At the same time.
On the other side of the operating table, Jeong Minsu was retrieving grenade fragments.
Slip, clatter.
The fragments slowly piled up in the tray.
Each fragment was barely over one centimeter in size.
In truth, pulling them out was not particularly difficult.
But that was not all.
The holes the fragments had dug into were also undergoing necrosis.
Only by cleanly removing that skin and tissue could the wounds fully recover.
Slice, scrape scrape.
Jeong Minsu continued debriding the affected areas at a speed no less than Taesu’s.
He, too, was thinking of two things at once.
‘The kidney, the kidney…….’
Shake, shake.
At times he roughly shook his head, as if his thoughts had hit a wall somewhere.
Those moments were brief, and he soon moved the surgical instruments in both hands with precision again.
That was how much of his focus Jeong Minsu was placing on the current treatment.
Some time passed.
A wide spread of gauze covered the deeply wounded flank Taesu had been in charge of.
The gauze was soaked with hemostatic agents, antibiotics, and the like.
The area was about the size of a palm.
Since a wound like this was difficult to suture, they had chosen cell regeneration.
It was a method of continuously changing the gauze while inducing the muscle and skin to fill in naturally.
In truth, there was also the option of a skin graft, but that would only be possible at an NGO medical camp.
For now, this was the best method.
After checking it once more, Taesu pulled his hands away and murmured quietly.
“This side is done now.”
“I’m almost finished too.”
Jeong Minsu’s voice came immediately.
Taesu’s gaze naturally turned that way.
Of course, he had been checking the progress out of the corner of his eye from time to time, so he already knew.
If there was one characteristic, it was that the treated wounds had sutures running through them.
It was not something one could simply say was typical of Jeong Minsu.
It was to close the skin, block outside air, and promote recovery.
In other words, by whether or not there were sutures, they could tell how many areas remained to be treated.
Taesu quickly looked over the patient and saw that roughly five spots remained.
As soon as he grasped that, Taesu asked.
“Want me to join in?”
“No. Check the vitals first.”
“Got it.”
After answering, Taesu first pressed the button on the automatic blood pressure cuff wrapped around the factory manager’s wrist.
Beep.
The numbers appeared, and he grasped them at a glance.
Then he checked the time on the wristwatch he had taken off and placed on the temporary medical cart.
Roughly two hours had passed since the emergency surgery began.
After gauging the vitals and the elapsed time, Taesu’s expression turned calm.
It was not something he should keep to himself, so he immediately informed Jeong Minsu.
“Considering how much time has passed, his pulse is dropping too fast.”
“What about his blood pressure?”
“It’s strangely not changing much.”
At Taesu’s answer, Jeong Minsu glanced over.
“Should we take that to mean the bleeding has stopped?”
“Yes, but considering his pulse has fallen, we can’t call it a good thing.”
Taesu’s voice sank low.
It was then.
Stop.
As if something had occurred to him, Jeong Minsu’s hands froze. Then, with his eyes wide open, he asked Taesu what had just come to mind.
“Wait. If the kidney bleeding has stopped right now, could the fragment lodged inside have been pushed out too?”
“The possibility is…… extremely low.”
“Hold on, then……”
Jeong Minsu narrowed his brows and racked his brain, trying to consider the next possibility.
Taesu looked at him intently and said,
“If the bleeding stopped with the fragment still lodged in there, the inside is probably turning into a mess.”
“What? That can’t happen!”
“It absolutely can’t.”
“Hey, this isn’t the time to say that like you’ve got no soul!”
Jeong Minsu snapped fiercely.
Taesu did not react sensitively to his words.
Because something far more important had come right up to their noses.
Taesu immediately said to Jeong Minsu,
“We’ll have to finish the rest later.”
“Is this the problem right now? This can be done anytime.”
“Then stop and let’s turn the patient over first.”
“Of course!”
Clatter.
The instant Taesu gave the order, Jeong Minsu set down the surgical instruments he was holding.
Then the two of them changed the factory manager’s position from lying on his side.
“Dr. Jeong.”
“Yeah, I’ve got him.”
“Turn him prone slowly, slowly.”
Slide.
With the two of them working together, the factory manager was turned face down on the operating table.
After that, Taesu and Jeong Minsu first stripped off their contaminated surgical gloves.
Rustle.
For the first time in a while, it felt as if their hands could breathe.
Their hands were drenched in sweat.
But there was no time to dry them, and even wiping them roughly on the surgical drape was something to be grateful for.
As Taesu wiped the sweat from his hands on the drape, he asked,
“Dr. Jeong, do you have a surgical method in mind?”
“You…… don’t?”
“Damn it.”
“This is driving me crazy. It’s not like we can just open him up blindly.”
Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s expressions crumpled in an instant.
They could not rush into surgery recklessly without any kind of guide.
Taesu thought first of what they needed most.
That was blood, as expected.
“We need to secure blood packs.”
“If I go out and…… come back, there won’t be time, will there?”
“Of course not. If you leave now, there isn’t much I can do by myself.”
Taesu stated the fact plainly.
At most, all he could do would be to incise the skin and secure the kidney. To secure the kidney and operate, he would have to make an incision at least a handspan long.
Bleeding would increase in proportion to that length.
So it was not wise.
The type A blood pack they were transfusing was nearly empty. They could not cut into the skin relying only on one standby type O blood pack.
Jeong Minsu must have checked the blood pack situation as well, because he stamped his feet in frustration.
“What do we do? If it’s like this, we can’t operate.”
“The longer time passes, the more the function of the right kidney will decline.”
