Just then, the baby’s mother said something, and Gim Hyeokgwon quickly relayed it.
"She suddenly gets like this. Then after about 20 minutes, she cries like she’s dying."
"Really?"
"See? I think I was right. Ugh, this little one."
Gim Hyeokgwon felt sorry for her.
But then.
Taesu’s eyes flashed as he asked Gim Hyeokgwon again.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"Consciousness……"
"Not that. What did you say about the crying interval?"
"She said it’s about 20 minutes. What did you hear when I was talking?"
Gim Hyeokgwon immediately shot him a look.
Regardless, Taesu’s gaze was focused on the baby’s stomach. At the same time, he organized all the symptoms clearly in his head.
An infant about 11 months old.
A sound like a blocked bowel.
Repeatedly crying and stopping at regular intervals.
Exposed to intense explosions with heavy vibrations.
Continuing his thought, he carefully moved the stethoscope.
It was while he was doing this.
Clunk.
He felt something catch on the chest piece.
"Hm?"
Taesu’s eyes narrowed in an instant, and this time he found the spot with his fingertips.
Somewhere in the bowel felt thick and hard, like a sausage.
At that moment, Taesu’s eyes flashed intensely.
This was a symptom he had seen before.
Still, just in case, he asked the baby’s mother.
"By any chance, has there suddenly been blood in the baby’s stool, and wasn’t it sticky and viscous?"
"They say there was. Huh? That sounds like something I’ve heard before."
"Currant jelly stool."
Taesu said the medical term.
But Gim Hyeokgwon understood immediately, to a surprising degree.
"That’s mucous-bloody stool in Korean. Right?"
"Yes."
"That was a symptom of some disease. That vicious Nurse Song was there with me then, that was……"
Gim Hyeokgwon was racking his memory.
Taesu had no time to wait for that.
Swish.
Ripping off the stethoscope, he shouted to Bread Gim, who was performing emergency treatment over there.
"Bread, it’s an intussusception patient."
"Gently rub the stomach."
"It’s been more than 48 hours."
Taesu added even more urgently.
At that moment, Bread Gim’s agitation was clearly visible even from afar.
That wasn’t the end.
Thump-thump-thump.
Bread Gim came running at full speed.
And looking at the baby, he asked Taesu desperately.
"Intussusception, and it’s been over 48 hours?"
"Yes."
"Then it’s emergency surgery, no matter what. Hurry, let’s get in…… No. If we all go in, what about here? Argh, I’m going crazy because we don’t have enough hands."
Bread Gim seemed to finally feel the inconvenience of the field hospital acutely.
Taesu was worried about that too.
Then he saw Raku standing next to Jeong Minsu.
Taesu’s eyes flashed.
'Then?'
It was possible.
Taesu, having steeled his thoughts, spoke quickly.
"Bread, go into surgery with Minsu."
"The two of us?"
"Mr. Hyeokgwon will assist you."
When Taesu added that, Bread Gim was flustered.
"What about here?"
"I’ve done it alone before."
"I know, I know that. Ah, and we have Mr. Raku."
Once Bread Gim understood, Taesu immediately handed over the baby.
"I think she’ll cry again soon, so hurry up and go in. Quickly."
"Got it…… But Doctor Choe could do the surgery too."
"Bread, would you stay here alone?"
When Taesu asked, Bread Gim realized his mistake.
"I still can’t handle multiple patients at once. Uh, uh? The kid’s flinching. She must be starting to hurt. I’ll go first."
"I’m going too. No, you have to come with me."
Gim Hyeokgwon tried to follow, then led the blankly staring baby’s mother along.
In the meantime, Taesu headed toward Jeong Minsu.
The moment he arrived, he took off his surgical gloves and asked.
"How is the patient?"
"Why are you here?"
"Emergency surgery, you have to go in too. So tell me quickly."
"What are you talking about. For now……"
Jeong Minsu quickly explained the symptoms of the patient he had been examining with Bread Gim, as well as the treatment process.
Taesu understood immediately and replied.
"Understood. Now hurry and go."
"Okay. Wh-what is it?"
"On your way there……"
"Sarubia. I remember too."
Jeong Minsu immediately shouted back the answer.
True to form, he was thorough when it came to matters of caring for patients.
The medicine he had tasted at Yeonseong University Hospital then had been terribly spicy and bitter.
Now it had become a good, nutritious tonic.
Taesu was left alone like that.
But he wasn’t worried.
Until now, the sudden increase in personnel had divided his attention.
Now he could focus that scattered attention in one place.
Of course, it was true that handling multiple hands alone was overwhelming.
Still, if he moved quickly without distributing his stamina, he could cover it to some extent.
Raku was right there beside Taesu.
But Taesu had no intention of involving him.
"Please interpret immediately when I speak."
"Don’t worry."
Raku answered confidently.
It was exactly the answer Taesu had wanted.
Before he knew it, he had put on new surgical gloves.
Snap.
Taesu cracked his knuckles and focused his gaze intensely.
"Let’s do this."
Taesu’s hands, having steeled his spirit, moved quickly.
Swish, swish.
He continued the emergency treatment process that Jeong Minsu had just explained, exactly as described.
"He said to do it like here……"
The muttering habit he had when alone flowed out again.
