Doctor Goes Back to Joseon

Chapter 183: Chapter 56

The mayor and General Shin, along with the soldiers, left the village.

There were dozens of soldiers, wounded, residents and Kanghyok’s party left in the village.

“Much fewer wounded men than I thought,” said Kanghyok, while walking around the several houses that the mayor secured for the wounded.

Dolsok quickly responded,

“Well, most of them were killed or deserted while escaping. I guess some of them escaped.”

“I see...”

Kanghyok recalled the road through which he escaped to the wood with Yoni last night.

Obviously there were lots of soldiers running on the road at that time.

“Did you say you gathered all the heavily wounded here?”

“Yes, master. I and Yoni gave them first aid a while ago.”

“Nice job.”

Though he was not as competent as Yoni, he had good memories. Once Kanghyok taught him something, he never asked twice.

And he could easily treat somebody with bruises or light wounds.

“Where is Yoni?”

“I’m guessing she is with Yoju now. Do you want me to bring her here?”

Kanghyok shook his hand quickly.

He knew her feelings , who lost her father, because he had the same experience before.

Yoni would be of great psychological help to Yoju.

“By the way, where is Makbong?”

“I guess he would be in the village now.”

“Why is he there?”

“As you know, many men in the village were killed by the Japanese raiders...”

What Dolsok meant was there were many widows as a result of the raid.

Kanghyok didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Crazy guy, Makbong...”

“Well, we’ve survived thanks to Makbong anyway. He was really good at brandishing the sword.”

“Really? I would not have been here without Yoni’s help.”

Of course, Yoni would have died without Kanghyok’s help, too.

‘This is indeed something mystery.’

Kanghyok saved Yoni’s father’s life by coincidence, which led to his sustained relationship with Yoni up to now.

Shaking his head, Kanghyok opened the gate of the house where there were seriously wounded men.

“Hmmm...” Kanghyok felt the smell from inside was disgusting.

“Most of these people are the people in this village.”

“How many medicine did you use?”

“Well, I guess I used half the antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs in the bag, master. I didn’t touch other drugs.”

“What about bandages?”

“I’ve used up half of them.”

“Okay. Let me take a look at the patients.”

“Yes, master. We don’t have many now.”

Dolsok opened the door of the first room.

It gave out strange bad odor, along with the smell of blood.

A guy with a deep cut on his chest was lying on the floor.

“This is the man who fought with us.”

Kanghyok could recognize him at a glance.

He felt at that time that this man was almost dead, but he wasn’t.

Obviously he fought to the end in order to defend Changkwon.

“Dolsok, do you any boiling water?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Bring it here. I need to clean his wounds first.”

When Dolsok went out to bring some hot water, Kanghyok examined his wounds carefully, such as how much he was bleeding, how deep the cut was and whether his bone was fractured.

‘Ah, the Japanese’s sword was broken at that time.’

Fortunately, he had no serious cuts on his body.

If any part of his lung had been cut, he could not have survived.

‘His pectoral muscle was completely cut, but he could survive in this condition.’

At that moment Dolsok came in with hot water.

“Here you go, master.”

“Good. Put on gloves and get close to me.”

“Yes.”

Kanghyok soaked gauze into hot water and began to clean the wounds.

As the blood clots began to come off, there was bleeding from the wounds again.

“Do I need to press on it?”

“Sure.”

Both Kanghyok and Dolsok took turns cleaning and pressing on the wounds to remove the blood clots.

“Looks like the cut was not that deep.”

“Right. His sword bounced off after hitting his bone.”

“This man is really lucky as you are treating him like this.”

“Really?”

Kanghyok tilted his head.

“By the way, I have to stitch it together.”

“Can I hold it there?” Dolsok was squeezing the open wounds, so Kanghyok could suture.

“Oh, you shouldn’t do it like that.”

“Really?”

“The nipples on the right and left are not balanced. If they’re unbalanced, it looks very strange.”

