Chapter 22

“Wow, it’s packed with gangsters today?”

Kang-hyuk shouted as he stepped into the emergency room.

His voice was loud enough to make the entire ER shake, matching his large build.

Naturally, the small and delicate nurse, Cheon Jang-mi, who had just been labeled a gangster, turned bright red.

“Pr-Professor, gangster…?”

“Yeah, isn’t that your nickname?”

“You’re the only one who calls me that!”

“Really?”

Kang-hyuk turned to look at the nearby nurses.

All of them covered their mouths, stifling laughter, which was answer enough.

Even some passing interns had similar reactions.

“This is all… because you keep going around saying it!”

Jang-mi protested in a hushed but indignant voice, recalling the past few days.

If she thought about it rationally, it had only been about ten days since Kang-hyuk was appointed to the trauma surgery department.

Yet, those days were so intense that it felt like several months had passed.

During that time, Kang-hyuk had consistently called her a gangster.

“I don’t know, it just suits you.”

Jokingly brushing it off, Kang-hyuk checked his watch.

It was 3:10 AM.

That meant ten minutes had passed since Jaewon received the emergency call.

It also meant it was time to start preparing for incoming patients.

“Anyway, what did 119 say? What kind of accident was it?”

“Oh, just a moment.”

It seemed like a complicated case.

Even a veteran like Jang-mi had to check her notes instead of giving an immediate response.

“Ah, here it is.”

Before Kang-hyuk’s impatience could explode, she quickly picked up her memo and read it aloud.

“A multi-vehicle collision occurred on the south side of Yeongdong Bridge. A speeding dump truck crashed into a passenger car ahead of it.”

Yeongdong Bridge was about 10 to 15 minutes away from the hospital.

At least the accident happened relatively close.

But the fact that a truck was involved was an ominous sign.

“Casualties?”

“The passenger car… um, the unidentified man and woman in the back seat died. The man and woman in the front seat are being rescued in critical condition. The dump truck driver sustained minor injuries.”

“Didn’t you say it was a chain collision?”

“Yes. The impact pushed the passenger car forward, hitting another vehicle ahead. Fortunately, that car had only one driver… but they are also unconscious.”

“So, at minimum three… at most four patients.”

Kang-hyuk frowned as he checked his watch again.

Even large hospitals rarely had the capacity to handle multiple severe trauma patients at once.

From his perspective, most hospitals couldn’t even properly handle one.

South Korea’s medical system was world-class when it came to cancer treatment, cardiovascular diseases, and other internal medicine fields.

However, the reality of trauma surgery was quite different—it was practically neglected.

“How many emergency medicine residents are available right now?”

“Uh…”

Jang-mi hadn’t had time to check, so she quickly looked around.

Thankfully, at 3 AM, the ER was relatively quiet compared to other times.

Of course, there were still patients packed everywhere.

Most were just waiting for inpatient beds to become available rather than requiring urgent intervention.

“Maybe one or two?”

“What about interns?”

“There are about four interns, I think.”

“Alright, let’s hope at least one of the patients is within their capability. Get all the treatment rooms ready.”

“Yes.”

“Prepare everything according to CPR standards.”

“Ah, yes!”

Jaewon, Jang-mi, and all the medical staff who had heard Kang-hyuk’s instructions moved swiftly.

Even though Hanguk University Hospital didn’t meet Kang-hyuk’s standards for trauma care, it was still a top-tier hospital in other fields.

As a result, it took less than five minutes to prepare two treatment rooms in the ER for incoming patients.

“More patients coming in…”

“It’s because of the snow. These nights are either a jackpot or completely dead.”

The ER residents, having been briefed by Jang-mi, grumbled as they headed to the treatment rooms.

Even if they didn’t like the surge in patients, once a patient arrived, they had no choice but to do their best.

Thunk.

Just then, the ER doors swung open.

Since everyone was waiting for patients, all eyes turned toward the entrance.

But the person who stepped in was a sharply dressed man in a suit.

Though the back of his hair was still slightly disheveled from sleep, he didn’t look like a patient at all.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

The man seemed startled by the intense gazes on him and quickly lowered his head in apology.

Then, without hesitation, he hurried down the hallway leading further inside the hospital.

He must have been a hospital employee.

It was odd, though.

What kind of hospital staff would get called in urgently at this hour if they weren’t a doctor?

Kang-hyuk wasn’t the type to dwell on such things, so he immediately asked Jaewon, who was standing beside him.

“Who was that just now?”

“Ah… probably a coordinator.”

“Coordinator?”

“Yes, for organ transplants. I ran into them occasionally when I rotated in transplant surgery during my residency.”

“Ah… I see.”

Someone in the hospital must have been declared brain dead.

That patient had likely signed an organ donation agreement before their death.

Now, the coordinator would do everything they could to convince the family to proceed with organ donation.

So that another person could have a second chance at life.

‘But that’s not my concern. Not my patient.’

Kang-hyuk’s patients were the ones currently being tossed around in an ice-cold ambulance.

WEEEOOOO—

In the distance, the wailing of sirens began to grow louder.

One of the ambulances had just passed through the hospital’s main gate.

The attention that had been on the coordinator immediately shifted to the ER entrance.

The sirens grew louder until they finally came to a stop right in front of the emergency room.

