Shwaaak.
Brad Kim was the first to take hold of the end of the gauze and pull.
“Gently, gently.”
“I’ll press the side.”
Press.
Taesu, acting as an assistant, lightly pressed the surrounding area to prevent the liver tissue from being damaged.
On the other side, Yun Juseong was using the retractors he held in each hand to press down on the liver as a whole, helping keep it from shifting.
Perhaps because the field of view was fairly wide, he was also making fine adjustments.
“Dr. Choi, that’s too strong. A little weaker.”
“It’s so badly stuck that it’s hard to ease up.”
“You’re rushing too much. You have to give the saline time to dissolve the clots.”
“We don’t have time.”
Taesu’s voice snapped back sharply.
It was already their second clash.
In the first clash, Yun Juseong had backed down.
But this time, the situation was different.
In a heavy voice, Yun Juseong pointed out Taesu’s urgency.
“This isn’t something that’ll be solved just by using force.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m in a hurry too. But forcing it is bound to cause trouble.”
His calm persuasion was right.
Taesu cleanly acknowledged what had to be acknowledged and slightly relaxed the strength in his fingertips.
“I’ll adjust the pace a little.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant, and—Dr. Kim, there, just a moment. I’ll move a little farther to the side.”
Yun Juseong calmly assisted with the surgery while taking in the whole picture.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu was busy as well.
Jeong Minsu’s role was third assistant.
Among the doctors involved in the surgery, it was the least prominent position.
But that did not mean his role was unimportant.
His job was to wipe away the saline and blood with dry gauze and remove it from the field.
It was the role most closely tied to the overall speed of the operation.
That was why he was proceeding under intense tension.
Swipe, wipe.
“More saline.”
“I’m pouring it.”
“Nurse Lee, move the suction a little to the side. And more gauze.”
“Suction… moved. And here’s the gauze.”
Nurse Hwang Jisu moved quickly.
It was their first surgery working together, but their coordination was not bad.
The creaking that had been there at the beginning of the operation gradually became less frequent.
That was because every one of them was doing their part without any rough edges in their character.
There was a clear reason for that.
Their experiences providing medical care in harsh environments must have played a part.
But above all, the most decisive factor was that they could communicate.
Because they had grown up experiencing the same culture, they were thinking from similar perspectives.
That subtle gap that could not be filled with foreigners was not felt here.
That did not mean everything was smooth.
There were minor clashes.
There were also many things to which everyone did not react sensitively.
The patient came first.
That, at least, was something they all agreed on regardless of environment or level of education.
Just when it seemed the operation was proceeding smoothly.
No, it truly was proceeding smoothly.
They had already unwrapped about half the gauze around the liver.
It was faster than expected.
Only half remained now.
“Let’s keep it up.”
“We can do this.”
Everyone burned with the same passion they had at the beginning.
But that fiery spirit could not continue.
Dark clouds always came at moments like these.
Beep-beep-beep.
The sound of the ECG suddenly changed, and Jo Uncheol, who was monitoring it, shouted.
“Pulse.”
“The pulse, why… What the hell?”
Brad Kim shouted in surprise at the wildly fluctuating pulse.
Rustle.
Taesu and everyone else reflexively turned their heads and were startled.
“What’s going on… Oh.”
“Isn’t he on the verge of arrhythmia?”
“Stop for now.”
Jo Uncheol put on the brakes.
At the same time, everyone temporarily stopped their hands.
In the progress of surgery, the anesthesiologist’s judgment was absolute.
There was no silence.
Taesu immediately asked Jo Uncheol,
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s bleeding.”
“Bleeding?”
Taesu’s eyes narrowed.
Brad Kim echoed his doubt.
“Dr. Jo, what are you talking about? There isn’t much bleeding here.”
“Is that the only place bleeding can happen?”
“Then the subclavian vein?”
Brad Kim caught on at once.
Jeong Minsu, who had checked a beat earlier, immediately denied it.
“There’s almost no bleeding here.”
“Then what is it?”
“We have to… find it.”
Jeong Minsu answered with a flinch.
Before anyone had time to tilt their head in confusion, Jo Uncheol raised his voice.
“One nurse over here.”
“Mr. Hyeokgwon.”
Taesu immediately pushed him forward.
From what he had seen so far, Kim Hyeokgwon had the fastest reaction time.
Surprisingly, Kim Hyeokgwon moved obediently.
“Damn it, settling the past was never going to be easy.”
It was a mutter that showed his determination to save his past self had not faded.
His words were brief, and his actions were fast.
Rustle.
“I’m here.”
“Please prepare the antiarrhythmic first. And those things from earlier—you know where the ones we brought are, right?”
“You mean FFP, fresh frozen plasma, and PC, platelet concentrates?”
“Yes, those.”
Jo Uncheol brightened, but Kim Hyeokgwon frowned.
“Who’s the interpreter and who’s the doctor here?”
“Anyway, please hang the FFP and PC quickly. Albumin too.”
“Got it, so wait.”
Whoosh.
Only his voice was leisurely.
His body moved faster than lightning.
Meanwhile, Taesu’s eyes were slightly wide.
“To think we have FFP and PC…”
They were special blood products, and there was not much in stock.
Among the medical tents, they were special medical supplies issued only to Medical Tent One.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon passed Taesu and gave him the answer.
“Dr. Hassan handed them to me himself.”
Whoosh.
The lingering note of his voice was still at Taesu’s ear, but he had already arrived at the IV.
