“Samantha, ow.”
“!%@#$@.”
“You don’t want it to hurt, right? It’s not as if I want to make it hurt either.”
“@%$#%.”
“I’m doing this so it heals properly.”
They were clearly each speaking their own words in different languages.
And yet, strangely enough, it felt like a conversation.
Taesu soon used intestinal forceps and a Babcock to tear away the scabs matted with dust.
Riiip.
“Hnggg.”
“Just bear with it a little.”
Tap, tap.
Unlike his soothing tone, Taesu’s hands moved quickly.
The truth was, he was in a hurry.
He had to finish the emergency treatment quickly and return to his original objective.
His two hands moved as nimbly as that urgency demanded.
Once he started moving, Taesu could feel it instinctively too.
Thanks to having rested enough yesterday, he was in very good condition.
‘The rest of the emergency treatment for the wounded soldiers shouldn’t be a problem.’
The time delayed so far was roughly ten minutes.
It was short, if one called it short.
But for the wounded soldiers, even that brief time must have been agony.
Knowing that, Taesu hurried even more.
Tap, tap.
He cleared away the scabs and washed the area with saline.
Then he cut away the burned tissue as well.
It was being done after administering morphine, then widely injecting local anesthetic around the affected area.
Even so, Samantha let out groans.
“Hnggg.”
Snip, snip.
“Hngh, uhhh.”
The sound was similar to scissors cutting, so it had to be horrifying.
Taesu knew that too, but if he left it as it was, the wound could become severely infected and cause anything from an intestinal obstruction to peritonitis.
So he focused on cleaning it up as neatly as possible.
The process of removing tissue and washing with saline continued several times.
It took roughly five minutes.
Perhaps thanks to Taesu moving diligently during that time, the affected area was almost cleaned up.
“Now I just need to tidy up the skin and finish.”
“@#^$%@#$%#@$.”
“You’re scared, and it’s hard, isn’t it? I understand, but I have to do this so it won’t hurt.”
“#!@$#@$. Hnggg.”
Samantha must have felt miserable now, because tears even welled in her eyes.
Thud.
She covered her face with her hand and hid her crying.
Fortunately, she was still leaving the affected area to Taesu.
“Let’s finish this quickly.”
Taesu also wanted to reduce the small delays as much as possible.
Just as the emergency treatment was smoothly entering its final stage—
A loud shout suddenly rang out from behind.
“!%$#@%#%#!”
It was in the local language, and it was the voice of an unfamiliar man.
Taesu reflexively turned his head.
About thirty meters behind him stood a man with a thick beard.
Taesu flinched when he saw the man’s face, flushed with agitation.
‘Her husband?’
If so, it made sense that he would be angry.
But something was off.
In the man’s right hand was something dark and blotchy. He was about to swing his arm hard to throw it this way.
At that very moment—
Rat-tat-tat!
Gunfire rang out viciously from all around.
Bullets struck the man’s chest and stomach, and blood sprayed.
But that man was truly something.
Even as the bullets hit him directly, he swung his arm to the end.
The dark object left his hand and flew in an arc.
Whoooosh.
But it seemed the strength had left him just before he threw it.
The dark object fell five meters in front of the man.
Thud.
The man collapsed to the ground.
But the black object rolled toward Taesu.
It was only about twenty meters away.
Taesu had to narrow his eyes before he could identify it.
A grenade?
“Damn it, grenade! Take cover!”
Taesu shouted until his throat felt like it would burst.
Yet he himself couldn’t take cover.
Where could he go when there were patients in front of him?
“Damn it!”
Thud!
Taesu pushed Samantha down, making her fall prone over Irish.
It was the moment the two of them were hidden behind Taesu’s back.
“Dr. Choi, get away!”
“Lie on your side!”
The soldiers were running over with urgent expressions.
But the distance was considerable.
No matter how fast they ran, it was a distance they could never close in time.
Just as Taesu saw the frantic soldiers, an enormous explosion erupted behind him.
Kwaaang!
It was so loud his ears went numb.
And then—
Rattle, rattle.
A strange sound followed.
Next came a scorching heat.
Fwoosh!
“Ghhh.”
Taesu’s face twisted sharply.
Lastly, he felt the ground tremble.
All of it happened in an instant.
Squad Leader Sam, Corporal Guspia, and Corporal Alton rushed over.
Thud-thud-thud!
“Dr. Choi!”
“Are you all right!”
Their urgent, piercing cries filled the surroundings.
But Taesu’s ears were numb.
Eeeee.
‘Did my eardrum rupture temporarily?’
In front of Taesu, Squad Leader Sam waved his hand roughly with an urgent look.
But though his mouth kept moving, no words reached Taesu.
Only then did Taesu diagnose that his eardrum had ruptured.
If he was the only one who knew, there could be a misunderstanding, so he quickly spoke.
“Sam, I’m in a state of ear drum rupture right now. I can’t hear well until it settles down.”
“……”
Squad Leader Sam kept making big gestures with both hands and opening his mouth wide.
But Taesu hadn’t learned lip-reading like Kim Hyeokgwon, so he couldn’t understand.
