Taesu could fully understand his bewilderment.
But according to what he had heard from Kim Hyeokgwon, there was not much time left.
“I’d like to explain everything properly, but I don’t think we have time for that.”
“Ahem. Their voices... I could manage a phone call... Is it really true that my children said they want to... talk to me?”
Strength gradually entered Dr. Hanks’s voice.
Beep, beep.
The ECG began to stir.
Just the thought of hearing his children’s voices was enough to draw that much of a response.
Taesu was a little worried about Dr. Hanks’s heart, but he still told him the truth.
“It’s not just a phone call. It’s a video call.”
“Huh!”
“Hanks!”
“Haa. Haa... R-really?”
Beep-beep-beep!
For an instant, the ECG showed a large reaction.
His sluggish pulse and blood pressure had, if only briefly, come close to normal.
For Dr. Hanks right now, it was such an intense reaction that they even had to worry about cardiac arrest.
Taesu felt that if they started the video call like this, something terrible might happen.
“Hyeokgwon, just a small dose of benzodiazepine.”
“Taesu, isn’t that a kind of sedative?”
“In a small dose, it has an effect similar to Cheongsimhwan.”
“Then that’s a relief. No, even if it isn’t a relief, we should administer it first.”
Jeong Minsu quickly corrected himself as he watched Dr. Hanks’s complexion turning paler and paler.
That was how shaken Dr. Hanks was.
Taesu quickly gave the injection and asked,
“Hanks, are you feeling a little better?”
“Wouldn’t I need a cardiotonic?”
“Hmm. According to the current ECG, it’s not to that point.”
“It could get to that point during the call.”
Dr. Hanks’s tone had become more relaxed, but his groans had increased.
Taesu prescribed him a smile.
“Hanks, don’t worry. We’ll be watching you carefully.”
“All right. Please do.”
Tremble, tremble.
Dr. Hanks’s fingertips shook.
That was how nervous he was.
Taesu lightly held that hand and encouraged him.
And he realized it.
Dr. Hanks’s hand was burning hot.
Turning away, Taesu hurriedly picked up his phone and called James.
Trill.
“How is Hanks?”
“You heard from Max, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Is there a response?”
James’s voice was urgent.
Taesu answered in a calm voice.
“I think it would be best if you came up yourself and stayed with him.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be the one operating on him.”
Perhaps Taesu’s words were convincing, because James immediately accepted.
“I’ll be right up. Everyone, stand by.”
Click.
From what he heard afterward, it seemed they would be preparing for surgery at the same time.
James, too, seemed to have great expectations for this video call.
The same went for Taesu.
‘As long as none of the kids are like Minsu.’
So long as they were not the tactless type like Jeong Minsu at crucial moments, there would surely be a good result.
A short while later.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon were out in the hallway.
Inside the hospital room, James and Dr. Vincent were looking after Dr. Hanks.
Doctors representing surgery and internal medicine were together.
Dr. Hanks’s safety, health-wise, would be absolutely protected.
Slide.
Taesu checked his wristwatch and asked,
“The video call must have started, right?”
“Isn’t it about time it would have started long ago?”
“There’s no reaction, that’s why.”
“That’s true. I can’t guess how the conversation is going.”
Kim Hyeokgwon leaned his back against the wall and waited blankly.
Beside him, Jeong Minsu had his hands clasped and even his eyes shut.
“Please, anyone, someone, make it go well.”
His wish was earnest, but with no clear target, it was impossible to predict where that prayer would go.
It was a mutter that suited the often-strange Jeong Minsu.
Taesu ignored him completely, his gaze fixed on the tightly closed door of the hospital room.
He was a little curious what kind of conversation would be exchanged.
But it was a conversation between family.
They needed a space of their own.
Naturally, he judged that not listening was proper manners, and so he had come out.
Most of all, the pain in his back was slowly getting worse.
He needed to receive antibiotics and sleep for a bit, but he had not been able to.
‘I’m starting to have a hard time too...’
Drip.
Cold sweat appeared at Taesu’s temple.
Slide.
He quickly wiped it away and pretended nothing had happened.
As their wait continued like that—
Bang!
The door to the hospital room suddenly swung open violently.
And James and Dr. Vincent came out, pushing the bed from both sides.
The moment their eyes met, Taesu could see James’s eyes blazing.
“Now. It’s now!”
“No time to talk. Run!”
Dr. Vincent drove them on roughly.
At that sound, James also pushed the bed powerfully and ran.
Rumble, rumble.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon opened their eyes wide.
“They’re pushing the bed themselves?”
“They must be seriously in a hurry.”
“We can just watch, right?”
At Kim Hyeokgwon’s words, Taesu snapped back to his senses and urged him quickly.
“Minsu, run!”
“Huh? Ah! I’ll be back!”
Thud-thud-thud!
Jeong Minsu shot out like an arrow and quickly grabbed the back of the bed to add his strength.
Taesu’s gaze turned to Kim Hyeokgwon.
“Hyeokgwon?”
“Hmmm.”
“......”
As Taesu stared at him, Kim Hyeokgwon cautiously read the mood.
“You’re glaring at me like hell. I’m going. I’m going!”
“Hurry.”
“Seriously, if Dr. Choi weren’t a patient, damn it!”
Tap-tap-tap!
In the end, unable to withstand Taesu’s pressure, Kim Hyeokgwon ran off.
By the bed, it was no longer just the two of them; other medical staff had joined in as well.
There was no medical staff who would simply stand by and watch while James and Dr. Vincent were putting in effort.
