Taesu took a shot in the dark based on intuition.
Did it mean it didn’t hurt anymore?
But that wasn’t it.
Tap, tap.
The patient pointed here and there while holding disinfectant. Finally, he held out his arm wrapped in pressure bandages once more.
Only then did Taesu catch on to his intent.
—Please take good care of the other villagers too.
That meaning was clear.
The wary gaze from before was nowhere to be found, replaced by nothing but warmth.
Taesu received the disinfectant from his hand.
That was when.
Clutch.
The patient grabbed Taesu’s hand.
It was warm.
"……."
A pitiable gaze shone there as well.
Anyone could have grasped that meaning.
To Taesu, who was on the receiving end of that gaze, it struck several times harder.
Strength surged through him.
His exhausted body brimmed with new vitality.
The patient’s encouragement.
The greatest vitality supplement that only a doctor could feel.
Pat.
Taesu placed his empty hand on the back of the patient’s and showed a strong gaze.
Perhaps that meaning got through, for the patient’s grip loosened.
Taesu gathered his medical tools again as well.
The patient also helped diligently, tactfully using just one hand.
Taesu immediately went to find the next patient.
Unfortunately, the phrase “went to find” didn’t match the current reality.
Thud.
One step.
Really, just one step away, another patient was there.
Perhaps around fifteen, though not exactly, a patient who still carried a very youthful air.
"Nnngh."
His baggy pants were torn, and bleeding was concentrated around the calf.
But something about that sight was unnatural.
Could it be?
Taesu, suspecting a calf muscle rupture, hardened his gaze.
But he didn’t make the same mistake.
Grab.
Taesu grabbed the patient’s shoulder and locked eyes with him first.
"Hey. Hey."
"Nnngh."
"It’s going to hurt. It’s really going to hurt. Bear with it."
"Nngh. Huff. Hoo."
The patient didn’t seem to hear anything through the pain.
Taesu was at a loss, his concern not getting through.
He couldn’t afford to rush and press on alone again.
That was when.
Tap.
The patient who had just finished treatment tapped the young patient lightly and said something.
"#^#$%$."
"Ngh, #^%$#%."
"@#@$@!"
"Uuugh……."
In the middle of the conversation, the bearded patient sharply scolded the young patient. Then the young patient’s groaning noticeably decreased.
Clearly, the bearded patient had given advice in Taesu’s stead.
That guess seemed to be correct.
Wink.
The bearded patient winked one eye at Taesu.
In that instant, Taesu felt his chest grow hot.
Gim Hyeokgwon was swamped as well. In this situation, the bearded patient’s proactive help was incredibly welcome.
And because it was a fellow villager doing the urging, the effects clearly showed.
"Hooooh."
The young patient’s groaning had noticeably decreased.
There was no evidence clearer than that.
Taesu gave the bearded patient a thumbs-up.
Tuk.
"Thanks."
"@^#$%."
The bearded patient responded with something.
The language barrier couldn’t be a constraint of any kind in this moment.
True feelings could be conveyed through gaze alone.
Taesu boldly left the rest to the bearded patient. Now was the time for him to focus on treating the young patient’s wound.
Taesu picked up the scissors first.
Swish.
He cut the clothes long and folded them back, revealing the calf wound.
Part of the calf muscle was deeply gouged, as if clawed by something.
The wound was quite large.
He could tell at a glance that bleeding was relatively minor because the upper calf had been tightly bound.
He only had two eyes to see.
His hands were already moving.
Flush, swish.
"Nnngh. Nngh."
As the affected area was cleansed, the young patient’s groaning deepened.
"^#%#."
The bearded patient was strongly encouraging him from the side.
Flick, flick.
He also gestured toward Taesu.
It was clearly a gesture telling him not to stop and to keep going.
He was grateful, but it wasn’t a situation to express thanks individually.
'I’ll thank him all at once later.'
Taesu focused solely on the wound without hesitation.
Looking at the disinfected wound, indeed the calf was deeply gouged.
But it was a wound he was seeing for the first time.
It didn’t feel like something had torn at it, and it certainly wasn’t a natural wound.
While examining the wound, something was stuck to the necrotic skin.
Tuk.
When he picked it up with tweezers, it was a black lump hardened and tangled with blood.
Taesu soon figured out the identity of that black lump.
'Lead?'
That was all.
He couldn’t tell if this was the trace of a bullet, or if the patient had been hit by fragments from a grenade-like bomb.
Even searching through Caprene’s memories for clinical experience related to gunshot wounds, nothing matched.
Traces of firearms used in war were nothing but unfamiliar to Taesu, a Korean.
He couldn’t afford to waste more time on this.
Ting.
Taesu put down the black lump and reviewed the emergency treatment sequence.
First, he had to reduce the pain with local anesthesia.
Then?
"Lidocaine."
Pop.
Taesu opened the ampoule lid resolutely.
Injections were quickly administered around the calf.
"Nnngh, uugh……."
The patient’s groaning gradually decreased.
