A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 260

Chapter 49: The Typhoon (5)

Emergency Room, Zone A.

This is the zone for patients requiring immediate surgery.

Standing before a bed in Zone A-32, hand surgeon Do Jae-hee paced anxiously.

His restless gaze was fixed on the patient.

Joshua.

Aged 27.

With his dark skin and innocent, cow-like eyes, the young man had come all the way from the Philippines.

While working at a factory in Korea, he’d suffered a terrible accident: his right index finger had been severed by a high-pressure press.

The severed finger lay on a table.

The finger was double-sealed.

The finger was submerged in a bag full of saline solution, and that bag was wrapped in another bag filled with ice.

Joshua’s eyes were filled with complex emotions.

He seemed unable to believe his finger had been severed.

He also looked terrified, imagining what was to come.

“It’s okay, Joshua. Everything will be alright.”

A middle-aged man standing next to Joshua comforted him.

The man appeared to be a colleague from the factory.

Perhaps because he had rushed to the hospital, he was still wearing his work clothes, stained with grime.

Despite his protector’s consolation,

Joshua remained uneasy and couldn’t calm down easily.

He just kept alternating his gaze between the bag containing his finger and Jae-hee.

“Whe… When did you hurt yourself?”

Jae-hee asked Joshua in awkward English.

It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t properly examined the patient due to the emergency.

“Two hour.”

“Ah, damn it. This is driving me crazy.”

A curse word burst out reflexively.

Time was running out.

Finger reattachment surgery was urgently needed.

Contrary to popular belief, finger reattachment surgery wasn’t always an emergency.

Depending on the shape of the severed finger and how it was stored, good results could be expected even if surgery was performed 6-12 hours after the amputation.

But unfortunately,

Joshua wasn’t one of those cases.

This was a case that required immediate surgery.

“Doctor, is he not going to be able to get the surgery?”

The protector, who had been silent, asked. His voice was brusque.

“It’s already been 30 minutes since we received simple treatment and waited. We can’t just waste time like this, can we?”

“…….”

“If surgery isn’t possible, please send us to another hospital.”

“We’re checking because we’re short-staffed. I’m sorry, but please wait a little longer.”

“This is a university hospital, but you’re short-handed? There are so many doctors and nurses here?”

The protector scanned the surroundings and frowned.

He seemed to think Jae-hee’s answer was an excuse.

It probably looked like the hospital was overflowing with staff to him.

But the protector didn’t know that there was a disparity in wealth even in hospitals.

Hand surgery was an ultra-minor field within surgery.

There were only three professors.

And only four medical staff members.

Fortunately, the level of the medical staff was quite high compared to other surgical departments.

To specialize in hand surgery,

you had to have already obtained specialist qualifications in neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery.

“The call will come soon.”

Jae-hee could have confidently given an answer filled with resentment for more than 10 minutes, but his actual answer was short.

No matter what he said,

it was impossible to bridge the gap between himself and the patient.

He wanted to participate in the surgery himself, but he had a regular surgery scheduled shortly.

“Doctor, this friend is a very diligent worker at the factory. He has a wife and children back in his country. How painful and scary must it be to have his finger cut off in a faraway land where he can’t even communicate?”

“…….”

“Anyway, please take good care of him.”

The protector explained the desperate situation and bowed to Jae-hee.

Joshua didn’t know what was going on, but he followed the protector’s lead.

Jae-hee also bowed his head.

Jae-hee was sick and tired of these recurring tragedies.

Why do surgeons always have to suffer from chronic staff shortages?

Did surgeons commit some kind of collective sin in their past lives?

He wanted to ask God if He existed.

Buzzz!

The pager rang just in time.

Even though it was the call he had been waiting for, Jae-hee’s expression wasn’t bright as he connected the call.

He didn’t know yet whether this call would be a beacon of hope or a crushing disappointment.

“Hey, Sung-cheol. What happened?”

-Doctor, the neurosurgery department said they’ll send a staff member.

“Neurosurgery? Wow! My hometown [alma mater/department] is generous after all. I knew neurosurgery would be different.”

Jae-hee was a hand surgeon who came from neurosurgery.

-But Doctor, I’m sorry, but there’s also some bad news.

“What is it?”

-I heard the assistant is a second-year resident?

It didn’t even take a second for the feeling of reaching the peak of happiness to plummet to the ground.

Jae-hee gaped in astonishment.

The whites of his eyes widened.

Then he raised his eyebrows

and tightened his grip on the phone.

The feeling of surprise morphed into anger.

“What?! Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to use a second-year resident for finger reattachment surgery?”

Jae-hee’s voice rose.

A thick, distinct blood vessel stood out on his Adam’s apple.

“Are you sure you asked for a fellow-level assistant?”

-Yes. I’m sure. Would I make such a mistake?

“Then… was there a problem with the neurosurgery department that received the call? Didn’t they understand the request for a first assistant?”

-That’s not it either. Professor Shin Dong-hoon ‘directly’ recommended the second-year resident.”

“Ha… why is my luck so bad today? Seriously.”

Jae-hee couldn’t understand why a professor like Dong-hoon would assign a second-year resident to finger reattachment surgery.

Is he trying to pick a fight with the hand surgery department?

-Should I reject it if you don’t like it? I don’t think a second-year resident is a good idea either.

“No, just tell them to send him. This isn’t the time to be picky.”