Taesu regretted that he could not run with them himself.
Soothing that regret, he went into the hospital room to tidy up afterward.
An unfamiliar cell phone lay on Taesu’s bed.
As he approached, the screen was brightly lit.
And on it, he saw a single line of text.
—Dr. Choi, Dr. Jeong, Mr. Kim. How about England for your next vacation?
It was clearly a message left by Dr. Hanks.
Even in that brief sentence, life and vitality overflowed.
“No need to see it. The surgery will be a success.”
Taesu confidently predicted the outcome of a surgery that had not even begun yet.
There was no way a patient showing this much willpower would fail to overcome the hurdle of surgery.
Taesu drew a deep smile and lay down on the bed.
“Ugh!”
Now the throbbing pain in his back surged in earnest.
Even so, he found himself smiling.
He could clearly picture Dr. Hanks receiving the surgery lightly and getting back on his feet.
Early the next morning.
Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon were sitting on a bench in front of the surgical waiting room.
Among the three of them, only Taesu was wearing patient clothes.
Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon, on the other hand, were dressed in surgical gowns and waiting so they could respond to a call at any moment.
The area in front of the operating room was quiet because it was dawn.
Also, only Operating Room 1 had its “In Surgery” light on.
Taesu’s complexion as he looked at that electronic sign was slightly pale.
Jeong Minsu asked Taesu with a worried face,
“Are you sure you don’t need to rest some more?”
“I rested during the day, so I’m fine.”
“Once this surgery is over, you might need another surgery yourself.”
Jeong Minsu’s tone was subtly serious.
It did not seem to be an offhand remark.
Taesu brushed a hand over his face and gave an awkward smile.
“Once the surgery is over, I’ll be able to rest properly too.”
“Right. Brad did say there wasn’t much time left.”
“He went in carrying the third transfusion pack, didn’t he?”
“They said the surgical team is made up of people we couldn’t even imagine. When I asked who, they just said they didn’t have time and went in, which made me even more curious.”
The moment Jeong Minsu finished speaking—
Slide.
Taesu’s gaze turned to Kim Hyeokgwon.
Kim Hyeokgwon had also personally cared for Dr. Hanks for a time, so he was sitting with them like this.
With sunken eyes, he responded to Taesu’s gaze.
“What about me?”
“Who went in?”
“Are you just going to ask me everything now?”
Kim Hyeokgwon was dumbfounded, but Taesu answered with an expression that said it was obvious.
“When it comes to most news, it’s faster to go through you, Hyeokgwon.”
“It’s not like I’m an all-purpose information network.”
“......”
Taesu simply stared at him without the slightest movement.
Perhaps burdened by that gaze, Kim Hyeokgwon’s brow slightly creased.
“Fine. James is the lead surgeon, Mario, the head of Surgical Team 1, is the assistant, and Dr. Ozma and Dr. Jonathan are the second and third assistants.”
“Is there anyone else?”
“I hear Dr. Vincent and Dr. Wallick are with them as internal medicine backup. For anesthesia, there’s Dr. Isaacson and one more as a sub.”
Kim Hyeokgwon answered indifferently.
But Taesu’s eyes had gone wide.
“Whoa, if it’s that much...”
“That’s the current elite surgical team of the Kashmir NGO.”
“If Dr. Ozma and Dr. Jonathan are the assistants, that says it all.”
Just as Taesu nodded seriously, Jeong Minsu tilted his head and asked Kim Hyeokgwon,
“But how do you know all that, Hyeokgwon?”
“Just because everyone else doesn’t know, do I have to not know too?”
“That’s not it. Still...”
Just as Jeong Minsu’s curiosity was about to deepen—
Slide.
Taesu raised a hand and lightly stopped him.
“That’s not what’s important right now.”
“Is it not?”
“We don’t know how the surgery is going.”
“Right. That is more important.”
Jeong Minsu shifted his attention, but his expression was not at all refreshed.
Since he had a rather simple side, it was certain he would soon forget it from his mind.
At times like this, it was truly fortunate that Jeong Minsu was tactless.
Taesu gave Kim Hyeokgwon a slight wink.
‘It’ll be fine.’
‘Then don’t create things to be caught on.’
Whip!
Kim Hyeokgwon turned his head sharply with a sullen look in his eyes.
It seemed he was more dissatisfied with Taesu for stirring up unnecessary trouble.
Perhaps because he was used to this kind of glare, Taesu did not pay it much mind.
After the conversation stopped and a little more time passed—
Snap!
The operating room light went out.
The three of them reflexively rose from their seats.
And a little while later—
Creak.
The operating room doors opened, and with Dr. Isaacson in the lead, Dr. Ozma, Dr. Jonathan, and Brad Kim came out pushing a stretcher.
They spotted Taesu and the other two, but they accelerated their movement.
“To the ICU, quickly!”
“They said a bed is secured!”
“Hurry!”
Rumble, rumble!
Everyone ran down the hallway so fast their feet could barely be seen.
At that moment, Taesu’s steps headed that way.
Thud!
Before he had taken even a few steps, his back throbbed, and his feet stopped of their own accord.
“Hiss!”
“Patient, don’t overdo it. I’ll go check.”
Tap-tap-tap!
Jeong Minsu quickly chased after the stretcher.
At that moment, Taesu did not like his own condition.
“Damn it. This body of mine.”
Just then, a familiar but exhausted English voice sounded.
“Why are you so displeased?”
“There’s a very foolish patient here who has only now become aware of the state of his own body.”
Kim Hyeokgwon answered crisply in English.