Chapter 3 – Save at All Costs (1)

“……!”

‘Oh shoot, I was going in such a rush that I stepped on Ike’s foot! What do I do?’

While pushing through the crowd, he was shoved and stepped on something, and it seemed that was Ike.

Turning pale, Ji-hyuk stopped in his tracks along with Yun-seok.

“Who do you think you are? Do you not know who this gentleman is to behave so rudely? Won’t you come here and apologize immediately?”

It was Eisenhower who had stopped them, but the one shouting was the only Korean professor at the UN hospital, Cho Dong-ki.

“………”

Hesitantly, the two walked up to Eisenhower.

“I apologize. We have committed an act of rudeness to you, General. Please forgive us.”

Ji-hyuk politely apologized to Eisenhower in fluent English.

“You stepped on my foot.”

Ike had a solemn expression.

‘I’m doomed!’

“I apologize. We were distracted because there is a patient in critical condition.”

Ji-hyuk bowed his head once more to apologize.

“General, we are sorry! We will treat you immediately.”

At that, Professor Cho Dong-ki appealed to Eisenhower with a heavily flushed face.

“No. I was saying I am grateful to that doctor for stepping on my foot.”

“Pardon?”

Professor Cho Dong-ki was startled.

“Actually, I have severe athlete’s foot. It was so itchy that I wanted to scratch it, and just in time, the doctor over there stepped on it, so it felt very refreshing!”

Eisenhower pointed at Ji-hyuk with a humorous expression.

Hahahahaha, then laughter burst out from around them.

‘W-what is this?’

“Ath-athlete’s foot?”

Professor Cho Dong-ki had an embarrassed look.

“That’s right. I suffer from a severe case of it, too. Since I couldn’t wash my feet properly during the war……”

Eisenhower put on a pitiful expression.

“Ah! Then we will treat you immediately. What are you two doing! Examine the General right away……”

Professor Cho Dong-ki shouted at Ji-hyuk and Yun-seok with a very angry face.

“No, Professor! Does an athlete’s foot patient take priority? Or does a patient in critical condition take priority?”

“Well, that is……”

“Mine was too foolish a question, wasn’t it? Doctor! Go ahead quickly.”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you say there is an urgent patient? Oh, but are you two heading outside the hospital?”

Eisenhower asked, having watched the two doctors heading toward the exit door closely.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“You must have lost time because of me. Surely riding in a car would be faster than walking, wouldn’t it?”

“Pardon?”

Ji-hyuk and Yun-seok had bewildered expressions.

“Aide!”

“Yes, General!”

“Drive these doctors in my car to wherever they are going.”

“Yes, sir! Understood. Gentlemen, I will escort you. Let’s go!”

Eisenhower’s aide said to Ji-hyuk.

“No, you don’t have to go that far……”

“I don’t know who the patient is, but please save them, Doctor! This war will be over soon. They are just about to escape hell, so wouldn’t it be too unfair? They must live. Indeed, they must live and be happy.”

‘As expected, he is a great man!’

Realizing that stepping on his foot was due to a patient whose life hung in the balance, Eisenhower eased the atmosphere by bringing up his athlete’s foot, quickly let the two doctors go, and even provided a car to encourage them.

“………!”

While Ji-hyuk was feeling touched, Eisenhower walked over to him.

“Doctor, you left this behind. What kind of soldier heading to the battlefield leaves behind their bullets?”

Eisenhower whispered to Ji-hyuk.

Then, he secretly slipped the penlight he had hidden behind his back into Ji-hyuk’s pocket.

It was Eisenhower’s consideration to save Ji-hyuk’s face.

“Sigh, thank you, General!”

“Doctor, please save them. Even if that patient is the enemy!”

“Yes! I will save them at all costs.”

“Oops! I’ve held up someone in a hurry for too long. Go quickly.”

“Yes, General!”

After all the trials and tribulations, Ji-hyuk and Yun-seok rode in the jeep provided by Eisenhower to search for the student soldier, Jang Cheol-woo.

