Taesu reached out his hand without a second thought.
"Splint……. Wait."
Taesu, who had suddenly changed his mind, asked Jeong Minsu,
"Can you apply a splint?"
"You punk. Can't you see I'm crammed in here?"
"That's why I'm asking. Don't worry about it and just keep monitoring his heart rate."
"That's what I was planning to do."
Jeong Minsu's reply was every bit as sharp as Taesu's.
To an outside observer, their conversation might have seemed extremely emotional.
But neither of them had the luxury to care about such perceptions.
One thing was certain: Taesu's guess had been roughly correct.
Turning immediately, Taesu asked Yun Juseong,
"Please climb up on the driver's side and splint his leg first."
"What about the arm?"
"I'll take care of that."
Thud.
The moment he finished speaking, Taesu climbed onto the truck.
Or rather, he tried to climb up; in reality, he was precariously hanging from the passenger door frame.
It was a dangerous position with nowhere to set his foot down properly.
As if proving that unease warranted, he lost his balance.
"Uh."
Thud.
At the same time, he felt something brace his back.
Taesu's broken balance instantly stabilized.
But then.
"Nngh."
"Urg."
High-pitched groans rose from behind him.
Whose voices were these?
Just as Taesu was about to turn, a voice reached him first.
"Don't mind us and see to the patient first."
"Please, it's heavy."
It was clearly Nurse Hwang Jisu and Nurse I Chorong.
They seemed to have moved instinctively rather than according to any plan.
Before Taesu could even think, Yun Juseong abruptly climbed in through the open driver's side.
"Chu, splint."
"Here."
Swish.
He saw Nurse Chu Gangik's rugged hand holding a splint up high.
A cramped space filled with medical staff.
It was a suffocating sight.
Nevertheless, they helped one another, carving out their own positions.
Though only a fragment, their proactive attitude was undeniably genuine.
Strength entered Taesu's eyes.
This was exactly it.
These were the medical staff he needed.
"So Koreans really are something?"
That was nonsense.
It was because they were this kind of medical staff that such a response was possible.
He grew a little curious about what they had been through in the past.
But he had not the slightest intention of indulging that curiosity now.
Taesu's gaze was already fixed on the patient.
The young patient was currently lying across Gang Yeonghun and Kim Gwanghyeon's legs.
The fractured right side of his body was oriented toward Jeong Minsu, who had his back to the dashboard.
Taesu immediately pressed Jeong Minsu.
"Minsu, move over a bit."
"No room."
"Make some."
"Damn."
Jeong Minsu forcibly made space and quickly shifted to the side.
But from the opposite side, Yun Juseong shouted.
"Dr. Jeong, if you move like that, I can't splint the leg."
"Well, what do you want me to… Excuse me. Damn."
Thud.
Having asked for understanding, Jeong Minsu lifted one foot onto the backrest.
That placed him between Gang Yeonghun and Kim Gwanghyeon.
It was awkward.
Perhaps Jeong Minsu felt it too; he twisted his body slightly.
Only then was space created for both Taesu and Yun Juseong to work simultaneously.
"Good?"
"Good."
Quick, bold decisions no longer seemed to be Taesu's exclusive domain.
Jeong Minsu's bold action had definitely helped.
Rustle, rustle.
Their hands moved smoothly.
"Dr. Choe."
"Yes."
Click, clack.
Taesu and Yun Juseong didn't miss that opening.
They immediately went into action.
Among them, Taesu wrapped the fractured arm with a splint while surveying I Changgyu with sharp eyes.
His face was deathly pale.
His lips showed slight cyanosis.
But there wasn't a single bright red bloodstain anywhere on his body.
As expected, these were the typical symptoms of internal bleeding.
Keeping his gaze fixed, Taesu asked Gang Yeonghun,
"Mr. Gang Yeonghun, how long after Changgyu was injured did you meet Raku?"
"About thirty minutes."
"What?"
Swish.
Taesu reflexively looked up.
In other words, Raku hadn't simply been passing by. As if confirming that guess, Gang Yeonghun quickly added,
"He came to our village yesterday."
"Hm. Raku?"
At Taesu's call, Raku answered from outside the truck.
"I was planning to do business until today and come this way tomorrow."
"How did you know who was here?"
"I was already in contact with you."
Raku spoke as if it were obvious.
Taesu had no intention of questioning his information network in detail either.
But he still had another question.
Without delay, he immediately continued.
"Then how many hours did it take to get here from that village?"
"Approximately four hours. I came without resting."
At the same time as his answer,
Jeong Minsu and Yun Juseong were visibly shaken.
"What, four hours."
"Four whole hours?"
It would have been strange not to be shocked—he'd driven four hours on unpaved roads with a child injured like this.
Of course, the truck had shock absorbers installed. And the adults' legs must have absorbed the secondary impact.
But even so, not all the impact had disappeared.
Taesu was inwardly astonished as well.
