As Much as Their Tears
A day had passed since the daughters of Duke Esmael arrived at the Beauty Tower. And now, on this Sunday morning, it was finally time for the main surgery.
“Did you sleep well?”
“……Yes.”
“You didn’t eat or drink anything before bed last night?”
“That’s right, Baron. Just as you instructed, I didn’t have anything before bed the night before, and not even water since waking up this morning.”
For double eyelid surgery, I usually performed most procedures under local anesthesia. But after yesterday’s consultation, I’d sensed an excessive level of fear in Lady Sharyl regarding the surgery, so I changed the plan to general anesthesia.
General anesthesia required eight hours of fasting for intubation, which meant we couldn’t proceed right away. That’s why we were only getting to it now, on Sunday.
“Good. The surgery, including recovery, should take about an hour generously. As I mentioned yesterday, only Lady Sharyl can enter the operating room, so Lady Jasmine, please wait outside.”
“Sister……”
“You’ll do great, Sharyl.”
Jasmine gazed tenderly at her sister and pulled her into a warm embrace. Before heading to the operating room with me, Sharyl led her back to the consultation room. We weren’t quite done with pre-op preparations yet.
“Um, just as you said yesterday, Baron…… I removed all my earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. And I changed into the dress the maid gave me—”
“Not a maid—a nurse.”
“S-sorry. The clothes the nurse gave me. It feels really awkward.”
“You have to wear patient gowns for surgery here. I know it’s uncomfortable, but bear with it just a bit. Alright, let’s start with face washing. Stella, help Lady Sharyl with that.”
“This way, please.”
As the surgery loomed closer, Sharyl’s fear seemed to surge; unlike her quiet demeanor yesterday, she was now chattering nervously.
At least she followed my instructions perfectly yesterday. Good thing.
The reason I tell double eyelid patients to remove jewelry beforehand is precisely this. We use electrocautery for hemostasis during the procedure, and for safety, we attach a grounding pad to the body. If there’s jewelry on, electricity can flow into it and cause burns if it doesn’t dissipate properly.
“Once you’re washed up, we’ll take some photos.”
“Ph-photos? Before the surgery even starts?”
Sharyl ducked her head as if her eyelid-less eyes were some shameful flaw.
“To show you the before-and-after changes. We’ll delete the immediate post-op shots, so no worries.”
“Ah, I see.”
Click—click-click—
I snapped front and side profile shots alternately, displayed them on the monitor, and began the real design work.
Patients usually decide at this stage: in-line, in-out line, out-line, or bring a celebrity photo saying, “Make my eyes like this!”
But from yesterday’s consult, Sharyl wanted eyes like her sister’s—ones that screamed family to anyone who saw them.
Stroke—scratch-scratch—scratch-scratch-scratch—
In a solemn, almost reverent atmosphere after the shots, I compared photos of Jasmine’s eyes from yesterday and marked Sharyl’s eyelids meticulously.
Design complete, we headed straight to the operating room.
“Stella, get Lady Sharyl on the bed and start the IV.”
“Yes.”
Stella positioned Sharyl on the prepped surgical bed and adjusted the lights. I administered propofol through the IV line Stella had set up, speaking softly to the still-trembling Sharyl.
“Take a deep breath and sleep. When you wake, you’ll have eyes just like your sister’s.”
“Pl-please take good care of mEEEE……”
Known as milk injection, propofol knocks you out in seconds. That’s the essence of sleep anesthesia. But like sleep, a poke or hit can wake you—and the same goes for propofol.
“Stella, let’s intubate.”
“Yes.”
We opened the mouth of the now-slumbering Sharyl and inserted the endotracheal tube. Unlike sleep anesthesia, general keeps you out even through incisions and suturing. The bigger difference? No spontaneous breathing. So before propofol wears off, Stella supplies anesthetic and oxygen through the tube.
There might be some throat soreness post-op, but it’s unavoidable. She’s such a nervous case. Not everyone’s as fearless as Ravi or Walter.
