Chapter 18 – My Grandfather, Kim Yun-seok (3)

“…….”

Peter lay collapsed, weak and losing consciousness.

“Doctor! Call a doctor!”

Brown, who had turned pale, screamed.

Murmurs—

“Oh dear! Mr. Brown’s grandson collapsed!”

“What’s wrong with that child? It looks like he can’t breathe!”

Surprised people crowded around the child, but there seemed to be no doctor among them.

“Mr. Brown! What is going on?”

There was no way Kim Yun-seok would not hear that voice. He hurriedly ran to Brown.

“Oh! Doctor Kim! Please save our Peter!”

Brown pleaded, holding onto Kim Yun-seok as if he had gained a powerful army.

“Ease up! Let me take a look. We need to lay the patient down, so please bring something to put on the floor.”

“I understand.”

Brown then took off his coat and laid it on the floor, and Kim Yun-seok calmly laid Peter down on top of it.

Pant, pant—

With all the color drained from his face, Peter lay limply and weakly.

Even at a glance, his condition was serious.

‘What should I do…?’

Although he had stepped forward for now, Kim Yun-seok suddenly felt afraid upon seeing Peter’s condition.

‘First, let’s check his pulse.’

Kim Yun-seok immediately rolled up Peter’s sleeve and checked his pulse.

‘The pulse is too fast! Then, paroxysmal tachycardia!?’

The phenomenon where blood accumulated in the pericardium surrounding the heart, compressing the heart and dropping blood pressure, causing the pulse to beat abnormally fast to compensate. In other words, it meant that the blood supply to Peter’s heart was not smooth.

Kim Yun-seok recalled what he had learned in class.

-If the pulse is unstable, you must check the heart sounds immediately. If the heart sounds have decreased, it means the heart is in danger.

Kim Yun-seok then recalled what Kim Ji-hyuk had said, and immediately placed his ear against Peter’s chest.

“…….”

Kim Yun-seok closed his eyes and listened intently to Peter’s heartbeat.

‘For the heart sounds to have dropped this much! It must be that a problem has occurred in the heart, just as Ji-hyuk said!’

The startled Kim Yun-seok opened his eyes.

‘Tachycardia and decreased heart sounds! Then… next, I must check the status of the jugular vein.’

Step by step, Kim Yun-seok recalled the treatment process in his head.

Whew, Kim Yun-seok took a short deep breath and examined the area around Peter’s neck.

‘W-what is going on? The area around his neck is severely swollen!’

The jugular veins located on both sides of the neck were swollen.

In other words, it meant that the blood was unable to circulate and was pooling in the veins.

‘Irregular paroxysmal tachycardia, and even the jugular veins are severely swollen! And the excessively decreased heart sounds… Then… it must be cardiac tamponade! What should I do? The very thing I feared has happened!’

Gulp, Yun-seok swallowed his dry saliva.

‘If it is cardiac tamponade, the only way is… pericardiocentesis! That’s the only option!’

He had a troubled expression on his face.

Having never performed a pericardiocentesis before, Yun-seok had no choice but to hesitate.

“Look here, Doctor Kim! How is our Peter!”

Brown, who had been watching Kim Yun-seok’s examination with an anxious face, asked.

“…….”

Kim Yun-seok only bit his lips and said nothing.

“Doctor Kim! Don’t just stand there, say something!”

Brown stamped his feet, feeling anxious.

‘I have never performed a pericardiocentesis before! If I make even a slight mistake, it could harm the child instead. If only Ji-hyuk were here… If only Ji-hyuk were here, he would have been able to resolve this.’

Yun-seok visualized in his head the pericardiocentesis that Kim Ji-hyuk had performed on Chul-woo in the past. However, he did not dare to attempt it himself.

“Mr. Brown, I cannot do this!”

“What do you mean by that? Right now, you are the only one who can treat our Peter, aren’t you? If you just save our child, I will grant whatever you want. So please, save our Peter.”

Brown clung to Kim Yun-seok and pleaded.

“I am sorry. Transferring him to the UN Hospital quickly is the wisest course of action.”

“Does that make any sense right now? Doesn’t it take more than an hour from here to the hospital? What if something goes wrong with our Peter in the meantime?”

“Even so, that is the best way. I am sorry.”

“This is ridiculous! How can a doctor leave a sick patient behind and pretend not to know? I must have misjudged you! Everyone! Does anyone know where the nearest hospital from here is? Our Peter is dying. Everyone! Please call a doctor!”

Brown, growing desperate, raised the tone of his voice.

Murmurs—

“Should we take him to an herbal medicine clinic?”

“I heard Mr. Choi is good at acupuncture…”

In the midst of this chaos, would there be any hospital operating properly?

As the situation grew difficult and Yun-seok was agonizing over it, he suddenly remembered what Ji-hyuk used to say.

-Yun-seok! How do you remember everything like a photograph once you see it? Seriously, it’s amazing. I really envy you for that.

Those were the words Kim Ji-hyuk had used to praise Kim Yun-seok whenever he was bored.

It was true.

Kim Yun-seok possessed a special ability: a memory that allowed him to recall anything perfectly once he saw it.

Kim Yun-seok had a unique ability to replicate anything he saw, whether it was class content or a medical procedure, 100% identically.

‘Hmm, maybe if I just do exactly as Ji-hyuk did…’

Gulp, Yun-seok’s throat bobbed once more.

“Mr. Brown! I will try it!”

“Are those words true? Will you really save our Peter?”

