Before he knew it, his eyes were darting left and right in agitation.
He was chewing over Caprene’s knowledge.
Beep-beep-beep.
The ECG, oblivious to Taesu’s pace, kept urging him on.
It was pressing him, warning that the patient was in danger, that he had to take action quickly. That stinging sound of urgency warned him without pause.
Taesu was in a position where he had to make a decision at once.
Just then, Jeong Minsu’s urging voice reached him.
“Taesu, hurry.”
At that, Taesu snapped.
“Fuck, I’m thinking too.”
“When are you going to be done?”
“Do you think an idea just pops out because I want it to?”
“Then squeeze it out.”
“I told you, I’m squeezing.”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s edgy exchange took place from opposite ends of the operating table.
Brad Kim immediately stepped in to mediate.
“Is this the time?”
“……”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu clamped their mouths shut.
That was when it happened.
Srrk.
Kim Hyeokgwon quietly approached behind Taesu and whispered.
“Doctor Choi, you promised.”
“Even if I hadn’t promised, I had no intention of sitting on my hands.”
“Then come up with some kind of solution.”
“Damn it.”
Frustrated, Taesu spat out the harsh words.
He did not resent Jeong Minsu or Kim Hyeokgwon for urging him.
The two of them trusted Taesu completely, so they could urge him all they wanted.
What was frustrating Taesu now was his own problem.
At this moment, he only found himself pathetic and irritating for being lost.
He was inexperienced.
That was an undeniable fact.
But that was nothing more than a useless excuse.
The patient would not wait.
There was clearly a time limit, and they were drawing closer and closer to that limit.
That urgency continued to prod Taesu.
Then Taesu suddenly flinched.
“Could it be?”
“Could what be?”
“First, we’re changing the direction of the operation. Brad, please pack the liver with gauze again.”
Brad Kim paused at Taesu’s changed order.
“What?”
“Dr. Choi, what kind of nonsense is that?”
Nurse Chu Gangik snapped.
His eyes were filled with irritation.
All the moments they had spent removing the gauze that had stuck fast until now were about to go to waste.
He was objecting because it was unfair.
It was an order that would anger anyone who heard it.
But then.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
The sound of the ECG grew even more piercing.
There was no time to explain.
Taesu pushed forward firmly, his voice resolute.
“Hurry.”
“No, what—”
“Listen to me.”
Taesu shouted, his temper flaring.
Whether by age or by experience, Nurse Chu Gangik was in a position where it would not have been strange for him to be treated as a senior.
Taesu, too, had treated him with respect, whether openly or not, until now.
But not at this moment.
An awkward air instantly flowed through the operating room.
“……”
Nurse Chu Gangik fell silent, but his expression was far from good.
The same went for Nurse Yun Juseong, Nurse Lee Chorong, and Nurse Hwang Jisu.
Taesu noticed immediately.
But he had no intention of apologizing, and no time to delay.
“This isn’t the time.”
“……”
“You can think of me however you like. But I’m not doing this for no reason.”
Taesu’s voice grew even harsher.
There was no apology.
So the atmosphere in the operating room grew even colder.
Brad Kim shattered that silence.
“Everyone, switch to gauze packing.”
“Dr. Kim.”
When Yun Juseong called to him, Brad Kim spoke even more forcefully.
“The heart comes first.”
“Well, that’s……”
“Doctor Yun said he’d opened his ears first. If that wasn’t true, you can leave right now.”
“……”
Yun Juseong and Nurse Chu Gangik closed their mouths.
Brad Kim was a doctor who had made something of a name for himself among the NGO medical staff.
That was why they were even more surprised.
It seemed they had not expected him to defend Taesu, who was giving orders however he pleased like this.
Brad Kim paid them no mind and quickly added.
“The same goes for the rest of you.”
“……”
“If you don’t know who is leading this operation right now, there’s no need for you to be here.”
Brad Kim finished speaking.
Even so, no movement was immediately visible.
On the other hand, in places unseen, movement had already begun.
Jo Uncheol was the first to start.
“I won’t lose him, no matter what.”
His eyes widened as he focused every nerve on the ECG readings.
Another person was moving as well.
Sasak, thud.
Kim Hyeokgwon suddenly appeared from behind and handed a bundle of gauze to Brad Kim.
“Hurry up and wrap it. Don’t give that foul-tempered doctor an excuse to start nagging.”
“It’ll be faster if we do it together. Toss them one sheet at a time.”
“What is this, trying to drag me down with you…… Here goes. Here, here.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Kim Hyeokgwon scattered the bundled gauze one sheet at a time.
The positions, intervals, and timing of where he threw the gauze were all calculated in his own way.
Brad Kim caught the fallen gauze and spread it wide. Then, as if wallpapering, he carefully wrapped the liver.
But no matter how much he hurried, he could not gain speed alone.
Just then, a shadow fell over the leg side.
Thud.
Jeong Minsu approached, revealing a weighty presence.
“I’ll hold it.”
“You touched the IV.”
“I disinfected again.”
Drip, drip.
Both his hands were truly covered in reddish-brown antiseptic.
