Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Hemostasis and Farewell
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"Scissors."
At Lee Jun's command, Go Gi-jin placed the surgical scissors in his hand.
Lee Jun then took the forceps for gripping the skin and said to Go Gi-jin,
"Tell Manager Jang to keep the X-ray and ultrasound on standby without turning them off."
"Yes, bro."
Go Gi-jin responded and picked up the intercom wrapped in sterile plastic on the surgery room wall to relay the instructions to Manager Jang.
After setting down the intercom, Go Gi-jin asked Lee Jun,
"But bro, don't we gotta do the tests first or somethin'?"
Go Gi-jin had been dwelling on how Lee Jun said they'd take X-rays and then operate.
"You call this a time for tests?"
Startled by the unusually icy tone unlike his usual self, Go Gi-jin heard Lee Jun's sharp voice continue.
"You think we grab the patient during tests? We gotta stop the bleeding first, right?"
Only then did his old surgery nickname come to mind, and Go Gi-jin swallowed hard.
'Surgery room mad dog.'
It literally meant he turned into a rabid dog in the OR.
The usually kind guy transformed the moment he stepped into surgery.
Lee Jun tolerated not a single mistake in the OR.
His sole focus was saving the patient on the table.
"Y-yeah, that's true, but... we still don't even know where the bleeding's comin' from in the abdomen, ya know."
"You gonna just leave it like this? Mosquito."
The owner of that bone-chilling voice, Lee Jun, located the torn vessel amid the hemostatic sponges Go Gi-jin had packed and called for the forceps.
"Got it."
Go Gi-jin handed over the forceps, and Lee Jun extended his hand again.
Go Gi-jin immediately passed him the needle holder, which was already clamped onto the prepared suture material.
Lee Jun sutured the vessel, and Go Gi-jin cut the suture with the scissors.
Their movements flowed as smoothly and swiftly as water.
Lee Jun said to Go Gi-jin,
"Remove the sponges starting from here."
"Gotcha."
As Go Gi-jin pulled out the hemostatic sponges stuffed into Coca's abdominal cavity bit by bit, blood began seeping back into the abdomen.
"Yeah, no way we can test like this. Where the heck's all this blood comin' from?"
"Just clear the sponges."
Lee Jun kept his hands moving nonstop, clamping hemostasis points with the mosquito forceps, and the bleeding was gradually slowing.
The vessel suture was done in a flash.
"Whew, now let's head to the exam room."
As they moved to the exam room, Lee Jun called out to Jang So-ra.
"Manager Jang! Prep this surgery room again!"
"Got it."
Hearing Jang So-ra's reply, Lee Jun let out a shallow sigh.
'If we had two ORs, we could've kept going without resetting. No, if we had enough imaging gear, we wouldn't even need two rooms.'
With just a portable X-ray and OR ultrasound, they wouldn't have to move now.
Lee Jun keenly felt the lack of equipment.
'And a fluoroscope would've been gold. There's definitely fractures too, but without fluoro, we can't touch those.'
Lee Jun's thoughts were interrupted by Go Gi-jin's question.
"Bro, chest first, right?"
"Yeah. Probably no big issues there. Focus on the spleen and bladder, and check the lumbar and pelvis closely too. Looks like lumbar fracture."
Lee Jun continued,
"Like the car tire rolled right over its back."
"Man..."
Go Gi-jin let out a long sigh.
"They say fracture pain's beyond imagination, so that's why it couldn't even pass out and just screamed."
"Yeah. With injuries this bad, it should've gone into shock already."
Lee Jun gazed sympathetically at Coca, who was still grimacing despite the sedatives.
"X-ray there. Then one more lateral shot."
"Bro's still got it, huh."
Whenever Lee Jun directed the positioning, the injury site showed up crisp and clear on the plates, earning Go Gi-jin's admiration.
"No escapin' the eagle eye, huh?"
Go Gi-jin mentioned another of Lee Jun's nicknames as he wheeled the stretcher back into the OR.
This time, Jang So-ra joined them too.
After changing into fresh surgical scrubs, they dove straight into the splenectomy.
