They really were flooding in.
Vroom.
The first thing they saw was a moving vehicle approaching.
Then carts appeared.
People came pushing and pulling carts, each one carrying a patient.
And lastly, there were people carrying patients in on stretchers.
Just like that, people began swarming toward this place from every direction.
Even at a rough glance, their numbers easily exceeded a hundred.
It seemed they would have to think in units beyond that.
Half of those coming in had to be considered patients.
Taesu felt dizzy.
“One against a hundred would be putting it lightly, huh?”
“What do you mean, barely a hundred? We’ll have to count at least three hundred, generously speaking.”
“Whew.”
A low whistle slipped out of him at the sheer vertigo of it.
Taesu, who never hesitated when it came to patients, was shaken enough to be flustered.
Jeong Minsu was in an uproar.
“If they come pouring in like that, are we supposed to just die?”
“Is there no one here who can administer first aid?”
Kim Hyeokgwon, too, shouted in disbelief.
But what could they do?
There was no one to listen even if they cried out.
Shouting would not change the situation.
It would be better to move even one step more.
Taesu immediately asked Kim Hyeokgwon.
“Children to the tent, critical patients inside the canopy. Minor injuries outside the canopy.”
“Okay.”
As soon as Kim Hyeokgwon answered, Jeong Minsu cut in.
“Choi, what about emergency surgery?”
“For now, only pain relief with morphine.”
“I’m asking about emergency surgery.”
“If they’re injured but still able to make it here, they’re not about to stop breathing this instant!”
Taesu’s judgment was correct.
Jeong Minsu, too, pushed aside all the chaos and pulled himself together.
“Still, if you find one, call me right away for emergency— Like hell. Just handle it yourself!”
“Scatter!”
Swish!
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon immediately scattered.
Strangely enough, however, they were all running in the same direction.
At the end of it, boxes of medical supplies were stacked up.
The moment they arrived, they first looked for empty boxes.
Thud.
After setting one down, they busied themselves searching through all sorts of boxes and packing medical supplies.
Even so, they had enough loyalty to share the supplies they found first.
“Disinfectant!”
“Two here!”
“I’ve got three!”
Thud-thud-thud.
“Sutures here, for skin closure!”
“One box!”
“I’m taking five boxes no matter what!”
The voice greedily coveting sutures belonged to Jeong Minsu.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Medical supplies brought from here and there piled up in one box.
Soon after, each of them grabbed what they had packed and sprinted toward the medical canopies.
Tap-tap-tap!
“One canopy each! Just in case, keep one tent empty for emergency surgery!”
“I’ll take the middle canopy!”
“Then I’ll take the end! Hey, @%$@$@!”
Kim Hyeokgwon shouted loudly toward the injured gathering one by one.
Following his voice, the people were roughly divided up.
Inside the canopies, most of the patients had at least some bleeding.
The children were guided to the medical tent, and the last one was left empty.
The three of them each took over a canopy and received patients.
“I’m Doctor Choi. The affected area is…”
“I’m Doctor Jeong. I’ll just handle it myself!”
“Let’s say I’m Doctor Kim, too. It’s a pain to explain.”
Kim Hyeokgwon had to naturally impersonate a doctor.
An endless procession of patients.
And the entire medical staff holding it back consisted of three people.
No matter how one looked at it, they were far too outnumbered.
There was no time to argue over that.
Patients, more patients, and still more patients.
The number of patients kept increasing, showing no sign of decreasing.
It was then.
Screech!
A white vehicle came to an abrupt stop near the medical canopies.
It was a place where patients were gathered.
Taesu, instantly irritated, whipped his head around and hardened his expression.
Then he froze when he saw the person getting out of the passenger seat.
“What bastard is— huh?”
“Doctor Choi?”
The other party, recognizing Taesu, was also filled with surprise.
Above all, the words they exchanged were in Korean.
The man Taesu was so surprised to see was none other than Yun Juseong, whom he had parted ways with in Padum.
And he had certainly not come alone.
Whoosh, whoosh.
People in white coats fluttering behind them jumped down from the cargo bed one after another.
They were all Korean medical staff.
Taesu had never dreamed he would meet them like this here.
So startled was Taesu that he sprang to his feet and shouted.
“No way, everyone!”
“We were doing volunteer medical work in a nearby city when headquarters contacted us. We came as support.”
“Thank you.”
“What thanks? More importantly, where is the medical team leader here?”
At Yun Juseong’s question, Taesu blinked.
“Medical team leader?”
“We were ordered to support the helicopter medical team. So I need to tell the team leader we’re here.”
“You can put them in immediately.”
Taesu understood at once what had happened and urged him.
But Yun Juseong, seemingly completely unaware, spoke gravely.
“Doctor Choi, I know the situation here is chaotic and urgent, but we can’t ignore procedure.”
“Yes. So I’m saying support personnel have arrived.”
“That’s right.”
“I understand, so put them in.”
At Taesu’s continued urging, Yun Juseong’s expression darkened further.
“I don’t know who the helicopter medical team leader is, but I don’t think it’s right for you to act like this, Doctor Choi.”
“There is no team leader. What team leader are you looking for in a medical team of three?”
“Three? Wait, Doctor Choi, Doctor Jeong, and…”
“Doctor Kim is over there, too.”
“Doctor Brad Kim?”
At those words, Kim Hyeokgwon sprang to his feet and shouted.
“I’m a Kim, too. Stop jabbering and let’s get to work already!”
“Then, uh, uh?”
Whoosh, whoosh.
