Chapter 2049: Chapter 1376: Watching Others Perform Surgery Always Feels Easy (2)

Little Fatty was in charge of suctioning blood and irrigation, and from time to time passed instruments. His movements were very quick too—just as Director Bai stretched out his hand, the instrument he wanted was already in his palm.

The three of them worked together with perfect tacit understanding, smooth as flowing water. After all, they had been cooperating for so many years.

Xiao Li stood off to the side watching, his eyes full of envy. He finally understood why these three Fattys could form a single Medical Team. They didn’t just share a similar body shape; their cooperation was like one organism, each person knowing exactly what the others were going to do next.

Yang Ping stood a bit farther away, watching in silence. His gaze stayed on Director Bai’s hands, and every so often he would look up at the numbers on the monitor.

"The exposure is good," he suddenly said.

Director Bai’s hands paused for a beat, then moved even faster.

That was Yang Ping’s recognition. Although it was only a few words, to him it was more important than anything.

The most difficult part had arrived: reconstruction of the acetabulum.

Director Bai put down the instrument in his hand and took a deep breath. Beads of fine sweat had already seeped out on his forehead, and the Patrolling Nurse quickly used Gauze to wipe it for him.

"Professor Yang," he turned his head to look at Yang Ping, "I’m getting ready to work on this dome."

Yang Ping walked over and stood next to him, looking down into the depth of the surgical field at that shattered joint surface.

"Watch your angle," he said. "Around thirty degrees, tap while checking the C-Arm."

Director Bai nodded and took the bone punch.

Because his fingers were thick and his palms fleshy, his hands were very strong; any instrument in his hands carried a powerful sense of force.

The C-Arm Machine was pushed over for fluoroscopy. On the screen, the collapsed acetabular dome appeared, like a little mountain that had been crushed.

Director Bai gripped the bone punch, aligned it to the right position, and gave it a light tap, as if lifting something heavy as though it weighed nothing.

"Okay, check the C-Arm."

Fluoroscopy; on the screen, the dome had been lifted a bit, but it wasn’t enough yet.

"One more time."

Director Bai took a deep breath, lined it up, and struck hard once.

Fluoroscopy; on the screen, the dome was finally raised to the proper position. The joint surface was flat, the angle perfect.

"Good!" Yang Ping said.

Director Bai let out a long breath, his hands trembling slightly. That was the aftershock of tension, and also the joy of success.

They moved on to the next step: reconstruction of the posterior wall.

He picked up the pre-contoured plate and compared it with the position. This plate had been bent before the Surgery, with Yang Ping personally guiding the shaping; the curvature was just right.

"Put it on and try," Yang Ping said.

Director Bai placed the plate on the bony surface, checked it, and adjusted the angle a little. Then he picked up the screw holder and began inserting screws.

One, two, three.

The position of every screw had been planned out before the Surgery. What he had to do now was turn that plan into reality.

The Nurse beside him kept handing over instruments; Little Fatty held a retractor in one hand and the Suction Device in the other, constantly clearing away the blood; Fatty kept pulling on retractors. In the Operating Room there was only the ticking of the monitor and the occasional murmur.

Three hours later, Director Bai put down the last instrument.

"We’re done."

He lifted his head and looked at the images on the viewing box. That shattered pelvis had been pieced back together with plates and screws, restoring the shape it ought to have.

"C-Arm!" Yang Ping said.

The C-Arm Machine was pushed over again for fluoroscopy. On the screen, the freshly completed Surgery was displayed clearly for everyone to see.

The dome reduction was good, the joint surface smooth. The posterior wall plate was in an accurate position, and the screw lengths were appropriate. The anterior and posterior pelvic rings were firmly fixed, and the sacroiliac joint reduction was very satisfactory.

"Good," Yang Ping said another word.

Director Bai looked at him and asked, "Is that acceptable?"

Yang Ping nodded. "Yes, you can close."

Director Bai finally broke into a smile, the grin blooming across his chubby face like that of a child who had just been given candy.

Fatty and Little Fatty also started laughing; the three of them standing at the edge of the Operating Table looked like three Budai Buddhas.

During closure, the three of them started their usual bickering again.