Difficult.
Very difficult, even.
That assessment flashed through his mind.
But the words that came out of his mouth were the exact opposite.
"You've worked hard."
"…...."
No one argued with those words.
Honestly, Raku's decision had clearly crossed the line from boldness to recklessness.
But if he had left I Changgyu injured and come alone, the medical staff would have had to go there again.
Considering the time that would have consumed, his recklessness was rather the correct judgment.
Otherwise?
The boy would already be dead.
That was certain.
Even while processing the information he'd heard, Taesu's hands kept moving.
And soon, he had fully immobilized the fractured arm.
"This side is done."
"Mine too."
It seemed Yun Juseong had finished at roughly the same time.
Taesu's gaze turned to Jeong Minsu.
"How is it?"
"Moveable, for a moment anyway."
"Then let's secure him to the stretcher first. Please help."
At Taesu's request, everyone nodded.
And in the cramped truck seat, they all moved busily.
Not long after,
I Changgyu, secured to the stretcher, began to be brought outside.
"Careful."
"Slowly."
Signaling one another, they moved to keep the stretcher as level as possible.
But with the difference in height between the truck and ground, maintaining balance wasn't easy.
It was when I Changgyu's head tilted downward.
Something dropped right onto Taesu's head as he supported the stretcher from below.
"If it rains at a time like this, honestly……."
Plop.
Something else fell.
But the feeling was somehow strange.
Wet and sticky, and the lukewarm temperature was quite repulsive.
That wetness flowed from his head down his cheek.
Drop.
Soon it fell to the ground.
Taesu's expression instantly hardened as he reflexively looked down.
This.
"Blood?"
It was impossible to mistake it for anything else.
Taesu's voice instantly became urgent.
He shouted to Jeong Minsu, who was lowering the stretcher from the truck.
"Jeong Minsu, hemorrhage."
"Hemorrhage? Uh."
"Where?"
"Nose."
If it's the nose?
Before Taesu could speak, Kim Hyeokgwon's voice was a beat faster.
"Gentlemen, that's obvious. Hemoptysis."
"Damn it."
The blood couldn't have just started flowing from his nose after staying there all this time.
Then the only assumption possible was that bleeding from the bronchial tubes had overflowed toward the nose.
Everyone became anxious.
"Let's get him down first."
"Hurry."
"Nurses, a spot, quickly."
"Coming."
Pitter-patter.
The careful atmosphere around the truck instantly turned chaotic.
It was then.
Thud.
Hands were seen holding the stretcher high, followed by a high-pitched scolding in English.
"Even when in a hurry, the level must be maintained."
"Dr. Choe, rushing isn't everything."
It was clearly Dr. Talon and Dr. Hassan's voices.
They used their height advantage to help lower the stretcher.
Other doctors and strong male nurses also reached out to share the burden.
They weren't the only ones who had stepped forward.
"Uh, the preparation."
That shout was instantly drowned out by other voices.
"We've taken care of everything that needs to be prepared first."
"We're preparing here too."
They were voices of nurses from the other medical tent, now familiar to their ears.
They too seemed to have stepped up, sensing that the situation on this side was no ordinary matter.
Gratitude could be expressed later.
Taesu began by hurrying.
"Slowly, let's get him down quickly."
"Slowly, slowly. Hurry."
Everyone was naturally shouting contradictory instructions.
And they weren't wrong.
They had to be careful yet hurry, cautious yet swift.
Since I Changgyu had hemoptysis, they needed both meticulousness and speed simultaneously.
And so, combining their strength, they pulled the stretcher out of the truck.
Immediately, carrying the stretcher together, they went straight to the medical tent.
Pitter-patter.
"Huff, quickly."
"Run, hurry."
Everyone who had seen I Changgyu's hemoptysis quickened their footsteps.
Arriving at the medical tent so quickly, a space was prepared as expected.
The moment they set down the stretcher.
Swish.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu took their positions on either side.
Other medical staff, including Dr. Talon, did not rush in prematurely.
This meant they trusted, to an extent, the capabilities that Taesu and Jeong Minsu possessed in such emergencies.
Of course, it was clear they were ready to jump in the moment a crisis arose.
"…......"
"…......"
Their gazes toward the emergency patient were filled with nothing but caution.
Meanwhile, Taesu was in a hurry.
He had to begin emergency treatment right here and now.
Manpower was abundant.
There was one patient.
There was nothing they couldn't do if everyone lent a hand.
With that mindset, Taesu distributed the tasks. With everyone gathered in one place, he chose English for communication.
"Dr. Yun, dressing then intubation."
"But it's hemoptysis?"
"Push it in."
"Mm. Got it."
Yun Juseong's hesitation was brief, and he soon responded to Taesu's order.
"Nurse Hwang."
"Ready."
Click, click.
The intubation proceeded quickly.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu, having examined the chest once more, spoke urgently to Taesu.