"Looks like pulmonary hemorrhage."
"Let's connect a drainage tube."
"I'm not sure which side."
"Then do both, Hyeokgwon."
At Taesu's call, Kim Hyeokgwon shouted as if he'd been waiting.
"Everything's ready on this side."
"Antiseptic first."
"Here."
Snap, tap.
Even during that brief moment of disinfecting with antiseptic, Taesu's mouth didn't rest.
"Nurse Chu, please get additional information from Gang Yeonghun."
"Don't worry."
Swish.
"Doctor Talon, please secure a ventilator and an ECG."
"Will do."
Swish.
"Nurse Stacy, please arrange for the OR."
"I'm on it."
"You there, Doctor……."
Taesu gave orders for even the smallest details.
In the meantime, he finished preparing for the emergency treatment as well.
Snap.
He pulled the taut surgical gloves once more with his teeth to ensure they fit tight.
As soon as that was done, Kim Hyeokgwon held out a syringe and spoke.
"Lidocaine."
"To Minsu. Minsu, administer it through the IV."
Lidocaine was a local anesthetic, but it could also be used concurrently to prevent arrhythmia.
He was preparing based on the vital signs he had heard earlier.
Since Jeong Minsu also agreed, he took it first.
"Hyeokgwon, give it here. And Nurse Lee, please start by preparing the IV set."
"Understood."
Nurse Lee Chorong's reaction was equally quick.
While she prepared the fluid set, Jeong Minsu found a vein and swiftly administered the lidocaine.
At the same time,
Taesu ordered Kim Hyeokgwon,
"Bupivacaine."
"I've got it, here."
"One moment."
Taesu paused for an instant.
Because Doctor Hatsan was in the middle of cutting Lee Changgyu's shirt with scissors.
Rrrip.
The shirt was cut away effortlessly by the sharp scissors. As his bare flesh was revealed, his upper body was entirely smeared with red antiseptic.
That motion ended with incredible timing just as Taesu received the syringe.
Doctor Hatsan removed his hands from Lee Changgyu's body and shouted.
"Disinfection done."
"Step back."
"……."
Shuffle.
Doctor Hatsan quickly stepped back and moved away.
In the meantime, Taesu was running his fingertips down Lee Changgyu's right chest.
Though his hand was wearing a surgical glove, the sensation was vividly alive.
Bumpy.
An unnatural sensation was felt at his fingertips simultaneously.
"Found the fracture site. Bupivacaine."
"Take it."
Sshhk.
Kim Hyeokgwon, already holding it, held it out with ruthless speed.
Taesu, having received it, injected the bupivacaine broadly and densely.
The used syringe?
Tock.
He dropped it on the floor.
It was to reduce even the time of handing it over.
Taesu, now with empty hands, immediately followed up with an order.
"Scalpel."
"Ready."
"Good. Please prepare the drainage tube; we proceed immediately."
The words had barely finished.
Slash.
The scalpel in Taesu's hand danced in an instant.
At the same time, a short, deep cut was made on the bumpy skin.
Gush.
The flesh split, and blood flowed through the gap. Without looking away, Taesu swiftly extended his hand to the side.
"Dissector, drainage tube."
"Dissector, here."
Just as Taesu was about to reach out following Kim Hyeokgwon's words,
Clack.
There was a hand that took hold of the dissector instead.
It was Doctor Hatsan, who had stepped back briefly a moment ago.
"Things like this should be done by people with free hands."
"Then spread it open properly."
"You ask me to do it and then openly boss me around. Tsk."
Squelch.
As Doctor Hatsan grumbled and applied force, enough space was created for the drainage tube to enter with room to spare.
The bleeding intensified that much more.
However, rather than thinking of clearing it, Taesu pushed the drainage tube in first.
"Hmm."
Squelch.
The feeling of the end of the drainage tube digging into Lee Changgyu's body was vividly transmitted to his fingertips.
It wasn't a very pleasant feeling.
To be more honest, "unpleasant" was the appropriate description.
No matter how much of an emergency it was, stabbing something deep into the body couldn't feel good.
But not even a speck of change appeared on Taesu's expression.
He knew all too well that the end of the drainage tube had to dig deep into the lung for this emergency treatment to have meaning.
As Taesu was finding the lung with the drainage tube like that,
On the opposite side, Jeong Minsu had finished connecting the IV and was similarly inserting a drainage tube.
On the connected IV, a nurse from another medical tent was hanging fluids.
Apparently someone had checked the blood type, as a voice was heard reporting the result loudly.
"RH+A type."
"Thank you. Please find it quickly from the prepared transfusion packs."
"Here."
With the help of other nurses, the transfusion pack was connected to the IV in an instant.
That wasn't all.
Rattle.
"ECG coming through, move aside."
"The ventilator is on its way; for now, I brought an Ambu bag."
"Give it here. Intubation complete. Doctor Choe, I'll put air in immediately."
As if announcing it, Yun Juseong immediately began pressing the large Ambu bag at a steady rate, blowing a long breath.
Huuuuf.
As the lungs inflated, Taesu and Jeong Minsu quickly stopped inserting the drainage tubes.
Because if they moved wrong, it could twist in a strange direction.
However, Yun Juseong made no mistake.
Breathing was more important.
There was also the advantage that came with the lungs inflating.
Gush.
