Chapter 148 - 136: Surgery Is Actually Very Simple

Without an anesthesiologist, Neal Wallace could only administer the standard minimum dose of general anesthesia to Joel Bloom.

As Joel Bloom drifted into a groggy sleep, he heard Flora Bloom say, "Don’t worry, your sister is going to heal you." Then he fell peacefully asleep.

Cynthia Grant assisted Neal Wallace in disinfecting Joel Bloom’s chest. Neal used a scalpel to slice layer by layer through the skin and tissue, then skillfully proceeded to set and fix Joel’s ribs.

"Flora, this rib is lodged in his lung. When I move it back into place, it’s very likely to disturb the lung again. Cynthia, you help stanch the bleeding. Flora, you focus on washing away any excess blood. We have to be fast."

Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant nodded in unison.

After Neal Wallace set the last fractured rib back into place, Cynthia Grant immediately pressed gauze against the bleeding point on his lung.

A ball of Space Spirit Water from Flora Bloom’s hand slowly flowed into Joel Bloom’s chest, where the rib had caused the bleeding. But to her surprise, before she could even draw the water back out, the spiritual water rapidly seeped into the bleeding wound. The expected gush of blood never came. Puzzled, Cynthia Grant lifted her hand to look. Aside from the initial trace of blood, there wasn’t even a mark on Joel Bloom’s lung.

Neal Wallace glanced at Flora Bloom. Although he knew how miraculous her water was, he couldn’t help but be amazed every time he witnessed its incredible effects.

"Close him up immediately."

The chest surgery, originally expected to take at least three hours, was completed in just one.

As Cynthia Grant was about to suture the incision, Flora Bloom stopped her.

"My brother is too handsome to have a scar on his chest." With that, she poured another ball of spiritual water over the surgical incision on Joel Bloom’s chest. Under the flow of spiritual water, the separated layers of skin and tissue began to automatically mend themselves.

The muscles and blood vessels within the incision reconnected and grew back together at a visible rate.

They already knew Flora Bloom’s water worked wonders for healing injuries, but they hadn’t realized it was effective not just when ingested, but also when applied directly to a wound—and the results were instantaneous.

Neal Wallace and Cynthia Grant were already accustomed to Flora Bloom’s miracles, so they didn’t have much of a reaction. But this was the first time Maeve Preston had seen anything like it. ’Is this how people close incisions now? If we’d had this water in our obstetrics and gynecology department before the apocalypse, wouldn’t women afraid of C-section scars have fought like crazy for it?’

Maeve Preston’s shock and thoughts were written all over her face. Flora Bloom saw her eyes wide, her head tilted as she stared at Joel Bloom’s bare upper body. ’Does that even look like someone who just had surgery?’

Flora Bloom poured a little spiritual water into Joel Bloom’s mouth. He was still unconscious from the anesthesia. The spiritual water could only heal; it couldn’t counteract the anesthetic, so Joel Bloom remained asleep.

"Mr. Wallace, Cynthia, I’m entrusting my brother’s leg to you as well!"

Flora Bloom spoke with great solemnity, but as far as Neal Wallace and Cynthia Grant were concerned, this leg fracture no longer seemed difficult.

They took up a scalpel and made an incision on the side of Joel Bloom’s fibula, creating the space needed for the reduction.

"I’ll do it," Cynthia Grant said, confidently taking Joel Bloom’s lower leg into her hands. With her small frame and slender arms, Cynthia didn’t look like she had much strength. But she braced Joel’s heel with one hand and held the spot just below his knee where the bone was broken with the other.

With a quick push and pull of her hands, she shifted her position and, in a single motion, set the protruding fragment of Joel Bloom’s bone back into place.

Just then, Joel Bloom let out a muffled cry of pain, his eyes flying open.

"It hurts."

Flora Bloom moved to Joel Bloom’s side and took his hand. "We don’t have an anesthesiologist, so the dose might have been too small. Just hang in there. It’ll be over soon."

