“That’s good.”
Takigawa Takuhei visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
But he did not leave right away. Instead, he sat down in the empty chair beside Kiryu Kazusuke, looking as if he wanted to speak but was holding back.
Seeing him like this, Kiryu Kazusuke could more or less guess what was on his mind.
It was nothing more than wanting to ask about the technical details from the surgery.
For example, how had he thought to use Kirschner wires to reconstruct ligament tension?
For example, how had he located the entry points and angles of those five wires with such precision in the blink of an eye?
And again, what was the principle behind using the fifth wire at the end to tap the tails of the other wires and thereby release the stress?
But Kiryu Kazusuke said nothing.
He simply picked up the cup on the table and took a sip of water.
The progress of medicine could not be separated from exchange and inheritance—he understood that better than anyone.
In his previous life, he too had shared his experience with younger colleagues without holding anything back, and had humbly sought guidance from seniors far more capable than himself.
So as long as Takigawa Takuhei asked, he did not mind offering a few pointers.
But the prerequisite was that the other party had to ask on his own.
A physician does not knock uninvited; an art is not lightly passed on.
If he took the initiative to approach and teach everything he knew, not only might he receive no gratitude, he might even be seen as showing off or bestowing charity.
Kiryu Kazusuke set down his cup and began tidying up the things on his desk, preparing to go make his ward rounds.
Seeing that Kiryu Kazusuke seemed about to leave, Takigawa Takuhei could no longer sit still.
He gritted his teeth, as if he had made some kind of decision.
“Kiryu-kun, please wait a moment!”
Takigawa Takuhei took a deep breath.
He stood up and bowed solemnly to Kiryu Kazusuke.
A senior resident bowing so deeply to a junior resident who had only been employed for half a year.
“Please, you must instruct me on the Kirschner wire fixation technique from the surgery just now!”
So he could continue staying in First Surgery, so he could pass the specialist examination, so he would not be sent off to some remote affiliated hospital.
Kiryu Kazusuke looked at him in silence for a few seconds before sitting back down.
“Sit, Takigawa-senpai.”
Only then did Takigawa Takuhei straighten up. A thin sheen of sweat had already appeared on his face. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from Kiryu Kazusuke, somewhat stiffly.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything!”
Takigawa Takuhei answered almost without thinking.
But after saying it, he felt it was inappropriate and hurriedly added, “No, what I mean is, starting from the most basic part—how did you determine that there was an occult ligament tear?”
That question hit the heart of the matter.
Kiryu Kazusuke picked up a pen from the table and drew a simple diagram of the wrist joint on a blank sheet of paper.
“When I tried to pry that tiny bone fragment with the periosteal elevator, I felt the entire joint structure vibrate.”
“That vibration wasn’t the displacement of a single bone fragment, but a systemic instability, like a fishing net that hadn’t been pulled taut enough.”
“So the problem wasn’t with the bones, but with the ‘ropes’ connecting the bones—in other words, the ligaments.”
His explanation was very straightforward, without any complicated medical terminology.
Takigawa Takuhei listened and nodded repeatedly. “Then the reconstruction of ligament tension afterward, that line of thinking was…”
Kiryu Kazusuke used the pen to mark four points on the paper, representing the ulnar styloid, the radial styloid, the dorsal side of the wrist joint, and the palmar side.
“Since the net had gone slack, what needed to be done wasn’t to fix the fish inside the net, but to first pull the net tight again.”
“The first and second wires reconstructed medial and lateral stability.”
“The third and fourth wires reconstructed anterior and posterior stability.”
“These four wires were like the four ground stakes of a tent, together forming a stable tension field.”
“Under the effect of this tension field, the bone fragments that had shifted because of ligament laxity would naturally be constrained by external force and return to their original positions.”
As he spoke, he connected the four points with the tip of the pen, forming a diamond.
“So that’s how it was…”
Takigawa Takuhei stared at the diagram, suddenly enlightened.
Before, he had only seen Kiryu Kazusuke’s almost miraculous technique, but had failed to understand the logic behind it.
Now, with just this bit of guidance, he immediately felt as if everything had opened up before him.
He still had one final question. “Then what was the principle behind using the fifth wire to tap them at the end?”
Kiryu Kazusuke replied, “Stress release.”
“The tension system established by the four wires inevitably contains uneven internal stress, like a string pulled too tight.”
“Through minute vibrations, those stresses can be redistributed and reach a state of balance.”
“However, that requires an extremely fine touch. A bit too much is excessive; a bit too little is insufficient. You can only rely on yourself to experience it.”
At this point, Kiryu Kazusuke set down the pen.
He had already explained the most essential “Way” clearly. As for the specific “techniques,” the details on the operative level, those were not something that could be made clear in a few words.
That required hundreds, even thousands of repetitions before it could form muscle memory.
“Thank you very much for your guidance, Kiryu-kun! I’ve benefited greatly!”
Takigawa Takuhei understood this as well. He stood up again and gave another ninety-degree bow.
Kiryu Kazusuke accepted his thanks calmly.
“I need to go check on the patient.”
With that, Kiryu Kazusuke took his stethoscope and medical chart folder and left the department office.
Suzuki Shinya should just about be out of the anesthesia recovery room by now.
Takigawa Takuhei watched him leave, then lowered his head to look at the wrist joint diagram on the table. Carefully, he folded it and put it into his pocket.
…
The general ward area on the sixth floor.
By now, it had already been more than an hour, almost two, since the surgery ended.
Kiryu Kazusuke walked into the ward where Suzuki Shinya was staying.
It was a three-person room, and the patients in the other two beds were both resting.
On the bed by the window, Suzuki Shinya had already awakened from anesthesia. He was half-reclining, his left arm properly immobilized, thick gauze wrapped around his wrist.
Sitting by the bed was his wife, Mrs. Suzuki, a middle-aged woman who looked very gentle.
Beside her stood their daughter, dressed in a high school uniform.
“Suzuki-san, how are you feeling?”
Kiryu Kazusuke walked to the bedside and picked up the chart hanging at the foot of the bed to glance at it.
All vital signs were very stable, and his condition after waking was also good.
“Doctor Kiryu!”
Hearing his voice, Mrs. Suzuki, who had been speaking softly with her husband, immediately stood up.
“Truly, thank you so, so much!”
“Doctor Takigawa told us earlier that the surgery succeeded entirely because of you!”
The next second, she actually pulled her daughter along and quickly came before Kiryu Kazusuke, then bent down and bowed directly to him.
“Doctor, truly, I don’t know how to thank you.”
On the hospital bed, Suzuki Shinya also struggled as if wanting to sit up.
“Suzuki-san, lie still and don’t move.”
Kiryu Kazusuke stepped forward at once and pressed down on his shoulder.
“The wound was just sutured. Moving around will affect the healing.”
As he spoke, he checked Suzuki Shinya’s fingers.
The fingertips were rosy, the temperature normal. When he gently pinched one, the color returned very quickly.
“Can you move your fingers? Move them lightly.”
Under his guidance, Suzuki Shinya carefully flexed and extended his fingers.
“Mm, very good. It seems there are no issues with the nerves or blood circulation.”
Kiryu Kazusuke nodded, then said to Mrs. Suzuki, “The surgery was very successful.”
“The fracture reduction was extremely ideal, and the ligament issue was resolved at the same time.”
“Next, as long as he rests properly and cooperates with rehabilitation training, it’s entirely possible for him to recover to his pre-injury condition.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Mrs. Suzuki’s eyes instantly reddened.
She covered her mouth with her hand, barely holding back the sound of her sobs.
“That’s wonderful, that’s wonderful…”