Part 11: 4: Awakening

Chapter 2-4: Awakening

Note: May not actually contain much awakening at all.





Kasal We should just move on to the surgical conference now, to save time. Those Doctors involved, please stick around.



Angie: We're starting, Doctor.

Derek: ......

Angie: Dr. Stiles! Pay attention!

Derek: Huh? Wha? Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't hear you.

Put your life in this man's hands.

Angie: Is everything alright? You've been staring at that X-ray for a long time.

Derek: Uh, I was just going over today's operation again in my mind. Anyway, let's get this conference started, huh?

Angie: (He's been spacing out a lot lately. At least he's concentrating hard on something, I guess.)

You have no idea how glad I am that the plot picks up after this update. It means I don't have to deal with Derek staring at a wall and ellipsis-ing all the time. Well, there'll be ellipsis, but they'll be paired with more entertaining things. On that note:



This guy's named after the ER character, Dr. Luka Kovac.

An aneurysm is a bulging of the blood vessel, caused by the weakening of the vessels or disease. It's kinda like the blood vessel has become a little balloon that is filling with blood. If left alone, the vessel may burst, which is very bad.

And now, over to Dr. Kasal and his serious face.



Kasal: He's currently not doing very well. Tests showed a number of aneurysms nears his large intestine. Some of them have ruptured, and there is risk of anemia.

In brief, anemia is caused by a lack of red blood cells, specifically the hemoglobin in them, which carries oxygen. A lot of bleeding is one of the things that can cause it, and hey, having arteries bursts tends to result in blood loss.

Kasal: We need to perform a laparotomy and get those aneurysms under control. The objective of this operation is:

-Treat the aneurysms on the outer membrane of the patient's large intestine.

That should be all. First, inject a sedative into the swollen vessel to reduce its size. Excise the problem area, and suture the vessel closed. You'll need to use magnification again, to ensure your accuracy. Derek, concentrate on the patient. Don't worry about anything else.

Derek: Okay!





OPERATION VIDEO
Gamevee
Viddler

I spent a lot of time confusing the drain and zoom, causing me to fumble around like an idiot. Still, I totally nailed this one.



I was specifically told there were multiple aneurysms. Who the hell is responsible for the counting at this hospital?

Alright, alright, we'll zoom in and treat it.



If left alone, the aneurysm will grow until it bursts pretty fast. You inject this brown stuff into it to shrink it until it's small enough to excise and place on the tray.



Once you've excised it, it's only a small drain on vitals, and pretty harmless overall, but you can't exactly leave it like that. First drain the blood and drag one exposed end of the vessel to the other.



Finally, suture. Your rank for the whole thing is based on the suturing.

Angie: The aneurysm's been treated. We can finally relax.



Angie: Every vessel in the area's in danger of becoming an aneurysm! Continue the operation... we'll just have to treat them all!

Somehow, I doubt you're surprised. To start, you have another single aneurysm to treat.



After that, you get two more waves of two each. You have to make sure you work fast enough that one doesn't burst while you deal with the other. Be sure to restore vitals before suturing if you need to, as the next ones will spawn as soon as you're done with the old group. In UtK, they spawned as soon as the old ones were cut, so it was a bit harder.



After that, you're... obviously not done. None of you were going to believe that for a second.



Here's another thing that made UtK harder, you had FIVE of these at this point. Of course, four is still alarming, and if they all burst at once you're gone. You can do this without HT, but the game really wants you to use it.



As I said before, you need to remember that once the aneurysm has been excised, it's pretty harmless. Just work on getting all four sliced up before you start removing, and this is a snap, especially with your mystic doctor powers.



Angie: It's incredible, but at the same time, it's a little frightening. If every doctor had this ability, what would the medical world be like?

Anime as fuck, that's what.





Another job well done. This operation is a major sticking point for people on the DS, so be thankful it was toned way down here.



The main trick here is getting good at suturing so you can get Cools. If you can do that and avoid having any burst, you're pretty much golden. The UtK requirements for S-rank are obscenely steep. Just getting through without HT is hard enough, but it doesn't even come close to guaranteeing you the S. I replayed it while writing this and got a B.



Lucky I have an easier game to boost my ego, I guess.



Kasal: Make sure you don't rely on it too much. You need to develop your basic skills, too.

Derek: (Huh? What the...)

Kasal: I know it won't be easy, but you didn't take this job because-





Kasal: Derek, are you even listening? Derek? What's wrong!?

Thump. Kind of funny how not using the HT back there completely breaks the plot as Derek blacks out for no reason.

End of chapter 2-4




Chapter 2-5: Paying the Price



"Forget about that power..."

Derek: But, I...

"Are you prepared for the pain that would bring you?"

Derek: I became a doctor so that I could help people...

"And if it costs you your life? You'd give up your own happiness?"

Hoffman never said that, so I guess Derek is just going crazy and having an argument with his own brain.

Derek: I don't know, but I do know that people need my help... and I want to help them.



Derek: It's the... ceiling. What am I doing here?

Think about that line. Really think about it. If you read enough of Japan's plots you eventually stop noticing how absurd the line "It's the ceiling" is.



Derek: Angie? What happened?

Kasal: After Mr. Kovac's surgery, you just... collapsed. You've been asleep for three days.

And I assume you've been standing over him all this time.

Derek: What? Three days? What about my patients? I have operations scheduled-

Kasal: Already taken care of, Derek. I called in the other doctors. But, that's in the past. We need to discuss how you're going to proceed from here.

Derek: Okay.

Kasal: Derek, I forbid you from using the Healing Touch like that.

Derek: But, why would you?

Kasal: That ability puts a tremendous amount of physical strain on your body. It's too risky. What if you collapsed in the middle of a procedure?

Derek: But, without my Healing Touch, Mr. Kovac might have died...

Kasal: Exactly. That is why you mustn't abandon the Healing Touch. I'd advise you to use it only when absolutely necessary. After all, you shouldn't be relying solely on the Healing Touch anyway. Developing your natural skills as a surgeon is far more important.



Kasal: If you want to help people, focus on strengthening your natural abilities.

Derek: I understand.

Kasal: Take it slowly. I'm sure the power inside you will find its way out. Become the best surgeon you can, and one day you'll inherit the full heritage of Asclepius.

Derek: Y-Yes sir!

Watch out for the next lightning storm, then.

End of Chapter 2-5

That's the end of this arc of the plot, but chapter 2 continues next time.