The staff back room of the nightclub “Kagura Club.”
Imagawa Ori had driven everyone else out. Because of her transcendent status in the club, the others dared neither be angry nor speak up, and obediently complied.
After the door closed.
Imagawa Ori’s face was cold as she asked in a low voice, “Do you still remember the Physician’s Oath?”
The so-called Physician’s Oath was the Japanese version of the Hippocratic Oath.
Although here, unlike in Western universities across the ocean, medical students did not hold a white coat ceremony or take a collective oath before officially beginning clinical training,
during ethics training in medical school or hospitals, they would still study the Physician’s Oath.
“Since we wear the white coat, we must understand its weight.”
“Human life is of the utmost importance; when we face a patient, we must do our utmost and must not be negligent.”
“Pain, confusion, and weakness are all part of human nature. A physician should regard them with an ordinary heart and not harm a patient’s dignity.”
“In practicing medicine, one must abide by rules, act according to conscience, show no favoritism, and make no arbitrary decisions.”
“Even the smallest error may lead to great disaster; therefore, one must constantly reflect and remain ever vigilant.”
“The road of medicine has no end, and learning has no conclusion. One who is capable today must still be diligent tomorrow, and must never grow complacent.”
“This profession is not the work of one person alone. We should advance together with our peers and walk alongside all living beings.”
“We hereby, in the name of physicians, make this oath together: not to forget the words spoken today, and not to abandon the weight of the white coat upon us.”
Kiryu Kazusuke did not know why she had suddenly brought this up, but he still recited it honestly.
After Imagawa Ori finished listening, she nodded and parted her red lips.
“Kiryu-kun, if I remember correctly, you haven’t even entered an operating room more than a few times, have you?”
“Since you still remember the Physician’s Oath, how did you dare, after only half a year of residency in the medical department, to ask to perform temporary Kirschner wire fixation on Suzuki-san?”
“What do you take the oath you swore for?”
As she spoke, Imagawa Ori’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
She might, because a patient could not offer a “gratitude payment” to her satisfaction, think of every possible way to refuse the surgery before taking the case.
But if she accepted a patient,
then on the operating table, she was Doctor Imagawa, the one who pursued the perfect surgery.
Any factor that might affect the surgical outcome, whether it was her own emotions or the skill level of her assistant, had to be eliminated.
One had to know that a poorly performed surgery would not only ruin her reputation; the subsequent rehabilitation, management of complications, and even medical lawsuits would all occupy the time she could have used to earn money.
From the most utilitarian perspective, perfectly completing every surgery was the choice that yielded the greatest profit.
Yes, she did indeed love money. She could even take off her white coat and immediately change into a suit, coming here to please those empty women.
But she absolutely could not tolerate someone treating surgery like a game.
Even though the heating in the back room was turned up high, Kiryu Kazusuke could still feel the surrounding air seem to drop by several degrees.
Looking at Imagawa Ori’s solemn expression, he actually felt somewhat surprised.
Her current appearance was completely different from “Imagawa Nao,” who had just been maneuvering between him and Nakamori Sachiko in the booth.
It was indeed a stark contrast.
However, it was only natural that she would react this way.
After all, Imagawa Ori did not know that he possessed the truly perfect Kirschner wire fixation technique.
“Kiryu-kun, do you think that because you have something on me, you can do whatever you want?”
At that moment, she took another step forward.
The distance between them shortened to the point where they could almost feel each other’s breathing.
Kiryu Kazusuke was 1.8 meters tall, while Imagawa Ori was probably only a little over 1.6 meters. Even with heeled leather shoes on, she still had to lift her face to meet his eyes.
That posture weakened her originally aggressive aura somewhat.
From Kiryu Kazusuke’s downward vantage point,
the neatly trimmed shoulder-length short hair, cut so sharply for her male role, fully revealed the contours of her small, delicate face.
“Doctor Imagawa.”
Kiryu Kazusuke did not explain himself. Instead, he closed his eyes.
The fluoroscopic images of Suzuki Shinya’s fracture, as well as the CT scans he had only obtained that afternoon, surfaced clearly in his mind, like a three-dimensional model that could be rotated and enlarged at will.
“Suzuki-san’s fracture is AO type C3, with comminution of the articular surface and dorsal fragments tilted by more than twenty-five degrees.”
“The biggest problems are the collapse of the lunate facet and the avulsion fracture of the ulnar styloid.”
“For conventional Kirschner wire fixation, one would usually choose to insert the wire through the radial styloid, using it to lever the fracture back into position and temporarily fix it.”
“But Suzuki-san’s radial styloid has an occult fracture line. Inserting a wire from there is extremely risky and could cause the bone fragments to shatter further.”
At this point, Kiryu Kazusuke opened his eyes.
“So? What are you trying to say?”
Imagawa Ori’s fine brows furrowed slightly, and her expression had already undergone a subtle change.
The issue was indeed as Kiryu Kazusuke said. An ordinary specialist trainee might not be able to handle this situation well.
“So my idea is to use two 1.2-millimeter Kirschner wires, inserted percutaneously from the dorsal side, to fix the major fragments of the lunate and scaphoid facets respectively, restoring the articular surface to approximate flatness.”
“This step is to establish a stable operating platform.”
“Then, make a small incision on the volar side of the wrist joint and expose the pronator quadratus.”
“While protecting the median nerve, use a third Kirschner wire as a lever, lifting the collapsed articular surface from the volar side.”
“And the two Kirschner wires inserted earlier would provide support, preventing the reduced fragments from collapsing again.”
“Once the articular surface is completely level, use a fourth wire, inserted percutaneously from the ulnar side, to pass transversely through the distal radius and complete the final temporary fixation.”
“In this way, the entire radiocarpal joint structure would be stabilized, and the placement of the plate and insertion of the screws could proceed calmly.”
As he spoke, Kiryu Kazusuke even raised his hand and gestured in the air, indicating the wire entry points.
His pace of speech was not fast, but his logic was clear. He gave the impression that he had personally performed this surgery countless times already.
Imagawa Ori fell into thought.
As a genius who had obtained her specialist qualification at only thirty, she had absolute confidence in her own technical skill.
When she saw Suzuki Shinya’s scans, she had also initially conceived a surgical plan.
She had even thought along the same lines as Kiryu Kazusuke, using a Kirschner wire via a volar approach to lever and reduce the fracture.
But in the end, she had abandoned it because of the difficulty of the operation and the risk of nerve injury.
Yet Kiryu Kazusuke had used the two dorsal wires to create support in advance, avoiding the risk of collapse after reduction.
That lowered the difficulty of the entire operation by one level.
Was this the kind of idea a resident could come up with?
Because even Imagawa Ori had no choice but to admit that this surgical plan was far more meticulous than what she had considered, and also far more perfect.
She looked at Kiryu Kazusuke once more.
Unfortunately, she could not see anything unusual on his face.
It seemed that his request to serve as first assistant was not born of arrogance, but genuine preparation.
Without her realizing it, most of the anger in Imagawa Ori’s heart had already faded.
Her expression softened slightly.
“The idea is acceptable.”
“But surgery isn’t empty talk on paper. Can your hands keep up with your brain?”
Before Kiryu Kazusuke could answer, Imagawa Ori had already turned and walked toward the door.
“Let’s go. Nakamori-san is still waiting for us.”
“You paid for part of that champagne tower too, didn’t you? Perfect. You can be the one to complete it.”
“If, during the process, not a single drop of wine spills and the tower of glasses doesn’t wobble at all, then I’ll consider letting you be first assistant.”
“You’d better pray the servers haven’t finished setting it up yet.”
“Luck is also part of one’s ability.”