There was no clearer evidence that the drug’s effects had spread.
If the patient was ready?
Clink.
Taesu, holding emergency tools in both hands, hardened his gaze.
And immediately the emergency treatment began.
The area of necrotic muscle was wide.
He chose a violent but certain method for the treatment.
"Scrape this."
Scrape, scrape.
Hardened blood clots and debris poured out mercilessly.
The bleeding that had stopped resumed.
The patient suffered accordingly.
"Nnnngh."
"%#$%!"
Squeeze.
The bearded patient immediately urged him on.
He wasn’t just shouting; he clasped the young patient’s hand with his own uninjured hand and shared the pain.
Thanks to that, Taesu could move even faster.
Relentlessly.
It was a hand movement so violent that no mercy or hesitation could be found.
His judgment was as swift as his hands.
"The blood vessels……. Not now. Postpone until the second surgery. Then the skin."
Taesu’s hands nimbly switched surgical tools as he proceeded with emergency care.
Clack, snap, swish.
He cut away the necrotic skin first.
Moreover, he resected slightly more generously.
To prevent the affected area from spreading.
It would be painful right now.
But there was no other way. To perform proper surgery on the young patient, he would need a day or two starting from now.
He had to buy that time.
Slice, slice.
With a cold expression, Taesu cut away the skin and necrotic muscle.
Being expressionless didn’t mean his heart was indifferent.
With each piece of flesh he cut, Taesu’s heart ached too.
'There’s no other way. I’m truly sorry.'
He didn’t know how many times he repeated that apology inwardly.
But he couldn’t show it.
It was right to be warm when dealing with the patient.
But not the affected area.
It had to be treated with a gaze and hands more calm and cold than anyone else’s in the world.
Ironically, that was the emergency care for the patient’s sake.
A short while later.
The young patient’s emergency treatment was finished.
Pressure bandages were wrapped tightly around the calf.
The young patient’s face was covered in cold sweat.
"Hooooh. Hooooh……."
Even his breathing looked exhausted from the continuous pain.
The bearded patient beside him was patting the young patient’s shoulder and encouraging him.
The sight of them helping one another was deeply heartwarming.
The young patient seemed to think it was all over, tears welling up.
But then Taesu held up a syringe.
"This is an injection to reduce the pain."
He briefly explained the painkiller’s effects.
That wasn’t all.
"Tetanus shot, and antibiotics, and…."
Clatter.
Explanations for four or five injections followed quickly.
But neither the young patient nor the bearded patient could understand.
They had no way of understanding English.
Moreover, the young patient seemed to feel threatened by the syringe, looking slightly frightened.
"%$#.#%."
Taesu couldn’t understand what he was saying either.
It was a situation where no conversation could be had.
Taesu was frustrated at times like this too.
But then.
Swish.
Gim Hyeokgwon approached from the side and quickly interpreted.
"He’s scared stiff. He’s asking if that thing hurts."
"Didn’t that wound hurt?"
"Are you seriously asking that?"
Gim Hyeokgwon immediately shot back.
Taesu answered, shrugging.
"Package it appropriately yourself."
"Let’s do that. @%.#$."
Gim Hyeokgwon was now perfectly in sync.
He answered casually and then said something to the patient in the local language.
But the patient’s reaction was strange.
His pupils shook slightly before he squeezed his eyes shut. He even buried his face completely in the bearded patient’s arms.
"Hmph."
He also let out a strange cry.
It was the moment Taesu looked at him puzzledly.
Gim Hyeokgwon said in a low voice.
"He’s asking if he wouldn’t be scared getting so many shots."
"Please tell him it’s absolutely necessary."
"I’ll tell him, so just stick him. @%#$%#."
Gim Hyeokgwon persuaded the young patient with some words.
Clench.
The young patient burrowed deeper into the bearded patient’s arms.
"Oh boy."
Shots?
Compared to the pain of the calf wound, they didn’t even rank.
Baffled, Taesu administered the injections without hesitation.
Naturally, the startled young patient’s scream burst out. Perhaps because his face was buried in the bearded patient, only a strange muffled sound was heard.
"Mmph-bb-bpp."
"You just have to endure for a moment."
Taesu just spoke comfortably in Korean.
A faint smile formed at the young patient’s wildly contradictory behavior.
It was also an appearance possible only because he was young.
The smile was short-lived.
He resented this thing called war.
That ruthless thing had driven a teenager who was even afraid of shots into such agony.
At the same time, it had completely stolen away the lives of the Sahad people who should have been at peace today.
All he could help with were the wounds of the body.
It was regrettable that he couldn’t heal the wounds of the heart as well.
And so, he finished another patient’s emergency treatment.
First, Taesu spoke to the bearded patient through Gim Hyeokgwon.
"Please tell him thank you, and that we’re done now."
"He says he can help more. If he’s this proactive, I’d welcome him tremendously too."
"Mr. Hyeokgwon, did you come here to play?"
Taesu’s eyes narrowed.