It was when Taesu and Jeong Minsu were so delighted.
Nurse Casey’s gaze turned toward Dr. Oliver in the distance.
Wink.
She secretly gave him a meaningful smile.
And then.
Slide.
She lightly clasped hands with Nurse Ellen.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu noticed none of it.
While they were talking, medical staff had begun gathering one after another at the other medical tents as well.
The expressions of the two men changed meaningfully at the same time.
They were in a position where they would have to be indebted to them again today.
Taesu, wearing a deep smile, made a suggestion to Jeong Minsu.
“Shall we try doing a bit of social life for the first time in a while?”
“Weren’t we doing that since yesterday?”
“I suppose we were.”
“I’ll move first.”
Whoosh.
No sooner had Jeong Minsu finished speaking than he headed for the neighboring tent. Then he bowed to Dr. Talon and began laying on the charm.
“Dr. Talon, did you have a comfortable night?”
“Mm, Dr. Jeong. Surely you don’t already have something you’re curious about?”
“No, sir. I just thought I’d help you get ready. Goodness, this is completely empty…”
Swish, swish.
Jeong Minsu made a fuss as if something terrible had happened and filled up the saline.
“No, now… Well, this is something.”
Dr. Talon and the staff of Medical Tent 2 seemed both dumbfounded and at a loss.
The same went for Taesu, who had yet to set off.
“Who called him timid?”
He didn’t think anyone would believe that anymore.
Still, he didn’t dislike that shamelessly affable look.
Not to be outdone, Taesu headed to another tent, greeted the medical staff, and began lending them a hand with their preparations.
Everyone carefully observed Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s actions.
“They are members of Dr. James’s surgical team, after all…”
“And they said they were the heroes of Isambark.”
“It’s not just Dr. Choi. Dr. Jeong stands out in his own way too.”
“It’s not because he’s big. It’s because he moves that much.”
Conversations passed back and forth.
They were clearly the same people.
Yet yesterday morning, they had looked hateful. Why did they feel so endearing today?
Just as everyone was tilting their heads.
Tatadak.
There came the sound of urgent footsteps running toward them.
It was Brad Kim.
Unable to hide his intense expression as he ran over, Brad Kim suddenly shouted loudly.
“Patient Salena has started eating!”
At those words, everyone’s eyes widened.
“The cardiac tamponade patient?”
“Even until dawn, they said her collapse was too severe.”
“What kind of miracle is that?”
“Dr. Kim, what happened?”
In the end, they asked Brad Kim, who had brought the rumor, for help.
Brad Kim strode over with great confidence, drew strength into his stomach, and explained.
“Actually, yesterday…”
“What? Huh?”
“And so, just a little while ago, Dr. Schmidt…”
“Eeeh!”
Whoosh!
Everyone’s gazes turned back toward Taesu and Jeong Minsu.
They went to see the patient after giving emergency treatment?
They listened to the patient’s history and agonized over a solution?
And they truly found an answer?
As if that weren’t enough, they reviewed until late at night?
“Just what are those guys?”
It had only been a single day.
Yet they had already lost count of how many times they had been surprised.
At that moment, Brad Kim spoke in a low, settled voice.
“Dr. Schmidt said, ‘Dr. James insisted that Dr. Choi and Dr. Jeong be brought along. I wonder if that was truly only for their growth.’”
“…”
“I can answer that question. ‘No. Everyone will come to realize and learn that medicine does not begin with curing disease, but with caring for people.’ That’s what I’d say.”
“…”
“Everyone, I hope you judge for yourselves what it truly means to be for the patient.”
Slide.
Brad Kim leisurely turned around and headed toward the temporary hospital.
No one stopped Brad Kim.
They could not stop him.
The words he had thrown out had become a topic that filled their minds completely.
Brad Kim sensed it as well.
That was why a refreshing smile hung at the corners of his mouth.
In the distance, he could see Taesu and Jeong Minsu scurrying about.
“Pfft. They really never change.”
Once again, he admired their passion for patients, a passion that could crush even the jealousy filling their surroundings.
Soon, consultations began.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu had only just stopped in their places before they were running around again.
Even if patients with the same symptoms came in, it was not possible to experience and memorize every disease name at once.
Still, perhaps thanks to the review they had done yesterday, the number had decreased somewhat.
The doctors in the other medical tents were also a little more cooperative than yesterday.
“Dr. Statham.”
“I was just thinking it was about time you came. So what symptoms is it this time?”
“Well…”
“In cases like that…”
When Taesu began speaking, he immediately explained the symptoms and the disease.
The same was true for Jeong Minsu.
On the other hand, there were certainly cases where they did not ask for help.
They were mainly trauma patients, or patients suffering from surgical or cardiothoracic conditions.
At such times, Nurse Casey’s role was considerable.
She stayed beside Taesu like a shadow, and whenever the necessary moment came, she invariably lent a hand.
“Dr. Choi, it’s ready here.”
“We need to pour saline first, right?”
“The emergency surgical kit will be ready soon.”
Slide, whoosh.
There was nothing superfluous in the way she reported and acted.
To exaggerate slightly, by the time Taesu wanted something, she had already begun preparing it.
And those were fairly specialized matters.
That was also the most decisive difference between her and Kim Hyeokgwon, who had learned by watching over others’ shoulders.
Taesu keenly felt firsthand just how experienced and skilled a nurse Casey was.
Nurse Casey’s active assistance helped Taesu that much.
Jeong Minsu and Nurse Ellen’s coordination was also quite good.
