Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 348

349. Two Surgeries at Once

Kong Sae-chan was terrified, his body rigid with tension, fearing his father might burst into the treatment room.

“There’s no need for words. Today, either you die, or I do.”

“Save me, Father! Mom, please stop him!”

Kong Sae-chan was so frightened by his father that he momentarily forgot the pain from the accident.

“Honey! This is a hospital. We’re not alone here.”

“Yes, Dad, Sae-chan needs treatment first. You can scold him later, okay?”

“Sir, please hold still and give us that. Someone could get hurt.”

“I don’t need any of that! Is that trash even a person?”

Jang Deuk-chil and Team Leader Choi barely managed to wrestle the golf club away, but despite his wife and daughter’s efforts, Kong Sae-chan’s father’s anger showed no signs of diminishing.

The look in his eyes as he glared at his son was as fierce as if he were looking at an enemy.

Anyone who didn’t know the full story would think Kong Sae-chan’s father was the strange one, brandishing a golf club and huffing and puffing. But he wasn’t always like this.

Though a bit reserved, he was a loving father who tried to show affection to his daughter and son and always supported them.

However, the relationship between father and son deteriorated when Kong Sae-chan started riding motorcycles.

‘Honey, Sae-chan had an accident.’

‘What? He rode that motorcycle again! What is he trying to do? That little rascal!’

This was already the umpteenth motorcycle accident.

Kong Sae-chan’s father was particularly angry because he had lost his closest friend in his youth to a motorcycle accident.

His friend, nicknamed “Dog Poop,” had been riding motorcycles for over ten years, never once running a red light and always wearing all the protective gear.

That friend was killed instantly in an accident caused by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel.

Kong Sae-chan’s father witnessed the accident firsthand while traveling by car with friends for a fishing trip.

His friend’s body was so severely damaged that it was hard to describe, and unrecognizable.

He didn’t know what to say, seeing his friend in such a gruesome state.

Even the medical staff at the nearby hospital, where they rushed him, were shocked by the horrific sight.

What was most heartbreaking was that his friend had planned to stop riding motorcycles after this trip.

‘Dog Poop, you’re getting old too. So, quit riding that motorcycle.’

‘My wife’s wish this year is for me to stop riding motorcycles. So, I’m planning to sell it after this trip.’

‘Really? That’s a good idea.’

‘But I feel bad selling it. Should I ride it secretly?’

‘Stop talking nonsense and sell it right after the trip before I tell your wife. I’ll make sure of it.’

‘Just kidding. I already told a close friend who owns a shop. I need to let my wife live in peace.’

In the end, his friend couldn’t keep his promise to his wife and passed away in such a terrible accident.

Because of this, the father hated the thought of his son riding a motorcycle.

Especially when he heard news of an accident, his heart would sink, fearing that his son might have suffered a similar gruesome fate as his friend.

He was always worried, and now his son had broken his promise and caused an accident, so the father was beyond frustrated.

Surprisingly, Kong Sae-chan knew that his father had lost a close friend in a motorcycle accident.

But it was always just a fleeting thought. So, it was no wonder his father was angry.

“Dad!!! I know you’re upset and angry because of Sae-chan, but he’s in critical condition right now.”

“Cri, critical? Sae-yoon, what are you talking about?”

The daughter, feeling that things couldn’t continue like this, raised her voice and stood in front of her father. The wife, who had been trying to stop her husband, was startled and looked at her daughter.

“Sae-chan is in bad shape?”

“I think so.”

“That’s good, then. Let him live with a broken bone. He made his body like that because he was riding a motorcycle with a perfectly fine body. If we fix him, he’ll go out to ride a motorcycle again. That rascal.”

“Honey!!! How can you say that now? Sae-chan is in danger.”

“What danger? People don’t die easily from a few fractures.”

“That’s right.”

Dr. Tae-kyung, unable to watch the situation any longer, stepped forward and spoke to Kong Sae-chan’s father.

“As the guardian just said, people don’t die easily from fractures. But in Kong Sae-chan’s case, the problem isn’t just the fractures.”

“Doctor! Is our Sae-chan in very bad condition?”

“Mom, this doctor is the director, and he said that blood isn’t flowing to Sae-chan’s foot.”

“What! Are you saying blood isn’t getting to his foot?”

Kong Sae-chan’s mother, instinctively sensing that something bad was happening to her child, grew increasingly pale.

“Yes, that’s right. If blood continues not to flow, then gangrene will develop in his foot.”

“Gan, gangrene? What happens then?”

“It means we may have to amputate Kong Sae-chan’s leg.”

“……!”

“What are you saying? Doctor, amputation?”

Kong Sae-chan’s father, who had been half-turned away, flinched slightly, seemingly surprised.

The mother next to him turned pale, as if struck by lightning out of the blue.

“Doctor! Our child is still young. You can’t amputate his leg. You can’t.”

“No!! Do I have to have my leg amputated? No way?? Mom, please save me.”

Kong Sae-chan, who had been listening from inside the treatment room, seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation and screamed in more terror than before.

“I don’t want my leg cut off. Please save me. Please, doctors, do something about my leg quickly.”

