If the patient's case was complicated, that is, if he had VAD, which the surgeons would have to remove, it would take 6 - 8 hours.

And the patient may be in the OR longer than the actual process because the transplant team would have to work with the donor team.

​​

Coming out from the OR, she watched them wheel the Minister to the ICU, where he would stay for a few days and later would be sent to a regular hospital room.

"Dr. Chen, I am proud of you. You can take a rest for a few days," the Chief said as he came to stand side by side with Chen Lihua, with a proud smile on his face.

"Thank you, Chief, but I don't need so many days off, I am fine," Chen Lihua said, rejecting his offer politely.

The Chief shook his head while staring at her in a smile.

"You are newly married and have to spend more time with your spouse. It's not good to be so busy that you forget to keep each other company at this stage of your life. Go home and spend more time with your husband. If you are worried about the patients, I will notify you if anything is up, trust me. I don't want you to make the same mistake I made when I was your age. I got married to someone I love, but I didn't have the time to accompany her. And each time she complained, I would say I will make it up to her, which I never did. But sadly, she passed away five years after we got married, leaving two children behind, and coincidentally, that was the time I took leave in other to travel out and spend time with her and the children. So you see, to this day, I still live with regret. The thing about this life is that there is no special time for anything. If you know the right thing, do it, so that you will not regret why you didn't do it when you had the opportunity. It's not easy to live on this earth and watch your loved ones pass on without you having anything to regret. So while they are still alive, spend quality time with them and make them happy, life is too short, and you can never tell when something will go wrong. It's good to take care of the patients, but how can you take proper care of them when you can't take care of your family? It is not justifiable."

Chief patted Chen Lihua's shoulder twice and left after giving her words of advice.

It was left for Chen Lihua to listen to him or not. He cannot force her to listen to him when she didn't want to. He could only give the best advice from reality and the lessons he learned from life so far.

At least, that is what he can do for her since he took her as a daughter.

No father would want to see his daughter take the wrong step in life when he could stop and prevent her on time.

After the Chief walked away, Chen Lihua stood still and sank in deep thought.

Every word the Chief said to her, she heard them, and it sank deep into her heart.

Liu Longwei had never complained about her giving more priorities to her work instead of him. He always tried to accommodate her, support her, and advise her.

Now thinking about it, she felt she was and has been self-centered all these while. She had never thought about Liu Longwei's opinion when she took some certain decisions about her work or life.

In fact, she lived as if she was still single, forgetting that she was now married and now beside a man.

The least she could do was to ask for his opinion in some certain areas of her life that concerned them, or that involved the two of them, and not tell him her decision when they could actually discuss it together.

Thinking about all of this, Chen Lihua felt that she wasn't a good wife to Liu Longwei.

She suddenly started feeling bad when she remembered all the good things he has been doing for her.

Without his advice, she wouldn't have been able to perform today's surgery.

Yes, he advised her to get extra sets of glasses since it was risky having only one when she knew she couldn't work in certain conditions without it.

Chen Lihua became emotional and decided to take heed to her Chief's advice. She decided to take Liu Longwei's opinion into consideration whenever she would want to make a decision.

For now, she had to think of ways to make it up to him, but first, she had to go and say her thanks at the ophthalmic/ optometry department for getting her glasses right on time.

On her way, she was being greeted respectfully by her juniors. And when she greeted her seniors, they would respond to her happily.

While she was smiling and walking ahead, she met the deputy chief as he stared at her in shock.

'Why is she dressed that way, and where did she get those glasses from?'

The deputy chief asked no one in particular with a shock stricken expression.

As Chen Lihua walked passed him, she had a smirk on her face. And when she passed, the deputy Chief stood in place while staring at her departing back.

With a restless heart, he quickly made his way back to their department to make inquiries.

There, he found out that Chen Lihua took part in the surgery. And not only that, instead of assisting the Chief, she became the lead surgeon during the surgery, and the surgery was successful.

The deputy chief couldn't describe what he was feeling right now. But what he knew is that he wanted to smash things in other to calm down.

He entered his office and swept everything on his desk away.

As if that one wasn't enough for him, he went ahead to look for something to smash.

Not seeing anything that could bear the impact of what he wanted, he decided to vent his anger and frustration on the office telephone.