A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 406

Chapter 79: An Unexpected Destination (1)

The sports car’s reckless charge transformed the café into a scene of utter chaos.

A window was shattered, sending sharp fragments scattering haphazardly across the floor.

The table where Jun-hoo and Seo-yeon had been sitting was completely destroyed, overturned and broken.

Just how fast had that car been going?

The sports car demolished the café counter before finally grinding to a halt after crashing into the outer wall.

The car’s front bumper was grotesquely crumpled and twisted.

‘Is anyone hurt?’

Jun-hoo scanned the café and its surroundings with a cool, assessing gaze.

As he’d expected, Jun-hoo and Seo-yeon, having spotted the car hurtling towards them, were unharmed.

Thanks to Jun-hoo’s timely roar, amplified by Lion’s Roar [a technique that enhances the user’s voice and can startle or disorient opponents].

The customers and the employee behind the counter also appeared to have evacuated to safety.

Jun-hoo stepped outside the café.

“What a bolt from the blue in broad daylight! A car just crashed right into the café?”

“That was close! I was just about to go in there.”

“Shouldn’t someone call 911 [the emergency number in the US, adapted from the original ‘119’ for cultural relevance]?”

The absurd accident quickly drew a crowd of onlookers around the café.

The murmuring grew louder, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Some were even filming the scene with their phones.

‘Whew, thank goodness.’

The worst-case scenario Jun-hoo had envisioned hadn’t come to pass.

The car had mounted the sidewalk before leaving the road.

He had been worried that the vehicle might have struck a pedestrian along the way.

It seemed the only person injured was the driver.

“Sir, you saved my life! I almost got crushed by that car.”

A café employee who had come outside bowed deeply to Jun-hoo.

“I’m really grateful, too.”

“At first, I wondered why you were shouting so loudly, but it turns out you had a very good reason.”

Other customers also expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo gave an awkward smile, accepting their thanks.

Then, he turned his attention to the café, focusing on the point where the sports car had crashed.

Normally, he would have rushed to the scene with lightning speed after confirming that the people around him were safe.

Jun-hoo was, by nature, an enthusiastic and dedicated surgeon.

His eyes would light up at the prospect of helping a patient.

But why?

Why did his legs feel so heavy and reluctant today?

When he listened to the voice within, an unexpected sentiment surfaced.

*I don’t want to save him.*

*That person…*…

The reason for his reluctance to provide aid was simple.

A person wealthy enough to drive a sports car…

…that same person had attacked a café with their car in broad daylight?

A plausible scenario formed in his mind.

It was either drug-induced driving or drunk driving.

Even if Jun-hoo were to save the driver, after making numerous concessions to his conscience…

…would the driver even reflect on their reckless actions?

Absolutely not.

They would likely rationalize their behavior, claiming they were simply unlucky to have had an accident.

The punishment, if any, would also be lenient.

Well, even that was acceptable, to a degree.

The real problem was that such an incident could easily happen again in the future, potentially harming other innocent people.

Just look at today’s events.

It was only by sheer luck that Jun-hoo had been present at the scene.

Otherwise, at least the café employee would have been seriously injured, or even killed, on the spot.

“Doctor, what should we do? Should we call 911 after all?”

Seo-yeon, who had followed Jun-hoo out of the café, stood beside him and asked, her voice filled with concern.

“……”

Jun-hoo remained silent, his expression unreadable.

Considering the time it would take for 911 to arrive, the time required for extrication, and the subsequent time needed for treatment, there was a significant risk of missing the critical golden hour [the first hour after a traumatic injury, when emergency treatment is most likely to be successful] for treatment.

The most effective way to save the patient…

…was for Jun-hoo to personally rescue the patient immediately.

But why? *Why bother?*

…the question lingered stubbornly in his mind.

Did people’s lives truly possess equal value?

Was the life of that reckless scoundrel who had crashed into the café really as precious as Jun-hoo’s own life?

*You mustn’t evaluate life according to your own whims. You must uphold your fundamental duty as a doctor.*

*Have you forgotten the Hippocratic Oath [an oath historically taken by doctors, outlining their ethical obligations]?*

*I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.*

*Don’t you remember?*

The voice of his conscience, which had been subdued, now spoke up with renewed strength.