“What did you do so well to be yelling so loud? You shut up. I wish I could just leave you with a broken leg. You made your body like that because you were riding a motorcycle with a perfectly fine body. If we fix him, he’ll go out to ride a motorcycle again. That rascal.”

“Honey! Please stop. What are you saying?”

The wife knew her husband’s angry heart better than anyone.

But she was unhappy with her husband, who kept getting angry when her son’s leg might be amputated.

“I’m angry, that’s why! Angry!!”

“Is that all you can say? Are you the only one angry? I’m angry because of him too. But Sae-chan is our son. It’s about his leg. Let’s do the surgery first, and then you can kill him or let him live as you please. Now, calm down and stop yelling.”

“Sigh! This is my fate!”

The father sighed in frustration and asked Tae-kyung.

“So, if we do the surgery, will his leg be okay?”

“I will do my best.”

“Doctor, if we do the surgery, can our Sae-chan get better? Right?”

“The only solution is to reconnect the severed blood vessels.”

“Does that mean it’s possible to reconnect them?”

“It may be possible to reconnect them, but even if it is, it won’t be easy. The veins must also be connected, and the length must match.”

“Doctor, please save our child. I’m begging you.”

“I and the medical staff will do our best.”

The mother clasped her hands together and spoke earnestly, while the father, still not calmed down, kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

“Mom! What if I lose my leg?”

“Don’t say that. Don’t think about anything now and just focus on getting through the surgery.”

“Yes, your body is the priority, so don’t think about anything else.”

The family encouraged and comforted Kong Sae-chan, who was terrified.

After that, Kong Sae-chan was moved to the operating room after signing the surgical consent form and quickly preparing for surgery.

“Doctor, Kong Sae-chan is anesthetized.”

Dr. Ui-jin meticulously began the anesthesia, and Tae-kyung put on a disposable surgical gown.

Today’s surgery is a combination of orthopedic and general surgery.

The three fractured pieces of bone must be aligned and fixed, and the severed blood vessels must also be reconnected.

In fact, the blood vessels should be connected first, but in that case, they could be severed again while aligning the fractured bones.

Therefore, although time was short, they had no choice but to proceed with the fracture surgery first.

If blood is not supplied for more than four hours, some cells begin to die and rot.

‘One hour! It’s one hour.’

Considering the time of the accident, the surgery to fix the three broken pieces had to be completed within an hour.

“As you all know, today we have to fix the broken bones and reconnect the blood vessels, so everyone, please focus. Especially the fracture surgery, we have to finish it within an hour.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Understood.”

At Tae-kyung’s words, the eyes of the medical staff gathered in the operating room focused on the patient.

“Then, let’s start the surgery. Scalpel!”

It was instantaneous.

“Bovie [electrocautery device].”

It was quite different from Tae-kyung, who was usually meticulous and careful.

Swoosh-

He cut quickly and swiftly, entering rapidly. Moreover, he ignored minor bleeding.

That’s how short on time they were.

Instead of securing the field of vision while stopping the bleeding as usual, he wiped it with sterile gauze if he couldn’t see and just went in.

‘He’s so fast.’

‘He’s definitely different from usual.’

The medical staff watching Tae-kyung’s surgery also felt the difference and moved quickly to match the speed so that the surgery could proceed smoothly.

“Clamp [a surgical tool used to compress tissue or vessels], please.”

He quickly aligned the top two surfaces of the separated three pieces and fixed the connection point using a clamp.

Due to the inability to completely stop the bleeding in time, the field of vision was not clear due to the blood.

Of course, Lee Chan-hee was suctioning (removing fluids with a vacuum device) from the side, but even that wasn’t very effective.

In other words, Tae-kyung was aligning everything solely with the sense of his hands in an unseen area.

Before entering the surgery, Choi Mona volunteered to switch assistants with Lee Chan-hee and explained Kong Sae-chan’s condition in detail.

If it was just general surgery, it wouldn’t have mattered, but since orthopedic surgery that required fixing bones and using a lot of force was being performed together, she switched assistants with Lee Chan-hee, who was stronger than her.

It was a decision for the smooth operation of the patient.

Clunk-

The sound of the clamp being fixed was heard, and Tae-kyung was again trying to align the bottom two bones.

“Lee Chan-hee?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Fix a few more of the fractured surfaces that are fixed on top with a clamp. With a big clamp!”

“Understood!”

A rare sight was unfolding in the operating room right now.

The assistant and the surgeon were operating on different parts. That meant that time was running out.

Clunk-

“Doctor, it’s done.”

“Over here, come and pull. The fracture line doesn’t match well.”

“Do you mean here?”

“Yes. Pull it more towards you. No, more! More!”

Of course, it would be less strenuous to align it while looking at the C-arm [a mobile X-ray machine used in surgery] and checking the angle. But now is the time to just push through with force.

“More! More! That’s right, maintain the current state and a little more! Clamp! Quickly.”

-Clunk

“Let go for a moment. It’s maintained. Give me all the remaining clamps.”

Tae-kyung fixes the aligned bones with several fixing devices. Then, he took out a long pin about 50cm long.

After opening the knee, he inserted the large pin along the guide (direction guide) that was inserted first and hammered it with all his might into the center of the fractured bone.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A dull sound that could only be heard at a construction site began to fill the operating room.