A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 207

Chapter 39: Shock (2)

Gyutae stared at Junhoo, following his instructions. Then, he held out the back of his hand towards Junhoo.

The intense CPR.

The fierce battle of responsibility with the patient.

The moment of closure for the difficult past moments had arrived.

On the back of Gyutae’s outstretched right hand, red rashes had appeared. Allergic urticaria [hives] had spread extensively.

The cause of the cardiac arrest was…

…Propofol anaphylaxis [a severe allergic reaction to the drug propofol] was the correct diagnosis.

The fact that Junhoo, who initially didn’t know about the propofol anaphylaxis, recognized it, was proof that Junhoo’s diagnostic skills had advanced a step further.

Thud!

Junhoo felt an impact on his shoulder.

Turning his head, he saw Jaewook smiling brightly. He looked relieved to have found a way out.

Even though they were from different departments, he didn’t want to incur the displeasure of the professor’s brother, unsure of what disadvantages he might face.

Junhoo also smiled at Jaewook and turned his gaze back to the patient.

“Your hand must be stinging and itchy, right?”

“Yes, it is. But…”

The patient changed the subject with a dissatisfied tone.

“Shouldn’t a university hospital prevent this kind of thing in advance?”

“Of course, it would be ideal, but we also have our limitations. There are so many causes of anaphylaxis.”

“…”

“Besides, it’s extremely rare for someone to have an allergic reaction to propofol like you do.”

Junhoo calmly began to reassure Gyutae.

From the moment he proved the propofol anaphylaxis, Junhoo had already taken control of the situation.

The situation had completely turned around.

It was very easy to handle Gyutae.

“First of all, I sincerely apologize for the pain you suffered due to the cardiac arrest. You must have been very surprised. You came for a check-up and almost died.”

“…”

“However, there is an unavoidable reason for our oversight. We had no way of knowing about your anaphylaxis.”

“Well, I didn’t know about it until today either.”

Gyutae replied in a much softer voice.

“In the future, when you undergo surgery or sleep endoscopy, you must inform the medical staff that you have propofol anaphylaxis.”

“…”

“Then we can perform a non-sedated examination or use a different anesthetic called midazolam instead of propofol.”

“Alright. With this explanation, I can understand.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“Honestly, I was very upset. Like you said earlier, I came for a health check-up and almost died, right? I felt like I couldn’t bear it unless I blamed someone and got angry.”

Gyutae continued, looking apologetic.

“Thanks to you, doctor, I survived and learned something I didn’t know. Thank you and I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re welcome.”

Junhoo replied modestly, waving his hand.

From the patient’s perspective, it was understandable that he would be angry.

Junhoo would have been just as aggressive if he were in the same situation.

Bringing up the fact that his older brother was a professor at this hospital in the middle of it all was a bit underhanded.

But such slips of the tongue can happen when you’re too agitated.

“What’s your name, doctor?”

“Seo Junhoo.”

“You’re my savior, is there anything you need in return?”

“I don’t need anything material. And the law prohibits medical personnel from receiving favors from patients.”

“Are you talking about the Kim Young-ran Act [anti-corruption law]? But doesn’t that only apply to politicians, teachers, and public officials?”

Gyutae tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“University hospitals are also affiliated with private universities, so the law applies. You could say we’re tied to the education sector.”

“Hmm… that’s complicated.”

“It’s alright. I’m satisfied enough that you’ve recovered your health.”

Junhoo looked at Gyutae and smiled.

It was a smile that didn’t contain even 1 percent of falsehood.

For Junhoo, the greatest joy and reward was when a patient he had treated and cared for recovered their health.

He didn’t need any other compensation.

He was sick and tired of helplessly watching people around him suffer or die, as he had in the Murim world.

“If that’s the case, would it be alright to fill out a kind service card? You also had a hard time during my check-up.”

“Well…”

“Anyway, thank you very much. Goodbye.”

Gyutae bowed his head and left the ward.

“Wow, Seo Junhoo, you really pulled it off. Clean from start to finish, huh?”

As soon as Gyutae left, Jaewook said with a broad smile.

“You worked hard too, senior.”

“You worked harder. And if it weren’t for you, I probably would have been crushed. Thank you. Thank you.”

“I just got lucky.”

“Don’t be so modest. It wasn’t luck, it was a victory of observation and judgment. Ah-young must be waiting. Go quickly.”

Buzzz-

The phone rang just in time.

Checking the number, it was Ah-young.

Junhoo hurriedly ran out of the emergency room.

* * *

After filling out the kind service card and paying the medical bill, Gyutae came out of the hospital building.

The early autumn sunshine was dazzling.

Perhaps because he had come back from the brink of death, even the sunlight felt different.

Was the world always this bright?

After looking around at the unfamiliar and fascinating scenery, Gyutae picked up his phone and connected a call.

After a long ringing tone, the other party answered the phone.

“Hyung [older brother], are you busy?”

-I’m on my way to the operating room. I can’t talk for long.

The person on the other end of the call was his older brother, Sung Gyu-shik, a professor in the Department of Hand Surgery at Shinwon University Hospital.

“It’s almost lunchtime, shouldn’t you be resting?”

-A surgeon can’t rest just because they want to. How did the health check-up go?

“Don’t even ask. I came back from the brink of death.”

Gyutae told his brother everything that had happened at the check-up center and the emergency room in great detail.

As a doctor, his brother would fully understand what he had gone through.

-Ha… you’ve been through a lot. Are you feeling better now?

