Without exchanging so much as a glance, they paused the conversation or cut it off, even controlling its tempo.
Nurse Casey watched the sight with a steady gaze.
Soon, Vanessa fully understood Taesu’s explanation.
“@#$%….. She says she understands.”
“Then I’ll continue with another question. Have you experienced any joint pain recently?”
“&%@$……. She says she has.”
“Then……”
A barrage of questions followed at once.
But this time, the two of them looked different again.
Taesu asked questions while standing before the ECG, scrutinizing the figures.
Kim Hyeokgwon interpreted while checking whether Vanessa was feeling any discomfort.
The surprising one was Vanessa.
Without particularly following either of them with her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling and answered.
They were clearly each acting separately.
Yet the way they conversed felt unexpectedly natural.
Nurse Casey watched them with the face of someone who had suddenly become unemployed.
A brief period of questioning passed.
Just as Taesu was still staring intently at the ECG, the pulse fluctuated.
Beep-beep-beep.
“Huh?”
It was the very moment he was about to show his surprise.
Beep-beep.
The ECG pulse graph and figures returned to normal.
It was a moment that lasted less than a second.
But Taesu’s eyes turned complicated.
Whoosh.
He quickly turned his gaze to the chart in his hand.
His eyes moved left and right as he carefully reviewed the chart’s contents again.
Then Taesu discovered something written in an unfamiliar handwriting.
- Idiopathic pulse fluctuation present, but appears to be a side effect caused by left ventricular hypertrophy.
In other words, the pulse sometimes spiked, but it would be fine once they performed heart surgery.
Taesu checked the author’s name first.
‘Dr. Kuramoto.’
The moment his eyes took it in, his brow furrowed.
“This bastard really lives up to his name.”
Anger surged up inside him.
This was as if he were acting like Batista surgery was a cure-all.
That must have been why the other Japanese medical staff could remain indifferent even to such abnormal reactions.
The very fact that they were taking the patient’s symptoms so lightly irritated him.
And yet he had the personality to sulk because his greeting had been pushed aside during examination hours.
There was simply no way to gauge what his standard was.
No, if there was one standard that came to mind, it was this.
‘Egoism.’
It meant that his own judgment was right and everything else was wrong.
Of course, Taesu had an egotistical side as well.
But this was different.
Above all, the part he had been most curious about was finally resolved.
He had been gradually approaching it through the additional questions earlier. But now, with the ECG’s reaction, Taesu’s guess turned into certainty.
Left ventricular hypertrophy was not the primary cause of all these illnesses.
Even the left ventricular hypertrophy was a complication that had arisen because of some symptom.
The most fundamental cause?
“Cardiac tumor.”
That was it.
Most cardiac tumors were benign.
They could also be malignant, like cardiac cancer, but statistically, the probability was low.
However, this type of tumor came with the premise that it had to be removed no matter what.
Even now, it was temporarily blocking the aortic valve of the left ventricle and putting strain on the heart.
That was why the ECG twitched like a seizure from time to time.
Perhaps having heard Taesu’s murmur, Kim Hyeokgwon asked.
“A cardiac tumor? Things like that grow in the heart?”
“Yes. They do.”
“Hmm.”
Kim Hyeokgwon seemed unable to understand.
But since he could simply have Taesu explain it later, he did not bother digging deeper.
Taesu also focused on the current condition rather than explaining.
“It’s probably only this stable because it’s being suppressed with medication.”
“And if it weren’t?”
“The tumor could break loose. Then it would block a blood vessel.”
“For example, something like the aorta?”
“Probably.”
When Taesu answered briefly, Kim Hyeokgwon’s face crumpled.
“They didn’t know about that and just wanted to start with Batista surgery? Those bastards are really surgery-crazed maniacs, aren’t they?”
“That’s something we’ll have to ask them directly.”
When Taesu answered vaguely, Kim Hyeokgwon grew frustrated.
“What kind of answer is that?”
“Because surgery does have to be done.”
“It has to be done?”
“Removing a cardiac tumor requires surgical, or procedural, treatment. Medication won’t work.”
Taesu spoke firmly on that point.
At that moment, Nurse Casey, who had been quietly listening, asked quickly.
“Hold on. Then you’re saying they really do have to perform Batista surgery?”
“No. We need to tell Dr. Kuramoto the truth.”
“Dr. Choi, I’m sorry to say this, but do you have proof?”
Nurse Casey asked coldly.
But Taesu knew it was because she was worried.
That question was crucial right now.
“No, I don’t.”
“And if you tell that Batista-obsessed man not to do it, do you think he’ll thank you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
Nurse Casey was deeply worried.
Taesu was thinking about that as well.
Then Taesu proposed an absurd method.
“Should I elope with Vanessa in the middle of the night?”
“You mean run right now?”
When Kim Hyeokgwon asked, Taesu nodded.
“One option is to make the surgery fall through for now and think things over calmly again.”
“Are you saying that after looking at the time?”
“They said it starts on the hour…… It’s five minutes before.”
“If it’s five minutes before, the patient should already be lying on the operating table. You know better than anyone what happens if she isn’t, Dr. Choi.”
Kim Hyeokgwon spoke with a stiff face.
If they didn’t arrive five minutes before surgery?
“They’ll come this way. Hyeokgwon.”
“I know. I’m stepping out for now. See you later. @##$%%@#.”
Kim Hyeokgwon went outside first, his expression showing that he was far from pleased.
He said something to Vanessa at the end, but Taesu did not hear what it was.
Click.
When the door closed, Taesu smiled bitterly.
