It was definitely an illness accompanied by pain that absolutely couldn’t be endured.
“Damn it, Squad Leader!”
“Move it.”
“Get in, hurry!”
“Roger. Ngh!”
The squad leader answered reflexively and lifted the upper body.
Taesu supported the lower body, his face scrunched up.
“Damn. We even have a stretcher!”
He hadn’t known earlier, but now things were different.
Even though there was clearly a comfortable means of transport, they had to carry the patient the same way as the first.
Taesu and the squad leader entered the operating room carrying the patient.
Jeong Min-su, who had been cleaning by splashing water about, was startled.
“What, why are you coming in already?”
“Su-su-su-super emergency!”
“What kind of emergency!”
“Urolithiasis (urinary tract stones).”
When Taesu shouted, Jeong Min-su’s expression twisted into something horrific.
“Damn it all!”
“The operating table, quickly!”
“Hold on!”
In a flurry.
Jeong Min-su moved more nimbly and swiftly than ever before.
It was because he had experienced it firsthand not long ago.
He had writhed so much, clutching his stomach.
A pain as if all the agony in the world had concentrated upon him.
His nerves had been so on edge that he had acted prickly toward everyone.
It had reached the point where Taesu and Kim Hyeok-gwon had to watch his every mood without uttering a sound.
Having gone through that experience, Jeong Min-su now moved frantically.
30 minutes later.
The second surgery began in earnest.
Jeong Min-su’s urgency continued even during the operation.
“What are you doing? You need to pull the stone out quickly first.”
“I’m in the middle of the laparotomy right now.”
“Why are you dawdling like that!”
“I’m hurrying, so calm down!”
Taesu, who had been understanding the whole time, finally raised his voice at the continued urging.
Still, Jeong Min-su’s urgency didn’t fade.
“You don’t know. You absolutely don’t know.”
“Yeah. Since I don’t know, be quiet for a bit.”
“This pain isn’t some trivial pain like you’re thinking.”
“He’s anesthetized and put to sleep with sedatives. The patient is fine now!”
Ssk. Ssk.
Taesu shouted in irritation while continuing the surgery.
Jeong Min-su was assisting too, but he didn’t seem satisfied.
“Faster!”
“You’re being a distraction.”
“If you’ve installed the Balfour, you should check both ureters first. Where are you going!”
It was simultaneous with Jeong Min-su’s sharp rebuke.
Taesu shouted, scrunching his face up even more.
“I need to check first whether it’s urolithiasis, or nephrolith, or if not that, cystolith!”
“You said urinary tract stones, so why are you talking about kidney stones and bladder stones?”
“It’s all one line. I said urolithiasis, but it’s not based on test results!”
Taesu growled with a sharp gaze.
He was already irritated from continuously hearing shouting.
Nevertheless, Jeong Min-su’s urging didn’t stop.
“You go to the kidneys, I’ll go to the bladder. We check both sides, and if it’s not there, it’s the urethra.”
“There are two kidneys, you know?”
“You’re better, so look at both. I’m going to the bladder!”
Swish.
Jeong Min-su moved first without even listening to Taesu’s answer.
Taesu found such Jeong Min-su absurd.
*He’s pushing me aside because he’s in a hurry too.*
And yet he nagged only Taesu every time.
That dissatisfaction was only momentary.
If Jeong Min-su was proactive, Taesu’s job became much easier.
Not missing that advantage, Taesu hurried his hands even more.
Two hours passed in a flash.
Jeong Min-su carefully extracted something from the affected area and placed it in a kidney basin.
Clatter.
A dull sound rang out.
It was by no means a pleasant sound, but Jeong Min-su’s expression was bright.
“I pulled out the stone!”
“Is that something to be so happy about?”
“You really don’t know. It hurts but you can’t touch it, pressing somewhere doesn’t make it better, it really feels like death.”
Jeong Min-su expressed himself vehemently, but Taesu only understood it intellectually.
“I’ll take note of it for later.”
“I made such a fuss and that’s all the reaction I get?”
“I’d love to react enthusiastically, but we need to hurry up and operate on the next patient too.”
“What’s the diagnosis?”
When Jeong Min-su asked, Taesu answered with a completely stiffened face.
“Frostbite.”
“Frostbite? What kind of frostbite nonsense is this in spring?”
“It happened in winter, but it’s a case that still hasn’t been properly treated.”
It was simultaneous with Taesu’s explanation.
Jeong Min-su asked, firmly furrowing his brow.
“How bad is it?”
“I couldn’t see exactly because he was wearing military boots. The memo said all toes except the big toe.”
When Taesu answered, Jeong Min-su’s expression grew urgent once again.
“What are you doing? Close up quickly and bring in the next patient!”
“That’s what I’m planning to do too, so let’s do it calmly!”
“It’s already noon, we’ve only operated on two patients, what do you mean rest!”
Jeong Min-su pressed him mercilessly.
He seemed determined.
The moment Taesu intuitively realized that, he smiled a cold smile behind his mask.
Such stimulation had been a long time coming.
Fussing at him to operate on patients, of all reasons.
*I’ll have to oblige him.*
Flash!
Taesu, having resolved himself inwardly, exuded an icy, ferocious intensity.
“Jeong Min-su, you’re saying we don’t need to rest, right?”
“Then if we stop to eat, have dessert, and drink a cup of toriti or something, when are we going to operate?”
“No take-backs on that.”
“What take-backs? I’m one step away from being devoured by time itself.”
Jeong Min-su only pushed his urgency forward and failed to notice Taesu’s change.
Anyway, the words of acceptance had fallen.
