After smiling briefly at each of the men in the room, Leto put her mask on, lifted Hector's gown, and with a deep breath, took the scalpel and made the cut.
She'd been in the operating dozens of times, too many to count, really, but being the one to actually perform surgery was unlike anything Leto had ever experienced. Her mind was focused, narrowed to the task at hand, with no room in her brain for what she was doing at that precise moment. Finding the appendix had been easier than she anticipated, and she was very glad they had not waited. She had never seen one so inflamed. Hector must have been in a lot more pain than he was letting on. With the help of Alex's more experienced hands, getting it out had been no problem. Within thirty minutes of making the initial cut, the appendix was out, and Leto had sewn Hector back up.
With it done, Leto pulled her mask down and stared for a moment, before looking around the room and beaming. "We're done." It felt like the first time she'd breathed all day.