Illusion Blind Date - Chapter 38

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 38

“The Chief filled you in, right? Make sure the surgery prep is solid before you head in.”
“Yes, sir!”
The corners of Yun Geon’s mouth twitched upward.
He was simply smiling—this Yun Geon who’d sparked his jealousy and played no small part in his resolve—and Tae Moon found himself oddly drawn to that sincerity.
Bland kid.
“You like going into the OR?”
“Yes, sir! I do.”
This year’s batch of interns all seemed obsessed with surgery.
Spring included, as did Yun Geon and Lee Ro Un.
Tae Moon’s gaze shifted to Ji Moon, who stood vaguely beside him.
What about this one.
So he asked.
“And you.”
“Me? Sir?”
A small laugh escaped him at the sight of those large, rolling eyes playing at innocence.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, I’ll be watching the ward for you.”
This kid—who’d rejected the path of his uncle, a lawyer, to follow Tae Moon into medicine, who’d chosen medical school out of determination—would likely harbor fierce resolve despite what the words suggested.
“If you clock out early, go home and do some cleaning. Got it?”
“Ah, well… yes, sir.”
Tae Moon laughed quietly and turned to leave.
But what was that sound.
Through the crack of the open Medical Department door came Spring’s excited squeals.
Cute ones.
Guessing she was just fidgeting happily, Tae Moon stepped away from his thoughts of her and moved on.
It was time to set Spring aside for now and focus on the surgery.

***

Tae Moon entered the Operating Room and gave a light bow to those waiting with all preparations complete.
In his surgical gown and gloves, Tae Moon moved to the Surgeon’s position.
Yun Geon gave a quick nod to Tae Moon upon seeing him. The resident serving as third today was visibly tense.
“Vital Signs are stable. You may begin surgery whenever ready.”
The first-year Fellow serving as first informed Tae Moon that all preparations were complete.
“Thank you. Then we’ll begin.”
A Liver Transplantation from a Living Donor typically takes four to five hours.
Rather than Open Surgery, which would leave a large scar, they would proceed with Laparoscopy.
A son had chosen to donate his liver to his father, who could no longer have the organ function due to liver cancer.
Liver Transplantation suffers from a severe shortage of Brain-Dead Organ Donors, so over eighty percent proceed with Living Donors.
Tae Moon planned to resect sixty percent of the son’s Right Lobe. The resected liver would then be transplanted into the father.
“Scalpel.”
Tae Moon began the surgery.
Four small incisions were made, and the Laparoscopic Instruments and Surgical Camera were inserted through the ports.
Yun Geon, holding the Surgical Camera to illuminate the interior, was following along carefully, visibly tense.
But as this was a Hepatectomy, the weight of responsibility seemed to impede smooth progress.
“Move the camera down a bit more.”
The focus wasn’t sharp, and the image wavered.
Tae Moon considered swapping hands with the third-year O Seung Tae but decided to observe a little longer.
At Tae Moon’s words, the Fellow’s eyes hardened instantly.
Tae Moon spoke in an even tone to Yun Geon, who trembled and shrank slightly.
“You’re doing well. Yes, just like that—keep coming in.”
Yun Geon’s shoulders relaxed a little, confidence taking hold.
The liver lies just beneath the Diaphragm, behind the ribs, and is attached to the Diaphragm that forms the boundary between thorax and abdomen.
Tae Moon began the work of separating the Diaphragm and surrounding tissue from the liver.
The quiet Operating Room was filled only with the sound of machinery.
Some Surgeons preferred to play music during procedures, but Tae Moon favored silence.
The sound of the Operating Room door opening reached his ears as he worked with such focus.
It was likely a Resident or Fellow coming to observe the surgery.
Being watched was something he’d grown accustomed to.
Tae Moon’s eyes gleamed as he thought only of the patient.
“Proceeding with Gallbladder removal.”
First, he removed the Gallbladder at the center.
“Clamp.”
He ligated the Right Hepatic Artery and Right Portal Vein with clips.
“Syringe, please.”
Next, he injected the Fluorescent Substance. After confirming that it had entered the left lobe, he marked the demarcation line.
“CUSA. Proceeding with Hepatectomy.”
He released the clamp and resected along the demarcation line.
Cleanly and precisely, sixty percent of the liver had been resected. He then severed the right hepatic artery, portal vein, and Bile Duct, cut through the right hepatic vein, and sutured the remnant back into place.
“Scalpel.”
“Bovie.”
He then made an incision above the pubic symphysis and extracted the liver contained in the vinyl pouch through that opening.
Tae Moon placed the extracted liver on ice at four degrees Celsius and immediately flushed it with Organ Preservation Solution.
In the meantime, the Fellow anastomosed the upper pubic region, and Tae Moon connected the Artificial Blood Vessel to the resected liver.
“Artificial Blood Vessel, please.”
After rinsing all the blood from the organ with preservative solution, he completed connecting the Artificial Blood Vessel to both veins of the resected liver.
Tae Moon caught O Seung Tae’s eye across the room.
“Take it to him right away.”
“Yes, sir!”
The young, vital son’s liver would be safely transplanted into his father.
He watched as O Seung Tae carefully carried the liver in the preservative solution out of the room.
“I’ll handle the closure, sir.”
The Fellow, who had already completed the initial sutures, offered to finish, but Tae Moon shook his head.
“No. I’ll do it.”
The patient’s Vital Signs were stable. Anesthesia had given the all-clear signal as well.
Filled with respect for the son who had given his own organ for his father, Tae Moon began the final closure.
Meticulously, he did his best to ensure that the patient would have no complications in the life ahead.
“Cut.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Tae Moon bowed respectfully and exited the Operating Room. The surgery had gone flawlessly.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
From behind, Yun Geon called out again with even greater volume.
It felt like a silent plea to let him assist in the next surgery.
A surgeon obsessed with the craft, devoted to his patients.
Yun Geon was born to be a surgeon.
Tae Moon offered a faint smile before leaving the Operating Room.
Now it was time to meet with the family members waiting in the Waiting Room to hear the results.

