Chapter 96 – No, Surely… (2)

“What is the matter, Member Yun?”

Kim Ji-hyuk sprang up from his seat in welcome.

“Doctor, have you been well?”

“Of course! Have you been well too, Member Yun?”

“Yes. I do not see the nurses around?”

Compared to Kim Ji-hyuk’s expression, Member Yun Tae-ho’s expression was dark.

“Yes. They went to the village hall to check on the elderly. They will be back soon. But what is the matter?”

“Nothing else, but… my younger brother is a bit sick.”

Yun Tae-ho replied with a sullen expression.

“Is that so? Where is the patient?”

Kim Ji-hyuk looked around the surroundings.

“He suddenly had stomach pain and went to the outhouse. He will be out soon.”

Member Yun Tae-ho scratched the back of his head.

“I see. But isn’t your house in Museon-gun? There is one, indeed.”

“There is one, indeed.”

Member Yun Tae-ho nodded his head.

“But?”

“He received treatment at the town hospital, but far from getting better… They said the doctor used to be at a very large hospital in Seoul, but he must be a quack. Since his condition keeps worsening…”

It was right at that moment.

“Hyung…”

A child entered the clinic clutching his stomach. At a glance, he was a boy who looked to be about fifteen to sixteen years old.

He seemed to be the younger brother Yun Tae-ho spoke of.

“Jeong-ho! Come quickly and greet the doctor.”

Then Yun Tae-ho pulled the child’s sleeve.

“Hello… I am Yun Jeong-ho.”

*Bowing—*

The child bowed toward Kim Ji-hyuk.

A heavily scowling face.

Even at a glance, his physical condition did not look good.

“Alright. Sit down here.”

“Yes.”

Jeong-ho sat on the chair clutching his stomach.

‘His condition looks very bad, though?’

The child was even breaking out in a cold sweat.

Looking closer, his condition looked far worse.

“Where does it hurt?”

Kim Ji-hyuk asked, inspecting the child’s complexion.

“My stomach hurts. Even if I just eat, it hurts with a stinging pain, I cannot digest food, and even if I just drink water, my stomach throbs and hurts.”

“Your stomach hurts? Let me see!”

“Doctor, he says he fell while playing with his friends at school. At first, I thought he was faking it, wondering why he was making such a fuss about a little fall, so I left him alone, but his condition gradually worsened!”

Yun Tae-ho spoke instead of the child.

“He fell while playing?”

Kim Ji-hyuk tilted his head.

“Yes. As I fell, I bumped against the corner of a desk. Ever since then, my stomach has been hurting so much.”

“Against the corner of a desk?”

“Yes.”

Jeong-ho spoke with an extremely distressed expression.

After checking the patient’s condition, Kim Ji-hyuk shook his head.

“Let me see your stomach.”

“Yes.”

Kim Ji-hyuk lifted the child’s shirt and examined his abdomen here and there.

‘Hmm, I do not think this is an injury caused merely by falling…’

Kim Ji-hyuk wore a serious expression.

The reason was simple.

Because the child’s abdomen was densely covered in bruises.

“Member Yun, could you step out with me for a moment?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes.”

When Kim Ji-hyuk gestured to Yun Tae-ho to step outside, Member Yun Tae-ho caught on immediately.

A moment later.

“The injuries on this child’s body right now are not from falling. Of course, those injuries are there too, but it seems Jeong-ho has been beaten.”

Kim Ji-hyuk, having moved spots, brought up the shocking topic.

“B-beaten? Then you mean our Jeong-ho was hit?”

Yun Tae-ho’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I will have to examine him more to be sure, but it is highly likely. There are traces showing he has suffered continuous beatings for quite a long time.”

“Sigh, who on earth did that to our Jeong-ho! Is it absolutely certain that our Jeong-ho was beaten, Doctor!”

Yun Tae-ho bared his fangs, furious.

“My prediction won’t be far off. The bruises scattered all over his body are the issue; their quantity is one thing, but the color of the bruises is the real issue.”

“Bruise color? Aren’t bruises just dark blue? Are the colors different?”

“Yes. If all the bruises scattered on the body were uniformly red, we could assume they were caused by bumping during a fall, but…”

Kim Ji-hyuk explained in detail about the bruises on Yun Jeong-ho’s body.

The colors of the bruises were different.

They varied from red to purple, blue, and even yellow.

Bruises generally turn purple about two days after they occur, and light yellow after about two weeks.

Therefore, Kim Ji-hyuk thought it was reasonable to assume this child, covered in bruises of various colors, had either fallen continuously or had been continuously beaten by someone.

Since the possibility of continuous falling was close to zero, Kim Ji-hyuk’s judgment was that he must be suffering from continuous beatings.

“Who on earth made our Jeong-ho like this? I will never let those bastards go!”

Yun Tae-ho trembled, furious.

“More than that… didn’t they say anything at that hospital? If the child’s body is in this state, there surely must have been a diagnosis.”

“Yes. There wasn’t much said.”

“What? Not much was said? Does that make sense? A doctor couldn’t possibly not know if it is to this extent.”

“I do not know either. They just said it was nothing major and to take the prescribed medicine for about a week. So I just brought the medicine back.”

“Nothing major?”

“Yes. They said the bruises on the body would be fine after some time, and since the abdominal pain seemed to be indigestion, it would get better once he took the medicine.”

“Indigestion? That is their diagnosis?”

“Yes.”

Yun Tae-ho nodded.

“That doctor? What is his name?”

“Ah… that… right! I think he was called Doctor Jo Dong-gi!”

Yun Tae-ho retraced his memory and finally raised his voice.