Since each of them focused on what they had to do, patient treatment progressed briskly.
“At this tempo, we’ll easily surpass yesterday’s record.”
“Today should be at least a little better than yesterday.”
With everything going so smoothly, Taesu and Jeong Minsu felt as if they could fly into the sky.
Around two hours passed like that.
An unfamiliar doctor and nurse approached Medical Tent 3.
“This is Medical Tent 3, correct?”
“It is.”
“Ah, Dr. Choi. I’m Dr. Joseph. I’m a neurosurgeon, and this is Nurse Marine.”
Slide.
Dr. Joseph naturally held out his hand.
Taesu, who shook that hand, was slightly puzzled.
“What brings you here?”
“Dr. Quentin is calling for you.”
“Dr. Quentin?”
A slight tension settled on Taesu’s face.
Being suddenly called away during consultations reminded him of what had happened yesterday.
Just in case, he first recalled the patients he had sent to neurosurgery.
There had not been many, so they were clear in his memory.
“That patient is… right, and also…”
No matter how he thought it over, he had conveyed exactly what he had found out.
While Taesu alone was troubled in his mind.
Dr. Joseph, who had been quietly watching him, opened his mouth again.
“He isn’t calling you because there’s a problem.”
“Then?”
“He said you’d know once you came. And I will be filling your empty spot, Dr. Choi. Let’s see.”
Dr. Joseph slowly looked around the medical tent. The nurse who had come with him was also reorganizing the medical cart.
They already seemed to have settled in.
If things were like this, Taesu had no choice but to go to neurosurgery.
Jeong Minsu weighed a little on his mind.
“Minsu.”
“Go. You think I’ll be sitting here sucking my thumb just because you’re gone?”
When Jeong Minsu spoke with such backbone, Taesu’s mind eased considerably.
“If you still did that, there really would be a problem.”
“I don’t know what it is, but do well. Dr. Quentin didn’t seem like an easy character either.”
“Worry about yourself. I’m going. Dr. Joseph, then.”
After greeting him lightly, Taesu turned and headed toward the hospital building with Nurse Casey.
Taesu and Nurse Casey soon entered the hospital building.
It was Taesu’s first time inside the hospital building.
At a glance, it felt similar to a school building, but the difference was that there were many medical staff in gowns and uniforms.
However, Taesu did not know where anything was.
Because of that, he looked around, unable to move his feet easily, as if he had become a lost child.
Then Nurse Casey guided Taesu.
“Neurosurgery is this way.”
The sight of her back as she strode forward without hesitation was truly reassuring.
Taesu diligently followed behind Nurse Casey, to whom he was grateful in many ways.
The distance they had to go was not very long.
There was no signboard specifically saying neurosurgery, but there was at least a nameplate on the door.
Knock, knock.
When he knocked and opened the old door, the inside came into view.
Perhaps it was a shared consultation room, for there were several medical staff besides Dr. Quentin.
Though they were not close, they had seen each other’s faces, so Taesu bowed his head first.
“Good morning.”
“Dr. Choi, you’re here. This way. Over here. Come this way.”
Thump, thump.
Dr. Quentin responded heartily and welcomed him by patting the seat beside him.
The other medical staff also gave him light nods of greeting.
After exchanging brief greetings, Taesu approached Dr. Quentin and asked.
“Did I perhaps make another mistake?”
“It’s nothing like that, so there’s no need to be nervous. More importantly, isn’t the person beside you Nurse Casey?”
When Dr. Quentin recognized her, Nurse Casey smiled gently and greeted him.
“Yes. By Dr. Schmidt’s order, I’m temporarily accompanying Dr. Choi.”
“Dr. Schmidt… Ah? Ah, yes. I see.”
Dr. Quentin understood something on his own and nodded.
Taesu had no way of knowing what it was.
More than that, he was even more curious as to why he had come here.
Dr. Quentin soon returned to the original subject as well.
“Dr. Choi, for the rest of the morning, you just need to stick right beside me.”
“Stick beside you?”
“You said you wanted to be taught.”
“Then?”
When Taesu seemed to catch on to something, Dr. Quentin smiled broadly.
“What good is saying it a hundred times? It’s much better to watch, listen, and learn.”
“Really?”
“There’s no need to be that surprised. If you end up participating in surgery too, you might topple over.”
“I really think I might.”
The moment Taesu answered in surprise.
Dr. Quentin smiled meaningfully and said.
“Now then, we have to go into surgery, so let’s stand up.”
Abruptly.
Dr. Quentin rose energetically from his seat.
Taesu first doubted his ears, wondering if he had just heard correctly.
“So suddenly?”
“Isn’t life samba? Samba is passion. Viva.”
Snap.
Dr. Quentin spread both arms wide and smiled brightly.
Taesu was more than a little flustered.
He even worried that such a lively display might disturb the other medical staff.
But the medical staff around them were silently doing their own work.
It was enough for him to immediately realize what Dr. Quentin was usually like.
“Haha. Viva.”
In the end, Taesu also awkwardly copied the exclamation.
A little while later.
Taesu was standing in the room next to the consultation room.
Looking down at himself, now changed into surgical scrubs before he knew it, Taesu gave a bewildered smile.
“I guess we’re really doing surgery.”
Was this what they called the vicissitudes of life?
A moment he could not even have dreamed of yesterday had arrived so suddenly.
Taesu looked around the room.
In truth, the conditions were so poor that it was embarrassing to call it an operating room. The only medical equipment visible was an ultrasound machine.
He could not even gauge what kind of surgery could possibly be performed here.