“Oh, I see.”

Kanghyok had bitter memories of that when he worked at a hospital back in modern Korea.

Though he thought he had a great suture, the patient’s nipples were sutured unevenly.

After all, he had to do it over again.

That was indeed a terrible experience for him, which he would never repeat.

“Let me give him an injection of anesthesia first.”

“Oh, he hasn’t come to his senses yet.”

“He is supposed to wake up when he feels pain.”

“Oh, I see.”

General anesthesia would be the best option for this type of patient.

Kanghyok recalled the medicinal herbs that Joon Huh tipped him off on.

‘He said they’re Somsu and Choh.’

Kanghyok decided to ask the mayor to get these medicinal herbs as soon as the war was over.

He could get Choh easily everywhere, but he was not sure if he could catch toads.

“He might move, so hold him tightly.”

“Yes, master.”

Kanghyok now gave a shot of anesthetic here and there.

Some parts of his body were cut neatly by that veteran Japanese raider.

“Now, give me the scissors.”

“Yes, master.”

“Do you remember how you suture deep cuts?”

“Well...”

Dolsok examined the section of the cut carefully.

The skin and subcutaneous fat as well as the muscles underneath were cut neatly.

“First, stitch these muscles together...”

“And then?”

“Connective tissues!”

“Good. And then?”

“Skin, master.”

Yes, Dolsok didn’t forget what Kanghyok taught him before.

“Great. You’re doing excellent as you have a great teacher. Hahaha.”

“Whew!”

Dolsok was about to let out a sigh when his eyes met Kanghyok’s.

Kanghyok now started to suture the wounds, starting with the muscles.

“Wow!”

Dolsok exclaimed in admiration.

The open wounds were now shrinking with the suture.

“You’re doing great, master!”

“This one? Nothing special.”

In modern Korea he used to do this kind of surgery almost everyday.

Kanghyok giggled at Dolsok who was surprised a lot, with his eyes open wide.

In no time the muscles were glued together, and the bleeding also stopped.

“He might wake up anytime now.”

“Do you want to give him a shot of analgesic?”

Dolsok seemed to regard narcotic analgesic as sleeping pills.

“No, no. When he wakes up, just hold him tightly. Let me talk to him.”

“Yes, master.”

“Now, we’re curing his wounded connective tissue.”

“Yes, master.”

“Don’t be overambitious. You know what happens when something goes wrong?”

“It will be hard to stitch it together, master.”

“Good. Just do it like this.”

Kanghyok began to suture subcutaneous fat and connective tissue under the skin at once. If he stick it too close to the skin for tight suture, it may break.

As soon as Kanghyuk finished sulturing the connective tissue, he opened his eyes.

Obviously the patient seemed not to remember what happened after the fighting.

“Stay still as we’re treating you now!”

While Dolsok was holding him tightly, Kanghyok began to speak with him.

“Do you remember me?”

“Uhhh... are you Dr. Paek?”

Though he was in a daze, the patient could recall him.

“Yes, I’m Doctor Paek. You were wounded while fighting with the Japanese. I’m treating you now.”

“Oh, I see.”

He made a frown, apparently recalling how he was cut by that Japanese raider’s sword.

“What happened to that raider?”

“He died.”

Kanghyok answered while stitching the skin quickly.

“I see. How fortunate...”

Hesitating for a moment, the patient asked again,

“By the way, who the hell killed that raider? Was it that fighter right beside you?”

Kanghyok slowly nodded his head.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“What happened to my teacher Changkwon?”

Instead of answering quickly, he finished stitching first.

And then Kanghyok answered after a while.

“Changkwon died while fighting with that raider.”

“Oh my god! My teacher....”

“We could kill that raider thanks to Changkwon, and I could survive.”

The patient was speechless.

Kanghyok bound the wounds with bandages silently.

“Stay here. Let me take care of other patients.”

“Was his body buried well?”

“The mayor would take care of it. So, don’t worry.”