Unlike yesterday, he was unbelievably proactive.
There was no reason to delay any longer for a patient with such resolve.
“We’ll begin anesthesia immediately. One, two. Three……”
Taesu administered the anesthetic through the IV as he counted.
It was when the count reached “six.”
Sssk.
The patient’s head shifted slightly to the side.
“He’s under.”
“Check vitals.”
“Beginning anesthesia response test.”
“No response on this side.”
The medical team rapidly exchanged words as they checked the anesthetic response.
Since they had no general anesthesia machine, they had to examine everything meticulously to reduce the chance of mistakes.
Soon, Brad Kim raised his thumb.
Thump.
“Good. He’s anesthetized.”
“ECG response is good.”
“Surgical site setup complete.”
After Taesu, Jeong Minsu reported aloud.
Beep. Beep.
As the ECG sounded, everyone gathered around the affected area.
For this surgery, Taesu and Jeong Minsu stood side by side, while Brad Kim and Kim Hyeokgwon stood opposite them as a team.
Taesu added medication to the IV and said,
“Administering muscle relaxant. Timer, three minutes.”
“Three minutes starting.”
Click.
Jeong Minsu immediately started the tabletop stopwatch.
They had acquired it because checking time was extremely important during surgery.
Now they had three minutes to spare.
No, it was time to steady their hearts.
Everyone’s gaze turned to the wound.
With the bandage removed, the traces of yesterday’s emergency treatment were plainly visible. Perhaps human recovery was not something to be underestimated; there were already signs that it was beginning to heal.
Above the wound, a blue line had been drawn.
It was the additional amputation site.
Brad Kim turned his gaze to Taesu and asked,
“You explained it thoroughly, right?”
“I spoke with both the patient and his guardian.”
“I thought the patient’s mood was very different from yesterday. What happened?”
He voiced a reasonable question.
Taesu checked the time first.
They still had leeway.
It was something everyone would benefit from hearing, so he immediately shared the contents of the consultation.
“He said the whole family gathered last night and talked a lot.”
“About what?”
“About the future. It seems his children gave him a lot of courage.”
“Courage?”
Brad Kim seemed to be growing more and more curious.
Jeong Minsu beside him was the same.
Taesu paid no attention to the focused stares.
He kept his eyes solely on the patient as he continued answering.
“They asked why he was grieving when it wasn’t his fault.”
“Aren’t the kids young?”
“He said the oldest is fifteen.”
At Taesu’s answer, Brad Kim let out a weak laugh.
“Ha. Those kids. Admirable.”
“What’s even more admirable is that they asked him to teach them, one by one, the things he’d been doing all this time.”
“Really?”
“They said they would share joy, share sorrow, share everything like that and overcome it together.”
Taesu finished his answer with a gentle look in his eyes.
Perhaps those words touched Jeong Minsu’s heart, because his eyes reddened slightly.
“Damn it. You’re making me think of my mom.”
“You do need to treat her better.”
“Hey, you Lee—”
“I’m a Choi.”
At the same time as Taesu’s hollow retort,
Whoooosh.
A chilly wind blew through the sweltering operating room.
The windows were tightly sealed with plastic, so no one could understand where on earth it had come from.
Everyone narrowed their eyes and reproached Taesu.
“What are you going to do about this mood?”
“Doctor Choi, even I can’t cover for that.”
“I think because Brad keeps playing along, he just says whatever comes out of his mouth.”
Even Jeong Minsu grumbled with genuine feeling.
It was then.
Beep-beep.
The alarm rang with perfect timing.
Taesu, completely undaunted, checked the muscles first.
Press, press.
“Mm. They’ve relaxed sufficiently.”
The moment Taesu spoke,
Saaak.
The light atmosphere sank heavily, as if it had been a lie.
Only then did the tension appropriate for surgery make itself felt.
Once the atmosphere settled, Brad Kim, the most senior among them, spoke in a low voice.
“This is the final surgery. It will be difficult, but everyone, gather your strength and……”
“Together with the patient.”
“Yes, together with the patient, let’s do our very best. We’ll begin surgery immediately. Sir, we’ll be in your care.”
“We’ll be in your care.”
Bow.
Everyone bowed deeply toward the patient.
Because their hearts were different, their resolve was different as well.
The patient undergoing surgery.
The guardians who would be waiting anxiously outside.
And the medical team, too.
They had to create a surgical result that would satisfy them all.
It was only natural that they would devote their best efforts for that moment.
With that resolve, the surgery proceeded carefully.
Late at night.
The operating room door opened.
Thud, thud.
The medical team walked out, utterly exhausted.
“Hoo.”
“Haa.”
Pat, patter.
When they took off their hair caps, sweat poured down. The amount of sweat flowing now was surely proof of just how hard the medical team had worked.
It had also been more difficult because it was not surgery in their specialty.
As everyone was catching their breath like that,
Dadadak.
From one side of the living room, the guardians ran over all at once.
It was the patient’s wife and their five children.
The children, in particular, stood in a straight line.
“……”
“……”
Like fledgling birds, they craned their necks and waited with pitiful eyes to hear the result of the surgery.
Needless to say, the patient’s wife was the same.
She quickly looked over the medical team and spoke in an urgent voice.
“#$%##$$%.”
“#$*&%$##.”
Kim Hyeokgwon answered that curiosity while wiping away his sweat.
The medical team knew what it meant.
Smiles began to form.
