Chapter 162: Chapter 35
Without knowing what’s going on, Makbong rushed into the room.
“Dolsok and Yoni, you guys must stay alert. We have to move him now.”
“Moving him?”
“Yes, so don’t drop him.”
“Ah... got it.”
There was no time to lose.
Although there were two strong guys who could hold him fast, it might be somewhat difficult to pin him down.
‘I wish I had him tied.’
It was too late.
Kanghyok held suture threads to stitch the bone chip on his scalp.
“Hey, he’s starting to move.”
The patient’s fingers began to wiggle.
Dolsok shouted in embarrassment, while Kanghyok calmly stitched them.
“Pin him down fast. I’ll be done in a short while.”
“Leave me alone!” the patient, unaware of the situation at all, shouted at the top of his lungs.
Two stout guys standing outside overheard this and began to ask, “What is this?”
“What the heck is happening?”
Joon Huh, who was watching the whole scene absentmindedly, opened the door slightly and whispered to them, “Everything is alright, so don’t worry.”
“He’s screaming with pain, isn’t he?”
“He’s alright, guys.”
And then Joon shut the door.
Instead, the patient made a big fuss.
“You’re killing me!”
“Be quiet! Don’t shout.”
Dolsok pressed down on him fast.
Only then did the patient begin to relent, but he suffered from extreme pain.
“Ah... It really hurts!”
Though Kanghyok gave him an injection of venopressor and local anesthetic, their effects were less potent now.
The patient yelled out loudly whenever Kanghyok stitched his scalp with a needle.
“Sorry, but let me do it quickly. Your survival depends on this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wonder if I have to put him to sleep.”
Kanghyok found it difficult to stitch a patient who was constantly moving like him.
“Can I strike him?” said Makbong.
“Nope. He has barely survived, as you know.”
“I can put him to sleep with a bang on the back of his neck.”
“He could be killed if you strike him now.”
Though their conversation was just nonsensical, it took some effect.
The patient, who was wildly struggling a moment ago, became silent now.
“Done!”
Kanghyok stitched the wounds on his scalp perfectly. Of course, there was a round scar as small as a coin on his head.
‘This won’t matter at all.’
Putting down the stitching tools, Kanghyok opened his mouth with a light heart, “All done! He’s going to survive. Don’t move if you want to survive.”
“Yes, sir,” The patient answered in a very tense voice.
“Let me raise his head a bit. Any pillow?”
“Here you go, master,” said Dolsok, giving him a pillow quickly.
“Good. Just stay still to avoid any brain pressure.”
“Yes, yes.”
When he was done, Joon Huh approached the patient.
“Wow, this is perfect!”
He closely examined the stitches on his head. The wounds that were open a moment ago got stitched closed now.
And the patient who got limp regained strength.
“Where did you learn these skills?”
“Well..” Kanghyok couldn’t answer quickly. If he told Joon the truth, he would be treated as a crazy guy.
‘Of course, I can’t tell him I’ve learned it at Chungmu Hospital.’
Still, Kanghyok had to answer in one way or another.
‘Sure, let me tell him I’m a genius.’
That was not a lie. It was true that he was once called a genius surgeon.
“I’ve learned it.”
“Really? How did you learn it?”
“Well, I taught myself.”
“Hahaha. I’ve never heard or seen medicall skills like this, though I read lots of medical books...”
Joon Huh showed genuine admiration for him.
As Joon kept lavishing praise on him, Kanghyok felt the sting of his conscience because he suggested to Joon that he invented all the accumulated medical knowledge over several hundred years in Joseon.
While Kanghyok was trying to justify his actions in heart, somebody opened the door slowly.
They were the two guys who carried the patient here.
“What’s his condition? Oh, you have opened your eyes!”
They came into the room after confirming that the patient had come to his senses.
“Why am I here? What happened to me?”
The patient could not know how he came to be carried to this place.
“Don’t you remember at all? You climbed a tree to catch the birds in the nest...” said one of them.