***

As the clock neared eight in the evening.
Tae Moon only began preparing to leave once he’d seen the patient who received the Liver Transplantation safely emerge from the Operating Room.
It was just as he was changing clothes in the Research Office and getting ready to go when a knock sounded at the door.
Tae Moon lifted his gaze toward the door.
“Come in.”
A moment later, the door cracked open a palm’s width, and a face he hadn’t expected to see peeked around the edge.
Tae Moon slowly closed and reopened his tired eyes.
Was he seeing things?
“Um, Professor? Is it all right if I come in?”
The small, careful voice was no hallucination.
“Come in.”
Tae Moon smiled warmly and took a step toward the door, his heart quickening at the thought of greeting her.
The fact that she had come to see him first lifted his spirits.
As Tae Moon approached with broad, eager strides, his eyes narrowed at the murmuring voices he heard from behind the door.
“Can we come in too?”
“Don’t push me.”
They were voices she recognized.
“The professor’s coming in.”
“Really?”
Over Bom’s head, they popped up one by one like meerkats — a parade of faces.
Bang Soo Ho, Ji Moon, and Yun Geon.
The house residents.
Lined up in order of height.
“Ugh, stop pushing.”
Watching Bom flail under their weight, Tae Moon’s body instinctively moved to intervene.
“You’ll hurt her. All of you, back up.”
At Tae Moon’s quiet command, they seemed to understand instantly and stepped back in turn.
Bom opened the door fully and slipped inside first.
As the others filed in one by one behind her, Tae Moon let out a low chuckle.
With all four of them lined up, the Research Office felt cramped.
Tae Moon, who’d been briefly excited thinking Bom had come alone, habitually rubbed the bridge of his nose and regarded them with the expression of a man wondering ‘How am I going to manage this?’
“What brings all of you here?”
At his question, Bang Soo Ho gestured toward Bom and spoke.
“It’s still before dinner, isn’t it? Bom made a lunch box for you.”
Ji Moon and Yun Geon set what looked like lunch boxes on the large table with barely contained anticipation, swallowing hard.
Bom looked up at him, her eyes shining brightly.
At the sight of her proud expression, a laugh escaped him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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