A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 102

The Impasse (2)

Hyung-seok stared blankly down at his friend.

His friend’s face was pale, completely drained of color.

A blood-soaked bandage was wrapped around his abdomen.

The lively appearance he usually had was nowhere to be found; he was teetering on the brink of death.

His life was being sustained by the IV drip and blood pack inserted into his wrist.

The area around the sickbed was very noisy.

However, Hyung-seok could only hear the rhythmic sound of the machine.

Beep.

Beep.

Even while looking down at his friend with a knife stuck in his abdomen, Hyung-seok was surprisingly not horrified.

It was more like…

The scene he was witnessing felt like a dream.

It didn’t feel real.

I should do something, at least…

Hyung-seok suddenly had that thought.

From the moment he was brought in by the 119 ambulance [Korean emergency services] to the emergency treatment he received in the hospital emergency room until now.

Hyung-seok had one question.

Why hadn’t the paramedics or doctors removed the knife stuck in his friend’s abdomen?

According to Hyung-seok’s common sense, it seemed right to pull out the knife.

If he removed that sharp, cold piece of metal, he could alleviate his friend’s pain.

There must be a reason.

The paramedics and doctors aren’t stupid either.

…he thought, on the one hand.

Hyung-seok also felt that the paramedics and doctors were not doing their jobs.

If you’re a person.

Doesn’t everyone have a tendency to postpone things that are scary and frightening?

It was from that moment.

That Hyung-seok’s eyes began to see only the knife.

The knife, moving with his friend’s rising and falling belly, looked like an enemy.

He felt that only by pulling that out would his friend’s condition improve.

In movies and dramas.

People stabbed with a knife would often pull it out themselves. There must have been some medical verification for those scenes to be filmed, right?

I’ll do it.

No, I should do it.

Hyung-seok’s eyes, having made up his mind, changed.

With a determined resolve, Hyung-seok reached out both hands towards the knife stuck in his friend’s abdomen.

Although his personality was a bit different, he was confident in handling knives.

Hadn’t he been working at a butcher shop for over 20 years?

Swoosh.

But just before Hyung-seok’s hand touched the knife.

-Take your hand off that!

A thunderous shout stopped Hyung-seok.

Startled, Hyung-seok blinked and looked around.

No one was paying attention to Hyung-seok, and no one was calling him.

Then who on earth was shouting?

Dismissing the voice he had just heard as a hallucination, Hyung-seok tried to grab the knife again.

Then the same voice was heard again.

It was maddening.

-I said, take your hand off that!

Hyung-seok was dumbfounded by the unknown voice.

He couldn’t understand why his mind had gone crazy when it was his friend who was hurt.

Looking around once more.

The handsome doctor who had treated him earlier was rushing towards him.

Was his name Seo Jun-hoo?

“You mustn’t touch the knife carelessly. It will make the patient more dangerous.”

In an instant, Hyung-seok became speechless and nodded.

But why.

Did the voice he had just hallucinated sound the same as Jun-hoo’s?

Nah. No way.

It must be a hallucination, right?

* * *

Fortunately, Jun-hoo stepped in just in time to prevent the guardian’s impulsive behavior.

The secret was telepathy.

Telepathy.

This was a technique that used internal energy to secretly transmit one’s voice to the other party.

In modern terms, it was a martial art similar to telepathy.

Because he couldn’t directly stop the guardian due to distance and obstacles.

And because Lion’s Roar [a martial arts technique involving a loud shout] was in danger of startling the people around him.

Jun-hoo chose telepathy.

In conclusion, Jun-hoo’s choice was right.

He didn’t harm anyone.

And he was able to effectively stop the guardian’s actions.

“Isn’t it normal to remove a knife if it’s stuck in the body?”

Hyung-seok asked Jun-hoo.

“Pulling out the knife will cause severe bleeding. The blood vessels may be damaged in the process of pulling out the knife.”

“They pull it out just fine in movies and dramas…”

“That’s just a scene staged because it’s a show. You should never do that in reality.”

Jun-hoo shook his head firmly.

A big accident almost happened because of the guardian, but Jun-hoo didn’t particularly hate the guardian.

The medical knowledge that people have varies greatly.

What is common sense to someone.

Was nonsense to someone else.

Someone might know something, and someone else might not.

“I understand that you want to help your friend, but please ask the hospital staff before acting in the future.”

“……”

“We are the experts.”

“Ah. Yes. I’m sorry, doctor.”

Hyung-seok bowed his head and apologized.

“But can he get surgery soon?”

“We’re looking into it now…”

Before Jun-hoo could finish speaking, his pager rang.

Checking the number, it was the on-call room.

“Yes, senior.”

-I’ve booked the operating room and the anesthesiologist, but our department’s regular schedule is full, so there’s no professor who can go into surgery right away.

Jun-hoo frowned at Miho’s words.

Was she telling him that now?

How many times had she not scheduled surgeries to be unable to handle this much traffic?

“Then contact the trauma surgery department and schedule it. Trauma surgery can also perform the surgery.”

-Ah… I forgot about that. Okay.

After ending the call, Jun-hoo looked at Hyung-seok.

“They said the operating room is booked. Let’s go up together for now.”

* * *

-First floor.

A dry elevator announcement was heard.

Jun-hoo pushed the bed with the patient lying on it and entered the elevator.

The guardian followed behind.

Jun-hoo’s anxious gaze had not left the patient since earlier.

He was nervous that the patient might have a cardiac arrest.

“Doctor. If he just gets the surgery, can Jin-soo survive?”

The guardian asked cautiously.

“I can’t guarantee it, but I will do my best.”