The bleeding that had been flowing toward the bronchus was pushed by the air and could no longer obstruct breathing. And as the lungs inflated, hidden problem areas became prominent.
It was the moment the lungs inflated to their maximum.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu's eyes fiercely flashed at the same instant.
And simultaneously, they pushed in the drainage tubes and shouted.
"Here."
"Found it."
Thud, thud.
It was a rough hand movement.
Yet strangely, the inside of the transparent drainage tube gradually filled red, and the collected blood began to drip drop by drop.
Right at that well-timed moment, the ECG pads were attached.
Beep-beep-beep, beep, beep.
The sharp ECG sound that had started slightly decreased.
Doctor Talon, who had connected the ECG directly, shouted the monitored readings aloud.
"BP……."
"……."
Everyone's expressions were grave.
They had found one pulmonary hemorrhage now.
They hadn't even been able to check how many more wounds there might be.
"……."
"……."
Still, Taesu and Jeong Minsu silently went about securing the drainage tubes first.
Amidst the silence, the securing of the drainage tubes continued.
Kim Hyeokgwon, who had been quietly assisting the emergency treatment, directed his gaze somewhere.
And.
Flash.
His eyes gleamed intensely as he narrowed his brow.
He immediately asked Nurse Hwang Jisu nearby.
"The child's hand, please."
"His hand?"
"He's holding something."
It was just as Kim Hyeokgwon said.
Lee Changgyu's left hand was clenched tight.
Perhaps because the emergency treatment had been focused on the right side, it seemed to have gone unnoticed until now.
Nurse Hwang Jisu also noticed it only then and lowered her posture to begin working on the hand.
But soon her groaning voice was heard.
"Nngh. It won't open."
"What strength could an unconscious kid have?"
"Really… It really won't open."
Nurse Hwang Jisu was frustrated.
If one were to judge by her behavior and speech so far, it was unlikely to be an empty claim.
Beside Nurse Hwang Jisu, Nurse Chu Gangik appeared without a sound.
"Let me try. Hm, huh?"
"You can't even handle a child's strength?"
"That's not it, this is…."
Swish.
Nurse Chu Gangik held something up in his hand.
It was some kind of crushed fruit.
Kim Hyeokgwon, well-versed in Kashmir's circumstances, recognized it immediately.
"Dates?"
"Ah, so that's why…."
"Goodness. Things are already stifling; don't make my stomach burst."
Kim Hyeokgwon crudely pointed out the situation that only Nurse Chu Gangik had noticed.
To this, Nurse Chu Gangik spoke.
"They say there's a wild date palm colony on the hill behind the village."
"It remains even at this time of year?"
He strongly expressed the doubt that it didn't match the time when winter was approaching.
Nurse Chu Gangik shook his head and said.
"Harvesting is almost finished, but they say one tree is on a steep slope, so it's difficult to harvest."
"And you're saying this kid climbed up there? Why on earth."
"Can't you tell by looking? Because he's hungry."
Nurse Chu Gangik's heavy voice rang low.
At the same time,
As if time had stopped, all surrounding busyness vanished at once.
Perhaps because they had conversed in English, everyone seemed to have understood the meaning.
But fortunately, amidst that—
Beep, beep.
The ECG sound became slightly more relaxed.
Following that, Taesu and Jeong Minsu simultaneously finished suturing and cut the sutures.
"Drainage normal."
"Whew, I think we got past the immediate crisis for now."
"Only the immediate crisis. But…."
"Why is the mood like this?"
Taesu and Jeong Minsu exchanged brief words and glanced around at the strange silence.
However, grasping the atmosphere was a matter for later; additional orders came first.
"Could you please check if an ultrasound device is available?"
"I'll make the call."
Doctor Hatsan answered and immediately put his phone to his ear, turning around.
In the meantime, Jeong Minsu's gaze was directed at the IV.
"We've done everything immediately necessary."
"We don't know how long this situation can be maintained."
"Exactly, but seriously, why is the mood like this?"
When Jeong Minsu asked, Nurse Chu Gangik answered.
"Just now……."
He briefly explained what had happened and the conversation that occurred while Taesu and Jeong Minsu were concentrating.
"……That was the situation."
Hearing Nurse Chu Gangik's explanation, the two of them immediately stiffened.
Poverty, what a thing.
And to think that Koreans were living separately, forming their own village in this desolate environment.
It was heartbreaking.
They didn't know the exact circumstances, but there must surely have been a reason they had no choice but to do so.
They were trying to understand it inwardly, but honestly it wasn't easy.
As such an awkward silence continued,
A groan was heard.
It was such a faint sound that someone seemed to have let out a pitiful sigh.
But that wasn't it.
"Uuugh."
The groan continued again.
Rustle.
"Oh."
They opened their eyes wide and looked at Lee Changgyu's face.
There was a change on the face of Lee Changgyu, who hadn't moved an inch until now.
"Oh oh, he's improved. He's responding now."
"It seems the pulmonary hemorrhage drained sufficiently."
"There will also be the effect of the transfusion and medication."
Everyone offered their guesses regarding this moment of joy.
But not Taesu.
Swish.
"……."
He raised his hand above his head.
It was merely a hand signal.
However, the medical staff who noticed its meaning sealed their lips all at once again.
"……."
"……."
Beep, beep.
Only the sound of the ECG rang out in the quiet medical tent.