After that, time passed in a blur.
Taesu had recorded everything that happened during that time in a diary format.
- Day 10 of Deployment.
Weather: Clear.
Mr. Bak Huinam is recovering well after surgery. Still, it is not yet the stage where we can feel relieved, so I plan to observe him continuously.
After checking his progress, we moved Mr. Bak Huinam to the ward tent.
We made an improvised stretcher, and with the help of Gang Yeonghun and Jo Jeongmin, the transfer proceeded smoothly.
They are always grateful and dependable people.
In front of the ward tent, Mr. Bak Huinam briefly met his children.
Perhaps because it was a short reunion, my heart ached all the more for no reason.
I felt a greater sense of responsibility for checking his progress.
But Song Hui keeps looking at me with a strange gaze.
These days, I sometimes find that child frightening.
After moving Mr. Bak Huinam, we performed five consecutive surgeries in total.
The surgical details were recorded in the patient charts.
They were all similar cases of inflammation surgery.
Fortunately, there was no risk of amputation.
After surgery, each patient was taken back to their home, and we plan to visit them three times a day to dress their wounds and monitor their progress.
With the surgeries finished, it is now 11 p.m.
I am currently having a late dinner.
Let's do our best tomorrow as well.
- Day 11 of Deployment.
Weather: Overcast.
It looks like it might rain.
In the morning, I visited the patients' homes to dress their wounds and check their progress.
On the way back, I met Elder Wang and mentioned the treatment, and I nearly got slapped upside the head.
He was extremely cranky from the morning.
Still, I will somehow get him treated soon.
There were a total of four surgeries until the evening; the patient cases were similar today as well.
In the evening, I briefly radioed the NGO.
They said this war shows signs of not ending easily.
Bastards.
- Day 12 of Deployment.
Weather: Overcast, Rain.
The day started as gloomy as the weather.
I was called urgently by Jeong Minsu at dawn.
Necrotic tissue was found on Mr. Bak Huinam's leg, so we performed emergency surgery.
During the emergency surgery, additional areas with risk of progressing necrosis were discovered and addressed first.
It was a chilling surgery where something terrible would have happened if we had been even slightly later.
In the morning, I lost count of how many times Mr. Bak Huinam expressed his thanks.
The more I see him, the more I think he is a person who looks fierce on the outside but is warm-hearted inside.
However, the delayed motor response in the third and fourth toes is concerning.
And this afternoon, Song Hui was discharged.
Her affected area is still healing, so her hand must not get burned.
I emphasized the precautions several times, and judged that with Gang Yeonghun and Gim Hyeongyeong, I could rest assured.
Song Hui was happy to be going home.
Song Hui, I am happy too.
She is a kind, cute, and pretty child, but her silent, watching gaze was a bit burdensome at times.
As expected, on her way out, I received a threat that wasn't quite a threat to keep my promise until the very end.
I am indeed afraid of Song Hui's innocence.
And Changgyu, you still can't go home.
- Day 13 of Deployment.
Weather: Blazing sun.
The scheduled surgeries are almost finished as of today.
Now is the time to focus more on the aftermath and post-operative observation.
And treatment for patients with minor injuries has begun in earnest.
Jeong Minsu's observational skills and abilities are improving day by day.
I need to work hard to keep up as well.
In the evening, Gim Gwanghyeon and the assistants returned.
I was grateful they came back safely without incident. They had caught a wild animal similar to a wild boar called a pygmy hog.
It tasted as similar to pork as it looked.
With its large size, the entire village held a feast.
For the first time in a long while, everyone put aside their worries and enjoyed themselves.
Meat is meant to be eaten first and questioned later.
- Day 20 of Deployment.
Weather: Clear.
It is a gloomy day.
The clear sky makes me more annoyed.
Necrosis occurred in the third and fourth toes of Mr. Bak Huinam, which had shown no response all this time, and they were eventually amputated.
Perhaps as a trade-off, there were no problems elsewhere.
Instead of getting angry at us for apologizing, Mr. Bak Huinam consoled us.
He even smiled, asking if he wasn't lucky to have lost only two toes in exchange for saving his right leg.
We could not laugh.
Saying it is not our specialized field of medicine is an excuse that works among ourselves.
No matter what words of apology we offered to the patients and guardians, our hearts were only heavy.
We are sorry for being lacking and insufficient.
Bad things seem to pile up.
Though a week has already passed, Raku has not yet arrived in the village.
They said the war shows no signs of dying down.
We now have only a few days of food left.
The villagers had their stored food supplies, but that is a matter for later.
Since I am the most suspected of having fatty liver, I want to postpone it as much as possible.
Due to various matters, I had been avoiding conversation with Minsu and Hyeokgwon as much as possible.
We are becoming sensitive too.
Damn it, I crave alcohol, but this village doesn't even have any.
Then, one day as time passed by like that.
Morning.
Taesu was slowly looking back over the diary he had written all this time.
"It's already been a month."
Only by looking at the diary could he calculate the date.
During that time, Taesu's appearance had changed a little too.
His hair and beard had grown bushy, and his clothes had become quite filthy.
The white coat, the symbol of a doctor, was stained all over.
If he had not been wearing it, he would have looked like a mountain dweller.
Slap.
Taesu closed the journal and gazed at the distant sky.
There had been as many events as the densely written contents of the diary.