Brown looked at Kim Yun-seok at the speed of light. He stared at Kim Yun-seok with desperate eyes.

“Yes. I am lacking, but I will give it a try.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much. I promise you. Even if something goes wrong with our Peter, I will not hold you responsible at all, so please treat him without any worries.”

Brown ran over in a single step and grabbed both of Kim Yun-seok’s hands.

“Yes. I will do my best.”

It seemed Kim Yun-seok had also made up his mind.

“Now, everyone, please step back from the patient.”

Once he made up his mind, Yun-seok cleared the surrounding people away.

“By any chance, do you have any disinfectant?”

“We have some prepared as emergency medicine!”

One of the workers in the mansion raised his hand high.

“Please bring it here! Quickly!”

“Understood!”

A moment later,

the man brought a first-aid kit.

“There is Betadine!”

Fortunately, the first-aid kit the man brought was equipped with decent medical tools.

From disinfectants and various American medicines to syringes.

It was a situation possible only because it was the house of Busan’s wealthiest man.

Clatter—

Wipe, wipe—

Kim Yun-seok immediately took off Peter’s shirt and applied disinfectant to the affected area.

‘Whew, if Ji-hyuk did it, it’s something I can do too. We both learned the same thing. Why wouldn’t I be able to do it?’

Kim Yun-seok shook out his fingers and relaxed his tension.

“…….”

Kim Yun-seok carefully felt Peter’s chest.

‘Here is the clavicle! From here, about a span downward…’

Kim Yun-seok calmly visualized the procedure Kim Ji-hyuk had performed.

‘Then here is the sternum! Right here is the xiphoid process!’

With the sensation at his fingertips, Kim Yun-seok felt the end of the tie-shaped sternum, the xiphoid process.

‘I’m sure! It’s right here!’

Kim Yun-seok touched the xiphoid process precisely, following Kim Ji-hyuk’s fingertips drawn in his mind.

‘From now on is what’s important! Let’s concentrate, Kim Yun-seok!’

Now, it was a situation where he had to insert the needle into the syringe and puncture.

-Yun-seok, there is a part you must be most careful about when inserting the needle. If the needle touches the intercostal artery or the internal mammary artery behind the ribs, an uncontrollable situation will occur. It might even lead to a situation worse than not doing the puncture at all. So, you must always be careful.

Kim Yun-seok recalled in his head what Kim Ji-hyuk had said.

‘If I touch the intercostal artery or internal mammary artery, it’s over! Let’s insert it as carefully as possible.’

Kim Yun-seok calmly regulated his breathing.

And then,

Psh—

He finally inserted the long needle. And a brief silence followed.

“…….”

Kim Yun-seok held his breath for a moment, not moving a muscle.

Gulp—

Gulp—

Everyone around him swallowed hard.

And,

‘Got it! It’s a success.’

Finally, he wore a satisfied smile. As the needle went in smoothly without any obstruction, one corner of Kim Yun-seok’s mouth curled up.

But that did not mean everything was over.

Now, it was a situation where he just had to extract the blood accumulated in the pericardium. If the syringe needle was properly positioned in the pericardium, dark red blood would come up along with fluid.

However, if the needle was stuck in the heart muscle, no liquid would be pulled up.

Kim Yun-seok pulled the plunger of the syringe with a tense expression.

As he pulled the syringe, dark red blood was drawn up.

“Bl-blood!”

“Blood is coming out of the chest! Isn’t this wrong?”

Then, gasps erupted from the people with worried expressions.

“It’s a success!”

But contrary to them, the expression on Kim Yun-seok’s face was bright.

“Doctor Kim! What is happening? It seems blood keeps coming out…”

Brown, who had been quietly watching Kim Yun-seok’s treatment. Feeling anxious as he saw the blood coming out, he asked Kim Yun-seok.

“Do not worry, Mr. Brown. I will definitely save Peter.”

“All right. I will trust only you, Doctor Kim.”

He was deeply worried, but since the only person he could trust in this situation was Kim Yun-seok, Brown had no choice but to trust him completely.

“…….”

After completing the procedure, Kim Yun-seok immediately checked the pulse, and then placed his ear against Peter’s chest to check the heart sounds.

After about ten seconds passed,

Gasp—

Peter exhaled the breath that had been blocked all at once.

Whoa—

Whoa—

“He’s alive!”

“The child is breathing!”

People began to cheer one by one.

Groan—

Color began to return to Peter’s face, and he seemed to regain consciousness little by little.

Cardiac tamponade was a terrifying disease where even a slight delay in emergency treatment led to death.

However, because it was a disease that showed a dramatic recovery if pericardiocentesis was performed in time, the effect was seen quickly.

“Grandfather, where is this?”

Finally, Peter regained consciousness and looked around his surroundings.

“Oh! My child! Are you conscious now? It’s grandfather! Do you recognize me?”

Brown ran over, picked Peter up, and placed him on his lap.

“Yes, grandfather.”

Peter slowly nodded his head.

“Mr. Brown! The dangerous crisis has passed for now. However, we must transport him to the UN Hospital immediately for further treatment, so please prepare a car.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much. I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life.”

Brown, with tears in his eyes, expressed his gratitude to Kim Yun-seok.

“I only did my job! That is not what is important, and we must take Peter to the hospital immediately!”

“I understand. I will prepare it right away.”

It was right at that moment.

“Mr. Brown, what on earth happened?”

Slam—

Two people kicked open the door and entered the mansion.

They were Yoon Tae-seok, the owner of this mansion, and Professor Cho Dong-gi.