Chapter 11
“Ughhh…”
Jaewon groaned as he watched the ground grow farther away.
Kang-hyuk clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Anus, why are you such a coward? Are you scared?”
Something surged within Jaewon.
He had been teetering between life and death, and this guy was calling him a coward?
Wasn’t the real problem that Kang-hyuk could casually fly a helicopter and rappel down like it was nothing?
If he asked a hundred random people, all hundred would say Kang-hyuk was the weird one.
“It’s not that I’m scared… You’re the one who’s not normal, Professor.”
“What’s so strange about me?”
“F-First of all, those tattoos! Why the hell does a doctor have tattoos like that?”
“Oh, these? They all have a reason.”
Kang-hyuk muttered as he glanced at the intricate geometric tattoos on his forearm.
His expression suggested he was about to reveal something profound.
But the opportunity never came.
‘Clunk.’
The steel rope, which had lowered about 10 meters, was now being hoisted toward the helicopter’s entrance.
“What are you doing, Anus?”
When Jaewon snapped out of it, Kang-hyuk had already leaped into the helicopter.
Which meant Jaewon was the only one still standing on the stretcher.
“Uwaaaah! Shit!”
“You sure have a foul mouth for a doctor.”
“How the hell am I supposed to stay calm in this situation?!”
“If I were you, I’d be jumping inside instead of swearing.”
Kang-hyuk gestured toward the safety harness tied around Jaewon’s waist.
It was securely fastened to a hook inside the helicopter.
“Oh…”
“You really think I’d leave you hanging there? Now hurry up and jump in.”
Jaewon hadn’t known Kang-hyuk for long, but he was already convinced the man was utterly reckless.
So, seeing this small glimpse of rationality made him feel oddly grateful.
‘Wait, no. This isn’t right.’
This was the same guy who had dragged him out of a helicopter without permission.
If he let his guard down, he might really die next time.
So Jaewon shut his mouth and jumped into the helicopter.
As soon as he let out a sigh of relief, Kang-hyuk clapped him on the shoulder.
In truth, it was more of a smack—it hurt.
“Ugh?”
“You idiot, just getting inside the helicopter isn’t enough.”
“Huh?”
“The patient’s still out there.”
Kang-hyuk pointed at the stretcher, which was still dangling outside, tied to four crane lines.
Since it was an aerial transport stretcher, the patient likely had no idea where they were—even if they were conscious.
Not that it mattered, since they were still unconscious anyway.
Either way, they had to bring the patient inside as soon as possible.
Only then could the other paramedics start coming up.
“Uh, what do we do?”
Fortunately, Jaewon still had a strong sense of duty as a doctor.
He quickly refocused and waited for Kang-hyuk’s instructions.
By now, Kang-hyuk had already switched the crane to manual mode and was gripping one of the ropes connected to the stretcher.
“You pull from the opposite side. If it tilts too much, the helicopter will shake, so be careful.”
The captain, who was sweating as he kept the aircraft steady, nodded grimly at Kang-hyuk’s warning.
Rotary-wing aircraft had far greater maneuverability than fixed-wing planes, but their stability was much more fragile.
Even a small jolt could lead to disaster.
Yet, for some reason, it felt like things would work out as long as Kang-hyuk was handling it.
“When I signal, pull. One, two, three!”
“Ugh.”
Jaewon pulled the rope in sync with Kang-hyuk’s command.
Slowly, the stretcher carrying the patient was drawn toward the entrance.
“Again!”
“Yes!”
With each repeated pull, the stretcher inched closer until it finally reached the inside of the helicopter.
“The height’s a bit off. Pull it up.”
“W-What? You mean lift it?”
“Yeah. It’s not that heavy. About 120kg?”
“120kg…”
“Do it already!”
“Y-Yes!”
Anyone familiar with South Korea’s medical industry knew that the country didn’t have helicopters originally designed for medical purposes.
All air ambulances were repurposed from existing helicopters, meaning they had unavoidable design flaws.
Because of that, Kang-hyuk and Jaewon had no choice but to manually lift the stretcher into the helicopter.
The interior wasn’t very spacious, so even with just one stretcher inside, it already felt cramped.
“Rappel ropes descending. Watch out so you don’t get caught.”
The captain, still looking baffled, relayed the safety warning to both Jaewon and Kang-hyuk, who was already examining the patient.
Moments later, the ropes attached to the crane were released, fluttering in the wind as they descended.
The rescue workers below would soon start climbing up using them.
‘Then we’ll head straight to the hospital… right?’
Jaewon thought to himself as he collapsed onto the floor.
Checking his watch, he realized that barely ten minutes had passed.
And yet, his entire body felt drained of energy.
Even as a seasoned surgical resident accustomed to grueling hours, the past ten minutes had been an intense, exhilarating experience.
‘That was my first dispatch… and I did well.’
Jaewon stared at his sweaty palms.
He was about to bask in his thoughts when something suddenly smacked him in the face.
A glove.