"Scalpel."
"Yes."
"Gauze."
"Yes."
"Suction."
At Lee Jun's command, Go Gi-jin activated the suction to draw out blood while Jang So-ra poured saline from a 50cc syringe onto the suction site.
"See the spleen here?"
Lee Jun showed Go Gi-jin the spleen.
It already had a single suture stitch in it.
Definitely a bleed point.
"Whoa, when'd ya stitch that?"
They were staring at the same spot, same wound, but Go Gi-jin hadn't clocked it at all.
Sure, the hand speed was lightning-fast, but he hadn't expected a spleen bleed to be sutured already.
"Well, seal that up and the bleeding stops, yeah."
"We're doing a splenectomy, so watch the monitor close."
Meaning keep eyes on the patient monitor tracking heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, etc.
"Got it."
Lee Jun resected the spleen in a blink and spoke.
"Check for super bleeding."
Go Gi-jin pressed gauze to the wound to check for oozing.
"Nothin'."
" vitals?"
"Blood pressure's still low, but otherwise stable."
"Massive blood loss, can't be helped. Close the abdomen and wrap it up."
Jang So-ra handed Lee Jun the abdominal drain tube, which he inserted in seconds before finishing up.
"Whew, crisis over for now."
"Bro, what about the urethra thing?"
"Too tough here. Ultrasound suggests urethral detachment, needs precise tests. Gotta check spine connection too. Can't touch urethra detachment or fractures here."
Fully aware of the equipment and staffing shortages, Lee Jun drew the line.
"Yeah, makes sense. With lumbar fractures and all."
"Right. Remember this: First thing, figure what you can do and what you can't in the situation. No scalpel on ego or bravado."
Lee Jun's face had returned to its cold composure.
"Yes, got it."
"Manager Jang, where's the owner heading?"
"To Mami Animal Medical Center. Been there twice before."
"Okay. Contact Mami for transfer prep, and patch me through to their surgery team lead."
"Yes."
"Go, keep monitoring."
"Yes."
Moments later, connected to Mami's surgery team lead, Lee Jun explained the situation.
"...So we had to remove the spleen. Bladder looked okay on X-ray and ultrasound, but urethra's iffy—looks detached. Suspect L7 fracture too. Please check bladder viability because of that... and hindlimb paralysis."
Lee Jun uttered the last part with difficulty.
-Got it. We'll call back later.
Ending the call with the advanced hospital left a bitter taste in Lee Jun's mouth.
He thought back to old days when teams handled surgeries.
One team on thorax, another on abdomen, then straight to fracture fix right after.
Rare, sure, but that's how they'd saved many lives.
Key point: those were rare cases.
That's why Lee Jun never minded running the clinic solo.
Sure, Go Gi-jin helped now.
Go Gi-jin was famed for large animal surgeries, but small animal ops solo? Still a stretch.
'Emergency hemostasis to minimize loss, then X-ray, ultrasound, CT all at once. Resect ruptured spleen, transfuse heavy. Urethra detachment after vitals stabilize; trouble's the lumbar.'
Coca's L7 vertebra, meeting the sacrum, had snapped, dragging the sacrum downward.
"With C-arm for real-time fluoro, confirm screw and pin placement, fix the bone, cement it secure..."
After transferring Coca to Mami, Lee Jun reviewed the surgery footage while mentally simulating the upcoming fracture op.
He'd always done this since school.
Post-good surgery: why it succeeded. Post-mistake: what went wrong, his fault?
Never repeated errors.
That meant bloody hard work.
Thud.
Lee Jun turned to see a cool coffee on the table.
"Here ya go. Grabbed it from the shop up front."
"Thanks."
Lee Jun sipped the coffee, then refocused on the monitor screen.
Muttering to himself, deep in concentration—Go Gi-jin gave a wry smile at the sight.
Always like this after a suboptimal surgery.
Having seen it plenty, Go Gi-jin spoke up.
"I still can't figure how ya hemostased that fast, bro. If ya hadn't shown up then, that pup..."
Go Gi-jin shook his head side to side.
"True, but quicker action could've cut blood loss. Better outcome, smoother next surgery."