“Is this the time to sound so relaxed?”
The moment Jeong Minsu rebuked him.
Flash.
Taesu’s eyes sharpened.
“Who’s relaxed?”
“I know you’re stating the facts, but still, say something hopeful first.”
“The radio.”
Taesu blurted out the thought that had flashed through his mind.
At that moment, Jeong Minsu snapped his fingers hard.
Snap!
“That’s right. We’re not the only ones here!”
“I’ll radio them. You hang more glucose and saline and squeeze them in. And……”
“You want me to add diuretics too and give the kidney some work to stimulate it. I’ve got that much sense.”
Jeong Minsu moved his body even as he spoke.
In that moment, Taesu was deeply grateful.
‘Thank you for at least having instincts when it comes to medicine.’
Normally, he was so dull he could not even pick up on obvious conversations.
But when it came to medicine, he was the exact opposite.
If he had lacked that quickness even now, Taesu might have burst a blood vessel in frustration.
After moving swiftly for a brief moment, Jeong Minsu’s voice rang out sharply.
“Glucose added, and the glucose and diuretic are ready to go in!”
“Add antibiotics to that, and just in case, add potassium, calcium, and magnesium too.”
“Got it. So, potassium, calcium……”
Jeong Minsu clearly distinguished them in English, repeating them to himself as he continued preparing them.
Meanwhile, Taesu approached the emergency backpack he had set down at a distance.
Slip!
He immediately took out the radio and looked at it. It was turned on.
That meant there had not been a single contact from Brad Kim’s side until now.
‘Over there…….’
It was somewhat difficult to assume their emergency surgery was going smoothly.
But on this side, they might soon have to remove a kidney.
He could not allow that, so he boldly pressed the radio button.
Click.
“This is Choi Taesu. Brad, Hyeokgwon. Anyone, please respond. This is an emergency situation.”
After releasing the button, Taesu stared fiercely at the radio.
No answer came immediately.
As that time grew longer, frustration welled up in him.
Just as he was about to press the radio button again.
A voice came from the radio first.
—Click. It’s me. You’re not the only ones in emergency surgery, you know.
Kim Hyeokgwon’s voice sounded curt.
Taesu put aside his mood for the moment and asked his business first.
Click.
“What’s the situation over there?”
—Click. If you’re done there, come over and help us. The lung and liver are being pulled toward the back, and it’s giving us one hell of a time.
“Over here, the kidney isn’t just causing trouble. It’s on the verge of going on strike.”
Taesu also informed him of their situation first.
Soon, Kim Hyeokgwon’s voice came again.
—Click. Dr. Kim is asking what you mean.
“We suspect it’s progressing from nephromegaly to acute renal failure.”
—Click. Suspect? He’s asking if you haven’t opened him up yet.
“In his current condition, I don’t have the reckless courage to touch the kidney without a plan.”
Taesu spoke honestly, exactly as things were.
But the radio did not sound again.
“……”
He had no idea what was going on.
Perhaps they were discussing it.
In that brief moment, Taesu looked at Jeong Minsu.
They must have been thinking the same thing, because their eyes met at the same time.
Jeong Minsu immediately pointed at the IV stand and said,
“Glucose and saline are hung, and everything you ordered has been administered.”
“Then squeeze.”
“Why the hell am I always squeezing something like this?”
Squeeze. Squeeze.
His grumbling was just an extra.
His two hands were already squeezing the glucose and saline bags.
Naturally, the IV had been opened as wide as possible.
In that way, they began pushing a large amount of fluid into the body in a short time.
Just as Taesu was taking in that sight.
The quiet radio sounded again.
—Click. We’re not in a position to send support right now either.
“Then do you happen to have any spare blood packs? This patient is type A.”
—Click. Do you think blood is just gushing out from somewhere over here? And our patient is type A too.
Kim Hyeokgwon’s voice instantly turned bitter.
The same was true for Taesu.
Still, he asked just in case.
Click.
“Is there no chance to receive blood donations?”
—Click. I wish there were. Dr. Kim is looking at me strangely right now. Looks like he’s about to drain my blood any second.
“If there’s really no other way, what about setting up a temporary partition in one corner of the operating room and taking donations there?”
Taesu forced his brain to come up with a trick and suggested a new method.
But what came back was a cold reply.
—Click. I’m barely managing to radio you, and you want what…… Fine, I got it, I’m coming.
“Hyeokgwon!”
—Click. We’re busy over here too. End of transmission!
Kim Hyeokgwon refused any further radio contact in a merciless voice.
He likely had not turned off the radio.
But even if Taesu radioed him again, he did not sound like he would readily answer.
In the end, the only result gained from the radio was the information that things were not good on that side either.
Taesu no longer clung to the radio.
He could not ask them to consider only his side’s circumstances.
At that moment, Taesu thought coldly.
‘Give up on the blood packs.’
They could not delay the kidney surgery any further.
They were stimulating kidney activity by adding excessive fluids, but they could not wait forever.
Empty blood donation bags were piled inside the emergency bag.
For them to receive blood donations from the people here, someone would have to go outside.
That much was fine.
The problem was that someone had to watch them until the donation was over.
Because medical services were not well developed, the overwhelming majority of the people here would be donating blood for the first time.
With such people, there was no telling what might happen during donation.
In an extreme case, what was commonly called donation shock—hypovolemia—could occur.
There were also countless cases where people, lacking knowledge about blood donation, showed aversion first.
They did not have the time to endure all of that.
That was the reason Taesu had not proceeded with blood donation while the surgery was underway.