“Jo Dong-gi?”

“Why? By any chance, do you know him?”

As Kim Ji-hyuk was surprised, Yun Tae-ho asked.

‘N-no way! Professor Jo Dong-gi? Ah, it cannot be. How could someone who has already had his medical license revoked perform medical treatment? It is highly likely to be a homonym. But… I must check it out for now.’

“Ah, no. You know where that hospital is, right?”

“Of course. I have been taking him around myself. Since our parents passed away during the war, I have been raising him.”

“I see. Anyway, please sketch a map of that hospital’s location for me. For now, treating your younger brother is the priority.”

“Understood.”

‘Ah, damn, he must have been a quack. And they said he was a doctor at a big hospital in Seoul!’

Yun Tae-ho’s clenched fists trembled.

A moment later, Kim Ji-hyuk returned to the treatment room to check on Jeong-ho’s condition.

“Do-doctor…”

The child’s condition was deteriorating by the minute.

“Yes. Where does it hurt the most?”

“Ah, my stomach! My stomach h-hurts so much! I feel like I’m going die, Doctor.”

*Pant, pant—*

Jeong-ho gasping for breath. Cold sweat poured like rain down his bloodless face.

“Does it hurt here by any chance?”

“Argh! It hurts. It hurts to death there!”

When Kim Ji-hyuk pressed his stomach, Jeong-ho screamed as if crying out.

“Since when have you had these symptoms?”

“Since a few days ago.”

“I will press a few spots, so tell me if it hurts.”

*Press, press—*

“Argh!”

Each time Kim Ji-hyuk pressed a specific part of Jeong-ho’s abdomen with his hand, Jeong-ho screamed as if he were going into fits.

‘It seems like there is a problem with the pancreas… I have a general idea of the cause. The pancreas was ruptured due to beatings by someone, causing inflammation. Because of that inflammation, the pancreas swelled and compressed the duodenum, blocking the tract and making him suffer from indigestion. That must have been the cause of the abdominal pain. That is likely why that doctor also mistook it for indigestion and prescribed medicine. However, rather than simple indigestion, there is a high probability that the pancreas was ruptured due to beatings!’

“Doctor, is our Jeong-ho going to be okay?”

Seeing the child in pain, Yun Tae-ho wore a worried expression.

“No. No matter how I think about it, I think we must move him to a large hospital.”

“A l-large hospital?”

“Yes. Since the last coal mine accident, we established an agreement to cooperate with the provincial hospital. So, we must transfer Jeong-ho there.”

“Is, is our Jeong-ho in very bad shape? Does he have to undergo surgery or something?”

“We need to draw blood to perform several tests, including an inflammation check, and if necessary, he might have to undergo surgery.”

“Where? Where is our Jeong-ho unwell?”

“He seems to have injured his pancreas. Originally, the pancreas is located deep inside the abdomen, so it is rarely injured unless…”

“Th-then you mean those bastards who beat our Jeong-ho did this?”

Yun Tae-ho’s eyes were tinted red.

“It is still difficult to say definitively. For now, we should take Jeong-ho to the provincial hospital and perform more examinations.”

“Those bad bastards! I will absolutely not let them go.”

“Calm down for now, and let us move Jeong-ho to the hospital first.”

“Ah, understood, Doctor!”

Thus, Kim Ji-hyuk and Yun Tae-ho moved to the provincial hospital with Jeong-ho.

* * *

Arriving at the provincial hospital after departing from the Moeundong clinic.

Kim Ji-hyuk immediately performed a blood test for Jeong-ho with the help of the provincial hospital doctors.

The inflammation level was 15 mg/L!

An inflammation level between 0.5 and 1.0 mg/L is normal, and anything above that means the degree of inflammation is severe. In other words, an inflammation level exceeding 15 mg/L meant that inflammation was spreading rapidly inside the body.

And the subsequent X-ray imaging.

‘The pancreas is definitely torn! We must operate immediately!’

Confirming the result, Kim Ji-hyuk wore a face filled with conviction.

Few hours later, in the operating room.

“Welcome, Professor! We have prepared everything.”

As Kim Ji-hyuk entered the operating room, Dr. Do Jun-hwan raised his voice and greeted him energetically.

“Dr. Do Jun-hwan, seeing you again!”

“Yes. It is an honor to meet you again, Professor!”

Before long, Do Jun-hwan had become a fan of Kim Ji-hyuk.

‘I must definitely take this guy to Seoul!’

Kim Ji-hyuk also seemed to like Do Jun-hwan.

“I will count on you again today! He is a young child. We must pay special attention.”

“Understood. I will assist you to the best of my ability, Professor!”

“Good! Nurse, scalpel, please!”

“Yes!”

Kim Ji-hyuk, taking the scalpel, skillfully incised the abdomen, and the surgery began in earnest.

“The abdominal cavity is filled with blood. Please prepare a blood transfusion!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Irrigation!”

“Yes.”

“Nurse, suture!”

“Yes!.”

The superior mesenteric vein had burst due to the beatings to the abdomen. Kim Ji-hyuk quickly sutured the torn superior mesenteric vein with needle and thread.

“Got it. Superior mesenteric vein!”

As he sutured the ruptured superior mesenteric vein with a hand movement close to magic, the bleeding gradually decreased.

The moment the patient’s organs were revealed as a view was secured.

“The, the head of the pancreas is completely severed!”

Do Jun-hwan’s eyes widened.

Although it was surprising that Kim Ji-hyuk’s prediction of a ruptured pancreas was correct, it was even more shocking that the head of the pancreas was severed as if cut out with a knife.