Beep. Beep.
Inside the operating room, only the periodic warning sounds of the vital monitor could be heard.
When the catheter was inserted deep into the brain to remove the last vestige of the stagnant blood, the patient's blood pressure rose in an instant.
Dowook, who was looking through the microscope, lifted his head slightly and looked at Kim Seongtae.
"Suction. My view’s blocked.”
"Yes, sir."
When the last forceps gently pushed out the brain tissue, the area where the blood vessels were continuously bleeding was revealed. While keeping his eyes glued on the microscope, Choi Hoo asked.
"Would you rather use a cauter or anastomosis?"
Fine tears on blood vessels were easy to heat-coagulate with an electric cauter and the hemostasis speed was fast. However, the fact that it could transform the tissue very slightly bothered Dowook.
The desire to not make use of a method with even 0.01% of aftereffects. There was no distinction between excessive desire as a surgeon or responsibility for the best treatment, but Dowook made a choice.
"I'll do anastomosis."
Choi Hoo nodded and immediately moved to match Dowook’s actions.
When the clips were placed at both ends of the blood vessel and the passage was clearly secured, the patient's torn blood vessels were connected as if the fine needle and thread had been waiting for this moment.
Second assistant Kim Seongtae, who had been admiring the monitor from the beginning of the operation, unknowingly let out an exclamation of admiration at Choi Hoo and Dowook’s great show of skills.
"I'm already done."
Beep beep. Beep.
An Hosan looked at the vital condition and gestured OK toward Dowook.
From anesthesia to anastomosis, bleeding was completely stopped after an hour of high-speed surgery.
The emergency surgery ended with a complete restoration just like a regular surgery due to the two surgeons’ skills.
Choi Hoo withdrew, went outside, and Dowook looked at Kim Seongtae.
"Seongtae, do you want to close it?"
"Me? Me?”
"What's so surprising for a guy in his third year? Close it all, and call me when you place the patient in the recovery room."
"Yes, sir!"
"Dr. An. Please scold him if he does something weird."
An Hosan smiled and nodded his head.
Dowook also stepped out of the operating room.
There was no reason to wash your hands thoroughly after the surgery, but Dowook turned on the water next to Choi Hoo and washed his hands clean.
"Professor."
"Huh?"
"After the specialist exam this weekend, I have to attend an outpatient clinic starting next week."
"How many days will you be assigned?"”
"It is said to be six hours a day for 2 days a week, so when outpatient treatment begins, there’s no choice but to reduce the number of surgeries scheduled."
Choi Hoo seemed to be indicating something, shook off the water and said something Dowook had not expected.
"It would be nice to receive outpatient treatment mainly for patients with rare cases. I don't mind selling my name actively for such a case. Like Tom Brand."
"At that time… Okay, professor."
Choi Hoo, mentioning an important surgical patient scheduled for next Monday, took a glimpse towards the operating room.
"And. When a new hospital resident is recruited in February, one anesthesiologist will be assigned to our team. I'm thinking of recruiting two scrub nurses and two assistants. If the proposal is passed, I will select the nurse, so you can select the dedicated assistant. It doesn't matter if it's from another hospital as long as they have good teamwork."
Drrrrk.
Choi Hoo walked out of the rosette.
Dowook thought he had just misheard, so he turned to the place where Professor Choi had disappeared.
‘Is he really trying to set up a dedicated surgery team?’
Neurosurgery teams were rare in this era of detailed specialists.
If you monopolized all the rare cases of neurosurgery in Korea, how much could you improve your skills? He had high expectations for this.
Dowook then shook his head.
He couldn't believe he was grinning while thinking of a future that would be very busy. Something seemed to be wrong with his head.
He shook off the water and threw the mask and hat in the waste bin. After checking through the window of the door to see if Kim Seongtae was doing well, he walked out of the rosette.
"Doctor."
Dowook was surprised when Yoon Joong-gi, who was waiting in the hallway, popped out.
"Oh, detective."
"Did you take care of those guys yourself, doctor?”
Dowook, who turned his head at Yoon Joong-gi's gesture, saw the three gangsters who had been trained by Choi Hoo sitting side by side on the bench timidly.
It was a three-man bench, but it looked like it was meant for children because everyone was big.
"Not me, but Professor Choi… Why? Did they report me for assault?”
"No, they said something absurd. They said that they made a deal with the doctor to save their brother."
Just before the surgery, Dowook immediately drew the big nosed man’s attention to get consent for surgery.
His impression was rough, but his eyes looked surprisingly innocent, smiling at Dowook.
"I said something similar. They told me that other organizations were going to rush in."
"Uh, ignorant guys. We will thoroughly crack down on them so that this doesn't happen again in the hospital."
Yoon Joong-gi bowed his head with an expression of apology and asked.
"What's the status of Shin Sung-oh?"
At this, all the big people sitting in a straight position pulled their heads out and focused on Dowook.
"The surgery ended safely. Once the anesthesia wears off, he'll recover his consciousness soon."
"That's a relief. Shin Sung-oh's testimony was most needed when the investigation began.”
Behind the relieved Yoon Joong-gi, the big guys clenched their fists and cheered silently.
"Then I'll get going."
"Doctor!"
Yoon Joong-gi urgently called for Dowook because he had finished his work as an officer.
"The laptop you accessed the cryptocurrency site earlier. The connection was cut off to see if there was a time limit."
