A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 189

Chapter 35: Deep in the Mountains (4)

The 4th-floor staff lounge.

Kyung-soo plopped down on the old, worn-out sofa, leaning back against the backrest.

“Ugh… I’m going to die.”

A groan escaped him involuntarily.

After assisting in a 5-hour brain tumor surgery, his joints and bones creaked.

His limbs were weak, and his head was foggy.

“Here, take this.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

Hee-joon, a third-year resident who had assisted in the surgery with him, handed Kyung-soo a canned coffee.

Kyung-soo straightened his back and took a swig of the coffee. Hee-joon sat on the sofa opposite Kyung-soo.

“You were an excellent assistant today. The professor seemed satisfied too.”

“That’s a relief. I don’t want to give them any reason to nitpick.”

“You should be happy when you’re praised. Why are you relieved first? You have a unique personality.”

Hee-joon chuckled at Kyung-soo’s response.

“Both Joon-hoo and you, the first-years this year, are too individualistic.”

“…”

“Are you uncomfortable because of Joon-hoo?”

Kyung-soo changed the subject to Joon-hoo.

“Why would I be uncomfortable because of Joon-hoo?”

“You’re both first-years, and the staff are comparing you and Joon-hoo, whether you know it or not.”

“I don’t care about that kind of thing.”

Kyung-soo said firmly.

It’s common to feel envy, jealousy, or inferiority when a peer receives attention for their incredible performance, but.

Kyung-soo didn’t feel any of those emotions, not even a tiny bit.

Rather, he felt sorry for Joon-hoo.

Because he was being called everywhere and suffering a lot due to his great skills and sense of justice.

Kyung-soo believed that he was living a balanced social life.

Handling work neatly.

Maintaining appropriate boundaries with colleagues, and so on.

“Well, honestly, it seems that way. You’re better than me in that regard.”

“Is it because of Senior Shi-ho?”

“You could say that.”

There were two third-year residents, Shi-ho and Hee-joon.

Shi-ho attended the seminar after being contacted by Professor Kwak, while.

Hee-joon remained in the ward.

And what that meant was clear.

Shi-ho was more recognized by the staff in the department.

“The feeling of falling behind a peer… It’s actually hard to overcome. It makes you feel self-conscious.”

“I suppose so.”

Kyung-soo answered vaguely.

He had no desire to delve deeply into Hee-joon’s feelings.

He didn’t want to get involved personally either.

“By the way, do you know you’ve changed a little?”

“In what way?”

“You’ve become a bit more sociable than when you first came, even if it’s just a little. Especially, it seems like you’ve become close to Joon-hoo?”

“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

“It seems like you’re the one who doesn’t want to admit it?”

At Hee-joon’s remark, Kyung-soo quietly recalled his memories.

Certainly, he had been talking to Joon-hoo more often since this fall.

Kyung-soo had even initiated conversations with Joon-hoo quite a few times.

Perhaps he had unknowingly opened his heart to Joon-hoo’s achievements and upright character.

So, Kyung-soo decided to close that heart again.

Humans were inherently untrustworthy beings.

-Mom, where are you going?

-I’m just going out for a bit. Our Kyung-soo, take good care of the house.

-I don’t want to be alone with Dad. I’m scared.

-It’s okay. Mom will be back soon. I promise, pinky swear.

Suddenly, a scene that remained as trauma replayed in his mind. Kyung-soo barely managed to unclench his fist, which had unknowingly tightened.

“What’s wrong? You suddenly don’t look good?”

“I’m just tired.”

Kyung-soo made an excuse and put his hand in his gown pocket.

He took out his vibrating pager and connected the call.

“Yes. Yes.”

-…

“I’ll go down now.”

“Emergency room call?” Hee-joon asked as Kyung-soo hung up.

“Yes. Senior Min-kyung called.”

“There are already few people because of the seminar, and now there are many emergency room calls. Go ahead.”

“Have a good one.”

Kyung-soo mechanically greeted him and left the lounge.

He hurried to the emergency room.

After stopping by the station to check the patient’s information and the location of the patient’s bed, Kyung-soo faced the patient.

The patient’s name was Kim Min-soo.

A man in his 30s who was a previous patient (a patient who had been to the hospital before).

He had received outpatient treatment in the Department of Psychiatry several times before, but that was already 8 months ago.

The diagnosis was schizophrenia.

The patient’s purpose for visiting the emergency room was due to a head injury from falling off a bicycle.