Only then did Yun Juseong seem to realize the composition of the helicopter medical team, and his eyes widened.
He was so baffled that he pointed at them with his finger, disbelief adding to his confusion.
Taesu pushed that finger away first.
“Does this look like the time to argue over who the team leader is?”
“No.”
“Then why are you standing there?”
“Uh. Then I’ll put our team… in. Sir.”
Yun Juseong’s voice cracked at the end.
Unable to bear it any longer, Nurse Chu Gangik stepped forward.
“Anyway, Doctor Choi, we’ll get started too.”
“Please take care of Doctor Yun as well.”
“I’ll figure out whether to sort him out as recyclables or something. Let’s go, hurry!”
Drag, drag.
Chu Gangik simply dragged Yun Juseong away.
Yun Juseong was not the only one surprised.
Jo Uncheol’s eyes were wide as well.
“Can the team leader of a newly established NGO medical team really be a resident?”
“That’s not what’s important!”
“Can’t you see the patients? Move, hurry. Hurry!”
Nurse Lee Chorong and Nurse Hwang Jisu fiercely shoved Jo Uncheol forward.
Fortunately, the confusion ended there.
The moment they faced the patients, everyone’s expressions and actions changed.
“Unload the medical supplies we brought first!”
“Chu and I will take the left side!”
“Nurse Lee, this way. Nurse Hwang, to Doctor Jeong!”
“Clearly separate the patients who’ve finished first aid from the ones who need secondary first aid!”
Their voices cut through the patients’ groans and carried precisely.
This was the strength of Korean medical staff.
Because they communicated in Korean, even if it overlapped with other languages, there was no major problem in communication.
And once they spoke in Korean, their voices naturally got louder.
That might have been the greatest advantage of all.
The medical staff had increased by five in an instant.
At a time when even one person was precious, an enormous number of people had arrived.
It was enough to let them breathe.
Taesu, watching them, felt his nose sting.
“Ah, damn it. This isn’t the time to be moved.”
“I’m already moved.”
“Doctor Jeong, why are you here?”
At Taesu’s question, Jeong Minsu made an oops face and put some distance between them.
“I did it without realizing.”
“This still isn’t the time to relax!”
“I’ve got my head on straight, so save the nagging for later!”
Swish.
Jeong Minsu quickly cut off the conversation and positioned himself in front of a patient.
It was an action precisely meant to avoid Taesu’s nagging.
Even so, it was true that he had begun first aid.
“Doctor Jeong, I’m here!”
Nurse Hwang Jisu had already approached Jeong Minsu’s side and begun assisting him.
Taesu, too, had resumed first aid before he knew it.
Even the strength in his fingertips had become firm and precise.
His body, which had been gradually growing exhausted, had regained vitality.
At that moment, someone approached Taesu’s side.
Tap.
Without a word, the man sat down and handed over a needle holder tightly gripping a suture needle.
Taesu accepted the needle holder as if it were only natural.
He immediately began stitching the torn wound and said,
“Did we get paired up right away?”
“Coincidentally, four doctors and four nurses… No, three nurses and one interpreter.”
The blunt person who went out of his way to correct himself could only be Kim Hyeokgwon.
Taesu had, of course, known that when he asked.
And he corrected one thing.
“You’re not an interpreter.”
“Are you going to call me a nurse again?”
“No. A specialist.”
Taesu glanced over and winked one eye.
Kim Hyeokgwon looked dumbfounded at the expression.
“Is it okay to make jokes during first aid?”
“Who was it that shouted he was a doctor earlier?”
“Is that what we should be arguing about right now?”
“I’m not arguing. I’m calling you a specialist because you can do everything.”
Swish, swish.
Taesu spoke as he continued suturing.
Before they knew it, a measure of composure had returned to Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon.
They truly had room to breathe.
It was not something that could be dismissed as only a few people.
They could clearly feel how vital even a single medical worker was in this chaos.
The situation had not rapidly improved just because they had regained composure.
There was simply more conversation.
The two of them had honed their first aid in the field, so it had always been rather disorderly.
The conversations that had started back in Izambark had hardened into habit.
For most first aid, proceeding while talking like this was faster.
They were now showing that in the raw.
Clack, clack.
“DeBakey here. We should be able to do emergency surgery now, shouldn’t we?”
“Prepare the needle holder, and not right away.”
“Patients are still coming in. Here’s the needle holder.”
“Got it. A little more gauze, please. Unless it’s an immediate life-or-death emergency, surgery will be difficult.”
Taesu answered while stitching flesh in another area.
Taesu’s thinking was correct.
Emergency surgery was only for the worst-case scenario.
Their mission was to buy time through first aid.
Even now, they were administering first aid to extend the lives of severe trauma patients.
But the only ones who had regained stability were Taesu and Jeong Minsu.
Yun Juseong and Jo Uncheol were in chaos.
“Wh-what kind of wound is this?”
“Why is there a piece of metal lodged in his leg?”
“Where and how did this hole— a bullet?”
Sounds of floundering continued to be heard.
It seemed this was their first time seeing gunshot wounds.
On top of that, they were unfamiliar with blast injuries from grenades or shells.
Such patients inevitably had to pass through Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s hands.
The moment of relief was brief.
Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon, along with Jeong Minsu and Nurse Hwang Jisu, had to move back and forth between several canopies to administer first aid.
That was how much Yun Juseong and Jo Uncheol had increased their share of ordinary trauma patients.
Since they could not change the patients’ positions right now, the medical staff had to do more legwork.