But the opposing voice was equally compelling.

The voice argued.

*If you save that bastard, the same tragedy will surely be repeated. You should just let him die alone this time.*

“Doctor! Please make a decision quickly!”

Seo-yeon urged Jun-hoo, her voice laced with urgency.

Jun-hoo, who had been deep in contemplation, finally nodded his head.

“I’ll go take a look.”

* * *

Thump, thump, thump.

Jun-hoo sprinted towards the wrecked car at a rapid pace. Seo-yeon waved her arms and hurried to catch up with him.

He didn’t call 911.

To be precise, there was no need to call.

Just as Seo-yeon was about to dial the number, a café employee was already reporting the incident.

‘I’ll be of some help.’

Seo-yeon’s expression was determined.

She wasn’t just an employee of a medical portal site. Until three years prior, she had worked as a nurse in a large, reputable hospital.

She was more than capable of assisting Jun-hoo in this situation.

“It’s a complete disaster.”

Seo-yeon stood beside Jun-hoo, panting slightly from the exertion.

A patient was lying unconscious inside the car, trapped within the mangled wreckage. The deployed airbag was obscuring the patient’s face.

Fortunately.

The patient was wearing a seatbelt.

If they hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt, they almost certainly would have died on impact.

“Why did they crash into the café with their car?”

“They were either drunk or on drugs. The steering was erratic from the moment they turned onto this road.”

“You were watching all that?”

“I have a wide field of vision,” Jun-hoo said in a somewhat bitter tone.

Seo-yeon admired Jun-hoo’s observational skills and approached the car cautiously.

She tried to open the driver’s side door with both hands.

“Ugh…”

Only a heavy groan escaped her lips.

The door remained stubbornly shut. The only thing shaking was Seo-yeon’s slender body as she strained to pull it open.

Wasn’t the door lock supposed to automatically release in the event of an accident?

“It seems the lock malfunctioned during the collision.”

“Should we break the window?”

“That’s the next best option, but then we won’t be able to treat them effectively.”

“What should we do then?”

Seo-yeon anxiously bit her nails. She was determined to save the patient, but there was no apparent way to get them out of the vehicle.

The first step of the rescue operation was proving to be an insurmountable obstacle.

“Step aside.”

“What are you going to do?”

“If there’s a problem, you have to eliminate the cause of the problem first.”

Jun-hoo positioned himself where Seo-yeon had been standing just moments before.

Like Seo-yeon, he gripped the door handle with all his might.

“If the lock is broken, you can’t open it with brute force, can you?” Seo-yeon asked, doubt evident in her voice.

“You can’t open it with *normal* force, but you might be able to open it with *special* force.”

No sooner had Jun-hoo finished speaking than an astonishing feat of strength unfolded before their eyes.

The driver’s side door, which hadn’t budged an inch when Seo-yeon had tried to open it, suddenly yielded and opened as easily as peeling back the lid of a canned good.

*Thump!*

Jun-hoo simply tore the driver’s side door off its hinges and tossed it far away.

It was an unbelievable, unimaginable display of raw power, even after witnessing it firsthand.

The subsequent treatment after gaining access to the patient proceeded smoothly.

Jun-hoo released the patient’s seatbelt and carefully laid them on the ground.

The patient appeared to be in their early to mid-twenties.

As one might expect of the owner of a sports car, they were wearing a flashy, expensive luxury watch on their wrist.

However, the patient’s left leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

It appeared that the car’s frame had crushed the patient’s leg as it crumpled upon impact.

The left side of their pants was soaked with blood, as if they had been stabbed repeatedly by sharp pieces of metal.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

Jun-hoo shook the patient’s shoulder gently.

The patient only groaned in response and remained unconscious.

“Doctor, please bring me a chair from nearby.”

“What are you going to use the chair for?”

“There’s no time to explain.”

Jun-hoo’s voice and eyes were resolute, leaving no room for argument.

The gentle and approachable demeanor he had displayed during the interview was nowhere to be seen.

The current Jun-hoo was like a focused and determined tiger.

“Ah, okay.”

Seo-yeon, without hesitation, left her spot and returned quickly with a wooden chair she had found nearby.

At that moment, Jun-hoo was holding his hand on the patient’s head.

‘What is he doing?’

