by Rainbowfox Ari » 09/29/2016 1:50 AM
Emille wheeled over the monitors, and hooked the crash-cart with his foot to pull it over, moving over to switch on the overhead light so that Zerissa could get a better look. The boy's leg was red and angry all over, lines of infection spreading from the site of the inserted bar. Emille looked... considerable guilty and considerably concerned. "I... believe this is my fault." he said very quietly. "I had used that bar on another subject before this. I... had thought I cleaned it thoroughly, but there is a very slight chance that a particle from the other subject may have remained on the bar. ... If that's the case, this is entirely my fault." He sighed, and reached up to do something very unusual - rest his hand against the boy's forehead. "I'm so sorry, Ten." It was also the first time he'd apologized.
Regardless, he drew back, and retrieved a stabilization splint to hold the foot in such a position that they could see exactly where the infection was, and how to deal with it. Ten's foot wasn't looking good, but it did still have blood-flow, and might still be saved. Emille didn't want to butt in, but he knew the bar had to be removed, or else Ten had no chance. He borrowed the numbing agent from one of the boxes on the crash-cart, and started the delicate surgery.
When he'd inserted the bar, he hadn't been thinking about infection, nor had he been considering the state of the bone into which he'd inserted the bar. Once he judged that the numbing agent had taken effect, he started right along the line of strongest infection, and sliced into the leg deep enough to cut off the infected skin. Blood welled up, and - belatedly - Emille remembered he should have set up a blood bag and IV. He hoped Zerissa would pick up his slack, because if he stopped now, the infection would travel further into the incision, and then there would be no hope of saving his leg.
Buckling down in concentration, he carefully cleared away the infected tissue to expose the whole wound, and switched tools to a drill to very carefully start removing the bar from the bone. It was slow-going, and he really didn't notice whether or not Zerissa was still there. SAVING this boy was even more difficult than experimenting on him had been. He had to be careful not to nick blood-vessels, and this took a far more laser-focused kind of targeted attention than even Ildor's surgery had. It was challenging. Interesting. Above all, was the pressure on him to get this right. If he didn't, Ten died.
Once he had a large enough space around the bar on both sides of the bone - which almost broke it in two - he carefully, carefully extracted the large piece of very thin rebar with forceps, and eventually dropped it on the tray. He had to replace that lost section of bone... or Ten would never walk. Wracking his brains as he cleared out the rest of the major infection, he suddenly had a lightbulb moment. "Wait! I have it! Zerissa, keep him stable, I'll be RIGHT back!"
Quickly, he tore out of the room and into his storage tanks, pulling out a long-forgotten box, and opening it. It had been chilled to keep the tissue alive. Inside, he remembered he had synthetic bone. Specifically, a set of leg-bones. It was made out of that same clear material, only much more hardened to give it the appearance and consistency of clear bone. If he could remove the section of Ten's bone that was damaged, and replace it with this... it would be enough. He quickly put the bone back, and hefted the box into his arms. Never had he been this... EXCITED before. It was very strange, and something he would have to examine later.
"Zerissa, I have an idea. Go ahead and clear out as much of the infection as you can, and give me the bone-saw. I'm going to cut him a section of new bone."
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