“Well, that solves one problem for now.”
“Dr. Choi, what’s wrong with having Mr. Kim here?”
“They don’t know who Mr. Kim is.”
“You can just say he’s an interpreter. Why is that a problem?”
Nurse Casey asked with a frustrated expression.
Taesu answered in a calm voice.
“Because his temper is absolutely foul.”
“What?”
“I’m a doctor, so I can at least hold myself back. That man won’t. I’m saying he’ll just throw a punch.”
At Taesu’s serious answer, Nurse Casey nodded as well.
“Ah, I can see that. Good thing he left.”
“Anyway, I think we need to take some action too.”
“Getting ready to go. Got it.”
Nurse Casey was as quick-witted as anyone.
Clank, clank.
She immediately joined forces with Taesu to prepare the bed so it could be moved.
In the meantime, Taesu sorted out his thoughts simply.
“It’s tiring to live while distrusting people too much.”
Knowing how to trust to a reasonable extent was also a form of tolerance.
And he reminded himself that Dr. Kuramoto was a doctor.
If he had even the minimum conscience, there was a possibility things could flow in a direction different from what they expected.
It was just as they were making those preparations.
Rumble.
The hospital room door opened, and Dr. Takeshi’s face appeared, full of irritation.
“Dr. Choi, what time do you think it is?”
“We’re getting ready now.”
“You should have arrived already.”
“Exactly. Hurry over and help us a bit.”
Taesu even calmly invited him to help.
The irritation filling Dr. Takeshi’s face deepened further.
The distance from the hospital room to the operating room was short.
Vanessa was lying on the operating table just before the hour.
Taesu was right beside her.
Tightly.
He held her hand.
More accurately, his hand was being held.
Even so, Vanessa’s hand was not trembling.
It was calm and still.
It seemed as though she simply wanted to feel Taesu’s touch a little more.
Taesu found that amazing.
‘To think she trusts me this much…….’
It was the first time he had felt something strike so deeply in his chest, so it even felt a little unfamiliar.
It truly felt strange.
Vanessa was clearly a stranger.
And yet, in this moment, she felt as close as a relative.
Was this what trust was?
The fact that he could feel this way even without blood ties, even without being acquaintances, made him feel calm.
And he had not known that being trusted by someone could feel this good.
‘It’s thanks to you, Caprene.’
The starting point that had allowed him to feel this kind of fulfillment as a doctor was, no matter what anyone said, Caprene.
That made him feel even more responsible.
Somehow, he had to get through this moment, this crisis.
Even if surgery had to be performed, it should not be done like this.
In particular, if they cut the myocardium with the Batista procedure, the effect of the tumor could make it difficult to suture the affected area.
When he reviewed the cases Caprene had experienced, his brow furrowed even more.
And so Taesu’s resolve hardened firmly.
Stop the surgery.
Until now, once surgery began, he had solved things through improvisation.
But now, the nature of the situation was completely different.
If the surgery began, it would be too late.
It was right to stop it before it was too late and find a solution.
“Phew.”
He let out a long breath from the tension.
Squeeze.
Perhaps Vanessa had heard it, because she put more strength into her hand.
‘Good grief.’
To think he was worrying even in the face of the patient’s trust.
He quickly shook off his own useless foolishness first.
Taesu glanced around for Nurse Casey.
Nurse Casey was waiting not by the operating table, but near the shelves.
It was then.
Rumble.
The door opened, and a man fully prepared for surgery entered.
From the look of his eyes, it was Dr. Kuramoto.
He soon discovered that the patient had not yet been anesthetized.
His brow furrowed slightly.
But only for a moment, and he immediately let a gentle smile flow across his face as he approached the operating table.
“I will do my best.”
He bowed deeply.
He showed his determination by lowering his head.
Then he made a light gesture with his hand.
Dr. Yamaguchi, the anesthesiologist, responded immediately.
“Beginning general anesthesia. Ichi……. ni…….”
They seemed to truly like counting in their own language.
Taesu did not know it well.
But judging by the order, it was around the point that would be “five.”
Slide.
The strength left Vanessa’s hand.
Her head also turned slightly to the side.
Just as that reaction was felt, Dr. Yamaguchi immediately announced it.
“Anesthesia is successful.”
At the same time.
Dr. Kuramoto’s smiling expression twisted harshly.
He changed this much depending on whether the patient was conscious or not.
“Are you people out of your minds? With the time like this, does it make sense to be administering anesthesia now?”
“We’re sorry.”
The Japanese medical staff all bowed their heads and apologized.
The reason they were conversing in English with each other was likely because Taesu and Nurse Casey were present.
As if conscious of that, Dr. Kuramoto’s gaze turned toward Taesu.
“Dr. Choi, when did the patient enter the operating room?”
“Three minutes ago.”
“What were you doing until then that you’re only coming in now?”
Grrr.
Dr. Kuramoto berated Taesu mercilessly.
Politeness?
There was no trace of such a thing left.
His appearance was so different from when he had given the briefing that it felt like two faces.
Taesu judged that the timing had come to speak and opened his mouth.
“Dr. Kuramoto, there is something I need to tell you.”
“What excuse do you think you’re going to make by opening your mouth right now?”
“It’s important.”
Taesu’s voice was still calm.
As if that displeased him even more, Dr. Kuramoto’s voice turned icy.
“Since you got one over on me once, do I look easy to you?”
“That is absolutely not the case. And I will apologize for yesterday’s matter even now.”
“Because you feel uncomfortable, I’ll apologize once. Is that what this is?”
Dr. Kuramoto was, quite literally, picking a fight.