163 I’m All Righ (1/2)

”Doctor Ling, there shouldn't be any problems with my finger, right?” Mao Penghai looked at his slightly black finger and felt a little worried.

Ling Ran observed it carefully and said, ”Your recovery is still all right. Look at the stitches. It's red, meaning blood has returned to the finger. There shouldn't be any problems with blood circulation. The finger has survived, but you still need to keep it warm… Do you think we should extend his duration with the heat lamp?”

The last question was for the doctor in the rehabilitation room.

The other doctor responded proactively and said, ”Sure. We can draw the lampshade nearer as well. We'll observe the situation and make adjustments accordingly.”

”You should also keep your affected limb high. Just make sure that it's slightly higher than the position of your heart. It shouldn't be too high either. During other times, don't let your arm fall to your side, and avoid other similar movements as well. Raising the affected limb will allow the blood to flow back into the veins. If you raise it too high, it will affect the blood supply to the artery…” Ling Ran noticed that the edema in Mao Penghai's finger had not disappeared, so he deliberately gave a few more pieces of advice.

Edema was a long-term side effect after a finger was replanted. Whether the edema faded away from the replanted finger was also an important indicator that the surgery was successful.

Although Ling Ran had obtained the Perfect Level Finger Replantation Skill, he had only recently began to truly use the skill. Mao Penghai was one of Ling Ran's earliest patients when it came to finger replantation surgeries. Ling Ran made all sorts of arrangements, regardless of whether they were important or trivial. He also prescribed antibiotics and other medicine to the patient. He then performed a simple physical examination as well before he went on with his ward round in the other rehabilitation rooms.

Mao Penghai could not help himself but let out a breath of relief. He smiled at his wife and said, ”Look, didn't I tell you not to worry? I'm recovering quite well.”

”I have heard from other people. They say that Doctor Ling Ran's patients will recover faster than the other patients,” Mao Penghai's wife said with a smile, ”But it's possible that it's because everyone's body is different, because your recovery speed is normal. Sigh… You need to heal up properly. I'm currently tending to the house all alone, and I get overwhelmed by work, and your mother refuses to help me, too…”

”She needs to help my brother take care of his children,” Mao Penghao spoke only a few words. He resisted the urge to continue to speak and started with a new topic.

When he was back at the ward, Mao Penghai felt more irritated the more he thought about it. Then, he took out a Yuxi cigarette from the bottom of the bed. He quietly used a plastic ruler to precisely measure one third of the cigarette's length before he went to the washroom and carefully ignited the cigarette. After waiting for two seconds, he gently took a sip.

In order to prevent the smoke he breathed out from getting caught by the noses of other people in the same ward, Mao Penghai did not switch on the ventilation fan. He also tried his best to hold his breath. After approximately twenty seconds, he breathed out another puff of smoke, as if he was exhausted of his strength.

The smoke was so thin that there was almost no color visible to the eyes.

He looked down at the low tar cigarette, and he found that he was still a distance away from reaching the one-third mark. Mao Penghai took another gentle sip before he exuded a great amount of self-control and stopped. He put out the ignited head of the cigarette and stared at the cigarette for a few more seconds before he threw it into the toilet bowl and flushed it away.

”It's not like I wanted to waste good cigarettes… I have no choice…” Mao Penghai spoke to the cigarette butt with a hint of regret.

After all, wasting was an extremely shameful act.

In order to let the ventilator disperse the smoke, Mao Penghai took off his pants as well. He sat on the toilet seat and created a 'scent' while he stalled for time.

He held his phone with one hand while he swiped the screen of the phone with his other hand. He seemed to be very relaxed and comfortable.

Back when his finger was severed, Mao Penghai felt as if his world had been destroyed.

If he had one finger missing, it would definitely affect his work. It would be impossible for him to get a promotion and a raise in his salary. He might even lose his job. By then, his wife might even mock and ridicule him.

And there was not even a need for him to mention just how bothersome it would be to be missing a finger and how ugly it would be.

However, once his surgery was successfully completed, Mao Penghai's mood gradually calmed down.

The finger was naturally not as nice as it used to look, but it was still bearable. His wife was still so fierce, but it was still bearable as well. The only thing that was unbearable was his ban on smoking, but if he only smoked two sips every two days, he could still last…

Mao Penghai scrolled through his phone calmly. He suddenly discovered that the part connecting his sutured finger to his hand, which had regained the color of blood previously, had turned pale.