"Please change quickly."
"Ah, yes."
"Hurry."
"Understood."
Taesu had no choice but to answer and change his clothes.
The forcefulness of a nurse from an NGO was truly something else.
Off, off.
He immediately took off his casual clothes and began changing into scrubs.
Not to be outdone, Brad Kim did the same. In that brief moment, Brad Kim quietly spoke to Taesu.
"Ellen was a little harsh, but I hope you won't take it too badly."
"What did she do wrong?"
"Huh?"
"Without even the bare minimum of regulations and rules, this place really would become a lawless zone. It's only natural."
Swish, swish.
Taesu's hands moved even faster as he answered.
He did not feel the slightest displeasure.
All his attention was focused solely on changing into scrubs.
Brad Kim said nothing more and moved his hands quickly as well.
Meanwhile, Nurse Ellen approached.
As she helped Taesu into a surgical gown, she briefly explained the situation inside.
"It's a patient with hepatorrhexis from a gunshot wound. There's a wound entrance, but no exit wound."
"Is the bleeding because they haven't found the bullet?"
"No. They found the bullet, and they're managing the hepatorrhexis too."
At Ellen's answer, Taesu asked in puzzlement.
"But you said bleeding?"
"Yes. So far, it's an unknown cause. There, done."
The surgical gown was tightened firmly.
Then he put on the mask, hair cap, and the other minimum sanitary items needed for surgery, one by one.
Just as he was finishing up,
Taesu suddenly asked Nurse Ellen, almost out of nowhere.
"You'll help me, right?"
"Excuse me?"
"You owe me a debt. You should pay it back."
Taesu winked.
It sounded like a joke, but he was serious about asking her to assist in the surgery.
Nurse Ellen was slightly flustered.
"Do you really want me to—"
"Answer quickly."
"Yes. I'll assist."
"Good. Brad."
The moment Taesu called him, Brad Kim's voice came back.
"Ready."
"Let's go."
Whoosh.
This time too, Taesu moved first.
Brad Kim looked at Taesu, who was consistently one beat ahead, and smiled lightly with his eyes.
The operating room curtain stirred, revealing someone's back.
Thump.
That someone was Taesu.
Unable to open the door with hands that had already been sterilized, he had pushed his way in with his back.
Through the opening, Brad Kim and the nurses followed him inside.
The moment Taesu entered, the thick smell of blood stimulated his nose.
Beep-beep-beep.
The urgent sound of the ECG pierced his ears.
When he turned around, the operating table was so soaked in blood that it made his vision dizzy.
In that instant, every sense was assaulted by powerful stimuli and surged toward Taesu.
Flash.
The look in Taesu's eyes changed.
He was no longer merely a good-natured man, but a doctor being roughly honed on the battlefield itself.
It was then.
"Dr. Choi on the right, Dr. Kim on the left."
A low, quick order came from the operating table.
It must have been the lead surgeon's order.
Before he could check who it was, his body moved first.
"Brad."
"Splitting up."
Whoosh.
They understood each other instantly.
The rhythm they had once developed working on the same team was still alive.
The two of them immediately scattered in their respective directions with quick understanding.
Taesu arrived at the right side of the operating table at once.
Coincidentally, he was in the same line as the lead surgeon.
That was how Taesu saw it, but the lead surgeon seemed to have calculated it and was simply looking at him.
Taesu met his gaze as well.
Most of the man's face was covered by a hair cap and mask. Other than the fact that his skin was black, there was no particular way to recognize him.
Then the lead surgeon identified himself.
"It's me, Schmidt."
"Oh."
At that voice, Taesu's eyes widened.
He was the leader of the medical team Taesu had met in the third village of ABC.
Though their encounter had been brief, he had encouraged Taesu for his hardships and efforts and treated him kindly.
Taesu had never expected to see him here, and he was stunned.
"Dr. Schmidt, how are you—"
"Is that what's important right now? Dr. Oliver, wait, that part there..."
Dr. Schmidt pointed something out and immediately focused back on the surgery.
The instant change was astonishing.
But Taesu's ears were still filled with what he had said.
He was right.
What mattered was the surgery.
Taesu immediately pulled himself together.
His gaze went straight to the operating table.
A Balfour retractor had been installed on the patient's right abdomen.
The area opened by the Balfour was presumed to be the wound entrance.
It was roughly five centimeters in diameter.
Taesu was once again surprised by that.
'It's definitely narrow.'
If Taesu were operating, he would need at least twice as much surgical space.
The size of that surgical space was precisely the difference in skill.
Conversely, what if it were Caprene?
He would surely be able to perform the surgery perfectly even with a space half the current size.
The size of the surgical field could serve as a measure of the lead surgeon's skill.
His surprise lasted only a moment.
He had not come here to compare skills.
After finishing that brief assessment, he carefully looked inside the affected area.
Perhaps because he had experience operating alone, he had no difficulty finding the problem.
As expected, the bleeding was the issue.
Because of the bleeding soaking the abdomen, the organs were not clearly visible.
'Damn.'
Taesu's brow narrowed slightly.
At this level, it would be tricky even for him to operate.
But this was not the time to continue such assessments.
