Chapter 144: Cutting a Belly on the Ship [3] Along with a dull thud, everyone on the ship turned their eyes toward Kanghyeok and his fist.
It was tremendous in power. The patient, who had been causing a huge commotion until just then, had gone limp in a single blow.
"Uh... is he alive?"
Makbong, who had been forcing air into him the whole time, quickly reached for the patient's pulse with a frantic motion.
"Whew. I thought he'd died. No, young master..."
"What in the world was that...?"
Makbong and Yeoju let out exclamations at almost the same time. Even so, Kanghyeok was not the kind of person who beat people carelessly. But suddenly, in front of high-ranking officials no less, and beating that official's nephew at that, their anxious gazes naturally turned toward Kim Seongil.
Sure enough, his face changing from red to blue looked unusual. He made all that fuss about saving the patient, and then suddenly just punched him? With that huge fist?
Kim Seongil shouted with a face that plainly said he could not understand it at all.
"No, even if the patient was moving a bit... should you hit him like that?"
"This too is part of the treatment."
"That's absurd..."
"It's true."
With a completely unshaken face, Kanghyeok felt the patient's carotid pulse. Then he smiled with great satisfaction.
"Heart rate's good. How's the blood pressure?"
"It's dropping right now, so I can't get a clean reading... but I think it's around eighty."
"Good. If it looks like he's waking up again, hit him here."
"Keep hitting him?"
Makbong looked down at the patient with an uneasy face. The man who had been struggling with bloodshot eyes just moments ago was now sleeping as meekly as a lamb. If it were not for the bloody foam at the corner of his mouth, he really would have looked asleep.
This just feels like torture.
Of course, the goal was to save the man. But was the process not far too brutal for that purpose?
Makbong's timid doubt was quickly crushed.
"Do you want to be the one getting hit? If he shows even the slightest sign, wallop him."
"You say wallop him... but this is still a nobleman..."
"I'm the one ordering it, so stop worrying and hit him."
Makbong, looking on the verge of tears, glanced between Kanghyeok and Kim Seongil. Kanghyeok was resolute, and Kim Seongil looked half out of his mind.
"That's how he lives. Do you want to watch the patient die?"
"Uh... understood. Yes, alright."
"Good. Just wallop him. Don't ask, don't argue."
"Yes, yes."
With that, the incident of the patient nearly waking up was settled for the time being. Perhaps because the blood pressure had surged once and then fallen, the amount of blood leaking out had actually decreased greatly. Blood vessels were naturally far more sensitive to changes in blood pressure than to the absolute pressure itself.
They've all constricted by now. Good. This is actually better.
For the first time since starting this surgery, Kanghyeok felt as though heaven was helping him.
"Good. Now for the real Gastric Reconstruction."
Kanghyeok spread out the small intestine Yeoju had cut. Even so, its cross-section was nowhere near enough to compare to a stomach, but it was far broader than simply dragging over one narrow loop of small intestine. Moreover, the back wall of the stomach was still relatively intact, so the size was larger than expected.
Let's see... there isn't any area without blood flow, right?
No matter how most of the stomach had been blown away, the back wall remained. It would continue repeating mechanical contraction and relaxation, and it would continue secreting gastric acid. If there was even the slightest area where blood did not reach, that place would rupture with near certainty.
"Yeoju, you scratch it with the needle too."
"Here?"
"Yes. Watch carefully whether it bleeds."
"Yes."
The two of them checked quickly, but thoroughly, for any area that did not bleed. As a result, they had to cut away one more remaining part of the stomach.
I must have missed it when the wave hit earlier.
After checking once more, Kanghyeok picked up the suturing instrument. Each time his hands moved, the stomach that had been gaping open little by little began to take shape again. It truly did not look all that different from the stomach before it had been injured, and that sight brought no small amount of comfort to those watching.
This was especially true for Kim Seongil.
It really looks like he's going to live.
Thinking about it, this fellow Baek Kanghyeok was truly a rude man beyond measure. A brat much younger than him yelling right in front of his face. Threatening people while using a human life as leverage.
And yet, strangely enough—
I'm grateful.
Whatever the case, he could see with his own eyes that his nephew was coming back to life. Once he could see that, he also began to vaguely understand just how hard Kanghyeok had fought until now.
"Alright, now let's close the belly. You have to pull. Otherwise, with this abdominal pressure, it won't close."
"Yes."
"No, like this."
"Ah, this is a bit hard to hold..."
"I'll finish quickly, so endure it a little."
No matter what, Yeoju could not match Dolseok or Makbong in arm strength.
A person can't have everything. Not everyone is like me.
At least in this surgery, it was fortunate that Yeoju was still in good condition. Especially during Vascular Anastomosis, the delicacy of the assistant mattered almost as much as that of the lead surgeon.
It would be nice if she were stronger too.
Smacking his lips in regret, Kanghyeok moved his hands quickly. Under his rough movements, a thick silk thread was tied across the patient's split-open abdomen. To anyone looking, it was a mess, and not the kind of suture that should be tied off like this.
It was what one called a Temporary Stitch.
"There. I've pulled it together a bit with this, so it should be better now. Try it."
"Ah, yes."
"I'll pull just one more. It has to come together flush on both sides. That makes suturing easier. If an abdominal suture opens up, it's a complete disaster."
"Yes, young master."
Kanghyeok recalled a patient he had seen when he was an intern. A man who had been brought in with a similar injury. There was only one difference: that man had died, and this one would live.
And the decisive thing that separated those outcomes was precisely the suturing.
The abdominal pressure had been high, but... if it were me, I could have kept it from splitting open.