The blue murderous glint filling Taesu’s eyes began to shine forth in earnest.
“Fine. Let’s give it a go.”
“What?”
“First, the closing—finish within 15 minutes!”
Snip snip.
Taesu declared it and hurriedly moved both hands at the same time.
Jeong Min-su brightened without catching on.
“Oho, is that a challenge? You think I can’t do it?”
Swish swish.
Showing fighting spirit, he urged his own hands on.
And the two of them really finished up to the skin suture within 15 minutes.
“Surgery complete, good work!”
It was simultaneous with Taesu’s declaration.
Plop.
Jeong Min-su seized the patient’s hand with both hands and cheered.
“We did it. We did it!”
“I’m congratulating you like crazy, but I think we should keep the greetings short.”
“We just started though?”
“Unfortunately, we won’t have time for that.”
Having finished speaking, Taesu turned around and grabbed the walkie-talkie placed on the shelf.
Bzzt.
“Doctor Sam, surgery is over. We’ll proceed with the exchange using the frostbite patient.”
It was simultaneous with releasing the button on the walkie-talkie.
The door burst open.
As if they had been waiting, the operating room door opened and the frostbite patient was carried in on a stretcher.
Team Leader Sam, Private First Class Anthony, and the squad leader were together.
It seemed they had now decided to operate completely as a team.
Among them, Team Leader Sam looked alternately at Taesu and Jeong Min-su and spoke.
“Patient has arrived.”
“You’re keeping things warm over here too. Please have that patient wait a moment, and Doctor Sam, come over here.”
“Understood.”
In a crisp motion.
Team Leader Sam handed over the stretcher and approached in one stride.
Taesu stood in the lead surgeon’s position and gestured with his eyes toward the opposite side.
Team Leader Sam, receiving that gaze, immediately caught the meaning and stood facing him on the opposite side.
At the same time, they both directed their arms toward the upper and lower body respectively.
Then, Taesu’s sudden command began.
“Two… Three, lift!”
“Hup!”
Team Leader Sam exerted himself exactly like Taesu and lifted the patient.
It was done without any prior conversation whatsoever.
At this level, their breathing matched perfectly with eye contact alone.
Having lifted the patient like that, Taesu scrunched his face up deeply and urged Jeong Min-su on.
“What are you doing? Hurry up, gather the surgical drape… Ngh! Fold it and lay down a new one.”
“That’s what it was? Just a moment, it’ll just take a moment!”
Swish.
Jeong Min-su caught on a beat late but moved two steps faster.
With urgent hands, the surgical drape on the operating table was gathered up and a new surgical drape was laid out.
And the third patient lay on the operating table, while the second patient was placed on the stretcher in an instant.
“Patient exchange complete.”
“Doctor Sam. That patient is…….”
Taesu ordered simple precautions and intensive observation points. He also let slip that he wouldn’t leave until the surgery was over.
“……Please handle the overall control like that.”
“Will you be alright?”
“If we fall behind today, it’ll keep piling up.”
“Understood. We’ll support from outside.”
“Everyone, please work hard.”
Taesu finished the greeting and the conversation simultaneously.
Everyone understood and immediately went outside.
Click.
The moment the operating room door closed, Taesu urged Jeong Min-su on.
“Let’s prepare too.”
“Let’s do that.”
Swish.
The two of them began preparing to proceed with the new surgery.
Thanks to proceeding within the minimum scope, it didn’t take long.
In between, they connected an IV and added injections so the patient could undergo surgery.
Shortly after.
Wearing new surgical gowns, new surgical instruments were set up.
Without delay, Taesu immediately declared.
“Beginning surgery on the third frostbite patient.”
“Aja aja, let’s overcome this together!”
Jeong Min-su’s shout of fighting spirit rang out even louder.
And the surgery began immediately.
When they removed the military boots, a stench wafted out.
The flesh had turned blue and was rotting away.
Taesu focused his eyes and examined the affected area.
Judging the affected area was based on Taesu’s experience.
At this level?
“Save all of them!”
“The wounds are quite severe; can you do that?”
“Can’t you do it?”
When Taesu provoked him, Jeong Min-su bristled.
“Not me—you. I’m worried about you.”
“Let’s see who’s worried about whom. Going in right now. Starting from the index toe, wash and then debride the necrotic tissue!”
“Got it!”
Swish.
Taesu and Jeong Min-su pushed at top speed from the very start.
It was a surgery where they lost track of how time passed.
However, the result wasn’t bad.
“Let’s leave it under observation. Patient change.”
“Good. Let’s go again!”
Jeong Min-su showed no signs of fatigue yet and buoyed his spirits.
But that was Jeong Min-su’s last smile.
After that, the surgeries continued endlessly.
The fourth patient was one with a long wound from his back to his thigh.
No matter how roughly treated, even as the scab dried, inflammation remained settled inside.
“Scrape it!”
“I’ll make them all good as new!”
Scrape scrape scrape.
Jeong Min-su’s face was filled with fierce resolve.
The fifth patient was a case where the ruptured liver had hardened in place.
Fortunately, there were transfusion packs sent by the Indian army.
Swish swish swish.
From start to finish, Taesu proceeded steadfastly in one position.
Meanwhile, Jeong Min-su’s two arms began to tremble.
“Sseup.”
Shake shake.
Jeong Min-su shook both hands to calm them and continued assisting.
The sixth patient was complex.
Inflammation had spread to the pericardium along with a lung abscess.
Taesu still operated aggressively.
“All the way in one go!”
“Uwoooo!”
Jeong Min-su shouted and cheered, but the volume of his voice had noticeably decreased.