129 FIRST SURGERY IN TERRA

"Can you just leave? NOW! We're trying to save a life here!" 

Zoe's voice bellowed in the room. 

She was surprised to see Raigon again. 

But this is not the time to reminisce about the old times.

"That's right!"

Erin pointed out her finger and fixed herself again. 

Azra stepped back but he was still alert and waiting for his master's next command. 

Raigo wasn't deterred by Zoe's domineering reaction.

"How could you save a life by boring a hole into someone's head?!" 

His voice was as angry and authoritative as Zoe's.

He was here to look for a cure. And if this is it, he would not allow it to be done to his father. 

Or even just an ordinary citizen of Terran.

"Do you have any other option?" Zoe raised her eyebrow and crossed her arm.

Azra was about to raise his sword for Zoe's disrespect to the Crown Prince, but Raigon stopped him with a wave of his hand.

Zoe bowed to him. She forgot that he must be from the royal family here.

"Apologies, my lord. I know this is a very unusual form of treatment. You can kill me later if you must. Just let me finish with this."

She answered in a controlled manner. 

"Agreed."

"Zoe!" Erin blurted out in disbelief. 

Zoe's eyes widened at Raigon's direct answer.

She was not expecting to hear that from him. 

'What do I expect? He does not remember me. And even if he did, I'm sure he still wouldn't approve of my methodology.'

Raigon restructured his command in a deep and serious voice.

"We don't have any other option, as you said. But your life is in Adrian's hands. If he dies, you die. Do you understand?"

Azra stared at his master.

He knew that voice. It is not a request but an order as a Crowned Prince.

He readied his sword on stand by.

Erin noticed it and confronted Zoe.

"L-lady Asha, maybe we should stop. Will you risk your life for a stranger now?"

"What can I do? If I won't remove the clot and close it within this hour, both of us will be dead. Can you please leave the room now, my lords?"

Zoe explained the situation to them.

"No. We will watch you until you finish."

Raigon crossed his arm and went to a corner of the room to stand guard.

"Then please clean yourself first and wear these."

Zoe instructed them as she pointed out to pieces of clean clothes to wear as masks.

Both Zoe and Erin resumed their position and continued on operating on Adrian. 

Raigon narrowed her eyes on Zoe as she meticulously probed inside Adrian's head.

'This is insane! How could anyone touch the brain of a living person and expect him to live afterward? But she is right. The royal physicians have done everything they can. He would still be good as dead even if he has not undergone any operation.'

He stared at her hands as she used them for operating.

'Her hands are very swift and deft. It seemed like she knew what she was doing for a quack physician. And if she is a fake doctor, she would immediately be intimidated by a threat to her life. This lady is very intriguing.'

As he observed the operation, he noticed that her instruments were unfamiliar to him.

Though he had not seen the storage room of the royal physicians, he had a hunch that they were not from Terra.

'Are these ladies one of the intruders in this land?!'

As he contemplated, the light from Zoe's flashlight suddenly black out. 

"Not now," Zoe sighed.

She was already stitching the wound and she needed extra light to see clearly. 

To her astonishment, Raigon lit a lamp nearby and held it near her.

"I am just making sure that he will live." He explained himself. 

Azra rushed to His Highness' side and grabbed the lamp from him. 

"Let me, your High-"

He was supposed to say "your Highness" but he recalled the Crowned Prince's instruction.

"My lord."

Raigon gave the lamp to Azra, but he remained near Zoe's side. 

Zoe continued on suturing his forehead. 

As she did so, drops of perspiration form on Zoe's forehead which trickled down her eyebrows.

Raigon noticed it and pulled out his handkerchief.

He dabbed it on Zoe's forehead, which made Zoe glance at him again.

"What? I'm only trying to make sure that your perspiration won't drop inside that hole and cause complications. Azra, wipe her assistant's forehead too."

"Y-yes, my lord."

Azra awkwardly pulled out his handkerchief and blotted Erin's forehead.

"You know, if we were in a different scenario, I would be sincerely touched."

Erin voiced out loud.

Zoe wanted to say, "Me too!". But she didn't.

But inside her mask, her lips curved up as she imagined the four of them in an operating room at a hospital.

She is the captain of the team, Erin is her assisting surgeon and the two as the OR assistants on duty. 

"Only in the City of Terra." 

In a few minutes, Adrian's head was now covered in clean cloth. 

She checked for his vital signs and they were stable.

Zoe removed her mask as she placed the instruments on the table.

"Great job, team. Adrian is now far from danger."

Erin sprawled herself on the floor. 

They have been standing with their backs hunched down for an hour and a half.

"Milady!" Azra ran to her side and helped her stand up.

"This is the reason why I never want to be a doctor."

Erin muttered as she stood up again with the help of Azra.

On the other hand, a corner of Raigon's lips stretched upward.

'If this is indeed successful, there is a big chance that my Father's life would also be extended.'

"You did well, milady." He bowed to Zoe.

Zoe bowed back to him. 

"He needs to recover completely though. It will still take days for him to wake up."

"How long?" 

They were in this conversation when someone knocked on the doors.

"Open this door in the name of the King!"