Taesu looked at Jeong Minsu with new eyes.
To put it bluntly, if this surgery failed, they could simply remove the kidney.
Even if the right kidney was removed, the left one remained, so there would be no threat to life.
He had absolutely no intention of doing so, but to express the situation in the extreme, that was precisely it.
Jeong Minsu was treating that patient's kidney as if it were a singular, irreplaceable heart.
Clearly, it was a mindset impossible for someone who merely viewed the surgical subject as nothing more than a patient.
He was undoubtedly looking into the patient's very life and feeling it with his heart.
Taesu dared to think.
'You won't end up as just a doctor who's good at suturing.'
He would undoubtedly become a wonderful doctor capable of understanding and embracing patients with a delicate heart.
For the first time, Taesu earnestly wished.
It was a wish that, even after returning to Korea and forever thereafter, he and Jeong Minsu could stand face-to-face and operate together as they were now.
It was while such a sentimental atmosphere lingered.
Taesu realized through the sensation in his palm that the kidney had filled with more blood than expected.
It was the final cycle.
That the start had been delayed during the most critical period was unthinkable.
Taesu stared at the transfusion pack with cold eyes.
As if to prove it was the final cycle, it had become quite depleted.
Jeong Minsu, following that gaze, was startled.
"Ah, sorry. Let's hurry!"
"No. It's fine."
"What are you talking about? We're late!"
Jeong Minsu stamped his feet, turning pale with distress.
Nevertheless, Taesu spoke while staring only at the transfusion pack.
"We just need to make the kidney more active now and increase the blood occlusion time."
"Then the transfusion volume will be low after surgery, so circulating blood volume (sequential hyeolyakryang) will decrease!"
"It's fine as long as we maintain it at the minimum effective blood volume (yuhyo hyeolyakryang)."
"Hematogenic shock (hyeolyakryang gamso shock) could occur. Damn it. If only I hadn't said anything."
Jeong Minsu showed his urgency while blaming himself.
In contrast, Taesu remained calm.
But he wasn't merely showing composure; he was confronting the situation with cold, sharp clarity.
This was a situation born of Jeong Minsu sincerely worrying about the patient.
Taesu was responding to that admirable heart.
He opened Kaprene's knowledge wide and was recalling every piece of advice James had given.
Thus, he was sharpening the blade for the final decisive battle.
Unaware of that, Jeong Minsu's urgency was turning into anxiety.
"This isn't the time. We have to start now, even if it's late!"
"Minsu, how many seconds are we at?"
"Right now? ……Twenty-six seconds have passed."
"Wait until zero seconds."
"Taesu!"
Jeong Minsu cried out in shock.
But Taesu answered in a low voice without faltering.
"Don't panic, and prepare as much gauze and cotton as you can."
"You really……."
The moment Jeong Minsu tried to speak, Taesu opened his mouth first.
"Dr. Jeong. I'm not talking nonsense."
"……."
"Trust me."
Taesu's gaze, sincerely asking this, remained focused solely on the transfusion pack.
Jeong Minsu took in Taesu for a brief moment.
His eyes were alive.
If it was the Taesu he had known all this time, whenever he had such a look in his eyes, there was always a clear reason for it.
Jeong Minsu knew that better than anyone.
There was no need for further questions.
"I'll prepare."
Rustle.
Because the remaining time was short, Jeong Minsu moved both hands urgently.
That time was truly brief.
Having prepared the gauze and cotton, Jeong Minsu checked the time and urgently announced,
"Dr. Choi, seven seconds until zero."
"Grab the bulldog."
"Got it. Four seconds left."
"Clamp, now."
Looking at the stopwatch, Taesu gave a heavy order the moment it hit zero.
It was the starting point of a surgery with no room to retreat.
At that moment, Jeong Minsu gripped both blood vessels tightly with bulldog clamps, his eyes sharp.
"Blood flow blocked."
"Pour the prepared gauze and cotton first!"
"Ha!"
Thud!
Jeong Minsu lifted the basin and literally poured it out.
Snow-white gauze and cotton pads cascaded onto the surgical site like a blizzard.
Taesu removed the hand that had been covering the kidney until now.
On his palm, gauze and cotton that had been suppressing the bleeding were stuck fast, dyed crimson.
"Toss this."
Swish!
Taesu shook his hand toward the floor to brush them off.
From the kidney, now free of pressure, blood that had been held back flowed out in streams.
That bleeding was incomparably more normal than at the start.
It was thanks to Taesu having earlier drawn out the thick, dead blood and small clots with a syringe.
On top of that, clots hidden by repeated bleeding had all come out as well.
It had resulted in the effect of forcibly circulating the enlarged, weakened kidney.
This was not the time to be pleased about that.
The moment Taesu's hands came free, Jeong Minsu tried to move.
"Then I'll clear the bleeding……."
"Don't clear it."
"What do you mean?"
"Wait."
Swoosh.
Taesu's hands were already holding a Mixter and a DeBakey, moving toward the surgical site.
Gauze and cotton covered the view so completely the kidney couldn't be seen.
Taesu used his instruments to push them all beneath the kidney.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Blood gushing from the opened kidney soaked the gauze and cotton red.
Without hesitation, Taesu moved his hands and ordered,
"Syringe, remove the needle!"
"What needle when I'm the only one here? Here!"
With a hollow sound, a needleless syringe was presented.
As it was directed toward him, Taesu glanced and asked,
"What are you giving it to me for?"
"You asked for it."
"Suck up the blood."
When Taesu clearly stated his intent, Jeong Minsu narrowed his eyes.
