When Taesu looked over in surprise, James was approaching in bloodstained surgical scrubs.
His complexion was so pale it was almost white.
“James.”
“It’s not so bad that a patient needs to worry about me.”
Thud, thud.
Contrary to his words, James’s steps were unnatural.
Behind him, Dr. Vincent and Dr. Wallik emerged with exhausted faces.
Dr. Wallik spoke to Dr. Vincent first.
“I’ve cleared my morning schedule, so I’ll keep watch first.”
“Our people are on standby, so put them to work while you monitor him. Don’t overdo it.”
“Understood. Then I’ll go ahead.”
Swish.
Dr. Wallik gave only a light nod and headed toward the intensive care unit.
In the meantime, his eyes briefly met Taesu’s.
Nod.
That slight dip of the head was all.
Taesu couldn’t immediately grasp what it meant.
Meanwhile, James exchanged a few words with Dr. Vincent. He also spoke with the last person to emerge, Mario, the head of Surgical Team One, a short, stocky man with a solid presence.
“You two…”
“Then… yes. Let’s do that.”
“You’re right, Doctor. We’ll proceed as instructed.”
It seemed several orders had been exchanged.
Dr. Vincent and Dr. Mario left first.
Only then did James turn his gaze to Taesu and Kim Hyeokgwon.
Among them, James looked at Kim Hyeokgwon and asked subtly.
“Isn’t looking after doctors included in a nurse’s duties?”
“I feel like I hear that damned nurse talk every single day.”
“Catherine and Lumie will be out soon. I’ll ask them.”
James drew out the threat.
Kim Hyeokgwon flared up at once.
“What?”
Taesu, on the other hand, paused.
Since James wasn’t usually that kind of person, he caught on right away.
“Should I help support you?”
“I’m not in such a state that I need support from a patient.”
“What patient am I? I’m like this… Ugh!”
When Taesu moved too forcefully and grimaced, James looked at him with a bitter expression.
“You pushed through an incision and drainage in that condition. It’s no wonder your body is protesting.”
“There was no helping it then.”
“I know, but don’t push yourself any further.”
Taesu and James’s conversation passed calmly between them.
Kim Hyeokgwon didn’t budge no matter what was said on either side.
“What a heartwarming conversation. It’s nice to hear.”
Just then, Catherine’s worried voice came from the open operating room door.
“Where is Dr. James?”
“Where did you go in that condition?”
Nurse Lumie’s voice followed right behind.
At the same moment—
Swish.
Kim Hyeokgwon quickly approached James and supported his arm.
“This is what you meant, right?”
“You seemed quite determined not to care.”
“Who, me? What are you talking about?”
Kim Hyeokgwon shut his mouth and pretended not to know.
Just then, Nurse Lumie and Nurse Catherine came outside and saw the scene.
“Doctor, really. We were looking for you.”
“Thankfully, Mr. Kim was supporting you.”
James was about to say something to the relieved nurses.
“Mr. Kim just now—”
“Ahem. You look exhausted. Shall I take you to your quarters?”
“Let’s go to the conference room.”
“Why would you… If you want to go, then of course I’ll escort you there.”
Kim Hyeokgwon started to object, then quickly changed his words while glancing at the nurses.
James swallowed his triumphant expression and spoke to the nurses.
“You both worked hard. Rest well for now, and we’ll gather afterward.”
“Yes. Thank goodness Mr. Kim is here. Doctor, don’t worry and please get some rest.”
“Dr. Choi, I know it’ll be a bit much, but please look after the doctor.”
The nurses naturally made their request to Taesu.
Taesu nodded firmly.
“Don’t worry and go rest. I’ll keep a close eye on him with the heart of a patient.”
“We trust Dr. Choi and Mr. Kim. Then excuse us.”
The nurses bowed heavily and turned away.
Stagger, stagger.
The nurses, who had better stamina than most men, were on the verge of being knocked out.
On top of that, this was the first time Taesu had seen James struggling this much.
In his current state, Taesu couldn’t even easily imagine what kind of surgery it had been.
A short while later.
Taesu, James, and Kim Hyeokgwon returned to the conference room.
James staggered into a large chair.
Thump.
“Phew.”
“Should I put in some glucose and amino acids?”
When Taesu asked, implying an IV, James gave a faint smile.
“It’s not to that extent. But I would like a glass of water.”
“Water. You mean water, right?”
Taesu emphasized the word and glanced at Kim Hyeokgwon.
He wanted to move briskly himself, but his body wouldn’t listen, so he was asking for help.
At that look, Kim Hyeokgwon’s expression twisted sharply.
“You’re making it pretty obvious.”
“Please.”
“You have all sorts of ways to put people to work.”
Kim Hyeokgwon grumbled as he moved.
Then he brought over the entire water jug and set it down.
Thud.
“Happy?”
“Thank you.”
James thanked him and took hold of the jug.
Tremble.
When his arm shook uncontrollably, Kim Hyeokgwon paused, then eventually moved his hand.
“I, for some reason, really feel like pouring it myself.”
“If so, I suppose there’s no helping it.”
“At times like this, you two really do seem similar.”
Splash, splash.
Kim Hyeokgwon filled the glass with emotion.
Taesu, watching quietly, asked with a bright expression.
“We’re the same?”
“I don’t think that’s something you should be happy about.”
“Being told I resemble someone I respect is always pleasant.”
“Let’s say that’s true. Anyway, do you need anything else?”
Kim Hyeokgwon asked openly, as if he didn’t want to move twice.