Clunk.

As soon as the ambulance halted, the paramedics jumped out and flung open the rear doors, pulling the patient out.

“Ah…”

Jaewon, standing beside Kang-hyuk, let out a sigh the moment he saw the patient.

The man’s pupils were already half-dilated, and his abdomen was swollen to the size of a mountain.

As a fully certified surgeon, Jaewon could only think of one thing—this patient was as good as dead.

From his years of experience, patients who had suffered this much [intraperitoneal hemorrhage] rarely made it to the hospital alive.
(T/N: Intraperitoneal hemorrhage refers to severe internal bleeding within the abdominal cavity.)

Yet Kang-hyuk, as if he were some clueless intern, dashed straight toward the patient.

“Is this one of the passengers from the crash?”

He directed the question to the paramedic still gripping the stretcher.

The nameless paramedic, lips tightly sealed, could only nod.

“What was his condition when you found him?”

Faced with Kang-hyuk’s relentless questioning, the paramedic had no choice but to answer, even though he felt helpless.

“He was conscious when we first found him. For about ten minutes after that.”

“So how long has he been unconscious now?”

“Roughly fifteen minutes.”

“I see.”

Kang-hyuk nodded and checked the patient’s pulse.

It was faint, but still there.

“Take him to Treatment Room A. Anus!”

“Y-Yes!”

Jaewon instinctively responded, despite inwardly cursing.

It had been ages since he left colorectal surgery, yet Kang-hyuk still called him Anus.

But it wasn’t like he could refuse to answer.

“You, take Gangster and get the OR ready! I’ll insert a [central venous catheter] and stabilize his blood pressure before bringing him in.”
(T/N: A central venous catheter is a tube placed in a large vein to deliver medication or fluids quickly.)

“Ah, okay!”

With that, Jaewon and Jang-mi sprinted toward the operating room.

For any other surgery, there would have been no reason to rush like this.

Normally, patients would undergo blood tests, X-rays, CT scans—procedures that could easily take two hours.

Even if the paramedics had gotten the patient here within the golden hour, the hospital would often waste all that precious time.

But Kang-hyuk was different.

He would only do what was absolutely necessary before storming into the OR.

Which meant Jaewon and Jang-mi had just been thrown into chaos.

“I’ll call the OR!”

Gangster—no, Jang-mi—was the first to dial the main operating room.

During the day, this wouldn’t have been a problem.

But at night, when there was no way to predict incoming emergency surgeries, staff weren’t readily available.

“Yes, this is Nurse Baek Jang-mi from the Severe Trauma Center.”

“Severe…? Go on.”

Jang-mi had to practically beg for available staff.

Saying, ‘Are you really going to refuse when it’s about saving a life?’ wasn’t even an option.

The operating room staff were already stretched thin, barely scraping by with what they had.

“Then I’ll call anesthesiology…”

Jaewon quickly dialed the anesthesiology office.

A third-year resident picked up with a tired voice.

It was understandable.

The fourth-years had all disappeared from duty to prepare for their board exams, while new first-years hadn’t arrived yet.

Meaning everyone left was overworked to the bone.

“Yes, this is the anesthesiology office…”

“This is Yang Jaewon from trauma surgery. We have an emergency operation.”

“Trauma surgery? Oh, the Severe Trauma Team.”

“Yes.”

Even over the phone, Jaewon could hear the reluctance dripping from the other side.

Not surprising.

From anesthesiology’s perspective, trauma surgery was nothing but a constant stream of unexpected operations.

No one in their right mind would like them.

“What’s the patient’s name?”

“Ah…”

Jaewon just realized—he had no idea.

In other words, he had rushed all the way here to save someone without even knowing their name.

Something that once would have been unthinkable to him.

But by now, it had become so common that he barely noticed.

“The patient is registered as unidentified.”

“Another unidentified patient… There aren’t any pre-op test results. Are you really taking them in for surgery now?”

Pre-surgical evaluations weren’t just the responsibility of the surgeon.

Anesthesiologists also needed to review them thoroughly.

If they administered general anesthesia and something went wrong, it would be a disaster.

From anesthesiology’s perspective, Jaewon was making an outrageous request.

“Yes. The patient’s condition is too critical to wait for test results.”

“Ah… Trauma surgery always pulls this kind of stunt. If something goes wrong, will you take responsibility?”

“Uh…”

Jaewon hesitated, unable to confidently say yes.

But before he could respond, a hand snatched the phone away.

It was Kang-hyuk.

He had already placed the central line and hooked up the IV.

As always, he was impossibly fast.

“I’ll take responsibility. Just come down and put them under.”

“Who is this?”

“What, are you planning to get revenge if you find out?”

“I just need to know—”

‘So I can report you to the department head.’

The anesthesiologist swallowed the rest of his words, but Kang-hyuk spoke first.

“This is Baek Kang-hyuk from trauma surgery. Now get down here.”

Baek Kang-hyuk.

The mad dog who had once gone toe-to-toe with Hwang Sun-woo.

Someone way above a third-year’s pay grade.

“Ah… Understood.”

Kim Jin-yong, the third-year resident, nodded helplessly.

But in his mind, he was already preparing his speech.

At tomorrow’s department meeting, he would definitely make sure they make a discussion abo ut this crazy Baek Kang-hyuk.