Plague Doctor

Chapter 313: Mid-Surgery

The needle head of the electrode was metallic so it could conduct heat. Through pulsation of a radiation beam, it would heat up the suture point. At that moment, Xie Yiman’s trigeminus was being destroyed by the needle heated up to 80 degrees Celsius. Her brain felt like it was melting. The worms lashed out in response. Everything culminated in a ball of impossible pain. The doctors and nurses watched over her. Gu Jun glanced at the time on the RFL machine, there were still 40 seconds left to her first session. 90 seconds never moved so glacially. The cries of the patient gnawed at their hearts.

Suddenly, Deng Ximei let out a yelp, “Something’s not right!” As if proving her point, the assessment stone around Xie Yiman’s wrist glowed faint red. However, none of the doctors felt anything, unlike the operation during the Nightmare Illness lobotomy, this mental assault appeared to only affect the patient. Gu Jun focused his eyes. This was at least evidence that the surgery was working!

The thought was shared by the people at the headquarters. Excitement charged the air in the surgical room. A surgical accident was not positive, yes, but something more awful would be a lack of response. However, it was still unknown whether this was a good or bad response…

“Prepare the Ancient Seal!” Gu Jun ordered calmly. Wu Siyu instantly led a team to sign the Ancient Seal onto the patient. Xie Yiman shrieked louder. Her mental corruption faded but her heart rate and blood pressure rose. Uncle Dan reminded Gu Jun nervously of that detail.

“Yiman, hang in there, there’s only 10 seconds more…” Gu Jun gripped Xie Yiman’s trembling hand as he looked frowningly at the timer on the RFL machine. The number on the timer was dropping but the number on the patient’s vitals was rising. Si Kouxian ordered, “Ready the anaesthesia, 4 ml Disoprol and 4 ml Sufentanil.” Even though Gu Jun decided on the surgery method, Si Kouxian was the main surgeon. It was the main surgeon’s responsibility to adjust to the changes that would occur during the process of surgery, so it had been decided pre-op that Si Kouxian would jump in to handle these kinds of emergencies.

“Come on, just 5, 4 more seconds…” Gu Jun did not wish for the use of any anaesthesia but he understood the peril Xie Yiman was in. Just as the nurse was about to inject the anesthetic into the patient, the RFL machine beeped, the first session was over.

“Hold the anaesthesia.” Si Kouxian halted the nurse. If the anaesthesia was applied, they would not get any answer from the patient and that would greatly influence their assessment of the surgical result. They checked Xie Yiman’s vitals. Thankfully, they all started to drop back towards normal level.

“Ah…” Xie Yiman sucked in a breath. She uttered with tears. “Doctor Gu, I can’t do this anymore, it’s too painful…”

“But you have to!” Gu Jun patted her hand. “The pain is there because it is effective. When this is over, the itchiness will be gone.” After the patient’s emotions stabilized, Si Kouxian and Zhang Jingsong stepped forward to inspect her right face and enquire about her sensory situation. The surgery tried its best to prevent harm to the nervus ocularis, so the intended effect was facial anaesthesia. Xie Yiman could not provide a clear answer. It felt numb and the pain had faded somewhat but there was still some itchiness.

“I can sense the worms, they are crawling…” Xie Yiman choked out. “Doctor Gu, they are going to crawl all over my body.” The swelling on her right cheek grew bigger but the erythema did not spread. Would the surgery cause the mutation of her skin disease to spread like Xie Yiman claimed? No one knew, for these ‘worms’ only existed in her mind. The doctors had no physical evidence to support or deny her claim.

“They are just trying to scare you.” Gu Jun said. He suspected these worms feed on their host’s despair and fear. “If they are that powerful, you’d be dead already.” Logic was worthless at the moment, it was better to give the patient hope, to provide her with the will to live. Gu Jun knew how much Xie Yiman valued her career, so he promised, “Yiman, I have a wish to be a director. If I have the time in the future, would you play my main female character?” The others knew that his words were meant for encouragement. Naturally Gu Jun would not have any free time to direct a movie in the foreseeable future.

“Can I have a cameo role?” Wu Siyu chimed in, “I have the acting itch too.”

“Sure, I’ll write you into the script.” Gu Jun nodded. He made it sound like the movie was already underway. If one day he really had that time, then he’d live by his promise, but who knew when that day would come. In any case, the back and forth between the two gave Xie Yiman a lot of hope. She could already see the Phecda movie in her mind’s eyes. “Of course, it’ll be my honor….”

After a small break, the second session came. Giant pain engulfed Xie Yiman again, shattering her will and exhausting her mind. However, with the promise that Gu Jun had given her, she fought on. The dreams she had, it kept her going, she refused to die just like that…

“Ah…” Xie Yiman gritted her teeth. Her eyes were bloodshot. Be it pain or itchiness, she would survive this!

“Hang in there.” Gu Jun gripped her hand tightly. He wished he could share in her pain.He did not wish to see a living person perish on the surgical table before his eyes after suffering such intense pain. He swore to save this patient.

The air in the room solidified from the high tension. The second and third session ended. The electrode was removed. Then blood clotting agents and cold baths were applied on the surgical areas. Half of Xie Yiman’s face swelled. The sense of pain and touch on the right side of her face was gone. Her teeth felt as heavy as stone. The itchiness on this side of her face appeared to have dwindled or at least that was what she felt…

“Okay, we’ll proceed with the other side.” Gu Jun nodded at the main surgeon. They adjusted the machine and prepared to perform the surgery on the left side of Xie Yiman’s face. Normally, the surgery would not be performed consecutively but the patient’s condition did not allow them time to wait. The earlier procedure was repeated on the other side. Just as Gu Jun was about to press the start button, Xie Yiman suddenly gasped nervously, “Captain Gu, wait, I think I see someone…” Her determination swayed, “It… it’s a girl. The girl with the flaking face. I’ve seen her before… She’s in my mind, watching me…”

Gu Jun instantly stopped to look around. So did Uncle Dan and Deng Ximei. The rationality assessment stones did not react.

‘Tian Yi is here? She’s mentally-connected to Xie Yiman’s?’

Cai Zixuan was the first to notice the change. He whispered urgently to Gu Jun so that the patient would not hear him, “Tycoon Jun, the erythema on her face is spreading!”

…

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