“How could that bastard, who’s been a close friend since childhood, do that? Even now, when I think about it…”

The guardian gritted his teeth.

According to the guardian.

The perpetrator who used the knife was surprisingly said to be a close friend of the patient.

He wasn’t a bad person.

But he had become addicted to gambling a few years ago, and his personality had changed.

And finally today.

When the patient asked for the money he had borrowed back, the perpetrator instead demanded to borrow more money and raised his voice.

He boasted that he could pay off all his debts if he won just once.

In response, the patient scolded the perpetrator for being pathetic.

The perpetrator, enraged.

Stabbed the patient mercilessly with a knife.

“Has the perpetrator been caught? Did the police catch him?”

“No. He caused a commotion and disappeared. He’s a broke guy, so he’ll be caught soon.”

“You must have been very surprised as well.”

Jun-hoo comforted the guardian.

Hadn’t his friend been the victim of a terrible stabbing right in front of his eyes?

The guardian’s shock would also be considerable.

Jun-hoo had been like that in the Murim [a martial arts world setting].

His heart was torn every time his father fell at the hands of the enemy Il-do and his colleagues bled and died.

“I don’t know. I still don’t feel it’s real.”

“……”

“I just hope that crazy bastard is caught by the police and Jin-soo is safe.”

“……”

“I’ve only known Jin-soo for a few years, but he’s a very diligent friend.”

“……”

“He runs a Korean rice soup restaurant in the same market as me, and he’s been working every day without fail.”

“……”

“He’s a fool who only thought about saving money and helping his son get married later.”

The guardian’s voice became tearful.

He seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion as he watched his friend lying on the brink of death.

But even before hearing the guardian’s story, Jun-hoo was already deeply empathizing with the patient.

Looking at the patient.

He was reminded of the many colleagues who had died from sword wounds in the Murim.

Although he was helpless back then, Jun-hoo was different now.

Jun-hoo had a powerful weapon called modern medicine.

“Guardian. Can I take back what I said earlier?”

“What do you mean?”

“I said that I can’t guarantee the patient’s life, but I will do my best.”

“Yes. You said that.”

“I will save the patient no matter what. I’ll bet everything on it.”

Jun-hoo’s voice was resolute.

The statement that he could not guarantee the patient’s life felt cowardly, as if he was creating a loophole.

Of course, it was impossible for a doctor to save a patient one hundred percent.

That was a fact that everyone knew.

But Jun-hoo suddenly didn’t like the nuance and way of thinking contained in the words that he could not guarantee the patient’s life.

The patient must be saved no matter what.

If the Grim Reaper comes.

He was determined to kick him in the butt and drive him away.

Because he had to have that mindset to save the patient.

Because he would not give up on the patient no matter what difficulties came his way.

Giving up and helplessness.

This was what Jun-hoo feared the most.

At the same time, it was also the driving force that constantly pushed Jun-hoo to grow.

“Thank you, doctor. Please take care of Jin-soo.”

The guardian said, wiping his tears with his sleeve.

Jun-hoo was also overwhelmed with emotion for a moment, but he didn’t show it.

He wanted to express his emotions with joy when the surgery was over.

When he had safely recovered the patient.

-Fifth floor.

Arriving on the 5th floor while talking to the guardian.

Jun-hoo sprinted down the hallway, even using his footwork.

Chief Jae-seok, a fourth-year resident, was already waiting in front of the operating room.

It seemed that Jae-seok would be the first assistant.

“You came quickly. I’ll get the surgical consent form, so you go into the operating room. You’re the second.”

“Yes, Chief.”

Jun-hoo, who entered the operating room, moved to the changing room.

Rub. Rub. Rub.

He scrubbed his fingers, nails, and forearms with a brush soaked in povidone solution.

He put on a surgical gown and, with the help of a nurse, put on gloves and a mask.

Whoosh.

Arriving at the operating room after being doused in sterilizing gas pouring from the ceiling.

Jun-hoo set up the surgery at a dazzling speed.

It took only 5 minutes to load the necessary treatment supplies onto the dressing cart and place them on the operating table.

Three months into his internship.

The operating room had become as familiar to Jun-hoo as his own room.

Soon after, the patient and Jae-seok arrived in the operating room. The anesthesiologist quickly followed behind.

Connecting the patient monitoring device.

Connecting the central venous catheter.

The process of general anesthesia and so on continued smoothly.

“Heaven must be helping us. His condition is not as bad as I thought?”

Jae-seok monitored the patient monitoring device and let out a sigh of relief.

Considering the patient’s trauma.

The vital signs and electrocardiogram were surprisingly stable.

Here, stable meant that the patient’s condition was not good, but the rate of deterioration was slow.

Of course, it is.

Because I used the hemostatic acupressure method in advance.

Jun-hoo thought to himself after hearing Jae-seok’s words.

If Jun-hoo had not used the hemostatic acupressure method, the patient would have been in even more critical condition.

The abdominal cavity would have been full of blood.

Hemostatic acupressure was not a solution in itself, but it was a benefactor that gave surgeons valuable time.

“Is the surgery ready?”

The surgeon in charge entered the operating room just in time.

The surgeon’s name was Lee Young-hwan.

According to what Jun-hoo had spoken with Miho while coming up to the operating room.

He was a second-year fellow in trauma surgery who was a resident in gastroenterological surgery.

“Yes. We’ve been waiting eagerly for you, senior.”

“This is going to be tough. You two have to be on your toes.”

Young-hwan stood next to the operating table, examined the patient, and shook his head.

“That side is an intern, right? Would you like to prepare for the surgery first?”

“Yes, doctor.”

Jun-hoo answered confidently.

Jun-hoo knew very well what needed to be done right away.