Sarubia was fighting against herself.
It was a mortal struggle with life itself.
They could not simply stand by and watch.
But neither could they neglect the patients outside.
They had to find a clever way to satisfy both sides.
Taesu, who had been racking his brain, looked at Brad Kim.
“Brad.”
“Tell me.”
“As long as they know the precautions, we don’t necessarily have to watch her ourselves, do we?”
Brad Kim, chewing over Taesu’s words, nodded.
“That’s true. If the IV runs out, they can let us know.”
“When it comes to bringing down a fever, a wet towel on the forehead is still the best.”
“They can change that out and take her temperature regularly. As for administering antipyretics, we can do it on schedule.”
Kim Hyeokgwon and Jeong Minsu each added a word in turn.
It meant what they needed to do was not treatment, but nursing.
In a hospital, it was one of the duties handled by nurses.
But there were no nurses among them.
If they had to name someone, there was Kim Hyeokgwon.
The problem was that he was the only person who could interpret, so he could not be tied down in one place.
At that moment, Taesu’s gaze grew heavy as he said to everyone,
“First, let’s finish the surgery.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“There’s someone suited for it.”
Taesu only gave them a hint.
But everyone understood at once.
Flash.
A faint glint appeared in their eyes.
Among them, Kim Hyeokgwon spoke in a low voice.
“He brought his precious daughter to this state. He ought to take responsibility himself.”
Nod.
Everyone answered with a movement of the head.
Avoiding responsibility?
No.
Nor was there even the slightest intention of shifting responsibility onto someone else.
It was a method of nursing anyone could do, one that required no medical knowledge.
They could not call it irresponsible to ask for that.
In any case, the conclusion had been reached.
After changing his surgical gloves and standing at the operating table, Taesu said to everyone,
“I’ll suture and wrap up the surgery.”
“It’s not a clean finish, but let’s still do our best to the very end.”
“Yes.”
They answered vigorously.
Then the skin sutures, signaling the end of the surgery, proceeded quickly.
Their expressions had sunk low.
In truth, they had wanted to meet the end of the surgery with a clear, refreshing feeling.
It was an undeniable fact that the emergency operation had succeeded.
The patient being alive after overcoming such terrible odds was the surest proof.
And yet an unexpected ambush had appeared.
That reality weighed heavily on their hearts.
A short while later.
The surgery was all over.
Now it was time to move Sarubia.
But no one stepped forward.
The reason they did not proceed immediately was because it would be safer to move her after lowering her fever even a little more.
There was another reason as well.
The medical team was exhausted, too.
It had been a surgery that progressed rapidly while they were under intense tension.
There was no way they could be fine.
Once they went outside, emergency treatment would continue without even a moment to look away.
They needed to catch their breath and recharge their strength.
It was not as though they were simply resting.
They kept watching Sarubia’s progress whenever they could.
At the same time, they shoved calorie-packed energy bars into their mouths, changed into fresh clothes, and prepared to meet the other patients.
Taesu, who had finished preparing first, looked at Sarubia with a sunken gaze.
“Mm.”
“What is it?”
“Where should we move her?”
When Taesu asked, Jeong Minsu stammered.
“R-right.”
“She needs to stay close to us.”
“True. We can’t tell them to take her home. And we can’t leave her in the living room.”
Before he knew it, Jeong Minsu was worrying over it with him.
This was the operating room.
It had to be left empty for another patient’s surgery.
At that moment, Brad Kim, who had changed into a fresh surgical gown, approached and answered,
“There are rooms on the second floor.”
“There are more?”
“Yeah. Three more. Even if we use one as our lodging, I think we can use the other two as patient rooms.”
At Brad’s clever solution, Taesu’s face brightened.
“That would be great.”
“Yeah. Even if other patients are admitted, we’ll be able to check on them frequently.”
“But who owns this building? I honestly feel like I could kiss them.”
“Do you think they’d want that?”
When Brad Kim asked with a troubled expression, Taesu smiled faintly.
“That’s just how I feel.”
“I feel the same way, to be honest. Seeing how thoughtfully this was prepared, it seems they must have had dealings with us before.”
“Though someone else was completely unreasonable.”
Taesu’s expression turned bitter.
The things that had happened had not been smooth.
Brad Kim, looking at Taesu, said,
“I’ll meet Sarubia’s father.”
“You, Brad?”
“If he sees your face right now, Doctor Choi, I think you might hit him.”
It was not merely a joke.
Perhaps because the prediction was accurate, Taesu did not deny it.
“Honestly, I can’t say you’re wrong.”
“It’s because of the folk remedy, isn’t it?”
When Brad Kim guessed, Taesu gave a slight nod.
“That’s right.”
“Oh, right. You said you’d tell me later. Let me hear it too.”
Kim Hyeokgwon quietly approached, showing his curiosity.
His hands were damp.
Looking around, Taesu saw that a wet towel had already been placed on Sarubia’s forehead.
His meticulousness was so outstanding that no one could match it.
Taesu nodded and first checked the time.
It did not seem like there would be enough time to answer.
“After we finish what’s urgent.”
“Will it take long?”
“It’ll take a little while, I suppose.”
When Taesu answered, Brad Kim stepped forward.
“I’ll explain that. I have to explain it to Sarubia’s father anyway.”
“I’d be grateful.”
“Then let’s wrap things up here. You move first.”
“I’ll see you outside soon. Minsu.”
