It was the moment they had finished assigning all the roles.
— Beep. Squad Leader, we have two emergency patients currently being rescued.
It was Deputy Squad Leader Leo’s report.
The radio was loud enough for everyone to hear.
Whip.
Squad Leader Sam immediately pressed the radio and asked for the situation.
“How long until the rescue is expected to take?”
— Both look to be about ten minutes.
“Coordinate with the civilians nearby and make sure they’re rescued as safely as possible.”
— Sir. I’ll report again after the rescue.
Deputy Squad Leader Leon’s voice over the radio faded.
Everyone’s gaze was already turned toward Taesu.
Taesu spoke with a heavy look in his eyes.
“We move immediat—”
It was just as he was about to make the declaration.
Tadadada.
Out of nowhere, the sound of a helicopter rang out.
At that moment, everyone quickly looked up overhead.
“A helicopter, all of a sudden?”
“We received no contact about this.”
Squad Leader Sam reported quickly.
But far off in the distance, there really was a helicopter.
Point.
Taesu pointed and asked.
“What on earth is that?”
“I don’t know either. But there’s something hanging underneath it.”
“Looks like a container.”
Another container?
Taesu had not heard anything about additional support.
Separate from that, a smile was slowly forming at the corners of his mouth.
There was not a single medical worker who would dislike more supplies.
The helicopter approached in an instant, then lowered its altitude with a tremendous noise.
Pudadadada.
Soon, the container touched the ground.
It was exactly the same size as the first one they had brought.
“It really is a helicopter.”
“That’s what you call supplies, right?”
“Even if we don’t have enough people, the goods need to be fully stocked. That’s how it should be.”
Everyone grew encouraged.
Be that as it may, someone would have to unfasten the attached wires now.
Taesu was about to run forward.
Ting.
With a sharp clang, the wire released on its own.
The helicopter seemed to confirm it as well, then immediately soared back into the sky and departed.
Everyone stared at the container in puzzlement.
“They had an automatic system like that?”
“Then what, someone was supposed to go at it with a hammer?”
“Wait a second, that. A hammer on top of the container.”
Everyone’s eyes fixed on one spot.
Because it was quite high, they could not see what was happening on top.
But truly, the head of a hammer was sticking up.
Just as everyone was at a loss.
Sseuseuk.
The hammer slowly rose, and soon someone holding it came into view.
Wearing a thick NGO jacket, it was Bread Kim.
“Is that Bread Kim?”
“Let’s go, first.”
Tatadak.
Everyone quickly headed for the container.
Taesu, who ran ahead, called out loudly.
“Bread.”
In the meantime, Bread Kim climbed down on the built-in ladder.
Stagger.
“Wow, I thought my heart was going to stop.”
“It really is you, Bread, right?”
“I came here hanging on with only one safety device to trust, so don’t do that to me. Hooo.”
Bread Kim’s face was slightly pale.
It was not necessarily because of the cold.
Taesu still could not believe he had appeared like this.
“What in the world happened?”
“The Doctor said he was sorry the gift was late.”
“Doctor James did? Ah.”
He was talking about the medical supplies James had promised to send when they were isolated in the Korean village.
It seemed he was sending now what he had been unable to send then.
His gift was more than welcome.
But honestly, Taesu wanted to welcome Bread Kim even more.
Before that, one more question remained.
“But why did you travel on top of the container?”
“Because I can’t rappel.”
“How did you get here…”
“Doctor Choi said so. That if it were him, he’d rather jump in together.”
It was the conversation they had shared while facing the night air of Mohar.
Taesu had never expected him to show it through action like this.
“Just… just thank you for everything.”
“Enough. More importantly, I need to learn how to rappel quickly. I don’t think I can hang from a container twice.”
“Where did you depart from?”
When Taesu asked, Bread Kim answered with an absurd expression.
“From headquarters. Where else would I depart from?”
“You came hanging all that distance?”
“The view was incredible.”
“Well, I suppose it would be… Ah, what about the main unit’s location?”
Taesu suddenly spat out the important question.
If he could estimate their arrival time, he could organize the situation much more efficiently.
Bread Kim seemed to think the same, because he told him what he had seen with his own eyes.
“I saw them when we passed the mountain peak and started down the slope. That was about ten minutes ago.”
“Then…”
“About two and a half hours. Even taking it generously, it won’t be three hours.”
Since they could pick up more speed on the downhill road, that calculation was correct.
Taesu reached the same conclusion and spoke to everyone.
“From now on, for three hours, assume you have no self-confidence.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“Three hours is nothing.”
“If we lose our minds, it’ll pass in a flash.”
Strength entered the voices they spat out.
It was quite different from the way they had been driven only by enthusiasm moments ago.
People had a strange nature.
When the goal was vague, they lost their way.
On the other hand, when the goal became clear, they could overcome even the most painful moments.
Because they knew the sweetness of the rest that would come after.
That was how they were now.
And Taesu was no different.
“We’re late. Let’s get running right away.”
“Let’s go!”
“We’ll worry about tomorrow tomorrow.”
“For this moment, let’s go crazy.”
Rumble.
The medical staff ran powerfully toward the patients.
The first turn belonged to Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon.
But Taesu took a brief moment and made an additional request to Squad Leader Sam.
“Sam, have some of the men start opening the containers first.”
“Sir.”
“Please also set up the medical canopy or medical tents. Mobilize everyone who’s in one piece.”
“We’ll move immediately.”
Tatadak.
Squad Leader Sam quickly moved away.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyeokgwon had arrived in front of the patient before Taesu.
