Golden Time

Chapter 65

Everyone turned their heads to the side at Dongsu’s shouting.

A man carried on to a stretcher was being handed over to the thoracic surgeons.

He was the man that Suhyuk took to the emergency room.

Some detectives quickly approached him.

They checked his unconscious face again and again.

Then they asked the doctor, “What kind of accident did he get into? What’s his name?”

“Are you his guardian?”

“I’m a detective.”

The doctor responded immediately to his words, “I hear his name is Park Janghu.”

When the doctor looked at the nurse to confirm the name, she nodded as if he was correct.

The detective looked at Park, who was lying on the stretcher, with a suspicious look.

He did not have the characteristics of a suspect who commited a chain of crimes,  because they do not usually carry anything that would reveal their ident.i.ty. But here he was, a suspect who had raped 17 women in just two months. It was very difficult to collect information about him previously, because he committed his crimes very deliberately and secretively. Only his nickname was known, because he did not commit such a crime in just one place, but moved around here and there to attack each victim. However, it was exactly a week ago; an image of a man looking like the real suspect was captured on CCTV in front of a convenience store. Though it was vague and blurry, his face was very similar to a composite drawn by a witness.

The very man captured in the CCTV, suspected of committing the awful crimes, was lying in front of them right now, and on top of that, his ident.i.ty fully revealed.

Such a deliberate in action and circ.u.mspect guy was there lying before them.

They felt that all the efforts to catch him previously seemed in vain.

The detective staring at the suspect lying down looked up at Dongsu and said, “This guy seems to be the running fugitive we had been chasing.”

Dongsu laughed, twisting his lips.

“Did he get into an accident? Keep an eye on him until he wakes up, Detective Kang!”

At that moment Dongsu’s eyelids wriggled because he began to feel the pain that he had forgotten for that moment.

“Lie down.”

Suhyuk forced him to lie down and cut off the blood-stained dress s.h.i.+rt with scissors to confirm his wounds. He could not figure how and where he was hurt because blood was gus.h.i.+ng up and out from the wounds.

“Hey, am I going to die like this?” said Dongsu with a bitter laugh.

He felt the pain was less than before, but now instead found his head became dizzy, which bothered him even more.

“Don’t say anything,” said Suhyuk.

Suhyuk covered his wounds with a layer of gauzes.

Then Oh Byungchul approached, saying, “Move back, Suhyuk.”

“Yes, go and have a gla.s.s of water. Why are you sweating so much?” said Dongsu.

There came out a sigh from Suhyuk’s mouth.

‘Who is worrying about whom now…’

While Oh was opening the gauzes covering the wounds, Suhyuk said, “I think you should start with first giving some blood transfusions.”

Saying so, he was looking at Dongsu’s face.

Dongsu laughed carelessly. In his mind, Suhyuk’s eyes seemed to be saying something like this: ‘Do not worry! I’ll save your life.’

Dongsu said to Oh, “Doctor, I want to have a blood transfusion first. I feel pretty dizzy right now, perhaps because the amount of blood I have is insufficient.”

Ignoring his words slightly, Oh asked, “How did you get hurt?”

The detectives who were watching him nervously said, “He was stabbed by a knife. By the way, don’t you think he needs an immediate surgery?”

“Will you be responsible if our prosecutor dies? Just do something instead of looking on!”

At their pressing, Oh was full of a glow. Those around him were all the more stressed by the fact that they were detectives. It was like the scary feeling an innocent man feels when seeing a pa.s.sing police car.

Oh could not see the wound clearly, and he felt as if his head was all screwed up, not knowing what he had to do first, examining the patient or contact the surgery team. And there were the detectives standing before him. Resident Oh often found himself so embarra.s.sed like this even though he was so well accustomed to the emergency department.

On such occasions, he used to ask for help. Namely, contacting the chief resident.

“Now, let me contact another doctor.”

“Another doctor? Are you not a doctor? He’s been stabbed by a knife! He needs a surgery right now!”

Did he hear them? Oh pulled out his cell phone to contact the chief.

At that moment a resident surgeon came up to them. He was called for by Suhyuk.

The more time was delayed, the more complications would occur.

Though it was not a serious situation, the patient was his friend above all else.

“I heard that he was stabbed, so let me take care of him.”

Oh nodded his head and then he looked at Suhyuk.

“He’s my friend. I am sorry to have contacted the surgical team by myself. If something happens, I’ll take full responsibility for it.”

Saying so, Suhyuk pushed the bed, disappearing gradually.

Oh looked at the back of Suhyuk disappearing for a moment. A prosecutor friend…

Though he felt upset about him who acted without his permission, he thought it was a plausible outcome. Did he not say he was his friend?

The prosecutor was smiling at Lee Suhyuk even while he was bleeding.

Somehow he felt that Suhyuk had only good people around him.

“Sir, the patient’s blood pressure is dropping!”

At the nurse’s urgent voice Oh moved quickly.

***

While he was being taken to the operating room, Dongsu blinked his eyes.

He felt that the injured area did not seem to hurt anymore. Dongsu, who was staring at the fluorescent lights pa.s.sing quickly above him, said to Suhyuk moving with him on the side,

“I’m afraid I might die before getting married.”

“Don’t speak of such nonsense! You will survive by any means possible.”

“Okay, let me check your capabilities as a doctor.”

Suhyuk could see his slightly trembling fingers. He was clearly feeling nervous, even though his expression and tone were portrayed calmly.

