A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 274

Chapter 52: Eradication (4)

“Ah… I understand now that I hear it. Yuri, her nickname in the ward is ‘Angel’ for a reason.”

“Yuri deserves that.”

“Our Yuri is so cool. Even I’d fall for her if I were a woman.”

The nurses at the station nodded at Jun-hoo’s explanation.

Everyone seemed to understand.

Thanks to this, Jun-hoo confirmed Yuri Ko’s reputation among her peers.

The reason Jun-hoo suddenly visited the ward.

It started with an email.

About four days ago.

There was a blood cancer patient in the ward who was exhausted both physically and mentally. Yuri sent an email saying that the patient was a fan of Jun-hoo and asked if Jun-hoo could visit the ward to give the patient courage.

Jun-hoo readily agreed, and that’s how today’s meeting was arranged.

“Yuri! Over here! Here! Dr. Seo Jun-hoo is here.”

A nurse waved her hand cheerfully, looking down the ward hallway.

Jun-hoo also turned his head.

Yuri was returning to the station, pulling a dressing cart.

Yuri looked to be in her late twenties.

Her long hair was neatly tied up in a hairnet, and her skin was clear and smooth.

Her eyes were round and large, and when she smiled, her front teeth showed, giving her a rabbit-like impression.

“Wow, Doctor. You really came?”

Yuri smiled brightly next to Jun-hoo.

She jumped up and down in place like a child receiving a birthday present.

“Oh, I should definitely come when it’s for a good cause. I’d make time even if I didn’t have it.”

“Still, it’s not an easy thing to do. Working in neurosurgery and filming NewTube, you must not want to do anything on your days off.”

“Then you should have sent the email half-heartedly. I was so touched that I couldn’t not come.”

Jun-hoo recalled the words in the email Yuri sent.

Yuri wrote well.

She perfectly targeted Jun-hoo’s sensibilities.

The patient’s story.

The hardships the patient was experiencing in the ward.

Yuri’s feelings of pity and sorrow as she watched the patient, and so on.

Jun-hoo couldn’t help but come to the ward to offer his support because of her emotional writing.

“I have a habit of writing a diary, and I guess that helped.”

“I should start writing a diary if I want to write well too.”

“Yes, I highly recommend it. But I can’t take responsibility if your skills don’t improve later!”

Yuri’s smile as she joked was dazzling.

Smiling is her default, and her smile is genuine.

Jun-hoo felt firsthand why Yuri’s nickname was ‘Angel’.

After a brief conversation.

Yuri walked half a step ahead, and Jun-hoo began to walk beside Yuri.

The pediatric cancer ward was deserted.

Perhaps because there were many patients who couldn’t move around, there were few people in the hallway.

Unlike the adult ward, various character drawings were painted on the walls of the pediatric cancer ward.

Penguins, rabbits, dinosaurs, and so on.

The vibrant colors were pleasing to the eye for a moment.

“It’s here. Hae-in’s room.”

Yuri stopped in front of a room at the end of the hallway.

“It’s a sterile room.”

“Yes. You can already hear the buzzing sound, right?”

Jun-hoo nodded instead of answering. The sterile room had an air filter running 24 hours a day.

“Do we need to disinfect and wear equipment before entering?”

“No. We’ve turned the patient’s room into an isolation room, so you can just come in.”

Drrr.

Yuri opened the door and entered.

The sterile room was a single room, and like a visiting room in a prison, the space where the patient lived and the space where the visitor was were separated by a partition.

Jun-hoo stared through the opaque window.

A student with bluish hair like a nun was lying in bed, watching TV listlessly.

The patient’s name was Kang Na-eun.

She was hospitalized for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia [a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood cells] and was scheduled to undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation [a procedure in which defective bone marrow is replaced with healthy bone marrow] in two days.

Jun-hoo couldn’t dare to fathom the pain that Na-eun had experienced and was still experiencing.

Sometimes, saying that you understand someone else is a rudeness and disrespect in itself.

This was exactly one of those times.

Whoosh!

Jun-hoo quickly lowered his waist.

Yuri tilted her head, seeing Jun-hoo like that.

“Doctor. What are you doing all of a sudden? Are you sick somewhere?”

“No. I wanted to surprise Na-eun. It wouldn’t be fun if I just appeared.”

Jun-hoo continued quickly.

“Does Na-eun know that you sent me an email?”

“Yes. She knows.”

“That’s good. Then please tell her this. Originally, I was supposed to come today, but the visit was suddenly canceled due to a schedule conflict.”

