The vital signs on the monitor stabilized. The heart rate dropped to 110 beats/min, and the blood pressure held steady at 95/65 mmHg.

The norepinephrine infusion rate had been adjusted to a safe range.

The surgery hadn’t gone smoothly, but the girl had pulled through in the end.

This was a tremendous relief.

Everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The circulating nurse stepped forward and helped untie the straps of Jiang He and Yang Xu’s sterile surgical gowns.

Yang Xu said to Liu Jianbang, "Old Liu, she’s all yours now. Transfer her to the ICU and follow the standard post-op protocol for severe pancreatitis. Make sure her drainage tubes stay clear."

"Don’t worry, I’ll oversee it myself." Liu Jianbang glanced at the girl on the operating table, then at Jiang He. His expression was complex, and he looked as though he wanted to say something but held back.

Yang Xu didn’t linger. He turned and walked out of the operating room.

Jiang He took off his surgical gown as well and followed Yang Xu.

The motion-sensor doors slid apart, and the two men walked out, one after the other, to the scrub sinks in the hall.

The operating room corridor was empty and silent in the dead of night.

Yang Xu pressed the foot pedal, and warm water streamed from the faucet.

He dispensed a pump of soap and began meticulously scrubbing his hands and forearms.

Jiang He walked to the adjacent sink and did the same.

They washed their hands side by side, neither speaking at first.

The sound of rushing water filled the air...

A few minutes later, after arranging the patient’s transfer, Liu Jianbang also came out. He went to the sink at the far end of the row to wash his hands.

Yang Xu turned off the water and pulled two paper towels from the dispenser beside him. Wiping between his fingers, he said, "Old Liu, that surgery tonight... one close call after another."

Liu Jianbang froze for a moment, then turned to look at Yang Xu.

Yang Xu continued, "When the celiac trunk started hemorrhaging, the situation was critical. Thank goodness I brought Jiang He along. I applied pressure to the vessel to control the bleeding, and had him follow my fingers to get a feel for the area and pass me the needles and sutures. Even though we were working blind, our coordination was perfect. We managed to get the bleeding under control in the end."

Liu Jianbang, of course, understood the subtext of Yang Xu’s words.

He got the message. Dispensing some soap and lathering his hands, he nodded repeatedly. "You’re right. In a situation like that, anyone else would have lost control. It was so critical. For Jiang He to stay calm under pressure as an assistant and help you complete the procedure according to your instructions... he’s truly a promising young talent."

It wasn’t just Liu Jianbang. The anesthesiologist and the scrub nurse, who had also been in the operating room, had reached the same silent understanding.

They were all accustomed to matters of life and death in the operating room. They understood better than anyone what a miracle had just occurred in those few short minutes.

A third-year college student had just snatched a life from the Grim Reaper’s grasp.

In this room, thick with the smell of disinfectant, they were all comrades-in-arms, bound by the life they had just saved.

Their unspoken decision to remain silent stemmed from a simple, shared desire.

They had to protect this miracle, and in doing so, protect this gifted young man.

—In the future, he would surely save countless more lives.

Jiang He dried his hands and tossed the paper towels into the trash can.

He watched Yang Xu’s reflection in the mirror, a flicker of emotion stirring within him.

’Letting me operate tonight... my mentor shouldered an immense amount of pressure.’

’If something had actually gone wrong, he, as the chief surgeon, would have faced unimaginable trouble...’

’A human life hung in the balance—a principle easy to acknowledge, but difficult to uphold.’

’For a director-level doctor, someone who has seen so much death, very few would have done the same. Self-preservation is the norm.’

Just last year, in November of 2007, an incident in the Capital City involving the death of a pregnant woman had caused a national uproar.

The woman was suffering from severe pneumonia complicated by heart failure, and she needed an immediate C-section.

However, the woman was in a coma, and the man claiming to be her husband adamantly refused to sign the surgical consent form.

The doctors strictly adhered to the medical regulations of the time: no family signature, no surgery.

In the end, both the woman and her unborn child died.

After the incident came to light, it triggered a massive public outcry across the country. The hospital faced a firestorm of criticism from all corners of society.

A fierce debate also erupted within the medical community itself.

Rules versus lives—which was more important?

Perhaps there was no single right answer, but at least Yang Xu’s philosophy was clear:

’Rules are rigid; people are flexible. He couldn’t live with himself if he stood by and did nothing while someone was dying.’

’Besides, the surgery was a success. The patient was saved.’

’In the face of a life that was saved, any breach of protocol could be justified.’

’He really is a good and compassionate doctor.’

"Old Liu," Yang Xu said, turning to Liu Jianbang, "This is how I’m going to write the surgical report: ’Intraoperative exploration revealed a ruptured splenic artery pseudoaneurysm, resulting in massive hemorrhage and an obscured surgical field. The chief surgeon, Yang Xu, applied precise compression to achieve hemostasis while working blind. With the assistance of his aide, he successfully completed the deep vessel suturing and debridement of necrotic tissue.’"

A surgical report is a legally binding medical document.

There was nothing wrong with how Yang Xu phrased it.

Jiang He *had* assisted, after all. As for the specifics of that assistance—whether it was passing scissors or holding the needle driver to suture—no outsider could possibly know.

Furthermore, Yang Xu’s hand had been applying pressure to the vessel the entire time. According to the literal wording of the report, he was the one at the absolute center of the operation, performing the compression and guiding the suturing.

This protected both Yang Xu and Jiang He without being an outright lie.

Even if the medical affairs department came to review the case file, they would find a surgical report that was perfectly compliant and utterly flawless.

If the department were to discuss this rare case internally in the future, Yang Xu could even present it as a teaching case on ’unconventional procedures during an emergency.’"

"Understood." Liu Jianbang nodded and dried his hands. "You’ve put a lot of thought into this, Director Yang. I’ll go escort the patient. They should be wheeling her out any minute now."

Liu Jianbang turned and headed into the locker room to change.

Only Yang Xu and Jiang He remained in the hallway.

Yang Xu leaned against the sink and asked, "Were you scared back there, at the table?"

With a calm expression, Jiang He shook his head. "No."

Yang Xu couldn’t help but chuckle.

’This student of mine... he’s a real monster.’

’His skills were like those of some old master who’d spent decades at the operating table, and his composure was almost unnervingly steady.’

’That must have been why I trusted he could pull it off.’

’And sure enough, he didn’t let me down...’

’From now on, he’s more than just my student.’

’He’s also my... comrade-in-arms.’

Yang Xu said, "Alright, go get changed."

Jiang He nodded. "Okay."

The two of them walked into the locker room.

Jiang He stripped off his scrubs and tossed them into a blue laundry cart in the corner.

The hospital was chilly and quiet in the early morning hours.

He walked out the door of the surgical wing’s locker room and into a long hallway.

At the far end of the hallway was the family waiting area.

Jiang He walked beside Yang Xu, heading toward it.

The young man and the girl’s parents must be enduring the longest, most agonizing wait of their lives.

Good news had already been delivered.

For a surgeon, the walk out of the OR after a successful operation was always deeply satisfying.

At times like this, Jiang He always felt like he was glowing.

He thought to himself, ’Somebody, cue my theme music!’