Chapter 54: Suturing the Wound

Presently, Fang Ziyan had practically become the universal favorite throughout the entire Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

Several departments were actively competing and fighting over him.

However, Fang Ziyan was well aware of his own situation.

Whether it was neurosurgery or orthopedics, these were merely a fraction of the skills he possessed.

Only in the emergency department could he come into contact with a wider variety of patients in a comprehensive manner, and showcase his capabilities to the fullest extent.

Moreover, the most pressing issue for him at present was still obtaining his practicing physician license.

However, the time was approaching rapidly; it would not be long before he could take the practical skills examination.

Two months after passing that, he would be eligible to take the written examination.

Once he cleared both exams and secured his practicing physician license, it would truly be like a fish entering the vast sea or a bird soaring into the boundless sky.

Naturally, Fang Ziyan still had no intention of leaving the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

After all, his mother and younger sister were still here, so he would not consider leaving anytime soon.

By the time the surgery concluded, it was already close to noon.

Since Fang Ziyan had just come off a night shift and had been working overtime until now, he was indeed rather tired.

He returned to his office to tidy up his things and then headed home.

Jiang Xu had been waiting at home, feeling more than a little anxious.

After all, Fang Ziyan had not returned yet after such a long time today.

Yet when Fang Ziyan told her that he had performed a major surgery today and saved a person's leg, Jiang Xu's face bloomed with immense pride and a warm smile.

"My son is simply brilliant! A surgery that even those specialists were incapable of performing was successfully completed by you."

"Mom is so proud of you!"

"However, you still need to take care of your health; otherwise, how can you go on treating patients?"

"Have some food first, and then get some sleep."

Jiang Xu instructed, her tone laden with deep care and affection.

Knowing that his mother cared about him, Fang Ziyan quickly ate a little something and went to take a nap.

However, when he woke up in the afternoon, he discovered that his younger sister had actually returned.

Doesn't that mean Xu Qiushuang had also finished work?

Oh no, he hadn't gone to pick her up—would she be angry?

A trace of worry stirred in Fang Ziyan's heart, and he casually sent a message to Xu Qiushuang.

Yet she did not reply, which made Fang Ziyan feel rather uneasy.

By the time he woke up completely, it was already dusk.

Jiang Xu had finished cooking dinner and called Fang Ziyan over to eat.

After the meal, Fang Ziyan pondered whether he should go and see Xu Qiushuang.

In case she was genuinely upset, young women certainly needed to be coaxed.

Before Fang Ziyan could even reach a decision, his phone rang; it was a call from Zhu Zixiao.

On the other end of the line, Zhu Zixiao sounded extremely urgent.

"Old Fang, are you at home? Stop resting, get to the hospital right now. Damn it, we've got a massive influx of casualties!"

Zhu Zixiao was usually a very well-mannered person and rarely swore.

The fact that he was dropping profanities now clearly indicated that the situation in the emergency department was probably quite tricky.

Without wasting words, Fang Ziyan quickly threw on a jacket and asked as he walked toward the door, "What's the situation?"

"This afternoon, there were severe street brawls in several locations across Jiang'an City."

"Over a dozen patients have been sent to our hospital with battered and bleeding heads. With the night shift starting now, our manpower is completely insufficient, which is why I'm calling you."

"Alright, I'll be there right away."

Fang Ziyan nodded, a trace of solemnity settling on his face.

He turned back to wave goodbye to his mother to signal that he was heading to the hospital, then hurried out the door.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the public security environment in Jiang'an City was not particularly favorable.

There were even quite a few gang-like and organized factions in existence.

In order to fight for territory or over petty disputes of pride, they frequently arranged street fights.

A bunch of young hoodlums were truly ruthless, wielding massive cleavers and machetes directly.

Some of those blades were rusted to hell—veritable tetanus-inducing edges.

Consequently, the hospital's emergency department frequently received such patients, leaving the staff with no other recourse.

Moreover, ever since traversing into this world, this was actually the first time Fang Ziyan had encountered such a situation.

He vaguely remembered that around the neighborhood where he used to rent his apartment, there seemed to be some sort of gang.

Lost in thought all the way, Fang Ziyan nonetheless maintained a brisk pace and quickly arrived at the hospital.

The entire lobby of the emergency department was packed with people.

Those who couldn't find a seat simply sat directly on the floor.

A heavy, pungent smell of fresh blood permeated the air.

Scanning the room, Fang Ziyan spotted Yin Jing rushing over from nearby.

"There are a few patients with severe injuries; Professor Cao and Director He are currently inside rescuing them."

"The ones out here all have external trauma and need debridement and suturing. What do you think?"

Yin Jing was merely an intern physician herself.

She could handle ordinary debridement and suturing.

However, if cases were somewhat troublesome, they exceeded her capabilities.

Therefore, Fang Ziyan nodded without hesitation, "Alright, I'll take them."

With that, he swiftly changed into a white lab coat and followed Yin Jing into the debridement room.

The first patient was a young woman wearing a tank top, with wheat-colored skin and braided hair, possessing a unique, wild kind of beauty.

There was a laceration on her arm.

The wound was not deep, but it was relatively long, stretching across most of her arm, and seemed to have suffered secondary damage caused by tiny shards of glass.

"Tsk!"

Fang Ziyan clicked his tongue, "How did you manage to get hurt like this?"

The girl gritted her teeth against the pain, glanced at him, and feigned composure as she said, "I got slashed with a knife first, and then I punched him and shattered the window glass nearby."

Fang Ziyan nodded lightly.

"You guys fight this fiercely?"

"Aren't you afraid of being disfigured? What will you do if the wound doesn't heal properly?"

Hearing this, a fleeting look of despondency flashed across the girl's eyes.

Yet very quickly, she let out a cold snort.

"Why waste breath talking so much nonsense?"

"We people from the Azure Dragon Gang aren't afraid of these things!"

A cluster of question marks flashed across Fang Ziyan's mind.

The Azure Dragon Gang?

What era is this terminology from? How utterly cheesy?

Besides, judging by the girl's apparent age, she was clearly very young and still in school—how on earth had she joined something like the Azure Dragon Gang?

Fang Ziyan shook his head slightly, "What Azure Dragon Gang? At your age, you should be in the Azure Dragon Study Group."

Hearing this, the girl's face instantly flushed bright red.

"Are you insulting me?"

"I am not." Fang Ziyan carefully inspected the wound, "Are you afraid of leaving a scar?"

"If you're afraid of scarring, be a good girl and do as I say. I'll stitch it up nicely for you and make the wound as faint as possible so others won't be able to see it."

As his words fell, the young girl, who had been furious just moments before, widened her eyes and deflated instantly.

"Then help me stitch it up nicely."

"Alright." Fang Ziyan agreed with a nod, then began the disinfection process.

First came applying iodophor, followed by removing the glass fragments.

Actually, Fang Ziyan had initially wanted to use hydrogen peroxide to let this young lady experience a sharp, stinging sensation so she would learn her lesson and think twice about fighting in the future.

However, seeing that the young girl was also rather pitiful, he abandoned the idea.

While removing the glass shards, Fang Ziyan made his movements as gentle as possible.

Next came the suturing.

For skin wounds of this nature, interrupted sutures were generally used.

Each stitch was tied off individually, meaning that even if a single stitch had to be removed later, it would not affect the rest of the incision.

This method was exceptionally well-suited for suturing wounds prone to infection.

Just as Fang Ziyan was in the middle of suturing, his phone rang.

However, the surroundings were far too noisy, so he didn't notice it and remained wholly focused on stitching up the patient's wound.