“You fell down from the tree with a bang. I thought you would die.”
“Really? I can’t recall at all...”
“Man, without this doctor here you would not have survived.”
While the three were chatting, Kanghyok took out antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.
“Take this pill first.”
As the patient was completely scared of Kanghyok, he quickly followed his instruction.
“Yes, sir.”
“Drink it with water. Good job.”
After confirming that the patient had swallowed the pill, Kanghyok said again, “Take some rest. I’ll be in the next room. Let me know if something happens.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kanghyok took his company to the next room.
“Oh, I’m exhausted, man,” said Kanghyok, chewing on a cucumber.
But everyone around him still couldn’t forget the shocking moment when Kanghyok treated the patient.
In particular, Joon Huh was shocked by his unbelievable medical skills.
“Mr. Paek.”
“Ah, yes, Doctor Huh.”
“Can I learn the skills you showed a moment ago?”
Kanghyok felt agonized for a moment.
‘Can I teach Joon Huh?’
Though it was a great honor to him, it was at the same time a dangerous thing.
All the medical knowledge he acquired in modern Korea was completely different from the current medical knowledge in Joseon.
‘Basic anatomy might be of help to him.’
Kanghyok slowly nodded his head and said, “That sounds good. How about this?”
“How?”
“I’ll teach you how the human body really looks like. In return, you can teach me about medicinal herbs.”
“Sure. I’ll teach you about them to the best of my knowledge. But what about that skill...”
Obviously, Joon wanted to learn those surgical skills because he saw that Kanghyok saved the life of the patient who was set to die.
“Are you talking about the surgery?”
“Ah, yes.”
“That’s very difficult. I wish I had the surgical materials...”
At his remark, Yoju presented a pictorial book with detailed description of his surgical process. Some of the drawings were pretty detailed.
“Oh, these are...”
“Yes, I drew them a while ago. As you were so quick in operating, I couldn’t catch up with you...”
“No, no, they look very good.”
Kanghyok felt that it could be used as a medical textbook.
“Very good. I can teach with this book.”
“Really?”
“Oh, it was good that I brought you here.”
Joon Huh now cut in while they were talking, “Can you teach me then?”
“Yes, I can explain to you with the help of the drawings.”
“Please.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, now.”
When Kanghyok looked outside, it was already dark. He would have heard the curfew bell if he stayed at the market street.
‘Dang it. My peaceful days are over.’
Calming down with a bitter mind, Kanghyok opened the pictorial book.
“Now, here is the patient’s head, which was broken...”
He explained why he doubted the internal bleeding, how he held the scalpel from a certain angle, teaching him about the basics of surgery.
As he explained in detail like the best doctor, not only Joon Huh, but also Yoni, Dolsok and Makbong came close to him to listen.
While listening to his lecture for a while, Joon raised his hand furtively. “By the way, can you do this when the patient is wide awake?”
No way.
With a bitter smile, Kanghyok shook his head.
“You better put the patient to sleep. I could not find the right medicinal herbs.”
“Hmm...”
Stroking his heard, Joon said, “I think we can find one if we try.”
“Really?”
“I can just have a vague glimpse of that now. I think I have to find it.”
“Oh, please.”
If Joon could find some herbal medicine that could replace painkiller pills, that would be great.
“Got it. Let’s move on.”
“Okay.”
Kanghyok’s teaching on anatomy went on for several days.
On this very night Kanghyok was giving Joon a great lecture in a cheerful mood, when someone shook the door wildly with desperate screaming.
“Help me!”
The scream was more urgent than that of the patient with his head injured the other day.
“What the heck is going on!?” Dolsok and Makbong went out hurriedly and shouted at the same time.
“Please come out, sir!”
“What’s the matter?”
“The patient looks very bad.”
Joon Huh already rushed out of the room, and Kanghyok followed.
The patient’s face was reflected in a shimmer of moonlight. His pale face was covered with lots of bubbles.
A hopeless word came out of Kanghyok’s and Joon’s mouths at the same time:
“Smallpox...”
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