“Huh?”
“Look at this guy getting all sentimental. You think you did something amazing?”
The culprit, of course, was Kang-hyuk.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“What do you think? Didn’t you hear what I told you before we came up?”
“Huh? What…?”
To be honest, Jaewon really didn’t remember.
Anyone who had been forcibly dragged out of a helicopter would understand.
“You idiot, the patient is still unconscious, and you’re just sitting there?”
“Oh.”
Now that he looked, Kang-hyuk had already started loosening the stretcher straps to check the patient’s condition.
Jaewon’s suit was already a mess, covered in dust and debris from the helicopter’s downdraft.
“I-I’ll help too.”
“It’s not helping—this is your damn job. Aren’t you a doctor?”
“Y-Yes, I am.”
“Then watch closely.”
Kang-hyuk forcefully pried open the patient’s eyelids and shone a penlight into their pupils.
The previously dilated pupils contracted in response.
“Haa…”
Jaewon unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
A pupillary reflex meant the brain was still functioning properly.
But Kang-hyuk was looking at something entirely different.
“Anus, why are you so happy? You think this is a good sign?”
“Huh? Isn’t it a good thing that there’s a reflex?”
“Sigh… Look again.”
Kang-hyuk shone the light a second time.
This time, there was no clear reaction.
The pupils had already constricted.
‘What else am I supposed to look for—ah!’
Jaewon stared at the patient’s eyes with a frustrated expression, then suddenly gasped.
“Papilledema…” (T/N: Swelling of the optic nerve inside the eye, usually indicating increased intracranial pressure.)
“That’s right. You see the swelling. So what do we do?”
“We need to perform decompression surgery.”
“Good. Now shave the head.”
Kang-hyuk nodded and handed Jaewon a pair of surgical scissors.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Are your ears clogged? Shave the hair.”
“Even if we shave it now… there’s nothing we can do, right? Besides, if we use surgical scissors here, we might cause wounds.”
Jaewon gestured at the violently shaking interior of the helicopter.
No matter how well the captain was maintaining hover stability, minor vibrations were unavoidable.
If they were in an EC 225 with an active vibration control system, it might have been different.
But they were in an AW 139.
Compared to standard fire department helicopters, it had more space and was equipped with basic emergency medical supplies, but it was still vulnerable to turbulence.
“Hey, a few scalp cuts are better than dying. Or would you rather just let him die?”
“N-No, of course not… Wait, no way.”
Jaewon looked at Kang-hyuk with wide eyes.
“No way what?”
“You’re not actually thinking about opening the skull here… are you?”
Jaewon asked the question, but even as the words left his mouth, he thought it was ridiculous.
They didn’t even have a proper operating table—the patient was lying on a stretcher.
Performing surgery in these conditions would be nothing short of murder.
But Kang-hyuk had no intention of following conventional expectations.
“We have to. Listen up. It’ll take at least 15 minutes to reach the hospital. Then another 15 minutes to get them into an operating room. That’s already 30 minutes gone.”
“Thirty minutes…”
Jaewon groaned.
He had assumed just getting the patient to the hospital was enough, but breaking it down logically, it was clear they didn’t have enough time.
“We at least need to open the skull now.”
“Open the skull…?”
“Shut up and shave.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll shave too, dumbass. You think I’m gonna do this all by myself?”
Kang-hyuk pointed at the patient’s thick hair and grabbed another pair of scissors.
Then, without hesitation, he started cutting.
Right at that moment, the paramedics climbed up into the helicopter.
‘This guy is completely insane.’
Jung-heon had barely gotten inside when he saw what was happening.
And his brain froze.
Two doctors had just risked their lives to rescue a patient…
And now they were shaving their head?
“W-What the hell are you doing?”
“Shaving their head.”
“No, I mean… why? We’ll get complaints if we do this.”
“I’m performing surgery. That’s why. So don’t worry about it.”
“Surgery? Don’t tell me you’re planning to do it here?”
Jung-heon, much like Jaewon, was a rational person.
So he asked the rational question.
But Kang-hyuk had no interest in rationality.
He just shrugged.
“Alright, I’m done. What about you?”
“I-I’m still…”
“You can’t even shave properly?”
“It’s harder than it looks with the shaking…”
“Forget it. I’ll finish it—just disinfect with Betadine.”
“Y-Yes!”
Jaewon quickly stepped aside and watched as Kang-hyuk finished the shave.
And he was shocked.
‘This is insane…’
The hair was trimmed perfectly, each strand cut to exactly 1mm.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed someone shaved a head with surgical scissors inside a helicopter.
“What are you staring at?”
“A-Ah! Preparing now!”
Jaewon snapped back to reality and soaked gauze in Betadine antiseptic solution.
Kang-hyuk, looking increasingly frustrated, yelled at him.
His voice was so loud that it even reached the captain over the noise of the helicopter.
“Just pour it on! The papilledema is getting worse! If we don’t act now, we’ll be transporting a corpse, not a patient!”