Jeong Minsu seemed to feel exactly the same.
“Huff, huff. This is the last one, but seriously, this is too much.”
“What method would be best?”
When Taesu asked, Jeong Minsu laid out the brutal reality.
“We have to scrape it out. But there won’t even be thirty percent left.”
“We still have to save it.”
“Then won’t this part end up this thin?”
Swoosh.
Jeong Minsu measured the thickness with his hand.
It was roughly a little over two centimeters.
At that thickness, even if the affected area healed, that part would become a weak point.
A light blow could break it.
Even changing direction abruptly might twist and split the bone.
But Taesu’s opinion remained unchanged.
“We’re saving it.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“We have to cut it. Hyeok-gwon, the saw.”
At Taesu’s order, Kim Hyeok-gwon asked as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“Did you just ask for a saw?”
“This is the last part. Please prepare it quickly.”
“You’re really going to cut here…….”
“I’ll move myself.”
When his order stalled, Taesu tried to move on his own.
It was a change that had come after he felt that sense of release.
His hesitation had vanished.
He was spontaneous and proactive.
Thud.
Kim Hyeok-gwon stepped in front of Taesu.
“I just have to prepare it, don’t I? Damn, what a temper.”
“Please.”
“You say please, but it sure doesn’t sound like it.”
Clatter.
Kim Hyeok-gwon muttered with plenty of lingering resentment as he rummaged through the medical cart.
He was exhausted, which made him react even more sharply.
Taesu knew that, so he let it pass.
In that brief gap that appeared, Jeong Minsu quickly slipped in and asked.
“Taesu, are you really saying you’re going to cut this?”
“From here to here.”
Tap.
Since they had to operate together, Taesu indicated directly on the femur the section to be cut.
The width was roughly three centimeters.
It seemed he intended to remove the most severely melted portion whole.
Seeing that, Jeong Minsu earnestly tried to stop him.
“You’re thinking of cutting it out and reattaching it, aren’t you? Then the difference in length between the two legs will be significant.”
“I know.”
“Then Mr. Hui-nam is practically guaranteed to have a ruptured lumbar disc, and he’ll get lateral curvature—scoliosis—too.”
“No. That won’t happen.”
Taesu’s answer was firm.
That reaction frustrated Jeong Minsu even more.
“Then what method do you have?”
“Watch.”
“Just watch?”
“You have to help.”
Taesu glanced at him and said one word.
Even so, his eyes were filled with certainty.
Just then, Kim Hyeok-gwon approached with the medical saw.
“Here.”
“Thank you. Then please prepare the steel pins and external support frame.”
“Wait. Is that, by any chance, for fractures…….”
Kim Hyeok-gwon trailed off as if he had caught on to something.
Taesu lightly nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Understood for now.”
Whoosh.
Kim Hyeok-gwon left the operating table again.
He had grasped the idea, but his expression showed he was still uncertain what effect it would have.
On the other hand, Jeong Minsu seemed to understand, his eyes widening.
“You’re going to cut out the bone, then lengthen it again by that amount?”
“It’s the only way.”
“Isn’t that the technique that used to be talked about a lot in Korea as ‘height-increasing surgery’?”
“That’s not what it was originally for. You heard it with me in Padum.”
“I did hear about it. But to use it at this moment, and right now at that.”
Jeong Minsu was beyond astonished by Taesu’s extraordinary idea.
Even at that reaction, Taesu’s expression did not change.
It meant that even in the middle of conversation, he was maintaining his concentration and tension.
It was clear he was resolved not to let himself waver until the moment this surgery was over.
That was when it happened.
Clatter.
The sound of Kim Hyeok-gwon searching the shelves for what they needed could be heard.
Since Kim Hyeok-gwon had memorized every item on the shelves, he would return soon.
If they started then, it would be too late.
And this was the final stage of the surgery.
Taesu wanted to finish cleanly and wrap things up with a clear head.
He immediately gave Jeong Minsu an order.
“Let’s cut.”
“Ah, right.”
“Hold both sides tight.”
“I’ve got them. Very tight, solid, and steady. Start.”
Jeong Minsu urged him solemnly.
Soon, Taesu began cutting the femur with the saw.
Scrape, scrape.
It was an unusual and grating sound.
There was no way the sound of cutting bone with a saw could be pleasant.
Even Taesu’s brow creased slightly.
Jeong Minsu turned his head away entirely.
“Ugh. I really respect orthopedic surgeons.”
Those words clearly came from the heart.
That moment lasted only briefly.
Clang.
The cut-out piece of femur was placed in a tray, and they immediately moved on to the next step. Naturally, Kim Hyeok-gwon had arrived and was waiting.
Taesu gave the order at once.
“Steel pin.”
“Here.”
After receiving it, Taesu supported both ends of the femur with steel pins, leaving a gap.
The surgical tools used in that operation were quite unusual.
A hand drill, a wrench, and so on.
They were industrial tools one might expect to see at a construction site.
All of them, however, were official surgical instruments used in orthopedics.
And in Padum, he had been trained rigorously by orthopedic specialists.
It was because, in the field, fractures were nearly as common as other traumatic injuries.
That was also why Taesu could handle them so flexibly.
Jeong Minsu, however, was not quite at that level.
“Ughhh.”
“What’s so gruesome?”
“If it were you, would you enjoy watching bone being drilled?”
“You say that while cutting through the five viscera and six bowels?”
Taesu looked dumbfounded, but Jeong Minsu still answered with his face tightly grimaced.
“That’s different.”
