Chapter 86 - TOUCHED AN ARTERY

???? Extra Characters:

1. Blue Girl - junior resident 

2. Wen Minghua - Original's ex-fiance

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"Prep her for OR." Luo Jingyi removed her gloves right after performing emergency resuscitation to a pregnant woman who was shot in her lower abdomen. The woman was discovered by the EMTs on site inside the trunk of a flipped vehicle that was among the vehicle pile-up.

"Dr. Yao, you'll be my First Assistant, and—" Luo Jingyi scanned the faces, "Blue Girl, you'll be my second." Dr. Tang's face darkened considerably when she didn't hear her name. She'd been following and assisting Luo Jingyi the whole day to be closer to her. After what she did, mistaking Luo Jingyi as the country doctor who came from the countryside, she needed to earn brownie points.

But now Luo Jingyi chose another who graduated from a mediocre university. She couldn't accept that. "Dr. Luo, I have more OR experience than Dr. Yao. Why can't I be your First Assistant?"

Luo Jingyi, who was giving further instruction to the head nurse, lifted her head and looked at her. "That is the reason, questioning your superior's decision. On top of that, anyone who can't even attach an endotracheal tube has no place in my OR." 

Luo Jingyi's words directly smashed Dr. Tang. She'd seen Dr. Tang's action in the ER, and she made a lot of mess. On the other hand, Dr. Yao was very focused and responsible. Any attending would be confident to leave a patient in Dr. Yao's hands.

Moreover, Luo Jingyi didn't like people who looked down on another person because of their family background. She'd observed Dr. Tang the whole time, and almost everyone was trying to put up with her high and mighty behavior in the hospital. Even her bedside manner was crass. Luo Jingyi witnessed first hand how Dr. Tang spoke to a patient's mother impudently. She sneered a lot at the patient. To Luo Jingyi, these were all a big no-no. 

"But it was because…" Her words tapered off…" It's because of her." She pointed to Blue Girl. "She gave me the wrong tool."

The people who were used to Dr. Tang's behavior in the hospital shook their heads. As always, Dr. Tang was going to blame someone. But how could she blame Blue girl, who handed her the standard equipment for intubating? They all thought Dr. Tang was really an idiot.

"Stop blaming other people for your own mistake. Better go back to Med school and study the basics." Luo Jingyi said it straightforwardly. She didn't like people who put the blame on others too. 

Luo Jingyi hadn't noticed that Dr. Tang's face turned scarlet with her words. Seeing the gazes the other staff were throwing at her, she wanted the ground to crack open so she could hide. 

No longer paying attention to Dr. Tang, Luo Jingyi faced the head nurse. "There might be a need to perform a C-section. Get a pediatrician and obstetrician in OR-5 now."

"Yes, Dr. Luo." The head nurse hurried out. Everyone left the trauma bay except Dr. Tang. She was gritting her teeth in anger.

…..

After scrubbing, Luo Jingyi entered the operating room with hands and forearms still wet. A scrub tech handed her a sterile towel to dry her hands and helped her into a surgical gown. As she neared the operating table, she saw a familiar face. A face she'd rather not see around inside her OR. 

"What are you doing here?" Luo Jingyi snapped at Wen Minghua. Like Luo Jingyi, he had scrubbed, and he was wearing a surgical gown. 

Flashing her a grin, Wen Minghua spoke c.o.c.kily. "I'm going to be your First Assistant." His answer made Luo Jingyi's forehead puckered. 

"What happened to Dr. Yao?" The question was directed to Blue girl. Of all the people inside the OR, she was the only one she's familiar with. The rest, it was her first time working with them. 

"She's in the bathroom. Diarrhea." Blue girl answered. 

The line on Luo Jingyi's forehead intensified. Dr. Yao was completely fine fifteen minutes ago. How did she suddenly have diarrhea? Luo Jingyi's eyes flew to Wen Minghua. She had a suspicion he was to be blamed for Dr. Yao's sudden predicament. 

Even if Luo Jingyi wanted to send Wen Minghua outside, she didn't. There's a patient at the moment, and she was more critical. She'd deal with Wen Minghua later when everything was over. 

Without paying attention to Wen Minghua, she moved to the operating table and spoke in a voice that everyone could hear. "This is your first time working with me. I have only two rules inside my operating room. First, save the patient at any cost, and second, I won't tolerate any mistakes. If you feel unconfident of yourself, you can step out right now."

Luo Jingyi waited to see if anyone was leaving. When nobody moved, she continued, "Let's start then." Everyone gave the nod. When the anesthesiologist gave the signal, a scrub tech handed the scalpel to Luo Jingyi. "Blue girl, what are we going to do?"

Blue girl cleared her throat first and answered confidently. "We need to perform an emergency laparotomy. The patient has a bullet entrance wound in the lower abdomen, but there's no exit wound. We need to gain access to her abdominal cavity to assess the extent of her injury."

Luo Jingyi nodded in agreement. The procedure started with Luo Jingyi making an incision on the skin. Minutes later, they found a gunshot injury to the uterine fundus. 

As they were clearing out the blood clots discovered in the abdomen, blood suddenly burst out. That was after Wen Minghua touched an artery. "Are you stupid?!" Luo Jingyi glowered at Wen Minghua. 

"I must have touched—"

Luo Jingyi ignored him and dealt with the bleeding. "Keep the pressure on." She ordered Blue girl who was quick enough to get gauze sponge to absorb the blood pooling out. 

Wen Minghua was standing on the side, frozen while Luo Jingyi and Blue girl worked together. "Forceps..towel clip.." The scrub tech handed the tools in succession as she paid attention to Luo Jingyi and Blue girl. She couldn't help admiring Dr. Luo's calm demeanor, but she was outwardly detached.