"Sis, my leg... am I going to have a limp?" ’It was such a severe fracture, and so many days had passed. The optimal window for treatment was long gone. He knew in his heart that even if they set the bone, it would never fully recover.’

"With your sister around, she could reattach your entire leg if it fell off! Don’t you worry!" Cynthia Grant said while carefully pressing around the fracture with both hands, moving from the wound outward as if using her fingers to push the severed tendons and ligaments back into place.

Just as Joel Bloom was drenched in sweat from the pain but still gritting his teeth to endure it, she finally let out a breath of relief. "There. Luckily, there were no bone fragments inside. Just a few displaced tendons, and I’ve already pushed them back."

Flora Bloom turned to look at Cynthia Grant. "That’s it?"

Cynthia Grant raised an eyebrow. "Yep!"

"It’s fixed?"

"That’s right!"

Flora Bloom splashed a handful of spiritual water onto Joel Bloom’s lower leg.

Joel Bloom instantly felt a cool sensation spread over his lower leg, which moments ago had been numb with agony. Beyond that, the tearing pain at the break, like a pulled muscle, began to fade. After Flora Bloom gave him a bottle of water to drink, even the slightest feeling of pain vanished completely.

Neal Wallace and Cynthia Grant stretched, moving their arms, legs, and necks before quickly stripping off their surgical gowns and gloves. "We shouldn’t have even bothered with gowns. If you’d been a doctor before the apocalypse, Flora, you would’ve been considered a miracle worker."

"Hey, Maeve, why are you staring at Flora? Hurry and take off your surgical gown! It’s so hot and stuffy in Morhaven, aren’t you uncomfortable?"

Cynthia Grant’s voice snapped Maeve Preston out of her daze. After taking off her surgical gown, she remained standing beside Flora Bloom, not moving an inch.

Flora Bloom glanced coolly at Maeve Preston. "Is there something else, Maeve?"

Only then did Maeve Preston quickly shake her head and dazedly follow Cynthia Grant and Neal Wallace to the side to sit down and rest.

Flora Bloom patted Joel Bloom’s head and said irritably, "Once the anesthesia wears off, get up and move around a little."

Joel Bloom had been under general anesthesia, and even though the dose was small, he had been woken by the pain. He had no idea how the surgery had progressed.

"That’s it? Is the surgery already over?" he asked, uncertain.

"Mhm. I guarantee that in a little while, you’ll be running and jumping just like before, with no lasting effects whatsoever!"

Jade had been staring intently ever since her son’s surgery began. From the anesthesia to the chest incision to the setting of his leg bone, she hadn’t blinked once.

The gory scenes she had imagined never appeared, nor did any of the potential dangers of surgery. The entire process, which had begun with such gravity, ended with casual swiftness, moving at a speed that left even her, a layperson, completely dumbfounded.

She knew this was all thanks to her daughter. Without her daughter’s special water, her son could never have recovered so quickly.

The three resting doctors—Neal Wallace and the others—were really just sitting and chatting. When they saw Caleb Bloom standing ramrod straight at the top of the stairs like a royal guard, Cynthia Grant quickly called out, "Uncle Bloom, the surgery’s over! Come and rest for a bit."

The moment Cynthia Grant finished speaking, Caleb Bloom seemed to let out a sudden breath of relief. He turned and hurried to Joel Bloom’s side to check on his son’s injuries.

There wasn’t a single wound on either his leg or his chest. "How are you, Joel? Are you feeling okay?"

Joel Bloom smiled slightly when he saw his father. "The anesthetic hasn’t worn off, so my body is still numb. But my mind has never felt clearer."

"Dad, since you’re here, there’s something I need to discuss with you all," Flora Bloom said, her eyes fixed intently on Joel Bloom.

As her brother, Joel Bloom had a vague idea of what she was about to say, and his expression soured.

"What is it, Flora? Out with it," Jade asked impatiently.

"It’s about my little brother’s girlfriend, Lucia... and the baby she’s carrying."