A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 456

Chapter 89: The Final Battle (2)

“Haaaah…….”

Yang Jin-soo yawned, his mouth wide open.

*Was it because I was seeing patients after lunch?* He felt sleepy and languid, with no strength in his body.

“Doctor, the next patient is here.”

The resident, who was standing a short distance away, spoke up. He was the resident who helped with entering charts or assisting with minor procedures during outpatient visits.

“Which patient are you talking about? There are more than one or two.”

“The frostbite patient you saw last time, remember?”

“Ah… that patient?”

Yang Jin-soo nodded.

Immediately, the patient’s toes, which looked like they had been burned black, flashed in his mind.

During the examination, Yang Jin-soo had recommended amputation to the patient.

The patient seemed resentful, but there was nothing he could do. No matter which hospital or which doctor he consulted, the outcome would have been the same.

“Judging by the fact that he hasn’t received treatment in the meantime, it seems he’s been going around to other hospitals.”

“Probably. And he had no choice but to come back.”

“It’s pitiful to think about. Having to amputate his toes at such a young age.”

“What can’t be helped, can’t be helped. If there was another way, I would have chosen that way too.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Just then, the sound of knocking echoed.

When he told them to come in, the patient and Jun-hoo entered the examination room. Whether it was his imagination or not, the patient’s gait seemed more natural. Last time, he had seemed to limp slightly.

Yang Jin-soo greeted the patient and Jun-hoo. They returned the greeting and sat down.

“In-ho, you’ve looked around enough and came back, right?” Yang Jin-soo said gently.

“Let’s not have a pointless power struggle and make it easy on ourselves. We need to schedule the toe amputation surgery as soon as possible.”

“…….”

“It’s been a whole month since the first examination. Now, the necrosis [tissue death] might spread to other areas.”

“Doctor, I don’t think we need to talk about amputation surgery.” Jun-hoo interjected.

“Why is Teacher Seo acting like this again? I thought we talked it out last time.”

“The situation has changed.”

“What’s changed?” Yang Jin-soo scoffed.

The only way to save even the remaining part of the big toe was amputation.

*Ah….*

There was only one other way.

For a miracle to inexplicably befall the patient’s toe?

But miracles don’t happen in modern society.

A miracle in modern society was just another word for fraud.

“You’re not going to say you’re going to try some strange folk remedy, are you?”

“There’s no way we would.”

“Hmm… then what’s changed?”

“In-ho, show the doctor your toe.”

“Yes, Company Commander.”

The patient took off his combat boots and socks.

Yang Jin-soo watched with interest, curious about what had happened to the toe in the past month.

“What?”

“No way!”

Yang Jin-soo was surprised, and the resident was shocked.

Something beyond imagination, a real miracle, had happened.

In just about a month, the patient’s toe had seemingly regenerated. The charcoal-like layer of keratin [a protein that forms the main structural constituent of hair, feathers, hoofs, claws, horns, etc.] that had covered the skin surface had completely peeled off.

The toe skin was smooth and had a healthy, rosy color.

From the outside, it looked perfectly normal.

*Was such a thing possible? And in just one month?*

Yang Jin-soo, in a state of shock, couldn’t even speak.

“Move your toe.”

“Yes.”

At Jun-hoo’s instruction, In-ho moved his toe. The way he wiggled it up and down looked like he was saying hello.

“It’s not just the appearance that’s normal, but the function is normal too.”

“Yes. That’s why I said the situation has changed.” Jun-hoo smiled brightly.

“How on earth did you treat the toe? You agreed before that amputation surgery was the only answer.” Yang Jin-soo asked, his eyes wide.

“I received help from Korean medicine. Acupuncture was the key.”

“Acupuncture?”

As soon as the words “Korean medicine” were mentioned, wrinkles formed on Yang Jin-soo’s forehead.

*Could Korean medicine properly treat patients?*

……Many people debated this.

Some claimed it definitely had an effect and that they had benefited from it, while others claimed Korean medicine was just a placebo effect [a beneficial effect produced by a fake drug or treatment, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient’s belief in that treatment].

Of course, Yang Jin-soo’s opinion was the latter.

Yang Jin-soo thought that Korean medicine was far from science or calculation, so it couldn’t be considered medicine in the strict sense.

But the fact that acupuncture had saved the patient’s toe…

It felt like his beliefs were being shaken to the core.

“I can’t argue because the result is right in front of me, but I still can’t believe it.”

“I understand. I didn’t expect to see such a dramatic effect either.”

“But you’re not confident that it’s completely cured, are you?” Yang Jin-soo hit the nail on the head.

If he was confident in the treatment, there would be no need to come to the hospital.

“You can’t fool a doctor’s eyes, as expected. That’s right. I want to get tested again. That way, I can rest assured that it’s completely cured.”

“Okay. I’ll put in the test order. I’ll see you later.”

After the examination, Jun-hoo and the patient left the examination room.

Yang Jin-soo stroked his chin and stared at the monitor.

*Would the test results be normal too?* He was so worried about In-ho that it was difficult to concentrate on the next patients.

* * *

“You’ve worked hard, buddy.”

Jun-hoo patted In-ho on the shoulder.

The two were just coming out of the examination room after their second outpatient visit.

Toe CT [computed tomography scan] and X-ray, blood test, ultrasound, etc.

As a result of various tests, In-ho’s toe was diagnosed as normal.

Just a month ago, amputation was the only option, but the situation had suddenly reversed.

