Song Mira stared intently at Go Hayoung’s mouth.
“So, it’s just… it’s like he’s been possessed by a spirit.”
“Pardon?”
“You know how they say shamans who’ve received a spirit have the god telling them things from behind? Director Kang Taeho, in a crisis, sorts everything out so quickly, just like a shaman who’s been possessed. And whenever that happens, he’s overflowing with confidence, too.”
“Ah…”
Song Mira felt a slight suspicion. From the interviews she had conducted, everyone had noticed that Director Kang Taeho had something special about him. But no one could say specifically where that special quality came from, or why it only appeared in Director Kang Taeho.
‘See? I told you not to get too emotional about it. I knew you’d be like this.’
She could almost hear the editor-in-chief’s scolding voice.
At six in the evening, Song Mira and Choi Jinsu withdrew to a motel near the hospital and reviewed the footage they had shot by playing it back on a laptop.
“What do you think, Jinsu?”
“It’s good, but something feels lacking.”
Choi Jinsu said as he replayed the footage.
“Everyone says he’s good, but isn’t it kind of an obvious story? He’s a good doctor, he’s highly skilled—that much is… I don’t know.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
Song Mira gnawed at her lip.
“I bragged to the editor-in-chief that this would be a hit, but it’ll be hard to air it with just this.”
“Right. We need something more powerful.”
Choi Jinsu said as he checked the camera batteries.
“It’d be nice if some impactful incident happened before we pull out.”
Song Mira scratched her head and sighed.
“Yeah. It’s not enough. We need some truly dramatic moment.”
Just then, Song Mira’s cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
—Reporter! There’s been a major accident at Samcheok Beach! They say a group of triathlon athletes collapsed!
“What?”
Song Mira sprang to her feet.
—119 has been dispatched, and they’re sending them to Geumsan Samcheok Hospital!
Song Mira and Choi Jinsu looked at each other.
“Jinsu!”
“Yes!”
“It happened! Grab the camera!”
Choi Jinsu quickly gathered the equipment and rubbed his arms.
“Wow, I’ve got goosebumps. It feels unsettling, like it happened the moment we wished for an accident.”
Song Mira picked up her bag and ran toward the door.
“Hurry! If we’re late, we’ll miss it!”
The two left the motel and hailed a taxi.
“Sir, please get us to Geumsan Samcheok Hospital as fast as you can!”
In the taxi, Song Mira said to Choi Jinsu,
“Jinsu, this is the real thing. The chance to properly show what kind of person Director Kang Taeho is has come. Don’t take the camera off him for even a second, got it?”
“Yes, noona. I’m ready.”
Song Mira looked out the window and murmured,
“I think I’ll finally be able to capture the scene I’ve been looking for.”
The taxi sped up toward Geumsan Samcheok Hospital.
“Sir, can’t you go any faster?”
“Ha ha ha. We’re already going plenty fast.”
Song Mira’s heart pounded. At last, the decisive moment that would reveal Director Kang Taeho’s true nature was approaching.
***
Song Mira and Choi Jinsu burst through the emergency room doors. They were out of breath, their shoulders heaving.
“Reporter, this area is…”
Head Nurse Lee Miseon tried to stop them, but Song Mira quickly said,
“We have permission from Director Kang Taeho to cover this! You know that, right?”
Just then, the sound of an ambulance siren rang out, and the emergency room doors flew open.
“Emergency patient coming in!”
“Reporters, this is an emergency situation, so please wait outside!”
“We have permission to cover—”
“Not in the ER!”
Head Nurse Lee Miseon firmly drove the reporters out.
Song Mira and Choi Jinsu were pushed beyond the emergency room’s glass window and had to watch the situation from there.
“Patient number one, Kim Mingyu, male, twenty-two. Difficulty breathing began thirty minutes after swimming!”
“Patient number two, Park Jiyoung, female, twenty-four. Coughing and pink sputum!”
Song Mira pressed herself against the glass and whispered to Choi Jinsu.
“Jinsu, can you see Director Kang over there? Get a proper shot, even if it’s through the glass.”
“Yes, I’m filming. The video’s passable, but the audio’s disappointing.”
The moment Taeho saw the patients, he hesitated briefly as he assessed them.
Song Mira did not miss that scene.
‘He’s doing that again. It was like that at the market, too, and I think it was the same during the fishing boat incident last time… Does he have some special method of concentration?’
Through the glass, she could see Taeho approaching the first patient.
“Patient, did you swallow a lot of water while swimming?”
“No. I did it like usual, but suddenly I couldn’t breathe…”
The patient’s voice was rough.
Through the glass, the moment Taeho’s expression changed drastically was captured.
‘What is it?’
Song Mira swallowed hard.
Head Nurse Lee Miseon checked the vitals and shouted,
“Blood pressure 140 over 90, pulse 120, oxygen saturation 88 percent!”
“Please take a chest X-ray immediately!”
A portable X-ray was moved over.
Song Mira gave Choi Jinsu instructions in a low voice.
“Don’t miss the X-ray results, either.”
“Yes, noona.”
After seeing the results, Taeho spoke as if he had expected it.
“Bilateral pulmonary edema. Suspected IPO. We’ll begin with high-concentration oxygen for now. Give everyone fifteen liters of high-flow oxygen! We’ll observe the response first.”
“Yes, understood.”
The medical staff moved in perfect order and placed oxygen masks on the patients.
About fifteen minutes passed.
“Patient number one’s oxygen saturation is 89 percent, and patient number two’s is 85 percent.”
Nurse Go Hayoung checked the monitor and reported.
They were still in critical condition.
With a grave expression, Taeho said,
“We’ll prepare CPAP. We need to raise the alveolar pressure with positive-pressure ventilation.”
“CPAP?”
