Chapter 141: On the Ship [2] At Kanghyeok's words, neither Kim Seongil nor Hwang Yungil could answer rashly.
For Kim Seongil, it was because of his dignity, and for Hwang Yungil, it was because he knew at least a little of Kanghyeok's temperament.
This man... what in the world is he trying to do for treatment?
When he treated Kim Simin, had he not sliced his face wide open with a blade and gone in? Later, when he went to see, the place where he had performed the treatment had practically been turned upside down by the knife. He had been so shocked that even now, whenever he thought back on it, his heart still pounded.
He had not said anything like this even back then.
Which meant he was thinking of a treatment even worse than that.
While he was sunk deep in thought, Kim Seongil abruptly nodded.
"I have long heard of your reputation."
Kim Seongil was of the Easterners faction. It was well known that he was quite close with Kim Yungil and Ryu Seong-ryong. So he had probably heard in detail just how far Kanghyeok's medical skill had reached.
"So do whatever you must. I will comply."
Kanghyeok had never particularly liked Kim Seongil. That was because he believed this man had failed to properly respond to the Imjin War. Probably not only Kanghyeok, but most people thought the same.
But now that he had actually come here, Kim Seongil was only a very small part of the reason. At the time, the royal court had truly been a complete mess, to the point that it felt like a miracle they had sent out the diplomatic mission this late at all.
I was going to persuade this man anyway. If I make him indebted now, things will become much easier. If it fails, not only will it all come to nothing, it will actually make things harder.
But this was not really a situation where he could refuse anyway.
Kanghyeok deliberately nodded readily.
"Understood. Elder Hwang?"
Kanghyeok turned his gaze toward Hwang Yungil.
When his family had already agreed, what point was there in objecting? Yungil was not a tactless man, and so he nodded.
"Very well."
"Good. As you can see, the situation is the worst possible."
Kanghyeok pointed at the still-roaring sea. Even healthy people looked ready to die from seasickness, so there was no need to speak of the sick.
"The patient's injury is extremely serious."
That was obvious even to someone who was not a doctor. An ordinary person would not be coughing up blood like that, nor would the belly swell so badly. For one thing, the patient had already been unconscious for quite some time.
Kanghyeok looked over the men, who only nodded blankly.
As expected, I need to scare them a little.
Of course, he was not exaggerating in the slightest. Simply listing the facts was enough to make it serious.
"So you must follow my words immediately. Otherwise, the patient will not survive."
People said the most despicable thing in the world was bargaining with a human life. Yet somehow, Kanghyeok did it rather often, enough that even as he spoke, a corner of his conscience felt uneasy.
"Hmm."
"Th-then let it be so. But what exactly...?"
Yungil looked uneasy no matter how one looked at him. The blood-splattered walls he had seen in the treatment room kept coming back to him.
While he was still anxious, Kanghyeok first laid both men down. Perhaps because the ship was rocking, neither offered much resistance. In any case, both were long past their prime.
"There, there. Roll up your sleeves too."
"Why this...?"
Kim Seongil was simply doing as he was told, but Hwang Yungil alone seemed especially uneasy. Watching him, Kanghyeok had a certain premonition.
The one making the biggest fuss is usually the winner.
Kanghyeok drew out a syringe as he looked at Yungil, who was already stricken with fear. When the sharp needle appeared, Yungil's face grew even tenser.
"With that, what are you... ugh."
"It is all to save the patient."
"If I suffer, will that man really live?"
As expected of an educated man, he asked a rather perceptive question. But Kanghyeok was not a man of letters, and he had no interest whatsoever in pointless question-and-answer. The only thing that interested him was solving the problem.
"Yes, well. Press here for now."
"Huh."
"Oh, don't rub it. It'll bruise."
"Huh."
Hwang Yungil merely stared at Kanghyeok with vacant eyes. But that was of little use. Kanghyeok had now completely switched into doctor mode. Probably only a king or a prince would make him bow again. A senior court official like Hwang Yungil was nowhere near enough.
"Makbong, how is Elder Kim Seongil?"
"No good."
A commoner calling a nobleman that bluntly was irreverent beyond irreverent, but no one dared pick a fight over it. The medical act unfolding atop the storm-tossed sea carried a terrifying force.
"Then this elder must be the one."
"What must be—"
"Oh."
Kanghyeok peered into the blood sample with a rather pleased face. Makbong wore the same expression.
The blood was not clotting.
"Looks like we hit the jackpot."
"That's right. Hit the jackpot."
"What jackpot—"
"There, there. Everyone help me lift this elder."
Kanghyeok's tone was extremely urgent, and several strong men, including Sayaga, hurried over without thinking.
"Huh?"
"We're only doing this to make you more comfortable, elder, so just bear with it a little."
"I'm not comfortable at all right—"
"Heave-ho."
Kanghyeok lifted him to about waist height. Fortunately, the panokseon was not a small vessel, and there was plenty of space here and there to lay one person down.
If I put him here, I won't even need to draw the blood out and pour it into an IV bag.
Water flowed from high places to low places. That principle applied equally to blood. Moreover, the patient's blood pressure was in terrible condition. By contrast, Hwang Yungil was perfectly healthy, so a real-time transfusion should be possible.
It was the birth of a living blood bag far more upgraded than last time.
As expected, people need to live with a bit of lack now and then. That way, brilliant ideas like this keep flashing into mind.
Praising himself once again, Kanghyeok picked up an IV line. Then he turned to Makbong.
"You secure one more line in the patient's opposite arm. I'll handle this elder."
"Yes, yes."
"No... what is... mmph."
Without understanding a thing, Hwang Yungil was pierced by the needle. It was about the same size as before, and the pain was similar too, but this time there was one crucial difference. Kanghyeok showed no sign whatsoever of removing the needle.
