Converting Strike (2)
“I know it’s going to hurt, but I can’t help it. There are some situations that you just have to accept.”
“…Yes. I’ll go right away.”
“is it so.”
Ki-seok Choi finished talking with Leon and moved to the guardian waiting room.
He spoke confidently, but his steps were not easy.
The facial expressions Jane would make when she was pronounced brain dead and the emotions she would feel were already bright in her mind.
So I wanted to avoid it.
He wanted to delay that time as much as possible.
Jane of course made herself mentally prepared.
“Jane.”
“Yes, teacher.”
Jane jumped up at his call.
The hope in her eyes made Choi Ki-seok’s heart ache even more.
“Has Freed woken up?”
“Freed is still unconscious.”
“Ah… I see. But the surgery went well, so you’ll be able to regain consciousness soon, right?”
“From now on… I would like to tell you about that part. Freed has been unconscious since the surgery. As of this morning, he has been unable to breathe without relying on a respirator.”
“I know that.”
“Based on the observations made so far, Freed is…”
Ki-seok Choi bit her lip and avoided Jane’s gaze.
“Freed can only be considered brain dead. I’m sorry.”
“Brain… brain dead?”
She raised her eyes to Jane’s disbelief.
“Yes. Unfortunately, there is currently no special treatment. Other than just watching Freed…”
“Teacher. Still, isn’t it possible to wake up over time? I read an article about a person who woke up after being unconscious for several years. Perhaps Freed will do the same?”
Jane said desperately, clasping her hands together.
“The case Jane just mentioned is in a vegetative state. Being in a vegetative state means that the cerebral function has stopped, but other functions remain normal.”
“….”
“Unlike brain death, a person in a vegetative state can breathe voluntarily and has a stable heart rate. Occasionally, articles about patients who miraculously wake up refer to such a person in a vegetative state.”
“Then your husband…”
“Unfortunately there is no chance of recovery.”
“Teacher. Aren’t you speaking too clearly?”
Jane’s eyes became sharp.
“You said you would save my husband. You shouldn’t give up so easily now.”
“sorry.”
“ah….”
Jane sat down in her chair, unsteadily, and Ki-Seok Choi looked down at her in silence. How would she feel if she married Jung Seol-hwa and she fell into a brain-dead state?
I couldn’t even imagine her despair.
“Well… then what do I do now?”
“It would be a good idea to discuss this with your family. You also need to decide when to remove life support devices and whether to donate organs.”
“….”
“Jane, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this. I…”
“I’m truly sorry for getting angry. I know it’s not Dr. Choi’s fault, but it’s hard to hold back.”
Jane paused before continuing.
“I will never leave alone those police officers who left my husband brain dead. I will destroy them even if it means giving my all.”
Jane’s curse enveloped the waiting room.
Ki-Seok Choi talked with Jane some more and then returned to the dormitory.
He had a lot to do, but he couldn’t get his hands on Lyle right after he was pronounced brain dead.
So he lay down in bed and looked up at the ceiling blankly.
Jane and her family have to watch over the brain-dead Freedway.
Police officers struggling with assault cases.
The more I thought about how their bad relationship would end, the more my head hurt.
She shook off her heavy heart and sat down on the chair in front of her desk.
Ride, ride, ride.
She went back to typing, which she had put off for a moment.
Pullman, a spinal neurosurgery professor who has become terminally ill, needs to finish his work as soon as possible for his sake.
* * *
The next morning.
Choi Ki-seok was leaning against the back of his bed with his eyes closed.
At first glance, he appears to have taken a quick nap, but in reality, he is examining the surgery on a conjoined twin model that was filmed yesterday.
‘It’s not that easy either.’
His brows were furrowed.
Yesterday, I completed stage 1 of a total of 4 stages of surgery.
Even though it was the least difficult part of the surgery, the speed of the surgery was as slow as a slug.
This means that the work was carried out carefully and meticulously.
In real life, it was expected that it would take longer than the model surgery.
Because the model does not bleed and its vitals do not exist.
Choi Ki-seok watched his surgery video twice in a row, accessed the training room, and selected PVP mode.
Hehehe.
As white light emitted, the surroundings changed.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the operating table.
[Welcome to PVP mode. You have reached the maximum number of entries allowed today (1/1).]
[For the surgery to be performed against, Leon was selected as the surgeon for the brain aneurysm surgery. Please prepare the surgery.]
With the notification, a fake Leon took his place a little distance away.
A bar informing him of the progress of his surgery appeared above him and himself, and virtual staff members filled his empty space with a boom.
Tdu-duk-duk.
He broke his neck and pledged victory.
His record for cerebral aneurysm surgery with Leon so far is 0 wins and 15 losses in 15 matches.
He was overwhelmingly outnumbered.
Even if Leon was an exceptionally talented person and had trained longer than him, he couldn’t have been happy about losing.
[Cranial aneurysm surgery begins now.]
As soon as the notification was made, the staff on both sides were busy.
Doo doo doo doo.
The sound of the drill rang out and the craniotomy was soon completed.
Eventually, the inside of the head is revealed.
Choi Ki-seok examined his surgical site using the dragon’s eye zoom-in function without looking at the microscopic microscope.