Fatty said, "Director, when you brought that bone punch down just now, my Heartbeat practically stopped."

Director Bai said, "Your Heartbeat stopped? My heart was about to jump out of my throat."

Little Fatty said, "I was watching from the side and didn’t even dare breathe, afraid that one breath would blow that dome crooked."

Fatty said, "With your one-eighty-kilo breathing, you really could blow something crooked."

Little Fatty said, "You’re heavier than me, your breathing is even worse."

Director Bai said, "Both of you shut up. I’m two-thirty. My breathing is the worst, but I didn’t breathe—I held it in."

The three of them bantered back and forth, but their hands never stopped, movements smooth and fluid.

Ever since Sanbo Hospital underwent major reforms, even though Director Bai was already over forty, he kept studying hard so that he wouldn’t fall behind; as a result, his skill level had improved a lot in recent years.

Yang Ping stood to the side watching them, a smile at the corner of his mouth the whole time.

When they finished suturing, he walked over and glanced at the wound. The closure was very neat, the skin edges well-approximated, and the Drainage Tube was in a proper position.

"Not bad!" he said. "This Surgery can score ninety points."

Fatty’s eyes lit up. "Only ninety? What’s a hundred then?"

Director Bai said, "One hundred is when Professor Yang does it himself."

Yang Ping froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

The Surgery was over.

The Patient was wheeled out of the Operating Room and sent to the ICU. The family members were waiting at the door; when they saw the door open, they rushed up.

"Doctor, how is it?"

Director Bai took off his mask and said, "The Surgery went very smoothly. The rest depends on recovery."

The family’s eyes reddened. They grasped his hand and thanked him over and over.

Director Bai waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me, this is our job."

He paused, then added, "But you family members also need to cooperate. Postoperative rehabilitation is very important."

The family members nodded repeatedly.

Back in the Resting Room, Director Bai plopped down in a chair, which creaked under the strain.

Fatty handed him a bottle of water; he took it and gulped down half.

Little Fatty asked from the side, "Director, how do you feel now?"

Director Bai thought for a moment and said, "Tired, but it feels great."

Fatty said, "That’s a very accurate assessment."

Yang Ping sat beside them, looking at the three of them, and suddenly asked, "Are you three always this relaxed usually?"

Director Bai was taken aback. "Relaxed how?"

Yang Ping said, "Cracking jokes while doing Surgery."

Director Bai thought about it and said, "Not really. It’s usually even worse. We toned it down today because you were here."

Fatty nodded. "Yeah, usually we even dare to roast the Director."

Director Bai glared at him. "You didn’t hold back roasting me today either."

Little Fatty snickered on the side.

Yang Ping laughed.

He stood up and said, "Alright, I’m heading back."

"If there’s any problem after the Surgery, we’ll come to you," Little Fatty said.

"Ptooey ptooey ptooey!" Director Bai shot Little Fatty a glare, then hurriedly stood up. "Professor Yang, I’ll walk you out."

Yang Ping waved his hand. "No need, you rest."

After Yang Ping left,

There were only three people left in the Resting Room.

Fatty suddenly said, "Director, when you brought that bone punch down today, I really thought you were going to knock it off target."

Director Bai glared at him. "Can you say something pleasant for once?"

Fatty said, "I wasn’t finished. In the end you hit it dead on. Right then I thought, the Director really is the Director."

Director Bai laughed. "That’s more like it."

Little Fatty said, "Director, that plate you put in today was insanely accurate too, matched the pre-op plan perfectly, no gap at all."

Director Bai grinned proudly. "Of course. I studied that plan for so long before the Surgery—how could it not be accurate?"

Fatty said, "That’s why I feel so at ease when you’re the one doing the Surgery. Watching other people operate always feels kind of airy and unreliable."

Director Bai froze for a second. "Are you complimenting me or what?"

Fatty said with a straight face, "Of course I’m complimenting you, Director."

Little Fatty laughed like crazy on the side.

Director Bai started laughing too, and the chair creaked loudly under him.

To be fair, in Orthopedics their team was the most relaxed and funny one. Whether it was the attending Director or the junior Doctors, they all got along in an especially easygoing way.