Golden Time

The organs were seen straightened out on the monitor.

Suhyuk could finish the surgery in such a short time.

He first put in the forceps in the patient’s belly, grabbing the large and small intestines, and then he pulled the organs as if he were unravelling twisted ribbons.

That was it.

Even though his motion looked simple, it was a skill that required him to maintain a delicate control of force in order to avoid any possible damage to the surrounding organs.

In addition, not only the colon and small intestine caught by the forceps could be destroyed by mistake, but complications could be caused by touching the surrounding organs.

The medical staff murmured when they saw Suhyuk already starting to suture the place that they had put in the laparoscope.

“Would it be okay for him to finish it like this?”

“Looks like his surgery procedure took less than 1 minute.”

They were just watching Suhyuk pulling the surgical thread.

***

The patient soon opened his eyes in the recovery room.

The first person that came into his view was Suhyuk.

“Have you come to your senses now?”

The patient nodded with a frown, because he felt a slight pain in the belly.

It was only natural he felt pain, as his skin was cut and then sultured.

There was a method of injecting contrast material or air into the a.n.u.s and releasing the overlapped bowel with the pressure, but after all, he had to do a laparoscopic surgery. Intestinal obstruction was progressing and it was in a state of weakening. In such a situation, it was possible that puncture could occur in the intestines due to pressure during the attempt of duplication.

Suhyuk opened his mouth again, looking at him,

“How do you feel now?”

“Much better now.”

The extreme pain he felt disappeared unbelievably, but he felt a bit of stinging in the area where the surgery was completed.

Still the pain now was nothing compared with the pain he felt when he was taken into the emergency room.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

While the medical staff were checking the patient’s condition, Suhyuk turned back and began moving.

The doctor with black hair was reflected in the patient’s eyes.

He suddenly asked the nurse beside him,

“Who is the doctor who performed the surgery on me?”

Turning her head, the nurse looked over at Suhyuk, “Dr. Lee.”

He could see the appearance of Suhyuk when the door of the recovery room was closed.

Was the doctor looking at him?

The patient murmured to himself before he knew it.

“Thank you.”

The stereotypical image of an Asian that was fixed in his head disappeared in a moment.

Only Phillip was wrinkling his brows.

Suhyuk and Han made the rounds of the patients steadily.

And the medical staff whispered amongst themselves, looking at Suhyuk’s appearance from behind.

“I heard that that doctor finished a laparoscopic surgery in less than 10 minutes.”

“No, he did it in a second.”

“Wow! He’s great. As a guest doctor, he must be different from others.”

Suhyuk’s name began to be pa.s.sed on slowly to others by those medical staff present during the operation, slowly gaining recognition.

Another day was closing peacefully without any emergency or serious patients coming.

When it was time to leave the office, Suhyuk and Han got on the elevator.

Then Suhyuk said to Han,

“Professor, I’m afraid that I’ll go back to the apartment a bit late today as I have an appointment.”

“For drinks? You’ve made many friends already.”

Suhyuk shook his head, saying, “Well, I’m seeing William who I just saw yesterday.”

With a smile, Han waved at him, getting on the elevator.

“Don’t be too late.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon Suhyuk headed to William’s office.

He accepted his suggestion to work together on stem cell research.

Rather, Suhyuk expressed thanks to him because he found in it some research puzzles he had to solve by all means.

When he knocked on the door, William greeted him gladly.

“Suhyuk, let’s work together well!”

“Sure, my service to you.”

“Hahaha, It’s me who has to say that.”

Then the door was closed, and n.o.body knew what was going on inside.

n.o.body except Suhyuk and William.

***

It was the 4th day since Suhyuk arrived at St. Hopkins Hospital.

They visited the hospital even on a Sunday, but their schedule was monotonous.

In the morning Han gave a lecture, and then had Q&A sessions after.

After lunch he made the rounds, and in between rounds, some primary physicians came to see him to get advice.

When one primary physician showed him a chart, there was an image shot along with it as if it was just printed.

“In my eyes, it looks like stomach cancer...”

Han looked at the chart quietly.

“In my opinion it looks like a GIST( gastrointestinal stromal tumor).”

Han opened his mouth again.

“Stomach cancer is seen within the mucosal layer, whereas gastrointestinal stromal tumors appear in the submucosal layer and muscle layer.”

Han pointed his finger to the chart.

“This is the border line of the inside and outside of the liver.”

The doctor with yellow hair nodded his head.

“Where do you think the lump is attached?”

The doctor, who was looking at the chart seriously amid Han’s kind explanation, now brightened his face.

“Oh, it’s attached to the outside. Yeah, it’s GIST.”

Nodding lightly, Han opened his mouth,

“Fortunately it’s not stomach cancer.”

GIST could be removed with surgery, and that was all that was needed.

“Thanks, Dr. Han.”

“You’re welcome.”

The white doctor disappeared in just a moment as if he wanted to reserve an operating room immediately.

Suhyuk felt very much satisfied with Han’s act like that.