It was truly a peculiar action.

There were no known diseases that could be diagnosed simply by placing a hand on the head.

Was he perhaps taking their temperature?

It didn’t seem likely.

If he were trying to take their temperature, it would make more sense to place his hand on their forehead, not the crown of their head.

“Doctor, I brought the chair.”

Jun-hoo nodded in acknowledgment.

He grabbed the back of the chair with one hand and one of the chair legs with the other.

*Snap!*

Once again, an extraordinary display of strength unfolded.

Jun-hoo separated the chair back from the chair leg in one swift motion.

Then, he carefully placed the detached chair leg on the patient’s bent left popliteal fossa [the hollow at the back of the knee].

*Ah, I see!*

He was attempting to improvise a splint to stabilize the fracture.

He had asked for a chair because there was nothing else readily available that could serve as a makeshift splint.

Seo-yeon couldn’t help but admire Jun-hoo’s innovative thinking and resourcefulness.

“Doctor, here you go.”

Seo-yeon, with her quick wit and understanding, handed Jun-hoo the scarf she was wearing around her neck.

Jun-hoo smiled with his eyes, expressing his gratitude.

He used the scarf he had received from Seo-yeon like a bandage.

He carefully wrapped the chair leg that had been placed under the patient’s leg with the scarf, securing it firmly in place.

That wasn’t all.

She didn’t know why.

Jun-hoo then began probing around the patient’s bleeding area with his index finger.

Surprisingly, after that, the patient’s bleeding rapidly subsided and eventually stopped.

Surely that wasn’t a recognized medical treatment.

It must be some kind of superstitious ritual, she thought.

“Your improvisation is amazing! I never would have thought to use a chair leg as a splint.”

Seo-yeon said in admiration.

“The Boost Up Program also includes a trauma surgery component. If you go directly to the field, you’re bound to experience all sorts of unexpected situations.”

“Wow! The Boost Up Program has that kind of effect, too.”

“It’s an effect that people who only talk can never truly understand,” Jun-hoo subtly aimed his comment at Sung-deok once again.

Having witnessed Jun-hoo’s treatment firsthand, Seo-yeon couldn’t help but feel a deeper sense of trust in Jun-hoo than in Sung-deok.

If another surgeon had been in this place…

…would they have been able to treat the patient as skillfully and effectively as Jun-hoo?

Absolutely not.

In the first place, they wouldn’t have possessed the strength to tear off the car door.

They wouldn’t have even considered using a chair leg as a makeshift splint.

“Whew~”

Seo-yeon let out a sigh of relief and continued.

“It seems like we’ve done all the treatment we can do for now. I don’t think there are any major injuries besides the leg fracture, what do you think, Doctor?”

“This patient is in serious condition. We need to get them to the hospital as soon as possible.”

“You’ve already stabilized the fracture and the bleeding has almost stopped, though?”

Seo-yeon’s head tilted slightly to the left, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Since the collision was so severe, the fact that the patient was still unconscious wasn’t particularly surprising.

Even falling off a bicycle…

…there were many cases where people suffered concussions from hitting their heads on the ground.

“Can you see this?”

Jun-hoo pointed to the patient’s left temple with his index finger.

“Oh? There’s a bruise?”

“It seems they hit their temple on the glass window during the collision. The GCS [Glasgow Coma Scale, a neurological scale used to assess level of consciousness] score is 4, which indicates a semi-coma state. I checked the pupillary reflex, and the pupils were pinpoint.”

“You didn’t have a penlight, so how did you check the pupillary reflex?”

“With a cell phone light. It’s not as accurate as a penlight, but it provides some information.”

Seo-yeon was once again impressed by Jun-hoo’s quick thinking and resourcefulness.

The patient should consider it a blessing to have encountered Jun-hoo.

What other surgeon could treat and diagnose a patient so accurately in a makeshift setting like a café?

“I understand what you’re saying, but shouldn’t we wait for 911 to arrive?”

“It’ll be faster if I transport them to the emergency room myself. Shinwon University Hospital is close by, and I know a reliable surgeon there.”

“You’re going to transport an adult to the hospital alone? That’s impossible!”

Seo-yeon was horrified by the suggestion, but Jun-hoo’s expression remained calm and determined.

“I can do it.”