Chapter 106
The new person appointed as the head of orthopedics was named Ashley White. Judging by the name, people thought he was a woman, but he turned out to be a man in his 30s, with features just as delicate as his name. This was the first time Chris had seen him.
It was said that the position of orthopedic director should have been his originally, but Ben had paid money and taken it for himself. Ashley hadn’t seemed to care much. As soon as Ben left, Ashley was immediately promoted. If he had been placed in that role from the start, maybe so many problems wouldn’t have happened, and the hospital wouldn’t have had to pay any compensation. Everyone had taken the wrong step and kept going down the wrong path—there was no fixing it now.
“It’s a perforating wound. Judging by this, we definitely need to do an open-chest surgery. All departments need to come up with a joint surgical plan. What’s the patient’s current status? Still conscious?” asked Chris.
Ashley replied, “He was still conscious when brought in. Because the steel rod wasn’t removed, there hasn’t been any massive bleeding. We’ve already administered painkillers—he’s conscious. Now it’s a matter of how to proceed with surgery to save his life.”
In the end, Chris had to lead the operation. Everyone worked out a surgical plan in the shortest time possible and began racing against the clock. While scrubbing in, Ashley stood next to Chris. The two stood side by side, both tall with long legs and broad shoulders.
“I haven’t seen you before,” said Chris.
Ashley smiled. “I usually work the night shift. How should I put it… Ben didn’t like me very much—probably because he knew I was the biggest threat to him in orthopedics. After he became director, he reassigned me to night shifts. It’s been about a year now!”
So that was it. Someone capable of being director should’ve at least performed surgeries with the team, or at the very least had a known name. If it was Ben pulling strings, that made sense.
“A few days ago, I had dinner with Prof. Rane—he said the same thing. If they had appointed you as the orthopedic director from the beginning, none of this mess would’ve happened. Prof. Rane really recognizes your ability. I didn’t expect our first collaboration would be such a high-risk surgery.”
Ashley turned sideways with his hands raised and said to Chris, “Ms. Wilder placed me here because she valued my potential. I’ve been at the Summit Infirmary for five years—longer than you—but I’m not as capable as you.”
Chris was surprised. He hadn’t expected Ashley to be one of Jessica’s arrangements.
Both had finished scrubbing—otherwise, Ashley might have wanted to shake his hand. “I was still in med school when Ms. Wilder noticed me; she sent me here to intern, and I’ve worked my way up since. The Summit Infirmary has always been tied to what she’s doing, so there are quite a few of her people here. I just didn’t expect even her husband would be brought in.”
Nurses began filing in one after another to scrub in. Chris snapped out of his daze and walked in with Ashley.
“You’re saying that even before Jessica invested in the Summit Infirmary, you guys were already stationed here?”
Ashley nodded. “There are some things I can’t say too much about. We just follow orders and do our jobs. Oh, by the way, I’ve already notified Ms. Wilder—this incident is connected to the Hall family.”
Chris had arrived a bit late, so he wasn’t fully aware of the patient’s situation. He heard from the nurses that the patient was apparently a performer—fell off the stage mid-show—and was impaled by steel rods.
The surgery started at five in the afternoon and lasted over 10 hours. All departments remained on high alert. Chris’s department was scheduled later in the procedure, so he changed out of his scrubs and stood outside, watching through the observation room.