More important than that was securing his breathing.
What to do in a situation like this?
Taesoo reached into the bag again.
Rustle, rustle.
After fumbling around for a moment, he pulled out a bag of saline solution.
He cut open the end of the saline pack and slowly poured it into the patient’s mouth.
“Gurgle, rrrr.”
As the saline poured into the blood foam, the patient’s breathing changed strangely.
Taesoo paid it no mind and turned the patient’s head to the side.
Trickle.
Saline mixed with blood and blood foam flowed out.
Taesoo quickly repeated the process twice.
The patient’s breathing repeatedly became blocked by the saline Taesoo poured in, then cleared again.
“Cough……. Khh……. Cough…….”
The patient’s breathing changed constantly.
If he was conscious, it would have been an agonizing procedure.
Taesoo knew that, too.
But he could not stop.
He was doing it for the most basic of emergency principles: ABC.
A stood for airway.
B stood for breathing.
C stood for circulation.
They were the English initials for securing the airway, breathing, and circulation, in that order.
Taesoo was currently securing the airway—the A stage.
After repeating the process several times, the bloody fluid had clearly lightened.
Seeing that, Taesoo switched on his flashlight and held it in his mouth.
Then, with both hands free, he forced the patient’s mouth open.
Crack.
“Ghk……. Guh…….”
A strange groan drifted faintly from the patient’s throat.
Ignoring it, Taesoo shone the flashlight into the patient’s mouth.
‘The bleeding…….’
Swish.
He soon saw bright-red blood refluxing into the mouth.
But Taesoo’s expression darkened when he confirmed it.
‘Hemoptysis and hematemesis at the same time?’
The thoracic cavity and the abdominal cavity.
There were problems on both sides.
This might even be a worse situation than Caprene’s.
That was only a supposition.
He had no certainty yet.
With the flashlight between his teeth, Taesoo’s expression hardened.
‘It’s too soon to jump to conclusions.’
He forced himself to remain calm.
Then he cast away every distracting thought.
With a patient before his eyes, he had no room to think about anything else.
Now was the time to begin emergency treatment.
The first priority was ensuring the safety of the patient’s breathing.
To do that, he needed to prepare the basic setup first.
Rustle, rustle.
Taesoo’s hands darted in and out of the emergency bag.
As they did, the area around him gradually changed.
Whoosh.
A surgical drape was spread out.
Clack, clack, clack.
Medications frequently used in emergency treatment were placed on top of it.
It took only a moment.
But then the patient’s breathing began acting up again.
“Guh……. Grrk.”
“Damn it, trying to do this alone.”
Taesoo grumbled bitterly as he hurriedly repeated the saline treatment.
Trickle, trickle.
“Cough……. Grrk……. Gurgle.”
As the breathing difficulty continued, tears that had welled in the patient’s eyes rolled sideways down his face.
Taesoo saw them, but closed one eye.
‘This is for your sake.’
They had only just met. There was no reason for the patient to harbor any resentment toward him.
Well, there was a little—but that was unrelated to the current situation.
That much was certain.
After clearing out the patient’s mouth once more, Taesoo immediately reached out and grabbed the laryngoscope.
“Intubation, beginning.”
Although he was alone, he muttered what procedure he was performing.
It was a habit of reminding himself.
Clack.
He hooked the laryngoscope onto the patient’s larynx and applied force, slowly opening the mouth.
What came next?
“Now, the E-tube.”
Swish, swish.
He pushed the silicone tube with the inserted wire deep inside.
Then he attached the Ambu bag.
He secured the E-tube and installed the T-piece—a device to protect the teeth—as well.
Taesoo’s hands moved frantically.
All of this was part of a single procedure frequently performed in emergency rooms: intubation.
A short while later.
Taesoo completed the endotracheal intubation and gripped the Ambu bag.
Each time Taesoo applied pressure, the patient’s chest swelled and sank.
His hands moved urgently.
Push, push.
They were moving faster than usual because he was anxious.
He was still treating the first patient.
He had not even located the second patient yet.
‘Get some air into him first.’
He tried to think of a more efficient method.
Before that thought could even continue—
“Hm?”
Taesoo’s expression stiffened slightly.
He had only pumped the bag a few times, yet he could already feel resistance in it.
If things remained this way, he could not leave the patient’s side.
No other voices came through the helmet radio.
It was enough to drive him mad.
He had no room to worry about anything else.
Now that pulmonary hemorrhage was certain, Taesoo quickly pressed his stethoscope against the patient.
The patient’s chest was cold to the touch.
He pushed down his pity with a cool resolve and began by listening to the heart.
Thump, thump.
The pulse was thin and weak.
But it was definitely beating.
He even restrained any premature joy.
Taesoo’s expression had disappeared, leaving only cold reason.
That was the right thing to do.
Soon, mixed in with the sound of the heartbeat, he heard another sound.
Glug, glug.
‘That sound?’
Taesoo’s eyebrows twitched.
Hemothorax.
Blood in the chest.
Just as he had suspected from the hemoptysis, there was bleeding inside the lungs.
He could not determine the cause through auscultation.
The cause could be investigated later.
First, he had to drain the blood from the lungs.
Taesoo reached back into the emergency bag to find what he needed.
