Chen Lihua stood up and bowed to them in response.

Those that clapped for her had respect for her because she was too young to be a cardiothoracic surgeon for her age, and she did the surgery without any help from any experienced cardiothoracic surgeons.

​​

After the meeting, Chen Lihua walked out of the meeting room after the chief surgeon.

She didn't stop to speak with anyone but immediately hurried to the SICU where her patient was.

As she entered the room, the beeping sound of the heart monitor connected to the patient could be heard as she asked, "How is everything going?"

The middle-aged family stood up and said in unison, "fine."

"Doctor, what is the function of all these tubes you connected to her body, is it not painful?" The middle-aged woman asked.

Chen Lihua smiled and replied as she walked closer to the patient's bed.

"It's painful, but they are necessary. She may feel muscle pain, throat pain, pain at the incision sites, or from the chest tubes. So I will prescribe some pain medications for her. She can take them before any physical activity and before she sleeps. To get enough sleep, she can take the pain medications a half an hour before bed."

Pointing at the tubes at the patient's chest, "These tubes are to help drain fluids from the area around her chest. And the intravenous (IV) lines in her arm is to supply her with fluid. There is a catheter (thin tube) in her bladder to remove urine as well."

"Then, as for the incision on her chest, we used eternal plating to join it because of her age," Chen Lihua said.

Sternal plating is when the breast bone (sternum) is re-joined with small titanium plates after the surgery. And this is done to people at high risk, such as those who've had multiple surgeries or people of advanced age.

"Doctor, when will she be moved to a regular room?" The middle-aged man asked.

Chen Lihua had her hands inside the pockets of her white coat while replying, "She will be moved to the regular care room after forty-eight hours (48 hrs.) of critical observation."

"Thank you so much Doctor, for taking your time to explain our mother's situation to us," The middle-aged man said as he bowed with his wife.

"It's my job. I will see you two in a few days after she has been moved to the regular care room if there isn't be an emergency before then. But for now, the nurse assigned to take care of her would be here," Chen Lihua said to them in a smile before leaving for her office.

Getting to her office, Chen Lihua took off her coat and hung it, before setting the curtains apart to see the night view.

"It's night already," Chen Lihua said to herself.

She hasn't rested for the last nine hours, and now, the tiredness was getting to her.

Chen Lihua closed the curtains before going back to sit on her seat.

She opened up her handbag and brought her phone out.

Then check it out, she discovered that she had five (5) missed calls and tons of messages.

The calls were from her husband, and some of the SMS was from her husband, mother, and an unknown number.

She went to her message app. Seeing the headlight message from the unknown number, she didn't bother to open it anymore, because the first sentence she saw, made her understand that the number belonged to her father, so she automatically ignored the rest of the content.

She didn't have the energy to deal with her parents now, and she's got an important person in her life; she needs to care for them.

So she checked the five SMS messages she got from Liu Longwei. And it read:

"Sweetheart, did you get to the hospital in time for the surgery?"

"How is the surgery going?"

"Are you done with the surgery?"

"Baby, have you eaten?"

"Sweetheart phone me when you get the chance, I miss you."

Chen Lihua was all smiles as she read the messages from her husband. It was difficult not to detect the love, care, and concern he had for her.

Chen Lihua smiled to herself for a while before dialing his number.

At the first ring, Liu Longwei picked the call as his deep voice came through, "I guess someone just remembered me."

Chen Lihua chuckled softly and said, "How are you?"

Liu Longwei was able to detect the tiredness from her voice, so he said in concern, "Am fine, but you sound tired, have you had a rest since today?

Chen Lihua yawned before replying, "No. I was in the theatre for six hours. And since then, I've been busy."

"How was the surgery?" Liu Longwei asked.

"It was stressful but successful," Chen Lihua replied.

"Will you come home tonight?" Liu Longwei inquired.

"No. I will have my rest here. I have a patient to wait on," Chen Lihua said as she massaged her temples.

"I miss you so much, and the house feels so lonely without you. Am sure someone else can watch over the patient in your place, and you need to get a rest," Liu Longwei said, trying to convince her to come home to him.

Chen Lihua heaved a sigh without saying anything, as she contemplated for a while.

"If there is an emergency in the middle of the night, then the chopper will send you back. For now, you can get someone to cover for you," Liu Longwei continued when he didn't hear anything from her side.

"Ok, I will listen to you," Chen Lihua replied in a smile.

"Thank you. The chopper has been waiting for you, and I will be waiting for your return," Liu Longwei replied satisfactorily.

Chen Lihua terminated the call and stood up to leave her office.

She went to the SICU where her patient was to make her last round of check-ups for the night.

She didn't see the patient's family when she reached there, so she inquired about their whereabouts from the nurse who was watching over the patient, and the nurse told her their whereabouts.

Chen Lihua didn't dwell on that and instead went straight to the point to check on the patient to be sure that everything was normal.

After checking her heart rates and other important details, she turned to speak to the nurse.

She told the nurse that she would be going home to rest, and she should contact her if an emergency crops up.

Then Chen Lihua went ahead to speak with the Chief Surgeon who was still in the hospital at that hour.

As she left his office, she met head-on with the Deputy Chief who asked her if she was going home.

And Chen Lihua replied with a 'yes' as she continued on her steps, till she was out of his sight.

She went back to her office to pick up her belongings before going to the rooftop where the helicopter was waiting for her.