Taesu headed for the door and called him at the same time.
Bow.
Jeong Minsu greeted Brad Kim and followed behind him.
Creak.
The operating room door opened, and Taesu and Jeong Minsu came out one after another.
They had not even walked a few steps.
They saw someone standing by the living room window, looking outside. Judging by his clothes, it was Sarubia’s father.
Taesu’s eyes immediately turned fierce.
“That damn—”
“Let’s go. Go.”
Jeong Minsu, catching on, quickly pushed Taesu from behind.
Had he heard the sound?
Whip.
Sarubia’s father turned his head like lightning and looked at them.
His eyes were terribly sharp.
Normally, the guardians of surgical patients were mostly anxious and full of worry.
But Sarubia’s father’s reaction was far too different.
What happened to my daughter?
That was exactly the feeling he gave off.
And he truly seemed as though he was about to come over and interrogate them.
Thud, thud.
At that brutish, rough gait, Taesu genuinely felt anger surge up.
“That man really—”
At that moment, Brad Kim’s voice came from behind.
“Doctor Jeong, take Doctor Choi away before he causes an accident.”
“Taesu. I said let’s go. Hurry.”
Squeeze.
Jeong Minsu pulled Taesu with all his strength.
Taesu even thought of shaking him off, but when Brad Kim pushed from behind, he had no choice but to move.
“……”
Taesu’s cold gaze remained fixed on the man until the end.
He had never hoped for his hardships to be recognized.
He had not even expected words of thanks.
If the man had shouted at them to save his daughter no matter what, then at the very least, it would have been normal for him to worry and ask first whether she was alive.
Taesu simply could not understand the guardian’s current behavior.
Soon, Taesu and Jeong Minsu came outside.
In that instant, what had happened inside was wiped away cleanly like an eraser.
Because patients were overflowing everywhere.
“Ghhhn.”
“Ugh, uuugh.”
Groans reached them even here.
Squad Leader Sam approached with a pocket notebook and asked with a cautious expression,
“The surgery?”
“Somehow, we succeeded.”
“That’s a relief. But this…”
At his face full of apology, Taesu immediately shook his head.
“Don’t say that. We were away far too long.”
“No. I said I would be of at least a little help, but I have no excuse.”
“Now, that talk can wait. Right now, we’re pressed for time.”
“I wrote down the symptoms.”
He quickly showed them.
Taesu rapidly scanned it with his eyes and looked for the patient who needed treatment first.
Many trauma patients caught in the explosion stood out.
Among them, the patient who most urgently required emergency treatment was?
Taesu found him immediately and pointed with his finger.
“This person. The one with the injured right calf. Where is he?”
“This way.”
“Let’s go. Doctor Jeong.”
Taesu called Jeong Minsu in English and ran off with Squad Leader Sam.
It was a condition too difficult to handle alone as emergency treatment.
“I’m coming.”
Jeong Minsu, who had been picking up the medical bag, headed over at once at those words.
It could be said that the main event was beginning now.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu arrived at the patient from both sides at the same time.
“Hffuuu.”
The patient was clutching his leg wrapped in clean bandages and groaning.
From his complexion alone, he was on the verge of exhaustion.
Far more than forty-eight hours had passed since the bombing attack occurred. That meant he had endured this agony for a full two days.
As soon as they arrived, Squad Leader Sam said,
“The painkillers didn’t work, so we had no choice but to administer morphine.”
“You did well. First, let me take a look.”
Taesu ended his words briefly.
It was because they could not waste any more time talking.
Snap, snap.
He first put on surgical gloves.
Before he could even register the snug feeling, Jeong Minsu called out,
“Taesu, your hands.”
“Yeah.”
Splash.
The dark brown antiseptic stained his hands.
Jeong Minsu did not stop there and poured the antiseptic outright over the white bandage as well.
Patients in need of emergency treatment were everywhere.
They needed only methods that could shave off even a single second.
In the meantime, Taesu unfolded the emergency surgery kit.
He soon picked up scissors and a Mixter, then immediately began cutting away the bandage.
Slice, slice.
No matter how many times he heard it, the sound of bandages being cut was never pleasant.
But that did not even count as a problem.
The moment the affected area was exposed, Taesu’s and Jeong Minsu’s eyes wavered at the same time.
“Damn it.”
“This is…”
The calf, torn to shreds by the bomb, had begun to rot.
They had no attention to spare for the stench.
The bleeding had stopped, but the sight of muscles and blood vessels filled with black necrosis was appalling beyond words.
Already, the tips of the foot were black and dead.
They could not even move.
All they could do was hold the skin in place so it did not fall away.
Taesu’s and Jeong Minsu’s eyes met for an instant.
What do we do?
Is it possible?
The looks they exchanged were complicated.
It seemed they would have to amputate below the knee.
If time continued to pass like this, the necrosis would gradually advance to the knee, then the thigh.
It was a damned situation from the very start.
Taesu gritted his teeth and growled low.
“Let’s try first.”
“Yeah. Damn it.”
Jeong Minsu also pushed aside his anguish and showed his determination.
The two of them raised their concentration and tension to the extreme.
The patient’s leg was my leg.
They forcibly shoved that thought into their heads.
They absolutely could not allow things to be dragged toward the worst outcome like this.
Taesu moved first.
“Saline.”
“Here.”
Splash.
Clear saline poured over the ruined calf.