Just as he was lost in sentiment for a moment.
Kwagwagwang.
The sound of artillery echoed from beyond the mountain peak.
It had been continuing for several days already.
The front line seemed to have extended to the other side of the mountain.
The children are growing anxious, and the adults are sighing more frequently.
As those images came to mind, his gaze sharpened and turned in that direction.
"Those damned bastards."
"Right. Just as Elder Wang said, it's a load of bullshit."
Jeong Minsu approached, responding coarsely.
His appearance was not much different from Taesu's, haggard and worn out.
Jeong Minsu didn't have a full beard; it was curly and scruffy, making him look even more shabby.
Thud.
He sat across from him and placed his medical bag on the table.
Taesu asked without giving him a moment to breathe.
"How are the recovery progresses?"
"Those who are going to get better have almost all recovered. The fever has gone down a lot too, and the inflammation seems to have mostly drained."
"Only Mr. Bak Huinam was a problem."
"Don't say that in front of Mr. Bak Huinam. No, don't even make a gloomy expression."
When Jeong Minsu advised him, Taesu stared intently.
"Did something happen?"
"He said if you keep feeling so sorry, he won't know what to do with himself."
"Hmm."
"I kept quiet too and just checked his progress."
Jeong Minsu spoke bitterly.
Listening quietly, Taesu got to the point.
"So how is the progress?"
"He's eating well, so his recovery is good."
"That's a relief. How is Changgyu?"
When Taesu changed the subject, Jeong Minsu answered immediately.
"He's starting to get restless."
"Well, at his lively age, having lain down for a month, it's understandable."
"Come to think of it, the most serious patient is Changgyu."
"He nearly died. It'll take another month just for his arms and legs to heal, so he has to lie down for at least another month."
At Taesu's blunt remark, Jeong Minsu nodded too.
"I know. Without a wheelchair, it's hard for him to even get outside for some fresh air."
"What about Changgyu's mother?"
"I know, right. Walking has become much easier since her pelvis was corrected, but there's no way to approach the mental aspect."
"Hmm. But what about Hyeokgwon?"
Taesu sought out Hyeokgwon because the answer didn't come to mind.
Because he had departed together but still hadn't arrived.
Jeong Minsu turned around slightly and smiled faintly.
"I think he's been caught by the kids?"
"The one who said he disliked kids plays with them the best."
"He knows many fun games. And he's so knowledgeable, he has many stories to tell."
As Jeong Minsu answered, Taesu nodded heavily.
"He is a very knowledgeable man."
"He said something like that not long ago. That he should have played with them like this back then."
"......."
"He said he didn't know that moment was joyful back then, and that he doesn't want to have regrets this time."
Jeong Minsu finished speaking calmly.
Taesu smiled bitterly and nodded.
After taking a moment to breathe together.
This time, Jeong Minsu asked first.
"You said you'd radio in the morning; how did it go?"
"It was nothing special."
"Time keeps flowing......"
As Jeong Minsu was speaking.
Woo-woong.
A faint sound of something operating could be heard.
It would be the familiar engine sound of a small generator running.
Taesu, who had been listening absentmindedly, asked.
"So how much fuel is left?"
"The large container is almost empty; the two barrels kept aside for emergency surgery are all that's left."
"Well, at least that's fortunate."
"That's what I'm saying. But has that generator gone bad or something, at this hour."
Jeong Minsu trailed off as he spoke.
Perplexed by that reaction, Taesu asked.
"What's wrong?"
"It's not time for the generator to run."
"So you mean it's really broken?"
"Then it shouldn't be running. But this sound, doesn't it seem a bit louder?"
Jeong Minsu asked, carefully pricking his ears.
Boo-woong.
The sound now reached Taesu's ears louder than before.
"It does sound like that."
"Is it working harder because it's cold?"
"Could that be it?"
"I'm not that close with the generator. Seriously, what's with it. Should we go check?"
Sswik.
Jeong Minsu rose from his seat with an uneasy expression.
Then Taesu grabbed Jeong Minsu.
Tak.
"Wait."
"Why?"
"The sound got louder."
"Huh?"
Buaaaang.
The faint engine sound was now clearly audible.
Only then did they get a hunch.
This was not the sound of a small generator.
Then?
Taesu and Jeong Minsu's eyes went wide.
At the same time, looking at each other, they shouted loudly.
"They're here!"
"It's Raku!"
Hwi-hwik.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu ran, their white coats fluttering.
Running behind the accommodation tent, the engine sound was clearly louder. And far in the distance, three trucks were following in a line.
The flashy truck in the lead.
It was Raku's truck.
The one they had waited so long for had finally come.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu embraced each other in overflowing joy.
"Uwaaa, it's Raku. Raku is here."
"We're saved. We're saved now."
They poured out their intense emotions as if a mountain were leaving their shoulders.
Not only that, they even took off their coats and waved them vigorously above their heads.
Could the people over there see the two of them?
Bbaaaang.
They responded with a long horn blast.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu, waving their arms as if they would fall off, had faces full of joy.
Shortly after.
The trucks approached and stopped nearby.
And Raku got out of the driver's seat and ran over at once.
His stature was still good, and his impression that warmly embraced people was still the same.
"Raku."
"Welcome."
Unlike Taesu and Jeong Minsu, who were welcoming him, the closer Raku got, the more the corners of his eyes drooped.