* * *

SWEDISH RED CROSS HOSPITAL

An arch-shaped sign stood at the main entrance. Swedish, UN, and Red Cross flags were erected on top of it, and as they left the hospital’s main gate, banners welcoming Eisenhower’s visit could be seen fluttering everywhere.

‘Did I really return to 1952?’

Even while riding in the jeep, Ji-hyuk could not collect his senses due to the strange scenery coming into view. This was definitely not the place where Ji-hyuk used to live. Yet, it was too vivid and concrete to be a dream.

“Ji-hyuk! Eisenhower is truly a great man. To even give us a car like this. My heart was pounding so hard because I thought we were going to get into deep trouble.”

Yun-seok patted his chest in relief.

“Indeed.”

“By the way, it looked like Eisenhower whispered something to you earlier. What did he say?”

“Ah, that? Mmh, he said a person who abandons a friend in a crisis is not a friend.”

“Ah! No! That’s a misunderstanding. Since you are fluent in English and I’m not good at English, I couldn’t help but……”

Perhaps bothered by having stepped back a few paces when Ji-hyuk was in trouble earlier, Yun-seok’s face quickly flushed red like a tomato.

“Hahaha, it’s a joke, a joke! He told me to take this, saying I dropped it. I think he did it to save my face in front of so many people.”

Ji-hyuk smiled and showed the penlight.

“Ah! He is indeed a man of great character, just as I’ve heard.”

“Right. That aside, we must find Cheol-woo quickly. Where should we go? Do you know Cheol-woo’s address?”

“How many people would have an address in the midst of this chaos?”

“Then how do we find Cheol-woo?”

“Well, I have a hunch, so let’s head over there first.”

Yun-seok nodded with a confident expression.

A moment later, they arrived at a place with Yun-seok.

This was a nursery and school that cared for children orphaned by the war and taught them Hangul.

A shabby wooden building constructed by loosely piecing together wooden boards. It looked so flimsy that it seemed it would collapse if touched wrong.

“This is it. Cheol-woo will probably be here.”

“Cheol-woo is here?”

Ji-hyuk asked as he got out of the jeep.

“Yes. Cheol-woo is helping out here, looking after the children and teaching them Hangul.”

‘At an age where he should be cared for himself, he was looking after someone else. Hmph, I will save him at all costs! This child!’

“Mmh, that’s impressive. Right! Let’s go in first……”

It was right then.

Someone came out of the building carried on a man’s back.

He was Jang Cheol-woo, whom Yun-seok and Ji-hyuk were searching for.

“Cheol-woo!”

Yun-seok, recognizing him at a glance, rushed toward him, and Ji-hyuk followed.

“What happened?”

Yun-seok asked the man carrying Cheol-woo.

“I don’t know. Cheol-woo suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed. What should we do?”

The man had a troubled look.

“It is alright. We are doctors. Let’s go inside first.”

“Really? Are you doctors?”

“Yes, that is correct. I treated Cheol-woo just a while ago. Let’s go inside quickly.”

“Understood,”

Like that, Yun-seok and Ji-hyuk took Cheol-woo inside the school.

A moment later,

Ji-hyuk and Yun-seok laid Cheol-woo down and checked his condition immediately.

‘Anisocoria!’

Ji-hyuk, who was examining Cheol-woo’s pupils with a penlight.

“Yun-seok, the pupil sizes are different.”

“Yeah. His jugular vein is distended a lot too.”

While Ji-hyuk was checking the pupils, Yun-seok checked around Cheol-woo’s neck.

“Wait a moment!”

Ji-hyuk immediately rolled up Cheol-woo’s sleeve and placed his hand on him. As if an oriental medicine doctor taking a pulse, Ji-hyuk closed his eyes and checked something.

‘Since there is no blood pressure monitor, he is checking the radial artery to estimate the blood pressure! As expected of Ji-hyuk!’

As if trying to imprint Ji-hyuk’s treatment in his mind, Yun-seok observed him closely.

“Yun-seok, I don’t think his systolic blood pressure is even 80 mmHg!”

Ji-hyuk, having estimated the blood pressure, wore a serious expression.

“Then……”

Yun-seok had an anxious look.