“Wow, you even know how to do impromptu events?”

“Isn’t life just a series of events anyway?”

“Na-eun. I’m here.”

Yuri approached the partition and called Na-eun. She said what Jun-hoo told her to say.

“It’s okay. He’s a very busy doctor, so it would be stranger if he came in person.”

“Then you’re not disappointed? After all, Dr. Jun-hoo said he was coming and then he didn’t.”

“He’s a busy person, so I have to understand that much. That’s how things are in life…”

Na-eun’s logic was cool, but Na-eun’s voice was not cool at all.

There was a deep regret in it.

“Understand what? It doesn’t look like you understand at all?”

Jun-hoo joined the conversation, straightening his back.

Na-eun’s eyes widened like an owl when she saw Jun-hoo. Her body froze as if she had been petrified by Medusa’s attack [reference to Greek mythology where Medusa’s gaze turned people to stone].

Na-eun belatedly covered her open mouth with both hands.

“D… Doctor?”

Na-eun’s voice trembled faintly.

Soon, Na-eun lowered her head and began to sob. She was moved by Jun-hoo’s visit.

Jun-hoo also felt his eyes get hot and his nose tingle for no reason.

NewTube, which he started to help patients and guardians who were in financial difficulty.

Why did he only now realize that the NewTube videos could be a source of joy for some, hope for others, and inspiration for others?

“It’s okay. Na-eun. You can cry more.”

Jun-hoo comforted Na-eun in a soft voice.

* * *

Drrr.

Jun-hoo came out of the sterile room.

It had been a full hour since he started the visit.

He lost track of time while talking to Na-eun, and Jun-hoo was the one listening to Na-eun’s story.

In the midst of a terrible battle with leukemia.

In a prison without bars.

How much had accumulated in the 16-year-old girl?

Jun-hoo deliberately closed his mouth and opened his ears.

Instead, he showed off a few personal skills from the NewTube videos in the middle of the conversation.

Bending coins, doing idol dance challenges, and so on.

Na-eun laughed and liked it.

Jun-hoo was happy because Na-eun liked it.

When he came out after finishing the visit, Jun-hoo left the bent coin and signed paper there.

“Doctor, are you okay?”

Tadatadak.

Jun-hoo approached Yuri with quick steps.

Yuri, who had finished her work in the ward, was staggering.

“Ah. Yes. I’m fine. I appreciate your concern, but you don’t have to worry about it.”

Yuri waved her hand awkwardly and smiled.

“How can I not worry? You almost fell over?”

“I think it’s because I skipped lunch to go on a diet. It’s really nothing.”

“Don’t lie. You can fool ghosts, but you can’t fool me.”

Jun-hoo’s atmosphere changed 180 degrees.

His eyes were fierce, as if he were interrogating a suspect.

His voice was like frost.

“Wh… Why would I lie to you, Doctor? There’s no reason for me to do that?”

Yuri asked, as if arguing awkwardly.

“If you lied… it’s probably because you didn’t want to worry me. Isn’t dieting just an excuse?”

“You don’t know anything, Doctor. Women are on a diet their whole lives.”

“But why did you avoid my eyes when you were talking about dieting? Why were your eyes looking at the ceiling? That’s the reaction you have when you’re making up a story.”

Jun-hoo specifically stated the grounds for Yuri’s lie.

And Yuri’s staggering…

Jun-hoo thought that there was some important secret hidden in it.

“Hmph. I lost. I can’t beat your sharp eyes, Doctor.”

Yuri said, pouting her lips.

“Actually, I’ve been feeling dizzy and nauseous since yesterday. I took a headache pill, but it didn’t get much better…”

“…”

“I’m sure it’s just because I’m tired.”

“It could be, and it might not be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ms. Ko. Please stand still for a moment. I’ll give you a simple head massage.”

Jun-hoo went behind Yuri.

He pretended to massage Yuri’s temples roughly with his fingers, then placed his palm on the top of Yuri’s head.

Jun-hoo had a tendency to always worry about the worst because he had experienced too many incidents.

As Yuri said, there was a high possibility that she was simply feeling dizzy due to fatigue and staggered as a result…

But it was necessary to verify other causes as well.

Woo woong. Woo woong.

Internal energy drawn from the dantian [an energy center in the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine] penetrated into Yuri’s head from the palm of his hand.

The internal energy rippled like a wave, passing through the skull and meninges [membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord] and spreading into Yuri’s cerebral blood vessels in an instant.

