“Black bag?”
“Yeah, that black bag I held!”
“Ah, that one, master,” Dolsok mumbled with a dumb look and then ran to pick up the bag.
The doctor and Sungmun both looked perplexed to see that.
“What are you doing now? You have to brew herbal medicine called pyongwisan and kwachesan for Oksok right now,” said the doctor.
Regardless of the rank of his social status, a doctor received due respect as a professional in the field. But Kanghyok snorted.
‘Pyongwisan? Kwachesan?’
He could not figure out what they were for, but he knew clearly the patient could not recover simply by having that medicine.
Kanghyok pushed the doctor to the side.
“What are you doing, bastard! Are you going to ignore this respected doctor?!” shouted Sungmun.
But Kanghyok even pretended not to have heard him.
‘This patient must be real.’
Who is Kanghyok?
Wasn’t he the most renowned surgeon in modern Korea?
Whoever the patient was, they would survive once Kanghyok operated on them.
“Master, here you are!” said Dolsok.
Elbowing his way into the throng, Dolsok brought the black bag to Kanghyok.
“Thanks.” He quickly opened the bag.
As the bag was originally prepared for the chairman, there were plenty of medical things in it.
‘Now I understand why it was so heavy.’
The bag contained plenty of incision and drainage sets, as well as antibiotics and local anesthetic. Even a hammer, a chisel, a plate and a compass saw were there.
‘Why did they put all this stuff here?’
Kanghyok felt that the medical set was like a small emergency room.
The doctor wouldn’t dare approach Kanghyok. Instead, Sungmun shouted at him, “Tell me what the heck you’re doing now!”
Only then did Kanghyok look at him.
He really looked like a carbon copy of his late father.
‘This must not be a dream.’
But Kanghyok was not so sure if it was for real.
‘Let me save the patient first.’
Wearing disinfected gloves, Kanghyok responded, “Sir, oh, Father, leave it to me for a minute. I need to save his life, don’t I?”
“That’s why you have to leave it to the doctor.”
“No, he is a quack.”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
Kanghyok was already ready to apply the local anesthetic.
“Dolsok, close the door. If the wind comes in, it might kill Oksok.”
“Yes, master.”
When Dolsok was about to close the door quickly, Sungmun screamed, “Who are you listening to?!”
“If you want to save Oksok’s life, just listen to me.” Kanghyok’s voice was heavy and authoritative.
Ignoring Sungmun, Dolsok could not reject his order. He felt that the survival of his younger brother Oksok depended on his master Kanghyok.
“My lord, he says Oksok’s life is at risk!” Dolsok closed the door quickly and entered the room. “Master, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Hold the lamp over here. I can’t see anything as it’s so dark.”
“Yes, master. By the way…”
“What?”
“You will really save Oksok’s life, right?”
At his question, the doctor watching him in the corner huffed, “Are you kidding me?”
When Kanghyok turned his head, the doctor cleared his throat and pretended to be indifferent.
“Dolsok!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hold the lamp well and focus!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oksok, you will feel cold and painful.”
“Yes, master.”
Kanghyok gave the lower right part of his belly injections of anesthetic several times.
‘Little did I expect I would apply local anesthesia with this.’
He looked at Oksok with a worried look. He had no doubt about his surgery skills. He was just concerned about Oksok.
“You shouldn’t move.”
“Yes, master…”
“If you feel hurt, let me know.”
Kanghyuk held a scalpel.
Dolsok asked in a trembling voice, “What are you going to do with that?”
“Just hold the lamp, if you want to save his life.”
“Yes, yes…” Dolsok reluctantly raised the lamp.
Kanghyok made an incision on the lower part of Oksok’s belly. Blood came out from the incised line of about 3cm.
Watching him quietly, the doctor now began to make a big fuss. “Are you crazy?”
“Be quiet!”
“I can’t stand this. Let me tell Sungmun about this…” said the doctor, springing to his feet.
The doctor was just scared when he saw Oksok bleeding. Dolsok was restless, too.
“Oh my god, master!”
“Hold it.”
“Uh… yes.” Fortunately, Dolsok was obedient. Following Kanghyok’s order, he held the lamp firmly.
Only the doctor was left agitated and made a big fuss about it.
At a loss on what to do, Dolsok just looked at Kanghyok.
Kanghyok didn’t take his eyes off the wound.
“Try to silence the doctor,” said Kanghyok.
“How?”
“If he makes a noise like that, I may not save Oksok’s life. Hold the lamp well.”
“Oh my god…” The doctor was someone Dolsok had to respect. But Dolsok had no other choice but to silence him.
“Hey, Doctor!”
“Why, you bastard!”
“Don’t call me a bastard,” said Dolsok. And then he kicked the doctor into a corner.
The lamp he held flickered a bit, but not that much to disturb Kanghyok’s surgery. Kanghyok already cut into Oksok’s abdomen, watching the appendix festering with infection.
‘That’s why he felt extreme pain. Fortunately, it didn’t rupture.’
If it had ruptured, even Kanghyok could not have done anything.
“Can you put up with the pain, Oksok?”
“Yes, master.”
“Good job. I’m almost done.”
Swallowing saliva with his dry mouth, Dolsok watched him perform the surgery.
“Hold it well.”
“Yes, yes!”
Kanghyok tied the swollen appendix with threads and cut it off with scissors.
“Done! All I have to do is to stitch it. So, endure the pain a bit more.” He then closed the peritoneum and stitched the skin covering it.
The open wounds on the belly were closed miraculously. Though it was nothing, given Kanghyok’s remarkable surgeon skills, it looked like a miracle to Dolsok. Actually, Kanghyok participated in this kind of surgery hundreds of times when he was a resident.
Taking off his gloves, he stroke Oksok’s head and said, “Good job. Your fever will go down. Have a sound sleep now.”
“Yes, master…”
Due to several days of illness and the sudden surgery today, Oksok fell asleep immediately.
Only then could Dolsok open his mouth. He was still holding the lamp. His face was full of amazement at Kanghyuk’s surgery.
“Master… how did you save his life?”