At that, James, who had drunk the water, and Taesu, sitting beside him, both shook their heads the same way.
“Nothing now.”
“I don’t either.”
Only after hearing both answers did Kim Hyeokgwon sit down as well.
Thump.
“If you need anything, look for me again.”
He spoke indifferently and quietly turned his back.
Even so, he showed no sign of leaving first.
At that warm prickliness, Taesu and James smiled faintly.
James seemed to regain a little strength from a glass of water.
Still, Taesu was more worried than relieved.
“You don’t look very okay.”
“It wasn’t an easy surgery.”
“Right. But…”
Taesu couldn’t bring himself to ask easily and trailed off.
Perhaps James had made this space precisely to talk about it, because he answered plainly.
“You could say the surgery is about forty percent done.”
“Forty percent?”
“The most serious part, the pancreas, and the overall replacement of the blood must have accounted for half of it.”
“What about the other half?”
When Taesu asked with a grave expression, James answered calmly.
“The rest was removing the cancer cells bit by bit.”
“Was it impossible to do more…?”
“Yes. If we had gone any further, Dr. Hanks wouldn’t have been able to withstand it… Hup!”
Thud!
As James spoke, his expression suddenly stiffened, and he urgently covered his mouth and nose.
A thin stream of blood seeped between his fingers.
Seeing that, Taesu’s eyes flew wide open.
“James!”
“What’s going on… What is this? Why are you suddenly bleeding?”
Crash!
Startled, Kim Hyeokgwon sprang from his seat and ran out of the conference room.
He had clearly gone to get the medical cart.
In the meantime, Taesu roughly pulled out tissues, wet them with water, and held them out.
“James, use this first!”
“Mm. I will.”
Tap.
James moved away his bloodied hand and pressed the wet tissue to his nose.
In that brief moment, Taesu was able to check the source of the bleeding.
‘Whew, it’s epistaxis.’
A nosebleed was at least a relief.
Since James had no particular lesion, it had likely burst from extreme fatigue.
Taesu knew it well, having experienced the same thing not long ago in Malnoi.
Letting old blood flow like this made one feel far more refreshed afterward.
It was also something he had worried about from the moment he saw how pale James’s face was.
Fortunately, as the nosebleed flowed, some color seemed to return to James’s face.
Still, just in case, Taesu asked carefully.
“Do you feel dizzy, or do you have a fever?”
“Hoho. Must I hear such concerns from you, Dr. Choi?”
“This isn’t the time to be incredulous. Nosebleeds don’t just happen for no reason.”
“What is a mere nosebleed?”
Rustle, rustle.
James spoke calmly as he layered on several more tissues.
Seeing that it didn’t stop immediately, Taesu’s worry didn’t end as mere concern.
“Should I massage the back of your neck?”
“It’s better to just let it flow a little more.”
“Understood. Ah, this is really…”
Taesu kept glancing toward the door, waiting for Kim Hyeokgwon to arrive.
In the meantime, James spoke with his nose blocked.
“It’s blood worth shedding. That would be the same even if the patient weren’t Dr. Hanks, wouldn’t it?”
“James.”
“It’s only a few drops. A trivial amount, incomparable to what the patient is going through.”
“I don’t think you need to compare it that way.”
Taesu objected carefully, but James smiled with his nose still plugged by tissues.
“The surgery proceeded in the direction we wanted. If this is the price, isn’t it far too cheap?”
“If you put it that way, I have nothing to say.”
“For that, I can shed as much as needed. Aren’t you the same, Dr. Choi?”
At his question, Taesu answered with a bitter expression.
“Yes. I am.”
“If, for this price, the patient can live a little longer…”
“I could bleed a hundred times over too.”
Because Taesu had experienced it himself, he could answer with even greater certainty.
James smiled faintly, as if he had known that would be the case.
It was then.
Rumble.
The conference room door opened urgently, and Kim Hyeokgwon roughly pushed in the medical cart.
“James!”
“You could have come slowly. For someone who acts like he couldn’t care less about the world, you sure were in a hurry.”
“What is this old man saying? If James collapses, it’ll be a headache all over the place, that’s why I’m doing this!”
Kim Hyeokgwon snapped for no reason at James’s easygoing reaction.
Still, James smiled.
“With Mr. Kim worrying about me, I already feel all better.”
“W-worry, my ass. I just got ahead of things so everyone wouldn’t get startled and come running for nothing.”
“And the one who made a fuss at the nurses’ station wasn’t you?”
The moment James subtly tested him—
Kim Hyeokgwon flinched and grumbled at once.
“You’re perfectly fine. I was the only one running around for no reason.”
“Thank you for caring.”
“Don’t say weird things. Let’s hurry up and clean that blood. It’s unsightly.”
Thud.
Kim Hyeokgwon set the medical cart in front of him and quietly stepped back.
“Huff, huff.”
Seeing him take short, shallow breaths, it seemed he had run around quite a lot.
Before Kim Hyeokgwon could act even more crookedly, Taesu stepped in between them.
“Hyeokgwon, I’ll do it.”
“I had no intention of doing it.”
Whoosh!
Kim Hyeokgwon quickly turned his body and went off to sit alone far away.
If they approached him now, he would only resist more.
Taesu knew that all too well, so he looked after James first.
“Let’s wipe this off for now.”
“I can do it myself.”
“Please stay still.”
Wipe, wipe.
Taesu personally wiped away James’s nosebleed.
Fortunately, the bleeding did not continue.