“Cheol-woo doesn’t have simple asthma. It’s cardiac tamponade!”

They say anxious premonitions are never wrong.

That was the conclusion Ji-hyuk reached after examining Cheol-woo’s condition.

“Th-then what should we do?”

“We must drain it.”

“Drain what?”

“We have to drain the fluid pooled in the pericardium.”

“What! We are doing that here? Not even in an operating room?”

‘Blind pericardiocentesis! This is the only thing I can do for Cheol-woo right now!’

“We have to. We must insert a syringe and drain the effusion! Otherwise, Cheol-woo will die!”

“Sigh, is… is that possible?”

‘No, it’s been a while since I performed a blind centesis, so it’s a bit fuzzy… But we have no choice right now, Grandfather!’

“I have to try. First, can you give me some disinfectant and gauze?”

“O-okay.”

At Ji-hyuk’s instruction, Yun-seok took the disinfectant out of the first-aid kit and handed it to him.

Swish, swish-

After wiping his hands with the alcohol disinfectant, Ji-hyuk applied the disinfectant to a piece of gauze and wiped Cheol-woo’s chest.

“Grandfa… No, Yun-seok, did you bring the syringe?”

“Yeah. It’s here.”

The syringe Yun-seok handed over.

‘Sigh, a glass syringe…….’

Judging by the illustration of two hands shaking and the American flag drawn on the case, it was undoubtedly US aid goods.

“Ji-hyuk, are you really confident?”

Yun-seok asked in a trembling voice.

“I’m not. But if we don’t do it now, Cheol-woo will die. So let’s just do it as we were taught.”

“I… I have never learned this before……”

At that, Yun-seok blushed.

‘Right. Since it was the 1950s, a time when cardiac ultrasound didn’t even exist, there would have been no need to learn pericardiocentesis. Besides, he must have studied at the Union Medical College, which was poor beyond belief.’

“Phew, it’s alright. I have only seen it in American medical books myself. At any rate, I will try it!”

“Yeah! Okay. Then I will help by your side.”

“Thank you.”

Although Ji-hyuk had performed many centeses using cardiac ultrasound, he had almost no experience with blind pericardiocentesis.

However, this was not a situation to argue over such things.

Unless he pierced and drained the effusion accumulated in the pericardium, Cheol-woo was fated to die in vain, just like in Grandfather’s diary.

‘Calm down, Kim Ji-hyuk! You’ve done this countless times! I cannot blame the medical equipment in this situation.’

‘If I go down about an adult’s hand-span below the clavicle…….’

Ji-hyuk checked the position by placing his hand on Cheol-woo’s chest.

Gulp. Watching Ji-hyuk like that, Yun-seok’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

‘The part protruding below the sternum, this is the xiphoid process!’

Ji-hyuk calmly placed his finger on the xiphoid process.

‘Done. Now all I have to do is insert the needle and drain the fluid pooled in the pericardial sac! But I must be careful. If I happen to touch the intercostal artery, it would be worse than not doing it at all!’

“………”

Gulp. Once more, the sound of Yun-seok swallowing beside him reached Ji-hyuk’s ears.

‘Now, I just need to insert it right below at about a 30-degree angle!’

Phew. Perhaps feeling nervous, Ji-hyuk let out a short sigh.

“Ji-hyuk! Hang in there!”

Kim Yun-seok cheered Ji-hyuk on.

‘Yes. I can do it. No, even if I can’t, I must!’

“Yun-seok, can you open that syringe for me?”

Having made up his mind, Ji-hyuk said to Yun-seok.

“Okay.”

Click. Yun-seok opened the case, took out the syringe, and placed it in Ji-hyuk’s hand.

‘Kim Ji-hyuk! You are the greatest genius of our school and my idol. You will do well!’

The look in Yun-seok’s eyes as he stared at Ji-hyuk was full of confidence.

“…… silence/dots
-> “………”

Gulp. Holding the syringe, Ji-hyuk swallowed his dry saliva.

Squish!

Soon his eyes flashed, and he inserted the syringe into Cheol-woo’s chest without hesitation.