Smiling with some effort, Suhyuk said to Dongsu, “You heard of my skills, right? Super great skills. So just take a nap and wake up once it’s all over.”

Dongsu nodded his head slowly, and then he arrived at the door to the surgery room.

Having gone through, the door slowly closed, and the detectives who looked at him go in blankly, soon spoke to each other,

“He’ll be okay, right?”

“I just don’t understand why he showed up at the crime scene in the first place.”

“But the guy who just followed him is our prosecutor’s friend, right?”

“Yeah, right! It looks like the guy who grabbed the criminal was the one we saw before on the TV!”

Now the detectives could understand why he insisted on going to Daehan hospital.

He went to the hospital because he wanted to see his friend that he usually boasted of.

***

The surgery team was formed in an instant. And Dongsu went through all kinds of examinations needed for the surgery. Fortunately, his organs were fine, but the wounded areas stabbed by the knife were very messy and disordered. In addition, his blood pressure was continuously falling.

When Dongsu was led by the nurses and headed straight to the operating room, Suhyuk moved along with them at the same time.

At that time, a resident’s voice stopped his footsteps, “It’s very rare for an intern to partic.i.p.ate in an emergency surgery. Did the professor give you any instructions?”

“Instructions?”

At his asking, the surgery team around him, disinfecting their bodies from their palms to their forearms, shook their heads. They usually saw him while they were coming and going at the hospital, and he was rumored to be a talented intern. After they were done with the disinfecting, they asked him if the professor instructed him,

“He’s my friend. I would appreciate it if you could allow me to attend.”

At his words, they frowned instantly, “Did you get permission from the professor?”

“No.”

“Get out!”

It was a decisive exit order.

Suhyuk’s face hardened instantly.

He really wanted to stay by his side, but the resident and nurses’ eyes were so stingy.

Well, he knew that even a family member was never allowed into the operating room, much less the patient’s friend.

“Then, I expect you would take good care of my friend.”

Suhyuk gave them hearty greetings. They did not care about it though, and disappeared into the surgery room.

At the moment when the automatic door opened, a professor entered and looked at Suhyuk blankly. He was none other than Prof. Han Myungjin of the thoracic surgery department.

“It’s been a while, but what are you doing here?”

Suhyuk bowed his head slightly, saying, “My friend came here as an emergency patient, so I came here and I’m sorry for being a bother.”

The professor, nodding, pa.s.sed by him and cleaned his hands thoroughly.

Suhyuk then said when he was going into the surgery room, “I hope he’s in good hands!”

“Hey, your friend was hurt. Are you going away? I did not see as such a mean guy.”

At his words, his eyes grew bigger, and he said quickly, “I would appreciate it if you could allow me to attend.”

Prof. Han, wearing a surgical gown, opened his mouth, “What are you doing? Get ready quickly!”

“Thank you, sir.”

Suhyuk went into the operating room.

The nurse, the cardiopulmonary resuscitator, and the residents checking the equipments at their respective locations suddenly frowned at him.

“I told you to get out!” shouted a resident approaching Suhyuk with glaring eyes.

Professor Han Myungjin, pa.s.sing by him, said briefly, “I called for him.”

“Oh, yes…”

n.o.body raised any further objections. Rather, they looked at Prof. Han with respectful eyes.

If anyone was injured, he did not mind riding an ambulance or helicopter no matter where he was just to get to the patient. Even more surprising was his clinical record.  One time he spent 31 hours treating a patient in the operating room, and did that continuously without rest. It was natural for such a person to be respected by other doctors. As everyone was preparing for the surgery, Suhyuk approached Dongsu.

“Wake me up if I oversleep,” said Dongsu with a slight smile.

Though it was a playful joke, Suhyuk was able to notice his hidden meaning at once.

That meant he wanted to open his eyes immediately after the surgery.

Suhyuk showed the same smile as always to him.

“It’ll be over soon. So, just take a short nap and don’t worry about it.”

“I’m starting the anesthesia.”

At the anesthesiologist’s words, Dongsu looked at the light pouring from above.

The light was too bright.

‘What is mom doing now? Will she make kimchi today for work? d.a.m.n kimchi. I just keep telling her to buy it like other people.’

“Huuuuuhh…”

A white breath filled the mask covering his mouth and then disappeared.

“I feel sleepy,” Dongsu went to sleep with such murmuring.

Professor Han Myungjin, who confirmed that he was completely asleep, opened his mouth,

“We have a patient with a stab wound. Let me start the operation. It looks like there wasn’t any damage to the organs when I look at the image shots. However, as there might be some subtle bleeding, we still have to look into that.”

The a.s.sistants nodded.

They recalled what Prof. Han kept telling habitually.

The machine does not lie, but you never believe it until you open the belly and check it with your own eyes. Only a surgeon who completed a countless number of surgeries could say that.

“Bobby (electric knife).”

When the professor reached out his hand, the a.s.sistant next to him gave it to him.

He frowned, moving with the bobby.

The wound surfaces were quite messy.

After stabbing him, the attacker twisted the knife.

With the smell of burning flesh, Dongsu’s flank was opened.

Organs that were stained with blood were not visible enough to examine.

“Irrigation, please. Wash the organs quickly.”

At his instruction, the a.s.sistants poured the saline solution into his belly.

On such occasions, they used the suction to drain the saline mixed with blood.

At that moment Han Myungjin’s voice made Suhyuk turn his head.

“Mr. Lee Suhyuk!”