qiang, if a circulating nurse is displeased, she can be replaced.

The hospital operates the same way, but Du Qiang is irreplaceable.

Two minutes later, Lu Cheng returned after scrubbing in and began washing hands and donning attire as usual.

After Lu Cheng got on the operating table, even the anesthesiologist Liang Huayao, who was worried about the patient’s vitals, couldn’t help but nudge his chair closer, curious to hear what Du Qiang and Lu Cheng would discuss.

Du Qiang asked, ”How about it? Can you handle this?”

Lu Cheng didn’t start the operation but asked, ”Director Du, what did you tell the patient?”

Du Qiang said, ”A friend of mine called me; otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked for you.”

”Are there any scans?” Lu Cheng asked.

”A CT was taken,” Du Qiang replied.

Turning around, Lu Cheng folded his arms and began studying the film intently at the viewer.

He stopped responding.

After about a minute and a half, Lu Cheng approached the operating table again: ”Hand me the hemostatic forceps.”

Liang Huayao watched as Du Qiang really did hand over his forceps to Lu Cheng.

But unlike the bizarre expressions from the general surgery’s Fang Baorui, Dou Siyuan, and the circulating nurse Cao Yingying, the seasoned Liang Huayao immediately discerned the unwritten understanding between Lu Cheng and Du Qiang.

His eyes roved between the two with an amused expression.

He quickly kicked his foot on the floor, moving his chair back to the anesthesia monitor, and urgently called the blood bank, ”Blood bank, blood, hurry…we’re losing the patient…pressure is at 75.”

Though it was actually 79, Liang Huayao slightly understated it to press the blood bank to act faster.

Lu Cheng took his position opposite Du Qiang. After accepting the hemostatic forceps, Du Qiang intended to explain something to Lu Cheng.

But Lu Cheng’s left hand pushed Du Qiang’s hand outward and then swiftly reached into the patient’s cluster of intestines.

Du Qiang did not speak, nor did he give the chiding that Fang Baorui and others had anticipated.

Hemostasis without visibility is highly challenging because you don’t know where the bleeding point is.

The pre-operative CT couldn’t accurately predict the bleeding point either, relying instead on your experience or other techniques to determine it.

Blind operation, blind exploration.

Of course, before Lu Cheng arrived, Du Qiang had already dealt with the visible bleeding points to the best of his ability, allowing Lu Cheng some exploration time.

Lu Cheng’s left hand moved around searching as if it were feeling for a hidden treasure, creating an air of mystique.

After a full three minutes, Lu Cheng’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if he sensed something. His right hand with the hemostatic forceps began to move along his left arm.

Seconds later, a crisp click sounded.

At that moment, the pneumatic door of the operating room opened, and an aunt shouted, ”Plasma and red cells have arrived.”

Liang Huayao and the circulating nurse had been waiting for this moment; they rushed to check and immediately began hanging the blood.

For a hemorrhaging patient, one fundamental point of rescue is transfusion. Without transfusion, the surgeon’s skills, no matter how good, are moot…

The result of an imbalance is undoubtedly insufficient surgical time.