-Isn’t it better to skip a meal than to choke while eating [better to be safe than sorry]?

“Professor Shin must have had his reasons. How can a minnow like us understand the heart of a whale [understand the intentions of someone so important]?”

-Okay, I understand. I’ll confirm.

After ending the call,

Jae-hee informed the protector that surgery was possible.

The protector was overjoyed.

He quickly obtained the surgical consent form, and Jae-hee immediately moved to the operating room.

Creak.

Creak.

The bed left the emergency room and advanced like a tank. People in the hospital corridor parted to the left and right.

Each time the bed moved, the finger in the plastic bag placed at the patient’s head trembled.

Coincidentally, the finger was pointing straight ahead.

It was as if the finger was leading the way to the operating room.

* * *

The operating room was just around the corner.

Joon-hoo stopped walking and took a deep breath.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

His excited heart began to beat.

It wasn’t just because he had been running that his heart was racing. He was just looking forward to the approaching finger reattachment surgery.

Yangsoo’s Amber Technique.

Bermo Sesoo [likely a martial arts technique].

Howol Twelve Swords, which had reached the 7th level, etc.

Finger reattachment surgery was the best test to prove Joon-hoo’s achievements so far.

Finger reattachment surgery was famous for its high level of difficulty.

This was because extreme delicacy was required in the process of connecting the severed finger’s nerves, muscles, and blood vessels.

Of course, during his internship in orthopedic surgery,

Joon-hoo had coincidentally assisted in finger reattachment surgery once.

But his role at that time was insignificant.

He was more like a waiter carrying food to the kitchen than a chef.

And the role that Joon-hoo would play today was…

closer to a chef.

That’s how heavy the responsibility was.

By the way, the hand surgery department must be severely short-staffed to readily accept a second-year resident.

A bitter smile appeared on Joon-hoo’s lips.

The hand surgery department, like the neurosurgery and thoracic surgery departments, was known for its staff shortages.

The work was close to heavy labor,

but the salary was stingy, so there were no applicants.

And this was also the reason why Joon-hoo dreamed of becoming an all-around neurosurgeon.

Brain tumor part.

Cerebrovascular part.

Cervical and lumbar spine part.

Stereotactic neurosurgery part.

Trauma surgery part.

Finally, the hand surgery part.

If Joon-hoo mastered all the detailed specialties that a neurosurgeon could pursue, he would become an all-around asset needed for any emergency surgery.

Then he could prevent the tragedy of emergency patients dying or suffering from aftereffects because they couldn’t receive surgery.

Joon-hoo didn’t want to see a second Sung-ho again.

A health bracelet on his wrist.

After stroking the keepsake left by Sung-ho with one hand,

Joon-hoo put the bracelet in his pants pocket. Accessories were prohibited in the operating room.

Soon, he arrived at the operating room.

Joon-hoo immediately moved to the sink and performed a scrub (pre-operative disinfection).

Rub. Rub. Rub.

He vigorously rubbed his fingers, the back of his hands, his palms, and his forearms with a brush soaked in red disinfectant.

Red bubbles rose from his skin.

The skin with eczema felt like it was burning.

While savoring the pain,

Joon-hoo recalled the memory of the finger reattachment surgery he had assisted with in the past.

The old memory was like a fog.

It was blurry, and he couldn’t see what was beyond it.

He wanted to know, but he couldn’t, which was frustrating.

So, Joon-hoo infused internal energy [qi/life force] into his right index finger and tapped a pressure point on his temple.

Whoosh!

Internal energy that passed through the scalp and skull reached the hippocampus, the memory storage.

It stimulated the hippocampus.

He could feel the hippocampus in his brain wriggling like a seahorse in the sea.

Internal Energy Hippocampus Nerve Stimulation Technique!

As internal energy stimulated the hippocampus,

the brain cells and nerves connected to the hippocampus were activated in an instant.

It felt like thousands of light bulbs in his head were lit up at the same time.

In that brilliant light,

the blurriness that had been covering the memory disappeared all at once.

As if it had happened just a minute ago,

Joon-hoo was able to vividly recall the finger reattachment surgery scene from the past.

The regular mechanical sound of the patient monitoring device.

The pungent smell of disinfectant that stung his nose.

The serious eyes and gestures of the surgeon.

The types of various surgical tools used at the time.

Even the frozen expression of the patient!

Good.

So that’s what it felt like?

At my current level, I can handle it.

If knowledge is power,

then Joon-hoo was no different from a mighty warrior.

He was confident that he could defeat the disease that was tormenting the patient.

After wiping the disinfectant off his head, Joon-hoo finished scrubbing.

Then, he left the sink and, with the help of the scrub nurse, put on a surgical cap, surgical mask, surgical gloves, and gown.

Buzzz.

Finally entering operating room number 2,

the patient in surgical gown was sitting in the center of the operating table.

Due to the nature of finger reattachment surgery, general anesthesia was not performed, so the patient looked no different from an ordinary person.

The patient monitoring device was already connected to the patient.

All vitals were normal.

The electrocardiogram rhythm was also stable.

Various surgical instruments were laid out on the dressing cart, including scalpels, sutures, forceps, hemostats, curved basins, and alcohol swabs.

Under the dazzling shadowless light, a man who appeared to be the surgeon was talking to the scrub nurse next to him.

He was complaining that the assistant wasn’t coming quickly.

In that moment, Joon-hoo realized.

That he was the last piece needed for the surgery.