As a surgeon, there are three great taboos.

First: an empty incision—finding nothing after opening the patient up. Second: a patient dying on the operating table. Third: leaving foreign objects behind.

An empty incision refers to a scenario where preoperative diagnostics point to a problem or tumor requiring surgery, but upon opening the patient up, the surgeon finds nothing, rendering the procedure completely pointless.

With thorough preoperative investigations, advancements in imaging and lab testing, and the availability of minimally invasive endoscopic techniques, this occurrence can practically be eliminated nowadays.

As for leaving foreign objects behind, the reasons vary. It could be due to a surgical field that is too large, such as a fully exposed pelvic and abdominal cavity where objects can easily slip in; a field that is too small, forcing doctors to cram gauze in to expose organs; packing the area with gauze or pads to keep the field clear and stop bleeding; or simply a chaotic rescue during a critical emergency.

However, as long as the surgical team is responsible, avoids oversights, rigorously counts all instruments, dressings, and surgical items, and ensures everything matches up, leaving foreign objects inside a patient can also be completely eradicated.

Only a patient dying on the operating table is something a surgical team cannot entirely avoid purely through their own efforts.

The reasons for this are complex and varied.

The patient’s condition, overall health, and cardiopulmonary function; the scope of the surgery and the extent of the trauma; hospital conditions, emergency response capabilities, the doctor’s experience, readiness, and teamwork—all of these could be contributing factors.

Sometimes, such tragedies are simply caused by unforeseeable accidents, like adverse reactions to anesthesia or medication.

In reality, a patient’s death genuinely resulting from a surgeon’s error is quite rare.

What Yan Feifan currently faced was a sudden accident of unknown cause.

His first surgical patient today was a forty-seven-year-old male with a tumor in the spinal canal between the third and fourth thoracic vertebrae.

Yan Feifan had reviewed his physical examination report before the surgery. Aside from slightly elevated blood pressure, the patient was fairly healthy, with no other underlying conditions requiring special attention.

At the start of the operation, the anesthetized patient’s vitals were all within normal ranges.

However, out of a total of eleven puncture injections, right when Yan Feifan administered the fifth, the patient’s heart rate suddenly spiked.

Within a mere two or three seconds, the patient’s heart rate surged from 91 to 220.

Yan Feifan had just ordered the nurse to administer medication to control the heart rate. But before the drug could even be injected, that wildly overclocking heart just damn well stopped and went on strike.

Such a drastic change completely blindsided Yan Feifan and the rest of the medical staff in the operating room.

They immediately shifted to administering multiple doses of epinephrine, followed by defibrillation on the patient’s heart.

Once, twice, three times…

When the shocks failed, they switched to chest compressions, then tried defibrillation again. Once, twice, three times…

More chest compressions…

After fifty-one minutes of repeated resuscitation efforts, Yan Feifan performed a final check on the patient and made the decision for the surgical team to stop.

“Time of death: 10:05 AM.”

After pronouncing the death, Yan Feifan turned to Lo Jun beside him and asked, “Professor, the patient’s family outside—should I go, or will you?”

Lo Jun sighed softly. “I’ll go inform the family. I have more experience with this.”

He paused, then offered some consolation. “Feifan, don’t overthink this, and there’s no need to blame yourself. This was simply a matter of bad luck for both you and the patient today.

“Luck is something beyond human control.”

Yan Feifan replied calmly, “Professor, while I didn’t want this to happen, I’m fine.

“It won’t break me.”

Seeing that Yan Feifan’s gaze remained relatively serene, Lo Jun said, “Good. As a surgeon, experiences like this are unavoidable.

“Say, Feifan, how about I have someone notify Mr. Zheng to postpone your next surgery so you can get some rest?”

Yan Feifan replied immediately, “There’s no need. I haven’t been affected, nor do I believe the patient’s death was caused by an operational error on my part.

“Professor, the next surgery will proceed as scheduled…”

At Yan Feifan’s insistence, the second intraspinal tumor resection was not postponed and proceeded according to the original plan.

And this time, there was no bad luck.

Yan Feifan smoothly completed the puncture injections he was responsible for…

At 11:38 AM, Yan Feifan walked out of the surgical area’s isolation doors, only to see a large group of people immediately swarm him.

Sweeping a glance over them, Yan Feifan spotted his sister, Duan Yu, Feng Jian, Professor Shi Min, Wang Chuan, Zhu Jian, Berry, and Liu Jin, along with other hospital executives.

He quickly raised a hand and spoke before anyone else could. “None of you need to say anything. I don’t need comfort, and you don’t have to comfort me.

“Today’s incident—a patient dying from cardiac arrest due to an unknown cause—won’t knock me down.”

Liu Jin nodded slightly. “I knew it. As a true physician, you wouldn’t let an accident like this get to you, Feifan. We were overthinking it.”

He then waved his hand at the crowd. “Everyone, go back to work. Us gathering like this will only make Feifan uncomfortable.”

Liu Jin’s words had absolutely no effect.

Yan Feifan was heading back to the Little Red House, and since most of the people around him also worked there, they naturally crowded around to walk back with him.

As for Yan Ziruo and Wang Chuan, they certainly weren’t going to leave either.

Liu Jin gave a self-deprecating chuckle. As he fell into step beside Yan Feifan, he spoke up again. “Feifan, I need to let you know that news of this accident spread throughout the hospital almost instantly.

“Our medical colleagues have been expressing their concern and condolences through various channels.”

The moment he finished, Wang Chuan snorted coldly. “Not everyone is expressing concern.

“There are quite a few who are gloating, running their mouths, or making snide remarks.”

“In a forest this big, you get all kinds of birds,” Liu Jin smoothed over with a laugh. “Not to mention, the total number of our active staff, trainees, and students exceeds four thousand.

“There have always been plenty of people who are jealous and resentful of Feifan. Now that he’s finally had a minor mishap, you can’t blame them for running their mouths to vent a little, right?”

Wang Chuan replied with a mocking tone, “The problem is, some of them are crossing the line. They’re acting as if they know for a fact that Feifan made a surgical error that damaged the paravertebral ganglia, which in turn triggered dysregulation of the cardiac sympathetic nerves, causing the patient’s heart rate to spike and then stop.”

Yan Feifan chimed in, his expression completely serious. “I’ve carefully reviewed that possibility, and I can confirm that I didn’t make an operational error.

“Of course, my own word doesn’t count for anything here! Has the family agreed to an autopsy?

“I really want to know exactly what caused such a massive abnormality in his heart rate right before it stopped!”

Liu Jin replied softly, “Feifan, the body has already been sent to the morgue. The Medical Affairs Office is talking to the family right now.

“You don’t need to worry about the follow-up. The hospital will definitely handle it…”

Yan Feifan grunted in acknowledgment. Catching sight of Zhu Jian at the edge of the crowd out of the corner of his eye, he asked, “Is Ji Meng here?”

Zhu Jian hurried to answer, “She’s here. In the office.

“Sir, should I have her go home for now and reschedule for another time?”

Yan Feifan shook his head. “No need!

“Business as usual…”

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