Then, just as he turned his gaze toward the bag—
Taesoo suddenly froze.
Something unfamiliar had passed across his field of vision.
It felt strange.
No—the sensation sent a chill down his spine.
His eyes held the look of someone who did not want to believe what he had glimpsed.
But he could not help checking again.
“No way?”
Whoosh.
Taesoo turned his head again.
Bushes grew thickly beside the cliff.
Someone was sitting in front of them.
More precisely, it only looked as though someone was sitting there.
That person was the second patient.
The distance was not far, but the trees had cleverly concealed him, and Taesoo had only just noticed.
The problem was that even from here, he looked to be in extremely bad condition.
“Damn it.”
Taesoo forcibly restrained himself from rushing over.
Push, push.
He was assisting the first patient’s breathing with the Ambu bag.
In a situation like this, he could not leave the patient’s side.
He looked around quickly, but no one was near Sergeant Sam.
Taesoo’s gaze turned skyward.
He immediately searched for his friend and colleague through the helmet radio.
“Minsu.”
Push, push.
At Taesoo’s urgent call, Jeong Minsu soon answered in Korean.
—What happened? I only heard that you’d landed, and then nothing. I was worried.
“Minsu. I’m sorry.”
Since Taesoo suddenly apologized, Jeong Minsu’s response came a fraction of a beat late.
—Where are you right now? Are you in hell or something?
“I wish I were in hell.”
—Why are you suddenly being so dramatic? What the hell is going on?
Jeong Minsu’s voice trembled faintly.
That was how much weight Taesoo’s voice carried.
His expression was the same.
Taesoo first explained why he was apologizing.
“I didn’t know I’d be able to do this much, either.”
—Hey, you bastard.
“I’m really sorry to say this to someone as timid, cowardly, unsociable, and inarticulate as you.”
—What the hell, are you picking a fight with me?
Jeong Minsu’s voice filled with displeasure.
But Taesoo continued with his next words.
“I’m really sorry, but you have to come down.”
—Did you put on that whole act just to say that?
“Repelling……. It was terrifying.”
Taesoo had already concluded that Jeong Minsu would have a hard time overcoming the rappel.
Given how he had behaved so far, it was a reasonable assumption.
Jeong Minsu must have sensed that something was wrong, because he asked carefully:
—Was it that terrifying?
“Enough to make your mind go blank.”
—And you want me to come down?
“As fast as possible.”
Taesoo urged him in a heavy voice.
His apology and his urging to hurry were both sincere.
He simply could not administer emergency treatment to two patients at once.
Then Jeong Minsu’s voice suddenly began to tremble.
—Ugh, damn it, damn it.
—Doctor Jeong, are you ready?
—Uh, uh, aaah. No.
At Jeong Minsu’s defiant shout, Sergeant Ryan tried to stop him in a flustered voice.
—You can’t do it that way.
—Dammit! I’m jumping.
—You will definitely have an accident. Please reconsider.
—They said someone down there is dying! That rude Doctor Choi even apologized to me!
At those words, Taesoo unwittingly smiled bitterly.
It felt as though his earlier words had come back to him.
Push, push.
Even then, the Ambu bag never stopped.
He could not proceed with the next treatment even though he wanted to. Not while he had to keep the patient breathing.
Everyone had to come down.
Only then could emergency treatment begin.
Taesoo understood Jeong Minsu’s feelings right now.
Fear and terror at an unfamiliar situation.
There was no way he would feel none of that.
Yet Jeong Minsu was trying to overcome it.
Taesoo was grateful.
But it seemed he was still a little short on courage.
Taesoo steeled himself.
Since Jeong Minsu was showing his determination, Taesoo could give him a little help.
The moment he made up his mind, he hardened his expression and shouted:
“What are you doing?”
—I’ve never done this before.
“It was my first time, too. Grab the descender and jump, you bastard.”
Taesoo drove him mercilessly.
But it seemed that still was not enough.
—Jump……. Jump……. Ah, damn it.
“If you really can’t do it, close your eyes and jump.”
—I’ve had my eyes closed this whole time.
“Something to be proud of.”
Taesoo shouted in exasperation, but there was nothing else he could do.
There was, however, another hand he could play.
“Ryan.”
—Yes, Doctor Choi.
“Kick Doctor Jeong in the ass.”
—I will carry that out immediately.
Right after Sergeant Ryan’s firm reply—
Jeong Minsu’s voice, trembling violently, came through.
—R-Ryan, don’t come any closer. Let’s talk this out…… Aaaah!
His scream was the finale.
Taesoo felt inexplicably pleased.
“Perfect.”
Whoosh.
When he raised his head, Jeong Minsu was indeed rappelling down.
Sergeant Ryan was right behind him, and the two were connected by a rope.
Taesoo could clearly picture the scene: if Jeong Minsu failed to brake, Sergeant Ryan would brake for him.
A good idea.
But there was another problem entirely.
Jeong Minsu’s screams.
“Kyaaaagh!”
—Kyaaaagh!
A scream Taesoo had never heard before rang out in three-dimensional surround sound, both through the helmet and in person.
Jeong Minsu would soon be landing.
But Taesoo still had one more person to call.
Kim Hyeok-gwon.
As always, he needed him this time as well.