Public health doctor Lee Junho looked flustered.
“Yes. From now on, we’re going to assist the patients’ breathing.”
Public health doctor Lee Junho took charge of patient number three, whose condition was the best, and Yu Sihyeok, the head of surgery, took patient number four. Taeho focused on the most severe cases, patients one and two.
They had to apply pressure with the machine to push out the fluid accumulated in the lungs.
Nurse Go Hayoung brought the CPAP equipment.
“Director, it’s ready!”
“Good. Oxygen concentration at 100 percent, start with pressure at 10 cmH2O!”
The CPAP mask was placed on the first patient, Kim Mingyu. The transparent mask covered his nose and mouth.
“Body temperature is important, too. Please maintain their temperatures above thirty-six degrees.”
“Yes.”
Nurses Kim Sujin and Lee Suyeong brought warming blankets and covered the patients.
After about twenty minutes, the patients’ conditions visibly improved.
“Patient number one’s oxygen saturation has risen to 94 percent!”
“Patient number two has also gone up to 92 percent!”
Nurse Go Hayoung checked the monitor and reported.
Taeho briefly closed and opened his eyes, appearing to concentrate.
Watching from beyond the glass, Song Mira tilted her head.
‘That action again. I’m sure of it. It looks like he’s checking something, but what?’
Taeho nodded with an expression that said it was all right now.
“They’re responding well to CPAP. The wet crackles on lung auscultation have also decreased significantly. They are now stable enough to be transferred to a general ward. However, due to the nature of IPO, there is a risk of recurrence within six to twelve hours, so please continue monitoring their vitals.”
Song Mira whispered to Choi Jinsu.
“Did you hear that? He sounds so certain, like he’s seen inside their bodies himself.”
“Really?”
“Watch carefully.”
Through the glass, Taeho showed that brief moment of concentration once more, then said,
“Patient number two has also entered the stable range now.”
Beyond the glass, Song Mira said to Choi Jinsu with a puzzled expression,
“You saw that just now, right?”
“Yes. He does seem different from other doctors somehow.”
That was not all. Kang Taeho would occasionally mutter to himself in a low voice.
“It’s like he’s talking to someone, isn’t it?”
Choi Jinsu said as he adjusted the camera lens.
“Maybe it’s that kind of thing?”
“What kind?”
“You know how geniuses are supposed to be a little like that. They talk to themselves and stuff…”
“So you’re saying he’s a little off his rocker?”
Song Mira made a motion as if to smack the back of Choi Jinsu’s head.
Taeho went around checking on the other patients as well. The sight of him concentrating briefly in front of each patient repeated itself.
Song Mira said quietly to Choi Jinsu,
“This is really fascinating. There’s definitely something special about that man.”
“In what way?”
“Other doctors make judgments based on monitors and test results. But that man seems like he’s directly seeing the patient’s condition.”
“He definitely does have something out of the ordinary about him. I admit it.”
Song Mira observed Taeho closely and thought,
‘It was the same at the fish market earlier, and even now, there’s something different from the usual method of treatment. But I can’t tell exactly what it is.’
Her instincts as a reporter began to stir again.
After the patients’ conditions stabilized, Song Mira and Choi Jinsu were able to conduct a brief interview in the emergency room hallway.
“Director, what exactly is IPO?”
Song Mira asked in front of the camera.
“Swimming-induced pulmonary edema, or immersion pulmonary edema. It can occur during strenuous exercise in cold water. The peripheral blood vessels constrict, causing blood to rush into the lungs, and when exercise stress is added, fluid leaks from the pulmonary capillaries and causes pulmonary edema.”
“Then how did you treat it?”
“In the initial stage, we try oxygen administration, and if the effect is insufficient, we use CPAP for positive-pressure ventilation. Fortunately, all four responded well.”
Song Mira fell silent for a moment. Taeho’s explanation was perfect, but there were parts that did not quite sit right with her.
“Director, it seems like this kind of diagnosis wouldn’t ordinarily be easy. How do you do it so easily?”
Song Mira stared at Taeho intently, determined not to miss any change in his expression. But unlike earlier, his expression did not change. It seemed he was conscious of Song Mira and the camera.
Was he flustered, or displeased?
With an expressionless face, as if he had no emotions at all, Taeho slightly opened his mouth to answer.
“That is…”
Just then, Nurse Go Hayoung came running urgently.
“Director!”
Taeho and Song Mira turned their heads at the same time.
Go Hayoung’s face was pale.
“Patient number two suddenly lost consciousness!”
Song Mira bit her lip as if in regret. Not because the patient’s condition had worsened, but because she had lost her chance to hear Director Kang Taeho’s answer like this.
Taeho immediately turned around.
“Oxygen saturation?”
“It’s dropped to 82 percent and is still falling!”
Taeho’s face hardened. CPAP was dangerous for an unconscious patient.
“Stop CPAP and switch to bag-mask ventilation! Prepare for intubation, and order emergency blood work stat!”
Taeho gave instructions as he ran.
Song Mira ran after him as well.
Park Jiyoung lay unconscious with an oxygen mask on.
“Oxygen saturation 79 percent!”
A nurse shouted.
For an instant, Taeho’s eyes flashed with a blue light. Song Mira did not miss that moment.
‘Wow! What was that just now?’
Song Mira’s heart pounded like mad. What she had just seen was not an illusion.
A blue light had clearly flashed in Kang Taeho’s eyes. And what was even stranger was that Taeho was already giving precise instructions before he had even touched Park Jiyoung. As if he were directly seeing inside the patient’s body.
‘This isn’t normal.’
Song Mira confirmed that the camera was still rolling. Right now, this moment, everything was being recorded.
Then Taeho turned his head and looked straight at Song Mira.
His eyes were still tinged with blue.