Judging by the timing, it was clear Jeong Minsu had moved first.
Brad Kim gave the order in reassurance.
“You have to wrap from the lower side there.”
“I only moved to spread it out.”
“Still, hurry. We’ve already lost close to two minutes.”
“Yes. We have to hurry. Of course.”
Thud, thud.
Brad Kim and Jeong Minsu moved their hands faster than they spoke.
Kim Hyeokgwon kept adding more gauze.
Thus, the three of them moved first.
As expected of those who had spent a long time with Taesu, their reactions were quick.
The next to step forward was, unexpectedly, Nurse Hwang Jisu.
She tried to join in the liver gauze packing, but there was no room.
So Nurse Hwang Jisu asked Taesu.
“Dr. Choi, are there any other orders?”
“……”
“Hurry.”
She even urged him in a firm voice.
It once again confirmed that she was quiet, but sturdy and strong-willed.
Since she seemed to have made up her mind, Taesu gave an order without delay.
“Prepare for thoracotomy.”
“Yes?”
“Please hurry.”
“……Understood.”
Whoosh.
There was something solemn in Nurse Hwang Jisu’s figure as she turned away.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
The ECG readings still showed no major change.
Having made up his mind, Jo Uncheol was defending desperately.
“Increase oxygen by 3, reduce carbon dioxide by 1……”
“Potassium is…… administer it slowly……”
“We’re out of blood packs too. Damn it.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Moving left and right, he was taking on at least two roles by himself.
Perhaps he had a habit of muttering when nervous, because his voice never stopped.
Taesu actually liked that habit of Jo Uncheol’s.
It was because he could receive information through his ears.
Taesu’s freed gaze left the ECG and shifted to Shanmeheum’s chest.
“My turn.”
The solemn murmur ended at the same moment.
Nurse Hwang Jisu held out a scalpel from the other side.
“It’s ready. Here’s the scalpel.”
“Beginning thoracotomy.”
Srrk.
Taesu moved the scalpel without hesitation.
Gauze packing was in progress on the liver, but there was no room to wait.
With the movement of the scalpel, the chest split open.
Nurse Hwang Jisu assisted with a Deaver and Bovie.
Sizzle.
“Urgh.”
It was participation in the surgery that went beyond the role of a nurse.
But this was an emergency operating room.
Such rules could not take precedence over life.
Perhaps it was Nurse Hwang Jisu’s first time doing it directly, because her hands immediately became tangled.
More than that, there was nothing to clear away the bleeding.
It seemed she had not thought that far.
“Wh-what do I do?”
“I’ll do it.”
Gurgle.
Along with a clear voice, suction came in to assist.
The owner of that hand was Nurse Lee Chorong.
A firm resolve had settled in her eyes as well.
She had broken away from being a nurse who merely assisted and strongly displayed initiative.
She had the fresh impression and personality of a new university student. But when it came to medicine, there was a skillfulness in her that even a career woman would envy.
The two of them were clearly assisting Taesu actively.
However, it was the nurses’ first time assisting directly like this.
It was difficult for a thoracotomy, which required skill, to proceed smoothly right away.
“Ah.”
“Oh no.”
Their faces kept showing that they had made mistakes.
Taesu did not mind.
“That goes this way, and this goes like this.”
“Yes.”
“Good. And osteotome.”
“That’s, uh……”
Nurse Hwang Jisu quickly looked back.
But she was too busy assisting to reach out.
That was when it happened.
Srrk.
Yun Juseong held out the osteotome and said to the nurses.
“You’ve done well. I’ll assist now.”
“Jisu, assist Dr. Choi, and Chorong, take over the IV over there.”
Contrary to his expression, Nurse Chu Gangik suggested it gently.
At that moment, the nurses’ gazes turned to Taesu.
“……”
Taesu was also looking at them.
Seeing them come forward like this, it seemed they intended to follow Taesu’s opinion in this emergency surgery.
Even though they did not say it directly, Taesu was not so oblivious as to miss that much.
Naturally, the progress of the operation was more urgent.
The problem between the medical staff was pushed aside for later.
With that in mind, he first asked the nurses’ understanding.
“You two, switch positions.”
“Yes.”
Sasak.
The nurses left their places without another word.
Nurse Hwang Jisu approached Taesu’s side, and Nurse Lee Chorong went down to the IV.
He had no idea how many position changes this made already.
But the patient’s condition was changing so rapidly that they had no choice.
Taesu did not waste words.
“I’ll remove the sternum first.”
“I’ll cut the ribs.”
Crack, crack.
Nurse Chu Gangik hurried with bulging strength.
Yun Juseong helped Taesu secure the surgical field with the Balfour retractor.
Creak, creak.
“……”
While Taesu widened the affected area with the Balfour retractor, Yun Juseong spoke quietly.
“You must have a reason for pushing this through so forcefully.”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
That was the end of it.
It was not yet clear whether he was doing this to put into practice his own words that he had opened his ears, or whether it meant he would watch Taesu’s actions.
Taesu did not react at all and continued working the Balfour retractor.