Chapter 2

"Little Gret...?"

The young man raised his head in a daze to look at him. Wu Zhou ignored him and rushed to the side of the injured person, quickly scanning the area—

No table.

No cart.

There was nothing that could serve as a slightly elevated platform for surgery…

Desperate times call for desperate measures! Wu Zhou gritted his teeth. For a surgeon, everything below the waist is considered a contaminated area, and operating on the ground would completely violate sterile procedures. But… in this broken environment, there was no point in worrying about sterility. First, he had to save the injured person’s life!

As he observed, he gave orders:

"You! Come over, press here on his arm! Press hard, don’t let up, yes! And here, on his leg, where I’m pressing, good, press hard! Use more force! You! Press here! You! Take off his clothes!"

"Can’t take them off…"

"Then tear them! Cut them!"

The deputy director of the emergency department exuded an aura of authority, and his commands were followed without question.

The three or four people around him were kept busy. Some pressed to stop the bleeding, others undressed the injured person, and some boiled water. Everyone was in a frenzy, with the person boiling water running back and forth between the small house and the outside, not even having time to chat with his companions.

Even the little priest was ordered by Wu Zhou to press on the injured person’s brachial artery with his left hand and the posterior tibial artery with his right hand. Because the pressing points were so awkward, he had to kneel and twist into a strange position…

Not everyone doubted his expertise. In a desperate situation, as long as someone gave confident orders, the others would instinctively obey:

It’s like struggling in a flood. When you’re about to be submerged, grabbing onto anything— even a piece of straw— is a good thing!

Wu Zhou’s eyes were fixed on the injured person, and he was already on his knees, his right hand feeling the neck. He steadied his breathing, counting the injured person’s heart rate beat by beat:

The heartbeat was still okay. Not quite 100… Oh no, it’s getting faster, there’s likely major bleeding! The carotid pulse is weakening, the face is pale, the skin is sweaty, and the breathing is shallow and rapid…

A series of troubling signs flashed through his mind. Blood pressure, unknown. There wasn’t even a mercury sphygmomanometer in this place!

He could only estimate it visually!

Fortunately, Wu Zhou had worked in the emergency department for many years and had been on countless 120 calls. He could intuitively assess the severity of the injuries and the possible damage with just a glance. The current state of the injured person suggested a high probability of hemorrhagic shock!

The injured person’s leather armor was scattered on the ground. His shirt was torn open, and the abdominal wound was shocking. A long, jagged cut, nearly 20 cm, ran diagonally from the upper right abdomen to the lower left abdomen!

Blood was gushing out in spurts. Wu Zhou took one look, and his hair stood on end, his blood pressure skyrocketing.

Damn! This amount of bleeding means either an artery is ruptured, or the liver, spleen, or kidney is damaged!

He reached into his waist and pulled out a gleaming dagger. Without hesitation, he focused on the injured person’s abdomen and raised the dagger.

Thank goodness, the injured person had a six-pack— visible abdominal muscles meant that the underlying anatomy was the same as he knew: the skin, the rectus abdominis muscle, and the rectus sheath. Cutting through the rectus sheath would cause the least damage and avoid cutting nerves and blood vessels…

In this world with divine magic, the human anatomy had to be the same as before!

Wu Zhou concentrated, and along the injured person’s abdominal wound, he cut into the right side of the rectus abdominis muscle. Time was short, and no one was helping to retract the tissue, so Wu Zhou’s cut went through the anterior sheath, the muscle, and the posterior sheath, all the way to the bottom. Another 10 cm incision was opened, and dark red blood gushed out.

"What are you doing!"

The little priest, kneeling opposite the injured person and ordered to press the bleeding, screamed almost in a high-pitched voice.

Not only did he scream, but the little priest also lunged forward, spreading his arms to instinctively protect the injured person’s abdomen. His face was filled with a tragic determination, each freckle on his face saying, "If you kill him, you’ll have to kill me first!"

Wu Zhou: "…"

Tsk, this is why family members can’t be in the operating room. Seeing a doctor cut, slice, and tear on a patient would make them immediately rush to fight…

Wu Zhou could only flash a mental complaint. He gripped the dagger with his right hand and pushed the little priest’s shoulder with his left, sending him sprawling backward, and roared:

"Who told you to let go! Go press on him! If you don’t, he’ll bleed to death!"

"But you—"

"I’m saving him! He’s bleeding inside too! I need to stop the bleeding! Move!!!"

"Oh…"

The little priest sheepishly returned to his original position, twisting back into the same awkward pose, and stretched his neck to look at the injured person’s abdomen. Wu Zhou glanced at him and saw that his pressing position and posture were still correct, so he focused back on the injured person’s abdomen. He turned the dagger and used the back of the blade to push the abdominal muscles aside, examining the inside—

"What is this?"

The little priest asked. Wu Zhou didn’t even look up, continuing to push the abdominal wall aside:

"The liver."

"Oh, it’s the liver…"

The little priest mumbled, trying to see. Wu Zhou didn’t want to scold him anymore: the sterile environment was already compromised, as long as this guy didn’t spit on the wound, he could do as he pleased. The most important thing now was the injured person’s liver!

Wu Zhou saw the liver immediately. Thankfully, the organ positions and anatomy were the same. In this world with divine magic, humans hadn’t grown any stranger or developed an organ for casting spells.

Left lobe, right lobe…

"Ah, so much blood!"

"Shut up!"

Wu Zhou frowned. In the center of the bright red right lobe, a deep cut ran downward, and from the center of the cut, bright red arterial blood was gushing out!

His previous judgment was correct; there was indeed major bleeding from an internal organ, and it was the liver!

The liver had a deep laceration, and he didn’t dare to examine it further, but it looked to be at least 1 cm deep, with significant active bleeding—

This was definitely a Grade III injury! Not the most severe, but…

"Save him… save him…" The little priest was in a panic, his voice trembling and breaking: "Save, save him…"

Of course, I’m going to save him! The problem is, this kind of injury isn’t too serious in the emergency department and can definitely be saved, but out here in the wilderness, with nothing available…

Wu Zhou’s heart was pounding, almost breaking his ribs. He leaned down, his left hand pulling open the abdominal wall, and his right hand delving into the injured person’s abdominal cavity. He lifted the liver, moved the stomach, and pushed aside the intestines…

"What… what are you… doing?"

The little priest asked timidly. His voice was trembling, almost on the verge of fainting—yet he was still observing. Impressed by his bravery, Wu Zhou didn’t hesitate to explain more:

"Checking for other major bleeding. Yes, no gallbladder, no spleen, kidneys… the kidneys are positioned further back, so the likelihood of damage is low, but I still need to check… no obvious active bleeding, great!"

"Then… what next?"

Then?

Then comes the real challenge. In his over ten years of medical practice, Wu Zhou had only done this twice out of necessity. In the entire provincial hospital, there were fewer than five doctors who dared to do this.

Amitabha, the Three Pure Ones, God, the Virgin Mary, any deity… please, let the injured person’s anatomy not be different!

He took a deep breath and carefully pinched the hepatic portal vein and artery.

"Wow! Less blood! Less blood! … No more bleeding!"

The little priest cheered. The gushing blood from the injured person instantly slowed, turning from a torrent to a trickle, and then to a seep. The effect of the hemostasis was visible to the naked eye.