Taesu’s current appearance was just like when he had roamed the Nepalese ABC mountain village.
It wasn’t merely focusing solely on emergency treatment.
Just as Karka had been there then, Raku was beside him now.
It was after the emergency treatment had progressed to some extent.
Taesu called out to him immediately.
"Mr. Raku, please ask if this much tension on the compression bandage is good."
"Huh? Ah, yes. He says it’s just right."
"Then pull it a bit tighter."
Tug.
As Taesu tightened the bandage, the patient’s mouth fell open.
"Ghk, ghak."
"He says it hurts too much?"
Raku interpreted with a frown, but Taesu didn’t budge an inch.
"Tell him this much is good."
"He says you’re going to kill him."
"Tell him too that if it’s loose tomorrow, I’ll tighten it even more painfully."
It was the moment Taesu answered curtly.
When the patient said something, Raku interpreted with a light laugh.
"Heh. He asks where the kind people from earlier went and why a bandit-like doctor has come."
"Since I’m holding a scalpel, I am a bandit, right? Anyway, tell him to take this once in the evening, and once more if it stings too much. Moving on now."
Swish.
Taesu quickly packed his bag and headed to the next patient.
The patient blinked, looking at the two pills sitting plumply in his hand.
Meanwhile, after interpreting, Raku followed right behind Taesu.
"He’s a decent doctor."
A small smile was drawn on his face as he muttered quietly.
Taesu continued the emergency treatment frantically.
Swish, swish.
"Next patient."
Swish.
"Next."
He quickly finished the emergency treatment and repeatedly went to the next patient.
Sometimes he came face to face with a child patient.
"Waaaah."
A child’s crying voice always tugged at the heartstrings.
Each time, Taesu took out a secretly hidden candy from his medical bag and put it in the child’s mouth.
"This is medicine."
Pop. Drop.
As sweetness spread in the child’s mouth, he stopped crying like magic.
As expected, sweet candy was like a panacea for children.
Even in the brief moment intoxicated by that sweetness, Taesu’s hands didn’t stop.
Rather, he made full use of that fleeting moment.
Rustle.
"You endured well. Then let’s see each other again tomorrow."
Raku interpreted Taesu’s words.
"He understands. He asks if you’ll give him more tomorrow. When did you go over there? I can’t keep my bearings."
Even though Raku was simply following along and interpreting, he was overwhelmed.
To that extent, Taesu was truly swift.
It didn’t end there.
"You must have been in a lot of pain."
"Please accept my sincere condolences."
"It hurts today, doesn’t it? Tomorrow you’ll feel much better."
Without fail, even if just a few words, he made eye contact and greeted them.
He changed his greetings to match the patient’s situation and pain.
He made them feel that sincerity was contained in such a single remark.
Yet the speed of his emergency treatment was astounding.
Chajajak. Shhk-shhk.
"Next."
Swish, swish. Swoosh.
"Done, this way."
Stretch. Swish, swish.
"You’ll feel much better if you take this medicine. Now, let’s go."
He was so fast that Taesu felt like two people.
There was a reason he could do that.
The PKO soldiers had provided simple emergency treatment, and Bread Gim and Jeong Minsu had taken care of the most problematic patients.
Thanks to such efforts, the patients had been sorted out to some extent.
The remaining patients were mostly minor injuries, so rapid emergency treatment was possible.
Even so, his agile movements alone made the onlookers exclaim in admiration.
It was after such time had passed.
The mats were already completely empty.
Most of the patients and watching family members had returned home. Thanks to that, a quietude came to the square that had been bustling with many people.
Plop.
Taesu sat down heavily on the mat and wiped his sweat.
"Hah. Is it already evening?"
The sunset glow was dyeing the village red.
Honestly, he was bewildered.
He was hazy about how the day had flowed by.
That was how many things had happened.
It was to the point where he could now feel himself breathing.
But Taesu’s hand took something out again.
It was a thin notebook.
Opening it, Taesu filled the white paper with the symptoms of the patients he had examined.
Squad Leader Sam approached Taesu.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah, Sam. You’ve worked hard."
"Not as much as Doctor Choe. But……"
Taesu said, showing the notebook.
"It’s a patient log."
"You’re very thorough."
"I don’t trust my memory."
Taesu answered with an awkward smile.
Squad Leader Sam seemed to think otherwise. But he brought up a different topic rather than a conversation about that.
"I think I’ve interrupted something important."
"That’s not it, don’t tell me?"
"Yes. We have to depart now."
Squad Leader Sam answered with a bitter face.
Behind him, PKO trucks that had finished preparations for return could be seen.
Taesu jumped up, showing regret.
"How can you move out so immediately? Please have a meal before you go."
"Thank you for the offer, but it’s too late."
"Ah, the original schedule was to return right away, right?"
Taesu only now recalled that fact.
Squad Leader Sam smiled a kind smile and nodded.
"It was."
"It won’t be a problem, will it?"
"There’s no problem because I reported in advance. And if they say something, I just need to wear my field pack and run around the drill ground."
Squad Leader Sam answered coolly.
Taesu felt slightly embarrassed because he wasn’t in a position to accept it so comfortably.
"I’ll make a separate call."
"It’s really no problem. More importantly, we really must go now."
Squad Leader Sam set aside his regret and drew a firm line.