“Entering Willis Circle.”
The virtual staff nodded at Choi Ki-seok’s words.
He accessed the surgical site with the help of staff. Meanwhile, he discovered a hemorrhage in the arachnoid area.
Bleeding occurred even though there was no trauma to the arachnoid.
This means that there is already a ruptured brain aneurysm and the blood from there has flowed into the arachnoid.
‘I have to hurry.’
Ki-Seok Choi was treated by the staff for bleeding and began treatment for hydrocephalus.
How much time has passed?
After helping to smooth the flow of cerebrospinal fluid that had stagnated due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage, he barely reached the middle cerebral artery, the site of the surgery.
The condition of the middle cerebral artery was serious.
One branch of the blood vessel had already burst. Nearby, a giant aneurysm measuring 28 millimeters was located.
‘How far did it go?’
Choi Ki-seok glanced at Leon.
The bar above his head was half full. This means that he is almost halfway done with the surgery.
On the other hand, Ki-Seok Choi’s progress was still less than halfway through.
There was no significant difference in his kill speed.
Click!
Choi Ki-seok tied the upper part of the bleeding blood vessel with blood vessel forceps, and the virtual staff suctioned the remaining blood with a suction device and then pricked the burst blood vessel with an electric cautery.
Cheeeeeeeek.
White smoke billowed out.
“Proximal artery ligation is performed on ruptured blood vessels and clip ligation is performed on aneurysms. 4-0 Dexson artificial blood vessels.”
Choi Ki-seok tightened the suture needle with a needle holder and sutured the ruptured blood vessel.
Surgical treatment and ambidextrous skills advanced to level 7.
These two things made his hands move as if they were dancing. The suturing was so fast and accurate that if someone had been able to see this scene, he might have fainted.
He finished treating the ruptured artery and looked at the brain aneurysm.
A smile slowly appeared on his lips.
Since he trains for brain aneurysm every day, he can roughly guess what clip to use just by looking at the size of the aneurysm.
“Clip number 17 and number 4.”
I received a clip from the sterilizing nurse and tied off the swollen artery.
The size of the clip and the size of the cerebral aneurysm matched exactly.
Ki-Seok Choi completed the surgery by covering the skull after checking for additional brain damage.
[You completed the surgery at the same time as your PVP opponent, Leon. Leon’s surgery rank is A+ and your surgery rank is A. The winner of the battle is Leon.]
[You have been defeated.]
When the notification sounded, my vision returned to normal.
Choi Ki-seok got up from the bed with a feeling of regret.
Looking at the subtle difference in rank, it seems that Leon was a little more delicate in the process of killing him.
Still, at this rate, I’ve chased after Leon a lot.
If you try a little harder, you will be able to defeat him.
After leaving the dormitory, I went to the parking lot and got into the car.
Today is a long-awaited off day.
Normally, I would have to go on rescue team activities, but I talked to Parker and decided to take a special day off.
Because I had more important things to do than the rescue team’s work.
After driving for a while, I arrived at the Minnesota airport.
Choi Ki-seok stood outside his entry gate and waited for someone.
After a while, the people who had been waiting appeared. They are Jeong Seol-hwa and her father Jeong Jin-myeong.
“Kiseok!”
Jeong Seol-hwa, who found him, vigorously waved her hand.
“It’s been a while. Hello, father.”
“It’s been such a long time. I never thought we’d meet again on American soil.”
A bitter smile appeared on Jeong Jin-myeong’s lips.
“Let’s get in the car first. I think it would be best to talk in detail while we go to the hospital.”
“Sure.”
Soon, a car carrying three people left the airport.
“We will make sure you never regret your decision to come to America.”
“I wish I could. But I do.”
Jeong Jin-myeong took a pause before continuing.
“The story goes that you said you would pay all my medical expenses. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You said something bold. Do you think our family has no money?”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
Choi Ki-seok continued speaking slowly.
“Ever since we started dating, Seolhwa has loved me beyond measure. In reality, I haven’t been able to take care of Seolhwa properly. So, I’m going to use this opportunity to receive affection from Seolhwa and her father as well.”
“But the cost of treatment isn’t just a penny or two. From what I found, I heard it would be tens of millions of won.”
“I expect that too.”
“Can you afford to pay such expenses for someone who is in training? Don’t be stubborn and just stay still. It’s enough that I introduced you to a good hospital and doctor.”
“Father, don’t worry. I have a lot of money.”
A smile appeared on his lips.
A few days ago, he went to the bank and received his Super Bowl winnings.
He had a lot of first place winners, so the winnings were less than other times, but the amount was still huge.
“Well, let’s talk about money later. What’s important is how you get treatment.”
“Yes. You can see Dr. Smith of General Surgery today. He will probably recommend hospitalization, so you can undergo surgery and receive additional treatment after hospitalization.”
“Kiseok, but can you really get that treatment?”
Jeong Seol-hwa, who had been silent, came forward.
“Of course. I won’t do anything for my future father-in-law.”
“That treatment? What treatment are you talking about?”
“It’s called dream cancer treatment… it’s baryon treatment.”
Choi Ki-seok continued calmly.