And through the strange tube now fixed in place, red blood was slowly flowing out.
Whose blood it was could not have been more obvious.
"Ah-ah. My blood... my blood."
"Ah, do not worry. I won't draw enough to cause a problem."
"What did you say?"
"Oh, it'll hurt if you move."
"Urgh."
"Stay still. That is how the patient lives."
At the mention of life and death, Hwang Yungil quieted down a little.
"You clearly said earlier, did you not? That you would listen to me."
"I-I did."
After that, Kanghyeok went on about things like, "How could a scholar say two different things with one mouth?" and shut Yungil up completely. In truth, if the situation changed, Kanghyeok himself was always ready to change not only his words, but them moment by moment, but Yungil was not like that.
"Mm."
He merely let out uncomfortable groans and kept his mouth tightly shut about the whole affair. He did groan when he saw the red blood leaving his arm and flowing into the patient. But that was all.
Good. For now, one living blood bag is attached.
Holding a metal airway tube, Kanghyeok approached the patient.
"Patient! What is your name?"
Kanghyeok thumped the patient's chest with a large fist. If he had any consciousness at all, Kanghyeok would have given anesthetic first, but there was no reaction whatsoever. It could not be helped. At times like this, even if it was uncomfortable for the patient, he simply had to force it in.
"Makbong, open his mouth."
"Yes."
"Alright, it's going in. If he moves, hold him. If not, leave him."
"Yes, young master."
The tube slid in smoothly with a shuk. Even then, the patient did not stir in the slightest. From the standpoint of the one performing the procedure, that was wonderful, but considering the patient's prognosis, it was grim reality.
His blood pressure is still too low.
His pupils were still reactive, but it was proof that his blood pressure was far too low to maintain proper consciousness. If they delayed much longer like this, his brain could end up completely ruined.
That said, if I raise only the blood pressure nonstop, he'll wake up right away.
He had to avoid the patient waking up in the middle of surgery with the tube inserted.
"Makbong."
"Yes."
"There is one very important thing you must do."
"Oh dear, yes."
At the words "important thing," Makbong let out a long sigh like the ground was collapsing beneath him. Kanghyeok continued with a face that seemed to say, Has this fellow lost his mind?
"Today, don't just watch the breathing. Watch the blood pressure too. If it goes above eighty, call me immediately."
"When it reaches the mark with the three circles, you mean?"
Makbong asked uncertainly.
"Yes, there."
"Yessir. But you want me to do both at once?"
"You have to. You can do it."
"Uh..."
"You're not answering?"
"Yes..."
After forcing an answer out of him by sheer pressure, Kanghyeok picked up the scalpel.
When he turned his head, he saw Yeoju already wiping down the patient's abdomen. Her sense was indeed exceptional, just from the way she had scrubbed clean exactly the place he wanted to cut.
"As expected of you, Yeoju. Today's surgery will be difficult. You know that, right?"
"Yes. Just looking at him..."
"Even so, we must succeed. You see Elder Hwang, right?"
"Yes."
Yeoju turned her head slightly and glanced at Hwang Yungil. He was staring up at the sky with an expression of half resignation. She was curious what he might be thinking, but she did not bother asking. It was obvious nothing good would come out of it.
"Alright, then I'm cutting."
"Yes, young master."
Kanghyeok picked up the scalpel, then first checked the sea. He was about to cut open a belly, so it would be a problem if a wave struck just then. Fortunately, there were only small waves. Even that still made their bodies sway.
If I finish this surgery safely here, then I'm truly a genius. A genius. No, what is genius even worth? It's to the point that even calling me a god seems insufficient. I will save him no matter what.
That was for the patient's sake, but also for Kanghyeok's own pride.
"Now then."
Even amid the constant rocking, Kanghyeok calmly sliced open the patient's abdomen with the scalpel. The blood pressure was low, but the intra-abdominal pressure was another matter. Because of that, the instant the blade touched, thin jets of blood spurted here and there.
"Ugh."
Yeoju was startled for a moment, but soon pressed the bleeding with gauze.
"Keep pressing a little longer."
With Yeoju's help, Kanghyeok swiftly cut through all the way to the peritoneum. As soon as the peritoneum was opened, the intestines began to bulge out because of the elevated intra-abdominal pressure.
This time, even Yeoju did not know what to do and only looked at Kanghyeok. The others all wore expressions saying that this patient was dying here.
"What are you doing? Press where you were pressing earlier."
"Pardon?"
"I said press."
"Ah, ah. Yes."
Even as the intestines protruded, Kanghyeok drew the scalpel downward. The longer the incision became, the more the force of the intestines bulging outward began to lessen.
"There'll be some bleeding here. It'll all be clotted anyway, so let's pack it with gauze."
"Yes, yes."
When Kanghyeok completed the incision, a great mass of blood clots spilled out from that point as if by magic. They were the true culprits raising the abdominal pressure. Once those came out, the intestines no longer bulged outward. Rather, space opened up inside the abdomen, making it easy to put back what had already come out, stuffing in gauze here and there as well.
"The blood vessels are fortunately alright."
It was a rough diagnosis based on percussion, but he had gotten it roughly right.
If they had ruptured, the entire direction would have changed...
Since that was not the case, he only needed to proceed as planned.
"The stomach... has ruptured. And because of this, the intestines have been damaged as well."
Kanghyeok pointed at the stomach, whose front wall had burst. Gastric fluid that had leaked out from the stomach was soaking the nearby intestines.
Now that she knew what that meant, Yeoju asked with a worried face.
"What do we do?"
"What else? We cut out the damaged intestines and reconnect them, and the stomach..."
"The stomach?"
"We reconstruct it."
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