“It’s the same. One is fixed. Next.”
Taesu continued without so much as blinking.
Once again, he was grateful for the time he had spent in Padum.
If he had not had that time?
He would have done nothing more than wrap it in a cast like before.
But not now.
He was feeling the value of that time more and more.
He had been told it was James’s recommendation.
He was once again amazed by James’s foresight in anticipating the future.
A short while later.
Circular steel frames had been fitted across the thigh and knee.
On three outer sides, a cast formed a wall around them.
The open affected area had been wrapped in wide gauze heavily coated with antibiotics and disinfectant.
The three of them checked together once more to see if anything was lacking.
As they did, Kim Hyeok-gwon asked.
“You said the reason we didn’t completely wrap it in a cast was so we could check it, right?”
“Yes. We have to check it periodically.”
When Taesu answered, Jeong Minsu added.
“For the first three days, we’ll check every three hours, then gradually increase the interval.”
“When dressing it, we have to examine it very carefully.”
“If necrosis appears anywhere, we have to go straight into emergency surgery.”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu took turns emphasizing the risks.
That meant the surgery being over did not mean everything was finished.
At present, the muscle mass between the two legs would differ by nearly forty percent.
That was how gaunt the right leg looked.
It was a leg from which that much muscle had been dug out, and on which multiple procedures had been performed.
From now until the flesh filled back in, the period ahead would be truly important.
As if that were not enough, Taesu emphasized it once more.
“It has become as weak as it possibly can be. External impact is forbidden under any circumstances.”
“What’s the point of telling me that over and over?”
“I’ll say it outside as well, but if anyone tries to touch it, you may truly get angry. Even if that person is a child.”
Taesu was saying that everyone was a potential risk.
Kim Hyeok-gwon nodded with an expression that showed he clearly understood.
“Children, in particular, are high-risk.”
“That’s right.”
“Then shouldn’t we save the long lecture for later and finish up?”
“Minsu and I will hold it.”
Taesu answered, glancing sideways.
As if he had been waiting, Jeong Minsu nodded.
Soon, the two of them carefully lifted the cast that enclosed both ends of the surgical site.
The space underneath was just wide enough for a bundle of compression bandage to barely pass through.
“Minsu, that’s good. Hold it just like that.”
“Holding—ugh.”
Because of the awkward posture, a groan escaped on its own.
Taesu, of course, and Jeong Minsu as well had numb, tingling forearms after the long, intense surgery.
Tremble, tremble.
They were even shaking.
“Grrgh.”
“Hup. Hup.”
Even as strange groans slipped out, they desperately maintained the height.
It was a leg so precarious that even the height had to be carefully controlled.
Kim Hyeok-gwon, cautious yet swift, looped the compression bandage around the outside of the cast and wrapped the entire thing.
Only after the affected area had been completely covered as well.
Tap.
The three of them gathered in front of the leg, now wrapped white in compression bandage.
The current time was 5 p.m.
Nine hours had passed since they entered the operating room.
Every situation that had occurred during the surgery flashed through their minds.
Taesu was the first to speak his thoughts.
“That was truly a surgery full of twists and turns.”
“For the first time, I was honestly prepared to get cursed out. But that…….”
“You mean emergency surgery would be less exhausting instead.”
“Bingo.”
Jeong Minsu did not deny it and admitted it.
But seeing as Taesu had noticed first and said it aloud, his own feelings did not seem all that different.
Kim Hyeok-gwon agreed as well.
“It really was a more vicious surgery than saving a life.”
“Maintaining breath isn’t the only kind of surgery that saves a life.”
Taesu said something profound.
There was no objection.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeok-gwon, who had operated with him, were keenly aware of it.
“That’s right. Living fully in a healthy body itself is a blessing and a fortune.”
“Exactly. The body comes first. Money comes next…… No, money is the best. You need money to get surgery and all that.”
Kim Hyeok-gwon, who had been sinking into sentiment, quickly changed his words.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu simply accepted it as his way.
After that quiet conversation ended.
Taesu briefly pushed aside his thoughts as well and brought up the cold reality again.
“This surgery was the first round of treatment. There are still too many dangers left, so I’ll postpone any joy until later.”
“…….”
“The day we can truly rejoice will be the moment Mr. Park Hui-nam stands on the ground with both legs.”
“…….”
Nod.
Everyone was serious, so they answered only with a nod.
Seeing that, Taesu soon moved to conclude.
“Then let’s end it here. You all worked hard for a long time.”
“Good work.”
Swoosh. Bow.
All three of them slightly turned their bodies and bowed toward Park Hui-nam’s face.
Even if they had operated on his leg, they could not very well bow with the bandaged leg between them.
With that, the declaration that the surgery was over was complete.
Apart from that, the medical staff’s work was not yet finished.
“We’ll keep the patient here tonight and monitor him.”
“Then we need to clean up a bit. Hm, there’s a transfusion pack left.”
Of course, Park Hui-nam’s surgery had also involved considerable bleeding. But it could not be compared with general surgery, thoracic surgery, or emergency surgery.
Kim Hyeok-gwon organized the transfusion pack and began cleaning the operating room.
Jeong Minsu soon found his own tasks as well.
“I’ll check the IV first. Since it’s after surgery, first…….”
“We should hang things like pain-control injection fluids in advance.”
“Hey, Taesu. Stop nagging and go out to talk to the guardians first. Do your talking out there.”
Jeong Minsu immediately snapped at him.
It seemed he was so exhausted that he wanted to avoid any further stimulation.