His reaction speed was truly the best.
Taesu, already used to that, felt something stir in his chest for another reason.
It was the fact that Hassan had paid attention to this even while busy with new patients arriving at the other medical tents.
A needless feeling of resentment popped out.
‘Bad people.’
They showed their bond in the strangest places and made his heart flutter.
The patient’s condition?
It absolutely had to improve.
Taesu’s gaze turned to Shanmeheum’s face.
In truth, there was a reason Taesu had been so irritated after hearing Shanmeheum’s story.
Even now, one corner of his heart ached faintly.
It was because he had been reminded of when his older sister, Choi Taehee, got married.
Back then, Taesu had been a medical student.
Far from earning money, he had still been receiving an allowance from home.
All he could do for her was say congratulations.
Even now, that remained in his heart as guilt.
That was why he knew better than anyone what kind of heart Shanmeheum must have had when he climbed the tree to collect wild honey.
Taesu superimposed himself on Shanmeheum.
He identified Shanmeheum’s current crisis with his own.
And to Shanmeheum, who was also himself, he murmured a vow inwardly.
‘Let’s make my sister smile.’
If he got through this crisis, his sister would smile.
She would definitely smile for him.
Shanmeheum’s sister, and Choi Taehee as well.
If it was to see that smile, then a crisis like this was something he had to overcome as many times as it took.
Shanmeheum would surely feel the same.
The child named Shanmeheum was certainly one person.
But within him were Taesu, Kim Hyeokgwon, and also Lee Changgyu, each for their own reasons.
Their reasons were different, but their final goal was the same.
He had to live.
They would shake off this crisis and overcome it.
The steps for that had already begun.
Taesu’s gaze narrowed and grew sharper.
Whip, whip.
He quickly scanned the entire situation and began pinpointing the cause of the problem.
The end of his gaze fixed on the ECG.
With the figures from the general anesthesia machine added in, his eyes were filled with dizzying numbers and graphs.
But Taesu was not shaken by those numbers.
He analyzed them without agitation.
‘The pulse and blood pressure are…’
He inferred the situation, and the appropriate defensive measures flashed through his mind.
It was thanks to Dr. Isakson having passed down that much of his know-how to him.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon held out a syringe to Jo Uncheol.
“Everything’s hung, and here’s the antiarrhythmic.”
“Administer it.”
Jo Uncheol may have thought he was being bold.
But Kim Hyeokgwon agreed naturally.
“Let’s do that.”
“Y-you’re going to?”
“Don’t make me say it twice. Just tell me what to add next.”
Push.
As Kim Hyeokgwon added the injection to the IV, he calmly urged him for orders.
Perhaps too tired to be surprised any further, Jo Uncheol simply gave the order.
“After administering the antiarrhythmic, one more glucose.”
“Glucose. And then?”
“That’s it for now.”
At that moment, Taesu, who had been looking things over, called to Jo Uncheol.
“Dr. Jo, please raise the anesthesia level.”
“Oh, right. Got it.”
“Give him a bit more oxygen, and magnesium, and… please add a little iron.”
“What is with residents these days? This is driving me crazy.”
Jo Uncheol shook his head at Taesu’s keen eye for spotting subtle changes.
Meanwhile, Taesu was desperately fighting death, his mind working so hard it felt as though it would split open.
Jo Uncheol and Kim Hyeokgwon were acting as his hands and feet.
Was it still not enough?
The changes in the monitor readings were slight.
Keeping his gaze fixed on the monitor, Taesu called loudly for Jeong Minsu.
“Dr. Jeong.”
“Tell me.”
“The IV in the leg is still there, right?”
Taesu had barely finished asking.
Clatter.
Following the sound of movement, Jeong Minsu’s reply came.
“Looks like it’s only been clamped off.”
“Then hang a blood transfusion bag there, and hang glucose and saline together too, one of each.”
“Saline?”
“Filling him up with anything comes first.”
“Got it.”
Whoosh.
Jeong Minsu moved as he answered.
In that way, Taesu coordinated the entire situation.
Watching him, Yun Juseong and Nurse Chu Gangik had their eyes equally wide.
Taesu’s emergency treatment skills were outstanding.
And his surgical operation and assisting skills were also top-notch.
On top of that, his knowledge of anesthesiology and pain medicine was exceptional enough for him to advise the anesthesiologist.
“What is he doing, handling everything by himself?”
“But he’s making it make sense.”
“And after all that, he’s a resident?”
“There’s a reason they call him ‘Dr. Choi.’”
They were not merely refreshed; they were receiving a tremendous shock.
The same was true of Nurse Lee Chorong and Nurse Hwang Jisu.
Taesu’s appearance thoroughly scrambled the fixed ideas in their heads.
Taesu himself did not even notice their gazes.
More than that, his expression was not good.
“What is it? Why?”
“Dr. Choi, why?”
Brad Kim, who had been watching him, asked urgently.
Taesu stared at the ECG as he answered.
“There isn’t much response. The pulse hasn’t changed in any meaningful way either.”
“Then it’s not just a problem of bleeding?”
“It seems…”
Just as Taesu drew out the end of his sentence,
Jo Uncheol joined the conversation in a heavy voice.
“In cases like this, most of the time, there may be a problem with the heart itself.”
“The heart?”
“That’s how the cases I experienced were. I’m not saying it’s the same now…”
“Wait a moment.”
Taesu raised his hand and stopped him.