"If that's what you wanted, couldn't you be more specific?"
"Do we have time?"
"I'm sucking it up!"
Sshhlurp.
Jeong Minsu inserted the syringe between the split kidney and pulled the piston.
It wasn't as meticulous as clearing with gauze. Still, due to the suction, the blood was rapidly drawn up into the cylinder.
Jeong Minsu wasn't very satisfied.
"You're extracting too roughly."
"That's enough. I'm switching instruments!"
Clack.
Taesu put down the DeBakey and picked up the Metzenbaum baby scissors.
It meant he was beginning the final resection.
Jeong Minsu also changed his instruments to a hook and international forceps.
"I switched too."
"Grab the fragment."
"Okay……. Got it!"
Firmly.
Jeong Minsu's instruments moved swiftly.
He tilted the kidney with the hook to widen the space, then grabbed the fragment and tangled tissue with the international forceps.
Because it was a spot he had been watching continuously, he snatched it at once.
At that moment, Taesu's Mixter approached.
From a different angle, it gripped the tissue firmly.
Following that, the Metzenbaum baby scissors approached below the tissue and cut boldly.
Snip!
The grenade fragment and the tangled problem tissue finally came out.
"Removal complete!"
"Three minutes elapsed so far!"
Jeong Minsu quickly checked and announced the time.
Then Taesu pushed away his wristwatch with the back of his hand.
Tap!
"Time? Forget it!"
"Damn it!"
"I told you to keep your eyes forward!"
As Taesu reacted sharply, Jeong Minsu flinched at his momentum.
"I did say that."
"Follow while looking carefully so you don't miss anything behind me."
"You arrogant bastard."
"Yeah. Then show me some real arrogance!"
Taesu spoke with cold resolve.
That declaration of Taesu's was no empty words.
Before anyone knew it, Taesu's surgical instruments were heading toward the kidney.
It was to check and trim the altered tissues inside.
Since these were parts not visible to the eye, he had to probe them one by one with instruments.
That was why it was the most time-consuming task.
That was the standard procedure.
They had planned and discussed it that way until now.
But the instrument now in Taesu's hand was unexpected.
The Metzenbaum baby scissors had been switched to a curette at some point.
Jeong Minsu was startled.
"When on earth did you switch to a curette?"
"Hands are faster than eyes."
"To hell with fast. What are you going to do with that? Don't tell me……."
Jeong Minsu didn't even have time to be surprised.
Taesu moved the curette in his hand roughly.
Scrape, scrape!
A curette was an instrument used to scrape off tissue like muscle. Therefore, it was mainly used to remove inflammation or abscesses.
The problem was that the kidney's parenchyma was composed of extremely complex yet soft tissue.
The bigger problem was that the kidney was an organ that did not regenerate naturally.
The tissues being lost now could never return to their original place.
Even exercising the utmost caution would not be enough.
Yet Taesu was scraping away as if removing inflammation.
Jeong Minsu shouted with an expression as if he might faint.
"Hey, you crazy bastard. Stop!"
"Irrigate with saline. Hurry!"
"You really……."
As Jeong Minsu tried to vent his anger, Taesu looked up with only his eyes and repeated.
"Irrigate."
"Taesu. This is wrong."
"Keep your eyes forward!"
"Okay, okay! It's my own damn fault for saying that."
Jeong Minsu blamed himself and sprayed the prepared saline with a syringe.
Ssssh.
As the transparent liquid shot out, tissues raised like scraped abrasions were washed away.
Taesu stared at that spot.
The headlamp illuminated the soaked kidney parenchyma.
The cross-section was uneven and rough.
Yet, strangely, satisfaction spread across Taesu's face.
"Good, continue!"
Scrape, scrape!
The hand moving the curette became even faster and rougher.
Jeong Minsu's face watching that was on the verge of despair.
"Why are you the only one enjoying this?"
"Saline, once more!"
"I'll spray. But please, can't you stop scraping?"
Ssssh.
Jeong Minsu's voice was plaintive as he irrigated with saline.
That desperation didn't seem to reach Taesu.
"I need to scrape here a bit more."
Scrape.
Taesu's continuing hand movements remained rough.
Seeing that, Jeong Minsu's expression abandoned even its pathos and darkened.
"Next you'll tell me to look to the side, I suppose."
"Are you operating with your mouth?"
"I'm holding it with the hook right now."
"A little more to the side."
Taesu ordered resolutely.
That position was the side close to the urethra.
It was a place medically called the pyelic area (renal pelvis).
There was some distance, but it was quite close.
If the renal pelvis was damaged, waste could not be transported to the bladder, causing toxins to accumulate in the kidney.
Jeong Minsu's expression turned dark as he urgently tried to stop him.
"You can't do that there, that's not the place!"
"Because it is the right spot, move the hook quickly."
"I'm telling you it's not!"
Jeong Minsu shouted explosively, as if he had reached his limit.
The hook didn't budge an inch.
Taesu, focused solely on the surgical site, didn't repeat himself and moved the Mixter.
Clack.
He positioned it himself, but without the hook's assistance, it looked slightly awkward.
Nevertheless, Taesu didn't mind.
He then boldly moved the instrument.
But having changed at some point, he was holding not a curette but a uniquely shaped surgical instrument.
Overall it drew a rounded curve, but the end was straight.
Seeing that, Jeong Minsu furrowed his brow.
"Vascular clamp?"
It wasn't a type of clamp commonly used.
Without even giving Jeong Minsu time to wonder, Taesu utilized the unique shape of the vascular clamp.