"Aw, c'mon, faster than you? X-ray? Even with fluoro, ya couldn't find it that quick. Abdomen fulla blood like the Han River—how? Who spots a spleen hole like that?"
Go Gi-jin chugged his coffee and continued.
"Nobody. That's why the pup's still breathin'—all thanks to you."
Lee Jun knew it, but regrets lingered.
"Can't swing CT yet, but gotta get a C-arm."
As Lee Jun resolved to invest in gear, a pleasant pressure hit his legs.
First right, then both.
"Hm?"
Looking down, Gray hugged his right leg, Shadow the left.
"What're you guys up to? Bored?"
[Don't be sad, bro. Coca's grateful, nyang.]
[Coca's thankful.]
Before the cats finished, Go Gi-jin spoke.
"What else? They see ya down, so they're comfortin' ya, ain't they?"
Lee Jun scooped up the cats and eyed Go Gi-jin.
"You understand them?"
"Gotta? Just look and ya know."
Lee Jun chuckled at the confident Go Gi-jin.
"You really get animals, huh."
"So buck up, bro. Ya did your best."
"True."
"Right? Finish that coffee, change outta those scrubs. Dang, wring 'em out and ya get a bucket."
Only then did Lee Jun look down at his clothes. Not just clothes—his whole body was soaked in sweat.
***
A week later, Lee Jun got a call from Mami's surgery team lead.
"...I see."
Lee Jun's voice held no strength.
-The owner was grateful, though. Said you bought time for goodbyes.
"I see. Thanks for letting me know."
As soon as Lee Jun hung up, Go Gi-jin approached.
"The pup... didn't make it?"
"Haa... Passed last night."
"Man..."
Go Gi-jin drooped his ears and continued.
"Breaks my heart every time. Just hope it went painless."
"Yeah, hope so."
Lee Jun sighed.
'If we'd done all surgeries at once...'
Probably still tough.
Then...
'If I'd met it once before, warned about cars...'
Could he have prevented the accident?
The "goodbye" words echoed.
How hard for Coca facing its owner?
For the owner sending it off?
Kongdori left over 10 years ago, still aches.
Lee Jun recalled the pained Cocker Spaniel and murmured low.
"If they gotta go so young, at least painless, full belly, healthy life—wouldn't that be great?"
"Yeah."
Jang So-ra sighed too, silence blanketing the clinic.
Even the cats sighed.
As no one spoke, cats' ears perked suddenly.
The door opened, people entered.
"Hello, about last week's Coca..."
"Welcome."
Lee Jun nodded, greeting the guests.
Coca's owners.
"Just heard. Coco went to the Dog Star."
"Yes."
"Must be devastating."
"Yeah. Raised it 10 years, house feels empty."
"..."
The man spoke; the woman just bowed her head.
"Came to thank you."
"Thank?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, Director, we got to say goodbye to our dog. Truly grateful."
"...Thank you, Director."
The woman, head bowed till now, bowed to Lee Jun.
"Thanks to you, we had a few more days with Coco. Won't forget this kindness. Mami's director said if you hadn't done emergency surgery, it'd have gone right then."
"Still, thanks to you, we looked in its eyes, said our piece. But..."
The man continued, then looked up.
Gotta be thinking of Coco.
"Gonna miss it long time."
Then it happened.
Cats went to the owners, hugged them.
"Oh!"
The woman startled, then smiled through teary eyes.
"Gray, thanks. Comforting auntie, huh?"
"Ah, you two are Gray and Shadow."
The man recognized them, petted the cats.
[It'll live well at the Dog Star, nyang.]
[It went happy!]
"Yeah, yeah."
"Thanks."
The owners drew comfort from the cats' warmth.
After the owners left post-long stay, the phone rang.
Jang So-ra answered, then told Lee Jun.
"Director, equipment vendor's here—can they visit now?"
The gear company Lee Jun called to fix shortages.
"Tell 'em to come."
Go Gi-jin lit up at Lee Jun's reply.
"Finally unsealin' our bro. Fast now, but with C-arm? How much faster?"