Its speed was truly lightning fast.

After undergoing Bone Marrow Cleansing, Jun-hoo’s internal energy operation became more precise and faster.

Jun-hoo felt the sensation transmitted from the internal energy as if it were his own, caressing and embracing Yuri’s brain nerves and cerebral blood vessels.

Finally, Jun-hoo’s hand fell from the top of Yuri’s head.

It would have taken at least 40 minutes to get a cerebral angiography [an X-ray examination of the blood vessels in the brain] in the hospital…

Jun-hoo performed an ‘internal energy cerebral angiography’ in just 20 seconds and even checked the test results.

It was a miracle that only Jun-hoo could do on this Earth.

“Wow. My head feels hot because you massaged it, Doctor. It felt like contrast agent was injected.”

Yuri admired Jun-hoo, thinking that the massage was over.

But Jun-hoo’s expression was dark and stiff.

“Ms. Ko.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go to the emergency room together. Every second counts.”

* * *

“Doctor. Why are you really doing this?”

Yuri shouted in a nervous voice.

Currently, Yuri was being dragged to the emergency room by Jun-hoo.

She was just feeling a little dizzy, had a headache, and felt nauseous.

But Jun-hoo was overinterpreting this as if it were a deadly disease.

Absolutely!

And right now!

She had to receive treatment in the emergency room.

There was no such thing as being unreasonable.

“Everyone. I’m sorry, but I’ll borrow Ms. Yuri for a moment. I think she needs to receive treatment in the emergency room.”

“…”

“It’s an important matter, so please understand. Oh, and I ordered coffee and dessert through the delivery app, so please enjoy it.”

That’s what Jun-hoo said when he passed through the station a little while ago, asking the nurses for their understanding.

Jun-hoo’s handling of things was meticulous.

“I have a lot of work to do. I don’t have time to get treatment in the emergency room.”

“You just said you had a lot of work to do, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you want to do that work with your own hands, follow my words.”

Jun-hoo’s eyes even had a sense of determination.

She was grateful that Jun-hoo was worried about her. But she couldn’t help but think that the current situation was excessive.

“Doctor. You’re being too rude? You’re treating me badly now that I’m weak.”

Yuri tried to escape Jun-hoo’s grasp.

But it was useless.

Jun-hoo’s grip strength was that of a Herculean [referring to Hercules, a hero in Greek mythology known for his incredible strength].

It was a grip that could never be imagined from his soft appearance and slender physique.

“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t care if I’m called rude if I can save someone.”

“You’re talking as if I’m a terminally ill patient.”

“Yes. There’s a high probability of that.”

Yuri clicked her tongue at Jun-hoo’s confirmation.

She knew that Jun-hoo was a neurosurgeon, but what kind of treatment could he possibly provide after just giving her a 1-minute head massage?

She was just dumbfounded.

After a while, they forcibly arrived at the emergency room.

Luckily, she only had to wait 20 minutes to receive treatment from the emergency physician.

Yuri watched Jun-hoo’s reaction and told him her symptoms.

The emergency physician’s expression as he questioned her was indifferent.

It was as if he was dismissing her, thinking she came to the emergency room with just that much of a headache during work.

Yuri’s cheeks flushed red.

She was just embarrassing herself because of Jun-hoo.

“I’ll prescribe you some good headache medicine, so take it and get some rest. You’ll probably get better soon.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Excuse me. I’m sorry, but please take a CT scan of Ms. Ko.”

Jun-hoo suddenly joined the conversation.

Wow… he’s finally causing trouble again.

Yuri put her hand on her forehead as if she was in trouble, and the emergency physician glared at Jun-hoo as if he was displeased.

“Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?”

“I’m Seo Jun-hoo, a neurosurgeon at Seoul Shinwon University Hospital. This is a patient who can’t be cured with headache medicine, so let’s at least take a CT scan and see the results.”

“Hey. Do you think this is Shinwon University Hospital? It’s going to be difficult if you act like a gangster.”

“Do you know what my strength is?”

“What are you talking about out of the blue?”

“It’s that I have a lot of money. Even if it’s not covered by insurance, I’ll pay for all the test fees, so please take the scan first.”

“Payment is a given… and if there’s nothing wrong with the patient, I’ll call the neurosurgery department where you work and strongly protest your rudeness. Can you handle that?”

Jun-hoo shrugged his shoulders as if he was bored at the emergency physician’s provocation.

“Do as you please.”