“I’m fine. But propofol anaphylaxis… I never knew I had something like that.”

Recalling the moment he heard the diagnosis, Gyutae shook his head from side to side as if he couldn’t believe it.

-I’m hearing about it for the first time from you?

“Huh? You didn’t know either? You’re a professor, hyung.”

-Just because I’m a medical school professor doesn’t mean I know everything. By the way, that resident must have had pretty good observation skills. To notice that means he was carefully examining your body even while doing chest compressions.”

“From his appearance, he seemed like a bit of a sly guy.”

-What was that friend’s name again?

“Seo Junhoo.”

-I’ll contact him separately. Ah, I’m sorry, but I have to hang up. I’m in front of the operating room.

“Thanks for listening to my complaints. You have a hard time too, hyung.”

After hanging up, Gyutae smiled contentedly.

It wasn’t much, but he hoped that he could repay Junhoo’s kindness even a little bit with this.

* * *

Shinwon University Hospital, basement floor 1.

Junhoo and Ah-young found a porridge shop in the restaurant area. They ordered porridge with a coupon they received from the check-up center.

After a long period of fasting.

There was a risk of stomach problems if they ate spicy food.

“Seriously, Junhoo, you’re amazing. Even on your day off, you’re seeing patients. And it was CPR and a propofol anaphylaxis diagnosis.”

Ah-young shook her head from side to side.

“I think it’s a bit much even for me. I guess I’m a workaholic.”

“Did you just realize that now?”

“Sorry. I took away your precious date time because of me.”

“I was just kidding, so don’t take it too seriously. But Junhoo.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Did I say anything weird when the anesthesia wore off? I’m worried I might have said something strange.”

“You didn’t say anything at all?”

Junhoo feigned ignorance.

-Junhoo, I love you. I love you. I’ll do better.

Junhoo clearly remembered Ah-young’s nonsense(?), but he deliberately didn’t say anything.

Thinking about it now, he was a little disappointed.

If he had recorded that moment on video, he could have brought it out and watched it over and over again.

“Oh? You’re grinning, so it looks like there’s something going on?”

“No, there’s nothing.”

“You’ll be in trouble if you lie?”

“I’m telling you, it’s not. I was just smiling while thinking about our date course.”

“Hmm… suspicious.”

After finishing their meal, Junhoo and Ah-young came out of the main building.

The sky was high and blue, and the sunlight was warm. A gentle breeze softly brushed against their skin.

It was a good day for a date.

While heading to the nearby subway station.

Ah-young, who was walking next to him, suddenly linked arms with Junhoo.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”

“Then you should do it until you get tired of it.”

“That’s impossible. I’ll never get tired of it.”

Ah-young’s smile, as she grinned, was dazzling. In that moment, Junhoo realized that he had gained another sun.

The first date course started in Myeongdong.

Perhaps because it was during vacation, the streets were crowded with people even on a weekday afternoon. The streets were bustling with young people and foreign tourists.

The pop songs playing in the stores were cheerful and lively.

While walking down the street, the two found a tarot card reading shop.

Ah-young said she wanted to see it.

“A very well-matched couple has met. It feels like soulmates.”

The fortune teller pointed to the love card among the cards she had laid out and continued.

“It doesn’t seem like there will be any fights or crises. But in the case of the man…”

“What about Junhoo?”

“He seems like he will have a special experience in his later years. Look at these cards. The Wheel of Fortune and the Hanged Man have come out, right?”

The fortune teller pointed to the Wheel of Fortune and the Hanged Man cards.

“It seems like he will experience a fateful and significant change that is beyond common sense.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Ah-young was even more proactive about Junhoo’s fortune.

“That depends on how he accepts it.”

The fortune teller gave Junhoo a meaningful look. But Junhoo just shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expression.

Junhoo didn’t believe in fortune telling or divination.

Because he knew it originated from the Barnum effect [a psychological phenomenon where individuals believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to them, despite the descriptions being general enough to apply to a wide range of people].

The Barnum effect was the effect of making vague and general statements feel like they were unique characteristics of an individual.

For example, it was like this:

-You are an independent person, but you sometimes want to receive advice from people around you.

-You are willing to pay any price to protect what you value.

These words were broad statements that applied to most people.

So there was no need to be amazed or think it was great at all.

“You’re probably thinking I’m talking nonsense, right? But be sure to listen to it. So you don’t regret it later.”

The fortune teller organized and shuffled the cards she had laid out, then drew two cards again.

Surprisingly, the Wheel of Fortune and the Hanged Man cards came out once more.

This time, even Junhoo couldn’t help but be impressed. Because he couldn’t read any signs of trickery at all.

He shouldn’t have been able to escape Junhoo’s eyes, which had been trained in the Murim world…

“Excuse me, can you draw the cards one more time?”

Only then did Junhoo become interested in the fortune teller.

But at that time, the fortune teller withdrew her interest in Junhoo.

“The two of you are lovers destined by fate. Love will transcend time and space, so don’t forget that each other is precious.”

The tarot card reading ended with the fortune teller’s prophetic words.

“Amazing. It’s like she’s a psychic. The atmosphere was no joke either. Right?”

Ah-young chattered like an excited child as she came out of the fortune telling shop.

“Oh? Yeah.”

Junhoo answered awkwardly, glancing back.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the increasingly smaller makeshift fortune telling shop.

Transcends time and space…

Could it be that she somehow noticed that I came from the Murim world?

There’s no way, right?

Because the suspicion hadn’t disappeared, Junhoo decided to revisit the fortune telling shop later.