Of course, back then Kanghyeok absolutely could not have done it. He had only been an intern. He had known little and been capable of even less. But after more time had passed and his skills had accumulated, when he looked back, that patient had been someone who did not have to die.
If the abdominal pressure is strong, then you just increase the tension.
There were any number of ways to do that. For example, just as Kanghyeok was doing now, one could place temporary stitches and then reinforce them with a stronger closure.
"It's much better than before, right?"
"Yes. Are you uncomfortable?"
"It's just right."
"It's almost done now."
"Yeah. Mm."
When he had first seen him struck by the rope, he had thought the man was as good as dead. But once he actually opened him up, it was not quite as bad as expected, and because of that, he had been able to save him like this. And this was none other than the nephew of Kim Seongil, the key man of this diplomatic mission.
When he turned his head, Kim Seongil was also looking at Kanghyeok, with an expression completely different from before.
He's come around.
Kanghyeok turned his gaze back to Hwang Yungil. Now he truly seemed exhausted and could not even open his mouth. He merely stared with hollow eyes at Kanghyeok, the patient, and the IV line through which his own blood was draining.
Now Kim Seongil owes Hwang Yungil a debt he can never repay. If he has any conscience at all, he won't be able to object to Hwang Yungil's claims anymore. Or maybe not? Kim Seongil's reputation for being terribly rigid is so well known that I can't be completely certain. But one thing is clear: persuading Kim Seongil has just become much easier.
Was this all coincidence? Was all of this really coincidence? Coming to Joseon, and then being entangled with great figures like Yi Sun-sin the moment he arrived. As time passed, it increasingly felt as though some enormous hand was guiding him.
I don't know.
By nature, Kanghyeok disliked things whose substance could not be known. That was why he had chosen the path of a doctor, and among those, surgery. So for now, he decided to focus on the work in front of him.
"Alright, the belly is closed. Now stop drawing from Elder Hwang Yungil..."
"Whew. Thank you."
Sure enough, perhaps because dehydration had set in somewhat, his voice was cracked.
Still, he's an official of this mission. I can't leave him like this.
If he saved Kim Seongil's nephew and Hwang Yungil died, history would be badly damaged. More than that, Kanghyeok's own life would be ruined even more badly. If things went wrong, he might have to hide on Tsushima Island forever.
"Makbong, now that I'm going to wake the patient, go make some fluids for the elder to drink."
"Yes, yes."
"Oh, right. How many times did you hit him?"
"Including the one just now, four times... or maybe five? Anyway, I hit him like my life depended on it."
"Really? Good job."
"Thank you, young master."
It was probably the first time in his life he had ever been praised for hitting someone. Makbong hurried off with much lighter steps to make an oral rehydration solution.
Meanwhile, Kanghyeok reassured Hwang Yungil.
"Elder, you worked hard. Thanks to you, we saved a life."
"I-Is that so."
Just when he had been drawing blood from him without warning, now he was acting all gentle like this. It felt like watching some kind of psycho drama.
"Mm..."
After reassuring Yungil like that, Kanghyeok looked down at the patient. Perhaps because Makbong had just hit him, there was no sign at all that he was about to regain his senses. It was also starting to become tiring to keep squeezing the artificial respiration bag.
Makbong's impressive. He's been squeezing this thing for hours.
It was hard to know exactly how much time had passed. But judging by the way the sun had staggered downward, the surgery had clearly taken more than ten hours. The odd ache creeping into his lower back was proof enough of that.
That brat Makbong. Maybe I should give him a reward once we get back.
From the perspective of a superior, a fellow like Makbong was truly convenient. There was never any need to think too hard when giving him a reward. Was he not always very clear about what he wanted?
Even if Sayaga is a scholar, he should get the rough idea. Anyway... I want to wake him now.
Discussion of merits and rewards could come later. What mattered now was waking the patient. The faster he woke him, the easier it would be on both the patient and Kanghyeok.
Several methods came to mind, but again, the quickest was the fist.
This time, the difference was that he was not aiming for the medulla, but the groove of the chest.
Press.
The groove of the chest could produce tremendous pain compared to the actual degree of damage. There was no need to strike him. He only had to press.
"Ugh... mmph..."
As expected, the effect was immediate. The patient frowned and let out a groan. Or rather, he tried to. Because of the tube jammed into his throat, it did not come out properly.
"Have you come to your senses now? I'm going to remove what's in your throat, so if you can hear me, blink!"
But even at Kanghyeok's words, the patient only struggled. Thinking about it, that was only natural. Would he not remember nothing after being injured? He was only just opening his eyes, and someone had his limbs restrained, something strange shoved down his throat, and people were shouting at him. Anyone who could listen calmly to another person in that situation was either already a great man or certain to become one.
"Elder Kim Seongil, I think you'll have to help."
"Ah, yes. Gu-o! Get a hold of yourself!"
"Mmph."
A familiar voice had some effect at least. Kim Gu-o's eyes snapped wide open.
"That's right. If you understand me, blink."
"Mmph, mmph."
Gu-o blinked with difficulty. Even that simple movement looked terribly hard for him. His abdomen was badly injured, and there was metal in his throat, so it was only natural.
"Alright, then I'm pulling it out. Relax."
Kanghyeok opened Gu-o's mouth a little wider and pulled out the metal airway tube. At the same moment, Gu-o coughed out phlegm mixed with bloody foam.
"Keh-lok, keh-lok."
That raised his abdominal pressure, and a wave of intense pain struck him. Kanghyeok did not miss that opening and let one narcotic painkiller flow in through the IV line.
"You'll feel better soon."
"Ugh..."
"Are you alright?"
"Mm."
While Gu-o's mind drifted in and out, Sayaga's voice rang out, filled with joy.
"Land! Land! We've arrived!"
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