Once their exhausted bodies recovered a little, smiles began to appear at the corners of their mouths.
Just then, Kim Hyeokgwon stopped speaking.
Then he nodded to the doctors.
Nod.
It must have meant he had conveyed it properly.
That reaction could be confirmed right before their eyes.
Bright smiles slowly spread across the guardians’ faces.
Had they been unable to contain their joy?
“Waaah!”
“Aah!”
Rumble.
The children, who had shouted with all their might, rushed at the medical team.
Whump.
Hugging them was only the beginning.
They clung to their arms, jumped up and down, and even kissed them on the cheeks.
It was an excessively intense welcome.
Yet strangely, the more they did, the more the medical team’s fatigue vanished completely.
“Wahahaha!”
“Hey, hey, I’m happy too. I feel great too, but don’t hang on too much.”
“A kiss? Who…… Hey, you little rascal, hahahaha.”
Like that, the living room filled with everyone’s boisterous laughter.
It had been an incredibly grueling schedule.
Until just moments ago, they had not had a shred of strength left because of the aftermath of the surgery.
But now it was different.
Why did they feel so energized?
Why were they so happy?
The reason could be found on the children’s faces.
Pure, bright faces without a speck of shadow.
That was not something that could be compared to mere vitamins.
It was a miracle drug, an elixir.
For a doctor, it was the greatest nutritional supplement in the world.
In the blink of an eye, fifteen days passed.
Taesu and Brad Kim stood in front of a house, each holding a medical bag.
They seemed to be on their way out after finishing a consultation, and the homeowner was seeing them off at the open door.
The man’s right leg fluttered below the knee, and he was standing with crutches to keep his balance.
Beside him, children big and small were protecting him as if supporting him.
Stroke, stroke.
The father looked at the children with loving eyes as he stroked their heads and shoulders.
The children also smiled even more brightly and drew closer to their father.
At such a harmonious sight, smiles naturally appeared on Taesu’s and Brad Kim’s lips as well.
And Taesu remembered what he had said when he was discharged.
“God took my leg, but in return, He made my family one. I will never let go of this gift that is far more than I deserve.”
The bright smile he had shown then remained unchanged even now.
Only after hearing those words had Taesu been able to lighten the weight in his heart as well.
Perhaps that was why they could face each other now and smile so brightly.
And even without an interpreter, they could communicate sufficiently through their eyes and actions.
Surgery.
It was not only about treating the patient’s body.
It was also about soothing the hearts of the patient and their guardians.
The father and children waved together in farewell.
“Bye.”
“Doctor, bye.”
It was short, simple English.
But their gratitude toward the doctors was broader and deeper than the sea.
At that heartfelt farewell, Taesu and Brad Kim also smiled brightly and said goodbye.
“Bye. We’ll see you again tomorrow.”
“Doctor, thank you.”
The patient and his family continued waving.
It did not look as though they would be the first to close the door. There was no need to drag things out with a conversation that wouldn’t really work.
So Taesu spoke first.
“Brad.”
“Yeah, let’s go. Bye.”
In the end, Taesu and Brad Kim waved one more time before turning away first.
After coming out onto the street, Taesu and Brad Kim slowly headed toward the square.
Perhaps the fear of terrorism had eased a little, because the villagers were out and about. Shops that had been closed were opening their doors as well.
Vroom.
Large and small trucks also came and went along the main road. Everyone seemed to be trying to return to how things had been before.
Looking over that scenery, Brad Kim said,
“It still feels quiet. No, desolate.”
“It’ll be hard for things to be lively again just yet.”
“That’s true. By the way, do you think Doctor Jeong and Mister Kim have arrived at the hospital by now?”
Brad Kim checked on the medical team members who had moved separately.
Taesu checked his wristwatch as he answered.
“I think it’ll take at least ten more minutes.”
“Then let’s take our time.”
“Let’s do that.”
The two slowed their pace a little.
Perhaps because they had gained a bit of breathing room, each of them became lost in thought.
In the midst of that, Brad Kim quickly asked Taesu,
“Oh, right. You said you met Sarubia yesterday. She’s gotten much better?”
“Her body has improved a lot.”
At Taesu’s answer, Brad Kim narrowed his brow slightly.
“Is there a slight mental issue?”
“Yes. It seems she spends all day in the workshop at home.”
“Tsk, tsk.”
“Karhaban says he only gets to see her face at mealtimes.”
Taesu spoke with a bitter expression.
Brad Kim also replied with his brow furrowed.
“It won’t be good if she keeps that up.”
“Still, it seems she hasn’t shut the door to her heart completely, because they can talk.”
“Then we should say there’s hope.”
“That’s why Karhaban said he’d wait a little longer.”
Hearing Taesu’s answer, Brad Kim nodded.
“Maybe that’s the wise decision…… It’s not good to be forceful about everything.”
“I agree.”
Taesu’s expression as he chimed in was not particularly good either.
Because the topic was heavy, the conversation naturally faded.
“……”
“……”
As if neither welcomed that silence, each began looking for another topic of conversation.
This time, Taesu asked a question that suddenly came to mind.
“But Brad, how did you end up joining the NGO?”
“You don’t know?”
“When would I have had time to ask?”
Taesu answered with a bitter smile.
They had met on his first day arriving at the NGO camp, but there had hardly been any point of contact between them since.
Only now, when much of the chaos in Makut Village had disappeared, was he asking.