“Let’s examine the patient’s head first…”

However, Kyung-soo couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because the patient’s gaze towards him was as sharp as a beast.

Perhaps that’s why.

Kyung-soo couldn’t hide his anxiety. The patient seemed as precarious as a volcano about to erupt.

“You? Are you the one who made my head like this?”

“What are you talking about? I’m seeing you for the first time.”

“You had people make me fall off my bicycle. I know everything. There’s no way I would have hurt my head otherwise.”

“Please don’t misunderstand and listen to me carefully…”

“Don’t play dumb! I know everything. A reliable informant told me everything.”

The patient took scissors from a dressing cart nearby and held them in his hand.

And charged at Kyung-soo like a charging bull.

* * *

Operating Room 3.

A patient lay sideways on the brightly lit operating table.

The 60-year-old patient’s diagnosis was TIA.

Transient ischemic attack, known to the public as a mini-stroke [a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain].

TIA was a disease in which blood clots or cholesterol accumulated in the internal carotid artery, blocking blood flow.

This caused paralysis, speech impairment, dizziness, and sensory impairment.

‘I’m going to die, really.’

Gu Hyun, a second-year fellow who was the surgeon, bit his lip while looking at the patient’s neck.

The difficulty of the surgery wasn’t high.

Nor did any unexpected variables occur during the surgery.

Gu Hyun was in pain simply because he was exhausted. He had been performing surgeries one after another, skipping breakfast and lunch.

Because there were not enough people due to the seminar, he was being overworked.

He was able to endure it only in the early stages of the surgery, but now his vision was blurred, and his arm was trembling.

He couldn’t continue the surgery at all.

To make matters worse, he had another surgery scheduled after this, so it was a living hell.

“Doctor. What should we do now?”

Joon-hoo, who was standing opposite him, asked.

Since there were not enough people and the difficulty of the surgery was not that high, Joon-hoo was acting as the first assistant.

“Seo Joon-hoo.”

“Yes. Doctor.”

“I’ve heard rumors that you’re very good at your job. Would you like to try doing the surgery this time? I’m not in good condition.”

“Are you talking about carotid endarterectomy [surgical procedure to remove plaque from the carotid artery]?”

“I guess it’s too much?”

Carotid endarterectomy was a strange surgery that seemed easy but was difficult.

The surgery process itself was simple.

The internal carotid artery was cut vertically.

Then, the cholesterol debris inside the internal carotid artery was removed.

However, the catch was that the surgical site was the internal carotid artery.

If you made a mistake, the blood vessel could be damaged.

“Forget it. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“No. I really wanted to ask. I didn’t think you would entrust it to me.”

“Wouldn’t it be burdensome?”

“It’s a surgery I’ll have to do later anyway. It’s good to try it in advance.”

Joon-hoo showed unexpected confidence.

It was impossible to know whether that was really confidence or recklessness, but Gu Hyun decided to entrust the surgery to Joon-hoo.

Joon-hoo was more likely to perform the surgery well than himself, who was in poor condition.

If he watched and thought it wasn’t going to work out.

It would be okay to step in directly at that time.

“I’ll trust you and leave it to you, so don’t disappoint me.”

“Yes. Doctor.”

“Then let’s change places first.”

“It’s okay. I can do it from here.”

“If you’re right-handed, it’ll be uncomfortable to do surgery from that spot, right?”

“Then I’ll use my left hand.”

Joon-hoo moved the surgical tools he was holding in his left hand to his right hand, and the surgical tools he was holding in his right hand to his left hand.

Gu Hyun watched the scene and clicked his tongue.

“Are you ambidextrous by any chance?”

“Yes.”

“Still, change places. The surgical site is the internal carotid artery, not another part. You can’t handle it with a mediocre left hand.”

“I use my left hand as much as my right hand. Would you like me to show you? Doctor, could you put a gauze pad on the dressing cart?”

“Yes.”

The scrub nurse next to Joon-hoo placed a gauze pad on the dressing cart.

Swoosh!

Joon-hoo cut the gauze vertically in a straight line.

There was really no difference between his left and right hands.

Usually, even if someone is ambidextrous, the precision of the hand they mainly use and the hand they use as an assistant is different…

Joon-hoo’s hands seemed to be at the same level.

“Th… that’s right. You don’t have to change places. I don’t need to explain the surgery process separately, right?”

“Yes. Doctor.”

“Then let’s start.”

Gu Hyun sprayed the internal carotid artery with a nebulizer containing a mixture of antibiotics and saline.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

It was a treatment to moisten the blood vessel and prevent further damage to the blood vessel.

