★ This is a deeply human and professionally introspective memoir by a neurosurgeon. It reveals the true inner world of doctors—reflections on errors, the struggle between career and family, and the ongoing questioning of "why we practice medicine."
★ Confronting life and death, witnessing the fragility and resilience of existence, the author chronicles the pulse-pounding moments in the operating room with a calm pen and writes about the space between life and death with a warm heart. Each story is a real-life vignette, illuminating the limits of medicine and the glimmer of humanity.
★ Blending professional accounts with personal narrative, medical humanities with nonfiction, this is a book that redefines the reader’s understanding of the "doctor" and reveals the softness and warmth within a healer's heart.

This is a collection of personal narrative essays by Malaysian Chinese neurosurgeon, Tan Chun Xian. Writing from the perspective of a "returned" attending physician, he looks back on his past, using short pieces to document stories from inside and outside the operating room: thrilling life-or-death rescues, candid introspection on mistakes, profound empathy for patients and their families, and the struggles and reflections of balancing multiple roles as a doctor, family member, and more. This is not a success manual, but a sincere record of life, responsibility, and humility, inviting readers into the heart of a healer that beats amidst precise surgeries and complex emotions.

Junxian Chen（陈俊贤）
Born in a beautiful village in Malaysia. In 1994, he traveled to Taiwan to pursue his medical education, graduating from Kaohsiung Medical University. He previously served as attending neurosurgeon at Cathay General Hospital in Taipei and Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualien, and currently practices as a specialist neurosurgeon at Hospital Lam Wah Ee in Malaysia. His published works include I Opened Your Skull and the novel The Clinic at Nine Houses.