“Didn’t the Company Commander do all the hard work? Thank you so much.” In-ho bowed his head deeply.

In-ho’s toe being safe was all thanks to Jun-hoo from start to finish.

Even famous private hospitals outside the military had shaken their heads, saying that it was impossible to completely cure the toe.

But Jun-hoo didn’t give up on In-ho.

He was determined to protect In-ho’s toe.

Not only did he connect him with an herbal doctor, but when he couldn’t be hospitalized in a Korean medicine hospital, he even gave him acupuncture himself.

To be honest, it was scary that Jun-hoo, who wasn’t an herbal doctor, was giving him acupuncture, but surprisingly, Jun-hoo was good at it.

It wasn’t just a simple misunderstanding… Actually, wasn’t In-ho’s toe cured thanks to acupuncture?

Looking back, it was really amazing.

Even after the first week, acupuncture had no effect at all.

He only felt that his toe was warm, but his condition hadn’t improved.

The amazing change started from the second week.

The black keratin that was covering his toe started to fall off like cookie crumbs.

At the same time, feeling returned to his toe.

He felt the unique tingling sensation that comes when new flesh grows.

And by the fourth week, In-ho’s toe was almost normal. He had no problem walking as usual.

It was all thanks to Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo was a lifesaver—no, a toe-saver.

Thanks to the toe that Jun-hoo saved, In-ho didn’t give up on his dream of becoming a table tennis player.

“Teacher, what if we report it to the news?”

“That you’ve recovered?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t that help the Company Commander’s reputation? The Company Commander has accomplished something that others said was impossible.” In-ho said excitedly.

This was all he could do for Jun-hoo.

“I appreciate your concern, but that would only make things difficult for me.”

“Why?”

“I’m a doctor. In principle, I’m not allowed to give acupuncture. To put it coldly, giving you acupuncture was illegal.”

“Ah…….”

In-ho realized his mistake.

He had forgotten the most important issue in this treatment.

“Still, I feel frustrated. You’ve done something amazing, but no one should know about it.” In-ho felt unfairly treated.

“It’s okay. It’s enough that you know.”

“Company Commander…….” In-ho was moved by Jun-hoo’s magnanimous attitude.

He wondered if there was another doctor like Jun-hoo in the world.

“You still have time before returning to the unit, so spend time with your unit members.”

“Yes, Company Commander. Thank you. I will never forget this grace. Someday, if I win the table tennis competition, I will definitely say the Company Commander’s name.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

In-ho bowed and walked away from Jun-hoo.

Today, In-ho hadn’t come to the Capital Hospital alone with Jun-hoo. He came on a regular outpatient visit with his unit, so Jun-hoo gave them time to relax together.

Jun-hoo walked around the lobby of the Capital Hospital and sat down in an empty seat. He took out his cell phone and called someone.

-Yes. Teacher Seo. How is that frostbite patient doing?

“Thanks to Teacher Moon, I treated him well. I got tested at the dermatology department, and there’s no problem.” Jun-hoo delivered the good news.

The person on the phone was herbal doctor Moon Kyung-rae.

-That’s the best news I’ve heard lately. I was really worried too.

Moon Kyung-rae paused and continued.

-To be honest, I thought the treatment would fail. The patient’s condition was so serious.

Jun-hoo nodded at Moon Kyung-rae’s words.

If he had relied solely on acupuncture, the treatment would have failed.

There was a limit to the healing heat generated by stimulating the blood vessels.

So Jun-hoo added a clever trick.

Immediately after performing acupuncture, he poured internal energy [qi or vital energy] into In-ho’s toe. But the method was different from before.

Originally… when internal energy was poured into the toe, it should have circulated through the toe and spread throughout the body, like blood.

Because internal energy also circulates, but that’s why the treatment effect was temporary.

After much deliberation, Jun-hoo created something similar to a dantian [energy center] in In-ho’s toe. He created a flow of internal energy that rotated clockwise.

Once a flow was created, the internal energy moved along that flow and could maintain the effect of continuously healing the toe.

The healing heat generated by acupuncture, combined with the healing power inherent in internal energy, allowed In-ho’s toe to return to normal.

If either one was missing, today’s miracle would have been impossible.

“Yes, Teacher. Thank you so much. I’ll visit you soon.”

After finishing the call with Moon Kyung-rae, Jun-hoo leaned back on the chair and looked up at the hospital ceiling.

After reviving In-ho’s toe with acupuncture, he had many thoughts.

He wondered if he had ignored Korean medicine too much, even though he was from Murim [a martial arts world].

Even if nothing else, he thought it would be good to study acupuncture a little more.

Maybe studying acupuncture itself wouldn’t be difficult, as Jun-hoo was so familiar with blood points [acupuncture points] and his hand skills were excellent.

However, the only difficult thing was that, in order to legally practice acupuncture, he would have to study Korean medicine and get a Korean medicine license.

*It’s a headache.* He wouldn’t have time to go to Korean medicine school while working as a surgeon.

Jun-hoo frowned as he considered the dual doctor/Korean medicine license.

Was it because it was an unrealistic goal?

The dual license felt more attractive.

Maybe… just maybe… he even had a feeling that there might be a hidden key to saving brain-dead and vegetative patients in acupuncture.

While Jun-hoo was contemplating, his cell phone vibrated.

[Tomorrow at 2 PM. Shinchon Station Story Cafe.]

A short text message came from an unknown number. Jun-hoo’s eyes narrowed as he checked the message. He memorized the schedule and immediately deleted the text message.