Then, he clamped the top and bottom of the internal carotid artery with vascular clamps.

Click!

Click!

This was a treatment to prevent bleeding from continuing when the blood vessel was cut.

“Give me a number 15.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Holding the scalpel he received from the scrub nurse in his left hand, Joon-hoo stared intently at the internal carotid artery.

It had been two months since he had studied cerebrovascular disease with his master’s secret techniques.

An opportunity to test his skills came sooner than expected.

Fear, trembling, anxiety.

Those emotions didn’t even reach Joon-hoo’s toes.

In the Murim world [a world of martial arts and warriors], Joon-hoo had witnessed and experienced countless deaths on the battlefield.

In other words, he was already immune to death and the threat of death.

Being able to maintain composure in any situation.

This was also a hidden contributor that made Joon-hoo who he is today.

No matter how good Joon-hoo’s physical abilities were.

If he had been chicken-hearted, he would not have become a surgeon.

“I will begin carotid endarterectomy.”

No sooner had the words fallen than the scalpel advanced into the internal carotid artery.

The scalpel, reflecting the light of the surgical light, emitted a dazzling glow.

The movement of Joon-hoo’s wrist, cutting the blood vessel vertically, was smooth and natural.

It even seemed as trivial as cutting a steak.

Moon-Wind Sword Technique, 4th Form, Wind-Cloud Moonrise [a fictional sword technique emphasizing speed and precision].

A sword technique that valued speed and precision, vertically slashing the opponent’s head, was unfolding through the scalpel.

Swoosh!

As Joon-hoo exquisitely controlled his strength.

And caught the slightest movement of his wrist.

The blood vessel split in half.

The incision was perfectly vertical and the length converged to exactly 3 centimeters.

“Suction.”

Whir.

Gu Hyun sucked up the blood that was gushing out as the blood vessel split.

Gu Hyun finished suctioning and used retractors to open the incision to the left and right.

“The incision is clean. I was worried that you might cut the blood vessel completely.”

“Doctor Joon-hoo’s hands are so fast that I couldn’t even see him making the incision properly.”

“Me too. I thought he was just flicking his wrist.”

Gu Hyun and the two scrub nurses were busy praising Joon-hoo.

Joon-hoo was just embarrassed.

There was so much more that Joon-hoo would show in the future to be impressed by this much.

“Looking at it with my own eyes, it seems like there’s much more plaque (a mass of cholesterol, etc.) accumulated.”

“That’s right. The inner lining of the blood vessel is very yellow. The stenosis rate is 75 percent, it’s a mess.”

“I’ll remove the plaque right away.”

“But why are you still holding the scalpel?”

Gu Hyun tilted his head and asked.

The principle was to carefully peel off the plaque attached to the inner lining of the blood vessel using a needle holder and forceps, as if peeling off wrapping paper.

But Joon-hoo was still holding the scalpel.

“I’m going to try to dissect it with a scalpel.”

“With a scalpel? How?”

“I’m going to try to slice the plaque like sashimi [thinly sliced raw fish]. That way, I can prevent plaque debris from falling off and causing thromboembolism [blockage of a blood vessel by a blood clot].”

“Are you crazy? There’s no surgeon in the world who slices plaque like sashimi.”

Gu Hyun was so dumbfounded that he jumped up and down. The voice that had been soft until now became rough.

In theory, Joon-hoo’s treatment was the best, but that was only in the realm of theory.

If the blood vessel wall was damaged while using the scalpel, it was irreversible.

It was like burning down the house to catch a flea.

“Don’t be ridiculous and put the scalpel down.”

“Just once, can’t I just try it once? I’ll stop right away if I don’t think it’s going to work.”

“Is this guy completely crazy?”

Gu Hyun huffed and puffed, then took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

“Really, just once. There’s no second time.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Doctor. Shouldn’t you stop him? How can you allow that?”

The scrub nurse next to Gu Hyun whispered to Gu Hyun with concern.

“Honestly, I’m curious. Whether he can really do it.”

“The price of curiosity can be terrible.”

“I’m worried, but I have the ability to handle that much. It’s not like we’re going to keep neglecting it.”

Gu Hyun soothed the scrub nurse.

Soon after, Joon-hoo brought the scalpel, lying horizontally, to the blood vessel.

While all the staff held their breath and watched Joon-hoo.

A situation that was dangerous no matter how you thought about it.

A situation where failure was inevitable no matter how you thought about it.

But what was only thought of in theory began to actually happen.