“I’m okay for now. I’m okay, so I’ll finish the emergency treatment first. Okay?”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Squad Leader Sam kept waving his hands and shouting something.
Now he wasn’t alone; Corporal Guspia and Corporal Alton joined in as well.
Watching them all do similar actions without any sound, it felt like playing a game of Speed Quiz.
Taesu was gradually getting frustrated too.
But he had to finish the emergency treatment he had started.
“Samantha, are you all right?”
Taesu asked after her condition as he looked at the medical bag.
Holes that hadn’t been there before were pierced all over it.
Only after seeing that did Taesu remember why his eardrum had ruptured.
“Ah, right. The grenade.”
The moment Taesu muttered that—
Squad Leader Sam and the soldiers nodded vigorously, then gestured and shouted again.
Only then did Taesu realize something.
It seemed his condition wasn’t very good.
Once he became aware of it, his back seemed to start hurting, and he felt his strength draining away.
In Taesu’s eyes, Samantha came into view.
The emergency treatment still wasn’t finished.
He had to do what had to be done.
Taesu hardened his gaze and moved his hands.
Tap, tap.
He pushed everything else aside and focused only on finishing.
He poured powdered hemostatic agent over the affected area, spread gauze over it, and secured it in place.
His arms grew heavier and heavier, but Taesu silently continued.
After he had covered the affected area in white, Taesu took out several compression bandages and placed them in Samantha’s hand.
“Samantha, I think you’ll have to wrap this yourself.”
“@%^#%#$%.”
The way Samantha looked at him was extremely intense.
Her eyes trembled uncontrollably, and tears quickly filled them.
Not only that, the hand that received the bundle of compression bandages was shaking like an aspen leaf.
She was worried about Taesu, not herself.
Even under that concern, Taesu gave a faint smile and said,
“Emergency treatment complete. You did well.”
After he finished saying that—
Taesu’s body slowly tilted to the side.
The world spun round and round, and the soldiers were rushing toward him in a panic.
That was the last thing Taesu remembered.
***
How much time had passed?
Perhaps his mind awakened first, because he instinctively sensed that his surroundings were pitch-dark.
‘My eyes…… Huh?’
He tried to open his eyes, but strangely, there was hardly any response.
His eyelids felt heavier than a thousand pounds.
Taesu realized that he was in the middle of waking up after having fainted.
‘So this is what it feels like.’
Tremble.
As he strained to open his eyes, his eyelids quivered. Still, they opened little by little, and bright light began to seep in.
Taesu struggled a bit more and lifted his eyelids.
They were eyelids he moved hundreds of times every day.
He had never known such a trivial motion could require so much effort.
Open. Open.
Taesu kept sending signals from his head and fought with his eyelids.
Perhaps because he was a doctor, he did not find the current situation awkward or panic.
It seemed like something that could be called an advantage of being a doctor.
The winner of that fierce battle was, of course, his mind.
Sssrk.
His eyes opened halfway, and light poured in strongly.
“Hm!”
As he was adjusting to the light, a voice reached him.
“Dr. Choi, are you conscious?”
“Dr. Choi, Dr. Choi!”
Several sounds suddenly stimulated his ears.
Taesu grumbled inwardly.
‘I see why patients wake up annoyed.’
It was already hard enough to wake up, but being called over and over would inevitably irritate anyone.
Since this was his first time waking up like this, there were things he realized.
But that realization was not important right now.
Taesu put a little more effort into opening his eyes.
Soon, his eyes opened completely.
His blurred focus grew accustomed to the light and gradually returned to normal.
Before long, his vision wavered, and he was able to distinguish his surroundings.
But Taesu felt something strange.
There seemed to be several people standing there, but oddly enough, they were standing sideways.
‘What an interesting talent.’
Just then, someone came right up to his face.
Because the distance was so close, he could recognize her even through his blurry focus.
It was the face of a woman he was glad to see.
Taesu gave a strained smile and opened his mouth, forcing out one hoarse word at a time.
“Ca…… sey.”
“Dr. Choi, you recognize me, right? You really recognize me, right!”
When she shouted in a high voice right in front of him, his ears rang.
Taesu opened his mouth again with difficulty and said,
“Ca, Casey. A little…… quieter.”
“What? Ah, I’m sorry. You really recognize me?”
“Of course…… But.”
When Taesu stopped speaking for a moment, Nurse Casey immediately pressed him.
“What is it? What’s wrong? Does something feel off?”
“No……”
“Then what is it?”
“Why…… why are you all…… standing sideways?”
To Taesu, it was a truly serious question.
But Nurse Casey was momentarily flustered.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Wahahaha!”
From behind, a loud burst of laughter rang and echoed.
Meanwhile, as his brain slowly seemed to begin functioning, his focus became completely clear.
And as if his mind had started up too, thinking became much easier.
He didn’t much like the stinging and hoarse feeling in his throat.
As he sensed his own condition, Taesu realized why the people appeared sideways.
“Ah, I’m lying on my side.”
“Phew. You scared me.”
“Everyone was laughing, though. Ahem. My voice is really cracking.”
Taesu even cleared his throat as he said everything he wanted to say.