Yoon Joong-gi lowered his voice and continued.
"The forensic team couldn’t force it open. I asked them to find out how they accessed the unofficial cryptocurrency wallet site.”
"Oh, that's it."
Dowook had no choice but to smile awkwardly. Because he accidentally borrowed someone's senses and tried it.
"Isn't there anyone in the emergency room who can handle this?"”
"There is, but he's the suspect. I don’t know what he looks like, so I need this clue."
It was an answer that surprised Dowook. He couldn't believe that the sense he accepted was a criminal's sense.
"It’s hard to do here. I think I'll have to try again on the bed earlier. I pressed it by chance, too."
"Can you do it for me? It's a really important issue for the investigation."
Yoon Joong-gi's desperate expression. In order to stop the disturbance in the emergency room or the wandering of such large people in the hospital, catching the criminal would be the priority.
Dowook nodded lightly.
"Let's do it. I can't guarantee that it’ll work though."
Dowook stopped at the door of the emergency center and asked Yoon Joong-gi when he saw three large bodies creeping behind him.
"Why are they following us?"
"Huh?"
Yoon Joong-gi turned around quickly.
"Hey, I told you not to stand out. Why don’t you scram?”
"What does it matter where democratic citizens go?"
"Do you people know that forcing private loans hurts democracy? If you want to follow us. Reduce your size first. Are the three of you kidding me?”
"We’re not following you detective. We’re following the doctor."
Yoon Joong-gi looked suspicious at the big nosed man.
"They say they’re following you, doctor. Why?”
"I don't know."
It was probably because it was scary to ask something from Choi Hoo, and they thought he was a doctor who seemed easy to approach.
Dowook beckoned and called the three people over.
"What is it? Tell us. Do you want to know the prognosis of Shin Sung-oh?"
When things were laid out in the open, the big nosed man put his hand in his chest pocket. Yoon Joong-gi saw his action and pulled the baton from his waist, the big nosed man suddenly stuck out a white envelope.
"This…"
"What's that?"
"It's money. I mean the doctor from before. If lottery dogs come in, please protect our hyung-nim. I put it in as a special treatment. A million won."
The moment Dowook heard that, he was speechless. Yoon Joong-gi was also speechless and couldn't even laugh.
"Have you ever seen such crazy people? Did you just ask the doctor to join you in the gang fight?"
"It's because you didn't see it. His arm strength is just… Can you see his cheeks? There are only a few players in the country who can beat people like paper.”
"Hey, you! Just one more absurd thing out of you and I’ll just put you in jail. Get lost!"
With his head down at Yoon Joong-gi's cry, the big nosed man once again appealed to Dowook.
"Doctor, I apologize for the unpleasant thing that happened earlier. Doctor, please tell your big brother."
Dowook seriously wondered whether he should deliver this news or not.
It was the moment when he stepped back and entered through the automatic door of the emergency center.
"Oh my god!"
A scream from the far side of the emergency room. It was the sound of the nurse.
Looking forward, he could see a dark-skinned man running through the middle of the emergency room with a club.
Police standing here and there chased the man with the club with whistles and warnings.
The man, who was looking for a place to dodge, ran like an arrow to the path inside the hospital where Dowook was standing.
Yoon Joong-gi shouted as he pulled out his baton from his waist.
"Hey, stop! Sir. Please move to the side."
The man with the club raced over and didn’t seem to possess any intention of stopping.
Dowook was surprised and moved to the back, near the three gangsters.
The big nosed man who called himself Muk-ho looked at the man with the club and groaned.
"He's a member of the lottery tickets."
"Huh? That's true, brother.”
Yoon Joong-gi swung the baton sharply to prevent the rushing man. However, the accelerated speed of the man was faster.
The man ran away from Yoon Joong-gi and headed for the three big men that were stuck on one side of the hallway.
The man, who turned his foot, suddenly swung a club toward the three big men.
"Doctor!"
Yoon Joong-gi shouted in fright.
Dowook felt a sense urgently digging into his fingertips while trying to protect his body by reaching out reflexively.
Before he could determine whose sense it was, an instinctive movement took over his body.
He grabbed the man aiming for Muk-ho by the arm and collar. Then he threw him to the floor using the man’s momentum against him.
Whoosh!
Dowook, who succeeded in smoothly stopping the man with Judo moves, grabbed the man’s arms as he was moaning in shock and bent it back. Then he reached out to Yoon Joong-gi, who arrived late.
Dowook effectively overpowered the criminal and maintained a pressing posture. Yoon Joong-gi also reflexively took handcuffs out of his waist and handed them over.
Clank, clank.
Cuffing the man, Dowook turned to Yoon Joong-gi, the source of the sense which sparked a strong urge to overpower the criminal.
Yoon Joong-gi, who became shocked, asked Dowook.
"Doctor, did you learn judo?”
"That's…"
Muk-ho, who almost got hit by a club, stretched his neck and looked at Dowook.
"Whoa. Doctor hyung-nim. You're really sharp. Do you have any thoughts about playing with us? We'll treat you with special treatment. 1 million won at a time!"
[T/N: The man with the big nose called Dowook ‘doctor hyung-nim’ as a show of respect since in gangs those in respected positions are called ‘hyung-nim.’ The play mentioned here isn’t very clear. But from what I’ve gathered, they might have a fighting/sports club. Or they're gathering people to participate in a gang fight.]
