Chapter Six: Just Signed the Papers, and He’s Gone?

Half an hour later, Li Guotai emerged from the treatment room, looking somewhat exhausted.

A crowd immediately gathered around him.

“Director Li, how is Wu Bin’s condition?”

After a brief silence, Li Guotai said, “I’ve never encountered such a strange patient before.”

Strange?

Hearing this, everyone was momentarily taken aback.

He Bingbing asked, “Director Li, why do you say that?”

Li Guotai explained, “Our examinations revealed that Wu Bin’s vital signs are extremely low. Due to his dangerously low blood oxygen levels, many of his bodily functions are already compromised; his entire body is on the brink of collapse.”

“Moreover, his heart condition is severe.”

“The vessels supplying blood to the heart are called coronary arteries; humans have three main ones—the left anterior descending artery, the circumflex artery, and the right coronary artery.”

“Typically, in heart attack patients, only one of these vessels is blocked. It’s exceedingly rare for two to be obstructed simultaneously.”

“But Wu Bin is different.”

At this point, Li Guotai’s expression grew even more peculiar.

He Bingbing quickly pressed him, “What exactly is different?”

After a moment’s pause, Li Guotai said, “All three of Wu Bin’s coronary arteries are blocked.”

“But not all at once; they are intermittently and unpredictably obstructed.”

Li Guotai added, “I realize what I’m saying defies medical convention, but the facts are as they are, and frankly, I’m quite baffled.”

Hearing this, the onlookers immediately understood why he looked so drained.

If you imagine the heart as a city, then the coronary arteries are like the ring highways encircling it.

There are only these three major highways into the city.

A blockage in any one vessel causes a large area of heart muscle to suffer ischemic injury or even necrosis, leading to a myocardial infarction.

Thus, in ordinary cases, blocking just one artery is enough to issue a critical health warning.

Yet Wu Bin’s three vessels were blocking in turn, almost as if playing a cruel game.

“Not going to let you die easily, I’ll just block them one by one to keep you and the doctors baffled.”

“So, Director Li, does the hospital now have a treatment plan for Wu Bin’s condition?”

Li Guotai nodded.

“Given the uniqueness and urgency of Wu Bin’s case, we held an emergency consultation in the treatment room just now.”

“We’ve concluded that Wu Bin needs immediate coronary artery bypass surgery.”

The livestream chat exploded at this.

“Oh my goodness, this just got serious—going straight to bypass surgery.”

“I don’t understand; can any medical experts explain?”

“To put it simply, all three ‘highways’ are blocked, so they need to build an artificial one directly to the heart.”

“This surgery has very strict requirements; it’s not something you just decide on a whim.”

Xu Wenyao and his group didn’t understand these medical details, but thankfully, Li Guotai patiently explained everything.

Yet the more Li Guotai elaborated, the more daunting the situation seemed to Yang Kang and Xu Wenyao.

Xu Wenyao asked gravely, “Director Li, our university will cover all of Wu Bin’s medical expenses.”

“Don’t worry about the costs. We don’t understand the intricacies of bypass surgery, but we know one thing: give Wu Bin the best possible care, spare no expense.”

Li Guotai smiled wryly.

“Spare no expense? You place too much faith in me.”

“As I said, Wu Bin’s three arteries are blocking intermittently; we initially suspect vascular spasms are causing this.”

“In the worst-case scenario, all three arteries may be unusable.”

“So, we not only have to perform bypass surgery, but we need to graft three vessels, not just one.”

Gasp!

Everyone inhaled sharply at this news.

Three bypasses at once?

Is that even possible?

Seeing Xu Wenyao’s grim expression, Li Guotai tried to reassure him.

“Principal Xu, you don’t need to worry too much. Although bypass surgery is major, its success rate is over 97 percent. Generally, there shouldn’t be major issues.”

Xu Wenyao exhaled in relief.

“But…”

“Wu Bin’s current blood oxygen saturation is extremely low—less than 70 percent.”

“The likelihood of him surviving the operation is slim.”

Xu Wenyao was stunned, his thoughts swirling into a fog.

“Director Li, didn’t you say the surgery success rate is 97 percent? Why is it now that he might not even make it to the operating table?”

Li Guotai replied awkwardly, “The surgery’s success rate is indeed high, but given Wu Bin’s physical condition, I worry he might not survive until the operation finishes.”

“Let me put it this way: with blood oxygen saturation around 70, a person might live for about a day.”

“If it drops below 40, they generally only have about three hours left.”

Li Guotai took a document from a nurse.

“If we decide to proceed now, someone needs to sign this consent form.”

“Who will do it?”

Everyone fell silent, staring at the surgical consent form.

This was no ordinary signature.

One sign meant taking full responsibility for the surgery.

Yet, as Li Guotai had made clear, Wu Bin’s oxygen levels were critically low, and his survival time short.

If they waited for the family to sign, he might already be in the morgue.

All eyes turned to Xu Wenyao.

At that moment, the cameraman zoomed in on Xu Wenyao’s face.

“I’ll sign.”

Xu Wenyao took the pen and signed the document without hesitation.

“Director Li, please arrange the surgery for Wu Bin as soon as possible.”

With the signature secured, Li Guotai wasted no time, donned his mask, and stepped into the treatment room.

But the instant he opened the door, a sharp alarm blared from inside.

“Director, the patient’s blood oxygen saturation has dropped to 20 percent!”

What?!

Only 20 percent?!

Are you kidding me?

Li Guotai rushed in and immediately ordered the operation to begin.

Outside the treatment room, an eerie silence fell.

Xu Wenyao’s face was ashen; his right hand trembled like a chicken claw, freshly signed ink barely dry.

The livestream chat filled with prayers and well-wishes.

“Poor principal, he just signed the form and now the patient’s condition plummets.”

“Isn’t it too soon to give up? Even Director Li hasn’t said it’s hopeless.”

“Dude, do you know what 20 percent blood oxygen saturation means? The heart bypass prep was just completed, and the patient could be headed straight to the morgue.”

“Such a promising student, scared to death like this.”

“Now the counselor and school leaders are doomed too; both might face charges.”

Beep.

The red light above the treatment room door glowed, the words “Surgery in Progress” shining harshly.

Xu Wenyao clasped his hands together, fervently praying for Wu Bin’s recovery.

In his heart, he vowed: if the surgery succeeds, he would treat Wu Bin like his own son from now on.