Chapter 59: Let's Begin Surgery (2).

Is he... flustered?"

"Yeah, for real. I can tell just by looking at his face."

It's considered a virtue not to step on the shadow of the lead surgeon...

Are these guys just uneducated, or did they miss out on Confucian teachings? So rude.

Huh?

Don't they know that telling someone they're flustered just makes them even more flustered?

"Shut up! Get me some gauze!"

Of course, I was an exception.

I snapped at them, and immediately, the troublemakers shrank back.

"Uh... how much?"

It was only natural that they took me seriously—I was dealing with a patient whose nose was bleeding profusely.

And worse, I should have anticipated this, but I didn't.

Aren't the nose and mouth connected?

The blood was starting to spill into the mouth as well.

"Damn it! Just bring all the gauze you can find!"

"O-okay!"

That meant the blood could potentially block the airway—the passage leading to the lungs.

If the patient weren't under anesthesia, they might at least be able to cough. But since they were anesthetized, they couldn't even do that.

If this gets any worse... I might have to do a tracheotomy.

It would be great if I could monitor their oxygen saturation, but...

Of course, there was no such technology available.

All I had was my own visual assessment.

The problem? I had never been trained to estimate a patient's oxygen levels by sight.

In fact, I didn't even know if such a skill existed.

Still, if I had to make a guess, the best indicator would be the lips.

If they start turning blue... I'll have to cut immediately.

I could already imagine the uproar—

"How the hell did you do that?!"

Or maybe—

"You dare to cut a man's throat?!"

I could see it coming.

But I couldn't let a patient, my patient, die because of my mistake.

"Fire! Get me some fire, damn it!"

"Uh, uh... oh...!"

I was so panicked that I started swearing.

It wasn't unusual.

I used to have a reputation as a hot-headed surgeon.

Looking back, I do feel a little guilty... But back then, I wasn't even sure if I'd become a professor, and I was exhausted from pulling all-nighters cleaning up other people's messes.

That temper of mine hadn't completely disappeared.

Even Colin, who wasn't part of my team, got so nervous that he hurriedly brought the flame closer.

"Good job, Pyung."

Dr. Robert, on the other hand, seemed to approve of my attitude, giving me a thumbs-up.

This wasn't the time for that, though.

Maybe he was so used to surgeries involving heavy bleeding that this didn't faze him.

If only his skills matched his composure, that would've been reassuring. But they didn't, so it wasn't.

"Alright. Gauze!"

Thanks to my outburst, Colin got his act together.

He held the flame so close that both the patient and I were at risk of getting burned, but at least I could now see the blood flowing down the back wall of the nose.

Splat.

As soon as I spotted it, I shoved the gauze in.

For a moment, I worried that using such rough material might make things worse, but what choice did I have?

If the blood reached the throat, the patient would suffocate.

The good news?

The patient was still breathing.

It looked a bit strained since their nose was blocked, but at least they were managing through their mouth.

"Whew."

I let out a relieved sigh.

Holy shit...

I almost let out a whole string of curses.

"Why were you in such a rush?"

"It wasn't even that much blood."

"Still, when you yell like that, it makes you seem kind of charismatic, little bro."

I felt my anger flare up again.

Am I the only one here who understands the urgency of this situation?

Huh?

Do these guys not understand how important the airway is? Or do they just not realize that nasal bleeding can flow backward into the throat?

I didn't know for sure, but my guess was simple: they were just ignorant.

After all, this was an era where medical knowledge was... lacking.

Damn fools...

The worst part? They acted like they knew everything.

Look at them.

Giving me looks like I had overreacted...

As if seeing all that blood pouring out was no big deal.

"Hand me the gauze."

"O-oh, here."

At least they listened.

Thanks to that, I was able to shove even more gauze into the patient's nose.

Originally, I had planned to operate on both sides, but after stuffing the gauze in, that idea vanished.

If I plug up both nostrils with this thick gauze... the patient might actually die.

The gauze was ridiculously thick.

I had occasionally observed ENT procedures during my internship, and I remembered the packing out process—the day they removed the nasal gauze.

The patients screamed.

I couldn't believe how much gauze came out of those noses.

And yet, somehow, I hadn't considered that until now.

So, I decided to operate on just one side.

The sphenoid bone was the important part, right?

If the symptoms didn't completely disappear, I could always operate on the other side later.

My mind rapidly rationalized the decision.

"Whew."

Of course, I was a genius, so even while deep in thought, I executed the gauze-packing flawlessly.

When I felt like I had stuffed in more than enough, I removed the gauze I had hastily shoved into the mouth earlier.

"Let me see."

"Oh, here."

I took the flame from Colin and peered inside.

Fortunately, there was no more visible blood flowing toward the throat.

Now all I had to do was make sure the bleeding stopped.

"When do they usually remove the packing...?"

I racked my brain—two days seemed right.

But that's for skilled surgeons... maybe I should wait three? No, this gauze is basically a foreign object... and it's not sterile...

I had literally stuffed dirty fabric into a fresh wound.

Sure, the nasal cavity was naturally filled with immune cells, but still—risking infection?

Absolutely not.

I refused to let my patient die from a rotting nose.

"Two days. If it bleeds again, I'll repack it."

That was my decision.

I looked up and announced the surgery was finished.

"Looks like you did a fine job."

I wasn't completely sure, but I said it confidently.

After all, no one else here could have done any better.

"Oh... yeah, the stuff that came out of the bone looked awful."

Dr. Robert Liston clapped approvingly.

The others followed suit.

Even Colin, still shaken, joined in.

Poor guy—he had never seen a surgeon go berserk mid-operation.

And never at him, at that.

There's a reason why surgeons and professors are so feared.

"Alright, next patient."

"Are you sure?"

"Huh?"

Dr. Liston gestured behind me.

I turned around—

Oh...

Cold sweat ran down my back.

Right... that was terrifying.

I had nearly lost a patient.

And as a doctor, if a patient nearly dies on your watch, you shouldn't be fine.

Especially not when it was my first time doing this kind of surgery.

"I... I'm fine. I should keep going before I lose my rhythm."

Physicall y, I was fine.

I'd done countless surgeries before—

A two-hour procedure wouldn't tire me out.

What did exhaust me, however, was these people.