Masterful Miracle Doctor

Els's surgery, much like the one Lin Jie performed at that mysterious military base, required operation within an extremely narrow window.

First, he needed to extract Els's right eyeball from its socket.

Then, using real-time 3D angiographic images near Els's right optic nerve and the brain's visual center, he had to ascertain the position and insert a hair-thin hollow fiber tube along the optic nerve into his brain.

This process required both precision and speed.

The contrast agent injected into Els's intracranial vessel wouldn't last long, as it would be quickly flushed out by the blood flow.

If too much contrast agent were continuously injected, it could seriously strain the liver and kidneys, causing adverse effects.

Lin Jie steadied his breathing and heartbeat, picking up a hollow fiber tube with his fingers.

The fiber tube was so thin that with rubber gloves on, he couldn't feel anything, making it difficult to control force and direction, so this time, Lin Jie operated barehanded.

"Let's begin!"

Following Lin Jie's command, Tian Xiangyu slowly injected the contrast agent into Els's cranial vessels.

Positioned to Lin Jie's left front was a display screen.

It was connected to a small clinical CT scanner, and as the contrast agent was injected, tree root-like stereoscopic images began to appear on the screen, quickly occupying the entire screen.

Lin Jie's gaze sharpened as he quickly verified a line of insertion, realigning his hands, and with the precision of a traditional Chinese acupuncturist, inserted the fiber tube into Els's eye socket.

At that moment, Lin Jie held his breath, his heartbeat unusually calm, his entire body still, except for the slight movements of his index fingers and thumbs...

Lin Jie didn't look at his own hands; instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him.

On it, a fluorescent line could be seen penetrating an empty region entwined with many grey nets, advancing visibly towards a larger dark spot...

After more than forty seconds, the bright line finally reached the dark spot.

Only then did Lin Jie start to take deep breaths, inhaling deeply to satisfy his body's oxygen needs after holding his breath.

Next, he connected a specially made infusion needle to the hollow fiber tube and began slowly administering the thrombolytic agent.

The thrombolytic Lin Jie chose contained tissue-type plasminogen activator, capable of effectively dissolving clotted blood.

This kind of thrombolytic agent is rarely used clinically.

Primarily because the medication can't be directly injected into veins to dissolve thrombi.

Firstly, the drug has a very short lifespan in blood, and secondly, the molecules of such drugs can easily cause severe side effects.

However, in the current situation, this thrombolytic agent was very suitable.

The injected thrombolytic would react with the blood clot and, even with minor spillover, its brief lifespan and the dilution of cerebrospinal fluid would not severely damage surrounding healthy brain cells.

Even so, Lin Jie was extremely careful in controlling the injection of the thrombolytic.

The dark spot on the screen slowly began to fade at an almost imperceptible speed...

To avoid adverse effects from radiation, the CT scan was activated once every thirty minutes.

During this period, Lin Jie had to rely on experience and sensation to administer the thrombolytic and aspirate the dissolved blood clot fluid...

It took nearly five hours for Lin Jie to completely dissolve the largest clot.

Afterwards, Lin Jie spent another three hours dissolving another relatively smaller clot.

He extracted the fiber tube, returned the eye to the socket, and sutured it.

Looking at Els, whose face was unscarred, with barely a drop of blood shed, Lin Jie thought, "This should be the least invasive cranial surgery I've performed so far..."

At 5:10 p.m., Lin Jie exited the operating room after the surgery.

He first briefed Nie Yuming and others waiting outside on the surgical condition.

Just as Lin Jie was about to enter the prep room to wash up and change his scrubs, Qin Gang approached him.

He returned Lin Jie's phone, speaking softly, "Lin Jie, the police from Guangshen called, requesting that you return their call when convenient."

Lin Jie understood that this was the follow-up to the kidnapping case.

After a quick wash, he returned to his office, found a received call and dialed it back.

The call was answered after two rings, and Lin Jie said, "Hello, this is Lin Jie from Binhai!"

"Oh, Colonel Lin, hello, hello, this is Yan Weimin, Deputy Director of the Guangshen City Bureau."

Via the phone came Yan Weimin's warm and enthusiastic voice, "When we contacted this afternoon, your assistant said you were performing surgery, so we asked you to call back when convenient."

Lin Jie asked, "Is it about that matter?"

"Yes! I mainly want to update you, Colonel Lin, on the progress of the case."

"Our primary tasks of investigation and evidence collection have been completed, and the case files have been handed over to the prosecutor's office, awaiting their prosecution."

"I have received information that Zhou Maocang has been identified as the main perpetrator by the prosecutor and will be prosecuted along with other gang members this Thursday."

Although Lin Jie harbored bitter resentment toward Zhou Maocang, he was somewhat surprised to hear him identified as the "main perpetrator."

"Didn't Zhou Maocang claim he was coerced?"

Yan Weimin replied in a solemn tone, "According to our investigation, Zhou Maocang has been serving the gang for nearly a decade, secretly providing them with plenty of anesthetics to facilitate their crimes."

"During this period, he not only regularly accepted valuables from He Dahai but also engaged in joint business ventures."

"According to other gang members, Zhou Maocang holds a very high status in the gang, second only to the leader, He Dahai. Calling him the main perpetrator is appropriate."

Lin Jie acknowledged with an 'oh' and asked, "What's the likely sentence?"

"This gang is involved in major heinous crimes like murder for hire and kidnapping for ransom. As the main perpetrator, at the very least, life imprisonment..."

After concluding the call with Yan Weimin, Lin Jie left his office and intended to get something to eat, only to run into Cheng Xingguang.

"Expert Lin, let me brief you about the patient who attempted to jump last night."

Lin Jie replied somewhat helplessly, "Director, is it necessary to rush this? Let me catch my breath, grab a bite, and then I'll look into it."

Cheng Xingguang smiled and said, "Even if you want to look into it, you can't. She's been administratively detained."

Lin Jie queried, "Administrative detention? For the jump?"

"Exactly."

Cheng Xingguang explained, "Her irrational behavior last night seriously disrupted the hospital's normal work order, violating the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, resulting in five days of administrative detention."

"Her family has been notified, and I'll also have the hospital's psychological counselor have a good talk with her."

He continued, "I hope with the support of her family and the counselor, she'll come around and cease insisting on restoring her appearance."

"However, if she still persists, Expert Lin..."

Meeting Cheng Xingguang's inquiring gaze, Lin Jie nodded, "If she insists, I will perform the surgery."

"Although my promise to that person last night was meant as a stopgap, I still stand by my word..."

PS.

Not feeling well today, wrote fewer words!