The patient at the very front, who looked the most critical, was the first priority.
The reason he arrived first was obvious.
Kim Hyeokgwon opened his notebook and immediately asked in the local language.
“%$#%.”
“@@#%.”
“@$@#$.”
A few quick words passed between them.
In that time, Taesu arrived in front of the patient.
“Do you have a grasp?”
“Name, Aljei. Male, fifty-seven. He had abdominal pain and seems to have been prescribed painkillers and taken them.”
Kim Hyeokgwon’s report was clean and full of only the essentials.
It was to the point that he seemed to have awakened his own know-how now.
Taesu hung his stethoscope around his neck and asked.
“Does it not hurt at all now?”
“#@%$#$%… He says the pain is less, but his stomach feels a little uncomfortable.”
“Which area?”
“#%#$%… He’s pointing with his hand.”
Point.
He said his stomach hurt, but the place his hand indicated was around the pit of his stomach.
A patient’s pain was extremely subjective.
Taesu took that into account and continued the examination.
There were no examination machines to speak of.
What he could rely on were his own five senses.
It began with auscultation.
Thump, tap-tap, thump.
A noise came between the heartbeats.
Sweep, sweep.
Moving the stethoscope, he approached the origin of the peculiar sound.
As he gradually drew closer, he used his sense of touch next.
Press.
“Does it hurt?”
“#%#$%… He says it feels like being pressed with a thick piece of wood.”
“A dull pain. Then perhaps?”
Taesu suddenly thrust his face right up in front of the patient’s nose.
Then he began smelling the area around the patient’s mouth and nose.
“Sniff, sniff.”
“#$%#$%… He’s asking if this doctor is all right. What should I do?”
“Oh, there’s a slightly bitter smell coming from his mouth.”
“You’re ignoring me again.”
Kim Hyeokgwon simply accepted it by now.
Whenever Taesu examined an affected area, his ears seemed to have an automatic shutoff function.
He said it like a joke, but that was how good his concentration was.
And when that concentration was combined with Caprene’s clinical experience and Taesu’s field experience?
A distinct light immediately appeared in his eyes.
“Found it.”
“What is it?”
“Gastritis, with significant hyperacidity symptoms.”
“…Okay, I wrote that down. Anything else?”
Kim Hyeokgwon asked as he took notes.
At the same time, Taesu immediately answered.
“That’s it for now. Sir, another doctor behind me will examine you more thoroughly. Let’s hang in there just a little longer.”
Squeeze.
Taesu clasped the patient’s hand tightly and showed him a vigorous smile.
The patient, who had been staring in bewilderment, finally smiled as well.
After greeting him, Taesu simply turned his body slightly.
There were patients everywhere, so there was no need to move far.
“Where and how does it… There’s a wound on the leg. One moment.”
Sasak.
Taesu took a hook out of the dispatch bag.
Then he gently moved it with the hook and began gauging the length and depth of the wound.
In the meantime, Kim Hyeokgwon became twice as busy.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
It took quite some time to organize and write down the symptoms they had grasped.
He tore off the memo, handed it to the patient, and said.
“You need to hold on to what I just gave you until the end.”
“What is this?”
“It has where you’re hurting written down. If the medical staff try to examine you, just show it to them.”
“How long do I need to hold it?”
“Until you don’t hurt anymore. I’m busy, so hear the details from someone else. You’ll get better soon.”
Kim Hyeokgwon was cold, but still, before parting, he ended with a blessing.
After that, he raised his voice and called for a doctor who fit that serious case exactly.
“Doctor Yun, gastritis patient.”
“Yes. I saw.”
Yun Juseong’s answer came from afar.
Whip, whip.
Kim Hyeokgwon waved his hand to indicate him, then immediately repeated the same actions beside Taesu.
Taesu’s initial examinations continued one after another.
And the time it took him to make those judgments was so fast it was beyond surprising—it was tremendous.
The time he spent greeting the patients felt longer.
“…This patient has a pelvic bone dislocation.”
“…This person has a fracture in the right forearm, plus compound fractures of the third and fourth fingers.”
“…Muscle rupture from the shoulder to the shoulder blade.”
Thud, point.
Since they were external injuries, the parts visible to the eye could naturally be judged that way.
But he also distinguished the parts that were not visible with uncanny precision.
“…Splenorrhagia. Drainage tube connection required.”
“…Signs of pneumothorax. Observe progress every thirty minutes.”
“…Celiomyositis. Presumed to be an injury sustained during a fall. Proceed only with primary medication, then hand over to the main unit.”
On and on.
Whenever he opened his mouth, disease names and symptoms poured out.
He spoke quickly, too.
He did not consider at all the position of the person who had to write it down.
Kim Hyeokgwon endured and endured until he finally shouted.
“Think about my arm a little, will you?”
“Do you think my mouth is perfectly fine?”
“Then speak slowly.”
“We have to go while we have the flow. So this person…”
Taesu pushed forward recklessly.
Kim Hyeokgwon glared at him fiercely from behind, but he paid no attention.
Taesu did not want to do this either.
However, there was an inner reason why he had no choice but to drive himself.
His head throbbed.
It was because he had kept his mind running without rest, layering high speed upon high speed.
It was a situation similar to cramming several days’ worth of thought into one moment.
His nostrils had been stinging for a long time.
If even the slightest stimulus was applied, a clump of blood would surely pour from his nose.
Not only that, his eyes were becoming red and bloodshot as well.
But Taesu did not show any of it outwardly.
‘Everyone is struggling.’
He had no thought that he alone was suffering.