In this surgery, his role was neither lead surgeon nor assistant, but helper.
"Senn retractor, DeBakey."
He requested the surgical instruments first.
What was he feeling inside?
'Can I do this?'
A small worry arose.
It had been a long time since he had been in a regular surgery.
An operating room with proper facilities like this felt unfamiliar.
On top of that, Taesu's unusual career was also a problem.
Since he had served as lead surgeon in most operations, that could become an obstacle in this situation.
However,
Regretting it after coming in?
That was absurd.
'I can do this.'
He firmly resolved it to himself.
In the meantime, Nurse Ellen called out.
"Dr. Choi."
At the same moment, surgical instruments were placed in his hand.
Clack.
The cold sensation poured ice water over his tangled thoughts.
He snapped fully to attention.
They were in the middle of surgery.
The patient was in an emergency.
Beep-beep-beep, bbb-beep.
The sound of the ECG rang out sharply.
The patient.
And death.
The ringing of the ECG stimulated Taesu.
"Going in."
After shouting briefly, Taesu quickly pushed the Senn retractor into the affected area first.
What mattered was finding the bleeding point.
If he couldn't see it?
Then he just had to make it visible, and nothing was better suited for that role than a Senn retractor.
Slide.
The movement of the Senn retractor was surprisingly gentle.
Internal organs were delicate.
They were completely different from muscles.
If he tried to force things with strength alone, the problem would only grow worse.
He moved while guarding against that.
'Where is it? Where?'
Taesu's eyes were sharp as he moved the organs here and there.
It was then.
From the opposite side, Dr. Oliver's sharp voice rang out.
"Damn. Hey, Dr. Choi."
"Yes?"
"What the hell are you doing right now?"
At his irritation-filled voice, Taesu flinched.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? Right now, you're—"
Just as Dr. Oliver was about to explode in anger,
Slide.
A bloodstained hand rose between the two of them, blocking their line of sight.
At the same time, Dr. Schmidt's cold rebuke was heard.
"What is this commotion?"
"Hoo."
Dr. Oliver forcibly reined in his surging emotions.
Taesu, on the other hand, still did not understand.
As if he had noticed that, Dr. Schmidt informed him in a low voice.
"Dr. Choi, what is your position right now?"
"Helper."
"And the position of your surgical instrument?"
At that question, Taesu's gaze dropped downward.
His Senn retractor was blocking the path of Dr. Schmidt's surgical instrument.
"Oh."
Startled, Taesu quickly moved the Senn retractor.
Once there was room, Dr. Schmidt moved his surgical instrument again and said,
"Dr. Oliver, hold that quickly."
"Excuse me? Doctor, that's..."
"Did you not hear me?"
A sharp glint flashed in Dr. Schmidt's eyes as he looked at Dr. Oliver.
Seeing that, Dr. Oliver's eyes turned resentful.
But he did not object any further and moved the hand he had stopped.
"...Secured."
"We find the bleeding point like this."
"Yes."
Dr. Oliver's answering voice sank flat.
Glare.
The irritation contained in his gaze toward Taesu made his current mood perfectly clear.
Meanwhile, Taesu did not feel that gaze.
That was how flustered he was.
He had entered the surgery as a helper and blocked the lead surgeon's route.
The very problem he had worried about had burst out like this.
The problem was that it was an action impossible to commit unless he intended to reverse the roles of guest and host.
He had not had even the slightest intention of doing that.
As Taesu stood in confusion, Dr. Schmidt called him.
"Dr. Choi, can you clear the blood under my intestinal forceps here?"
"Yes? Ah, yes."
Taesu quickly came to his senses and moved his hand.
But perhaps because he was filled with embarrassment, he was somewhat passive. The self-reproach over his mistake, nearly pushing out the lead surgeon, still lingered in his touch.
Tap, tap-tap.
The gauze could not even get near Dr. Schmidt's intestinal forceps.
"..."
Taesu was focusing hard, drawing a line for himself.
Had he read that feeling?
For the first time, an edge entered Dr. Schmidt's voice.
"Dr. Choi, do you have the luxury to blame yourself?"
"No."
"It's an emergency. If you can't change your style right away, then push through as you are."
His advice ended there.
For an instant, Taesu's mind became confused.
No, there was no time for that either.
Beep-beep-beep.
At the sound of the ECG, the anesthesiologist's voice became sharp.
"Blood shortage. The pulse is rising too much."
"What about the transfusion?"
"Four packs are going in continuously. The bleeding is greater than the amount going in."
At that, Dr. Schmidt's eyes moved quickly, and he gave a low order.
"Hold out."
"Doctor."
"Did you not hear my order to hold out?"
Roar.
Dr. Schmidt's voice became as powerful as a lion's.
When the man who had given off such a gentle atmosphere suddenly transformed, the chill came over them twice as strongly.
It was to the point that, for an instant, the inside of the operating room felt as if it had stopped.
The anesthesiologist, his face slightly appalled, quickly nodded.
"I'll try."
"Do it."
"Yes. I'll do it. Nurse."
After calling the nurse, the anesthesiologist turned completely away.
It was an expression of his will to devote himself solely to maintaining the patient's vitals.