Even here in the USA he was recognized for his skill.

Then Han asked Suhyuk,

“What kind of surgery is wise for a GIST?”

“I think we could do it with laparoscopic surgery.”

Nodding his head, Han walked ahead.

It was already 5pm.

Ding dong.

Han got off the elevator first, followed by Suhyuk.

“Run!”

At Han’s words, Suhyuk moved faster.

A victim on a stretcher was taken into the emergency room.

She was a woman with grey hairs, even though she was in her late 50s.

Bruises all over her body, she could not open her closed eyes.

She was laid on a bed by the 911 crew.

“She was injured after falling down.”

“She did not notice the missing cover of a manhole and fell into it as if she took a nosedive.”

Suhyuk approached her fast.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Han a.s.signed Suhyuk to give treatment to any patients with serious injuries, because he was the best in the field at it.

Suhyuk opened her eyelids.

“No reaction.”

Then Suhyuk moved fast, checking the patient’s vital signs.

He said to the nurse beside him, “Please check her blood type quickly!”

Within a few minutes, the patient arrived at a serious trauma center, with blood packs and an IV drip on her body.

There were many more medical devices here than at Daehan Hospital.

Thanks to that, they could save the time it took to have the patient scanned.

Instantly, the picture was displayed on the view screen right above the patient.

Han and Suhyuk got close to the viewer, and so did the medical staff.

“The tibia was broken and the liver seems to have been damaged.”

The bleeding was so severe that it was necessary to transfuse the blood.

“We are going into operation room right away. Be ready.”

At Han’s voice, the other doctors began preparing in unison.

Then Daman came to observe Han’s surgery.

At that moment the patient’s eyes opened with a tremble.

Moaning with pain, she barely said, “Where am I now?”

“In the hospital.”

Suhyuk made a bitter smile because the patient, who opened her eyes with difficulty, had to go to sleep again under anesthesia.

***

A gentleman stood in a nice suit.

This blond-haired man was standing before a nice restaurant.

He took to his nose the bundle of flowers that he was holding.

The sweet fragrance of flowers made him smile.

Then he checked his wrist watch suddenly and looked around.

Though the appointed time already pa.s.sed by 30 minutes, the other party did not yet arrive.

He called with his cell phone, but there was no response.

He then looked at his phone again quietly.

At that moment, his phone buzzed. It was from St. Hopkins Hospital.

“Hey, it’s the weekend. Why did they call me?”

With a frown, he took the phone.

“Yes, this is Phillip.”

“Sir, there’s big trouble! Phillip, your mother is now...”

“What are you talking about?”

“You mother is now undergoing surgery!”

Phillip made a blank expression.

He could not understand what the nurse was talking about.

He was going to have dinner with his mother for the first time in a long time.

‘How could this happen...’

“Come quickly!”

Phillip, moving slowly, now began to run.

Despite the medical staff’s detaining him by the sleeve, he was rus.h.i.+ng into the operating room.

As he was going nearer to the room, the red sign came into his eyes: In Operation.

‘I should save her life, wait a minute!’

Then the red light was turned off.

With wide open eyes, he now headed to the recovery room.

Beep... Beep...

The machine sounded out a quiet alarm.

All sorts of pads and an IV drip were pasted on the body of the patient, who also had a respirator put on.

The surrounding medical staff monitored the condition of the patient closely.

Her eyes began to open slowly.

“How are you?”

The first person that came into her eyes was an Asian man with a black pupil.

“Where am I...”

“In the hospital. Your surgery went well.”

Fortunately, her liver was not severely damaged, so a bit of incision was all she needed.

And just a cast for her broken leg.

“Am I in the hospital?”

“St. Hopkins Hospital.”

When she opened her mouth, her respirator got fogged up inside.

“My son, where is my son Phillip...”

Then someone called from the outside,

“Mom!”

The medical staff turned their heads instantly, where Phillip was rus.h.i.+ng toward them absentmindedly.

“Are you okay, mom?”

She nodded her head with difficulty, and Phillip scrutinized the devices connected to her body.

And Daman opened his mouth, “Phillip, the surgery went well.”

“Phillip, I’m okay now.”

Her wrinkled hands touched her son’s face.

“Boohoo...”

Tears streaked down Phillips’s face, who now felt relaxed.

Then the medical staff’s murmuring came into his ears,

“He’s really great. I’ve never seen anybody doing such a nice and skillful surgery before.”

“I hear that the doctor was actually still just a resident...”

Feeling his mother’s warmth, Phillip turned his head to the side slowly.

He could know instantly who they were referring to.

The Asian guy, Lee Suhyuk.

He was looking at him calmly.

“She will be alright,” said Suhyuk.

At that moment Phillip dropped to his knees, and tears spilled down his cheeks quietly.

The medical staff were stunned.

Phillip, a man of great self-respect, kneeled down? Why?

And even tears...

“Sorry, sorry. And I’m really thankful to you, Dr. Lee.”