I prefer local for double eyelids myself. Eyes are dynamic structures—you need to check openness during surgery, and the fold depth when open, to ensure symmetry.
That depth determines lash lift.
Under general, you can’t verify that interactively; it’s all database and skill.
For rhinoplasty, no need for “close nostrils” cues, but eyelids require: “Open your eyes, close, look up, down, close, squeeze and open,” etc., to match symmetry and depth.
But don’t worry—she’s in the hands of a living semiconductor machine.
Slice—
Confirming full anesthesia, I swiftly incised with a #15 blade.
Swoosh—
Then dissected skin, underlying orbicularis muscle, and conjunctiva in order.
Zip—square-square-square—
Grasping the orbital septum below with a small forceps, I incised and opened it with scissors.
Riiiip—square-square-square—
Carefully snipping, I removed the yellow orbital fat inside.
“Needle holder.”
Finally, with only conjunctiva left, I took the needle holder from Stella and began suturing it to the muscle and skin.
This bonds conjunctiva to skin, forming the double eyelid.
Swoosh—scratch—swoosh—scratch—
I sutured upper and lower layers meticulously.
A standard double eyelid would end here. But I have a witch.
“Stella, healing magic.”
“Yes.”
Her healing mended the sutures, but intubation kept the general anesthesia going.
“Removing stitches now.”
“Yes.”
As prepped, Stella handed me a #11 blade and forceps.
All I needed now: sharp eyes and steady hands. I’ve got both.
Some patients under local jerk their heads at stitch removal pricks. No issue here.
Snip. Pull—snip. Pull—snip. Pull—
With watchmaker precision, I removed every stitch.
“Healing magic again.”
“Yes.”
Healing magic makes surgery a breeze—like upgrading from flip phone to smartphone, or texts to KakaoTalk.
“Good work. To recovery now.”
“Yes.”
Exiting the OR for recovery, Jasmine—hands clasped in prayer—stood at our sight.
“Sh-Sharyl! Are you okay?”
“Calm down, Lady Jasmine. Surgery went perfectly. With residual anesthesia, she’ll need 30 minutes to two hours recovery. That’s still part of the process, so wait in the 9th-floor inpatient room where she stayed yesterday.”
Seeing her fidget as the gurney wheeled her little sister away showed just how much she cherished her.
“Baron…… is the surgery really done?”
About 30 minutes in recovery, Sharyl began stirring.
“Of course. It turned out great.”
Even I let out a soft gasp seeing her new double eyelids for the first time awake.
But joy’s best shared with family.
“Stella, teach her breathing and coughing exercises? Faster to bring Lady Jasmine here.”
“Yes. Lady, to minimize post-general effects like atelectasis or pneumonia from mechanical ventilation, here’s a breathing exercise……”
Leaving Stella’s explanation, I headed to Jasmine in the 11th-floor lounge.
Told her 9th floor, but predictably here.
“B-Baron, our Sharyl……!”
“She’s awake. Let’s go to recovery.”
“Did the surgery go well? Any pain?”
Even en route, Jasmine fired questions.
“No pain. See for yourself. This way.”
Creak—
Opening recovery, Jasmine rushed to Sharyl’s bed.
“Sharyl! Any pain?”
“Sister!”
“Sh-Sharyl! Your…… ey-eyes!”
“……Why? Did it go wrong? What’s wronggg.”
Jasmine covered her mouth, unable to hide her shock, filling Sharyl with anxiety.
Understandable—she hasn’t seen the results yet.
“Check for yourself. Here.”
“Ah!”
Sharyl’s trembling hand took the mirror I offered.
“Sister…… now we look just alike. Like real family……”
Tears welled from eyes now mirroring her sister’s.
“Don’t be silly, Sharyl. We’ve always been family. I love you, my sister.”
“I love you, Sister.”
Watching their tearful embrace, my heart warmed too.
As much as their tears, my pockets were bulging.
Double eyelids, huh. Good intel. Time to advertise eastward.