Precious Memories (3)
“Dr. Choi. “The soldiers are telling me to come to the tent quickly?”
“The treatment has just finished.”
Choi Ki-seok, who left a request to the patient he was treating, began to run hurriedly along with Nareka.
When I arrived at the tent, my whole body soaked in sweat, I noticed Aldi with a blue face.
What is coming has come.
Choi Ki-seok used the Eye of Hippocrates on him and then nodded slightly.
“Dr. Choi. “The prophet just collapsed.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I just had a little stomach ache.”
“To me, it doesn’t look like a simple stomach ache. “Is it an illusion that I get the feeling that you are doing your best to hold back?”
Aldi bit its lip with a confused expression at Choi Ki-seok’s point.
Subsequent treatment.
Ki-seok Choi placed his hand on Aldi’s forehead to check the approximate temperature and pulse, then laid Aldi down and pressed the four quadrants of Aldi’s abdomen one by one.
“Aaaahhh!”
When I pressed the lower right abdomen, Aldi let out a loud scream.
“I… are you planning to kill me?”
“I don’t intend to kill you, but if you stay like this, you might die.”
The air in the tent became heavy at his words.
In particular, Nazir blinked continuously as if he couldn’t believe it.
“W… what do you mean?”
“Aldi has appendicitis. The fact that they respond so well to stimulation is proof of this. If the inflamed area is not removed, the inflammation may spread throughout the peritoneum. “If you develop peritonitis, no matter how big a hospital you go to, you won’t be able to survive.”
“What must the Prophet do to get well?”
“You need surgery. “It would be better to get the surgery at a nearby hospital, but for me, I could get the surgery here too.”
After finishing speaking, Ki-Seok Choi added an explanation about appendicitis, and Aldi snorted.
“Appendicitis? You’re talking about modifications. “I know you’re making up illness to make me anxious.”
“Did a man whose name was a prophet live by being deceived?”
“what? “Do you want to die?”
“If you can’t trust me, how about trusting yourself? Please make your own judgment. Do you think the pain will go away after one night of sleep?”
Aldi was dumbfounded by Choi Ki-seok’s words.
In fact, it’s been a few days since I suffered from abdominal pain, but the pain has been getting worse.
To be honest, it was difficult to even stand now.
“Do I really need to have surgery? “Is there any other way?”
“doesn’t exist. I need to get surgery right away. “The longer it takes, the more it hurts you.”
“It sounds like they’re telling you to get surgery.”
“For now, that is the wisest decision. “With the tools we recently added, surgery can be performed here.”
“Kkkkkkkkkk. “Do you think I don’t know your intentions?”
“….”
“You will kill me using surgery as an excuse. Because if I were you, I would definitely do that. While I was doing volunteer work, I was kidnapped and my life was threatened, and you’re going to treat me, the culprit behind it all, and save me? “Is that even worth it?”
“Doctors only treat sick people. “There is no other standard.”
“You’re being hypocritical to the end.”
“Let’s not drag on and come to a conclusion first. So you’re saying you won’t have my surgery?”
“of course. Wooooow.”
Aldi, suffering from stomach pain, stumbled and looked like he was about to vomit.
“The symptoms will get worse in the future. “Please find the nearest hospital as soon as possible.”
“hospital? “I’m going to get caught by the government as soon as the treatment is over, so go to the hospital?”
“So are you going to die like this?”
As the two people continued their conversation, the atmosphere in the tent became like a time bomb.
I didn’t know that the two people’s opinions would narrow down at all.
It would have been nice if they collided with each other and at least one side broke, but that didn’t happen. As the metal collided with the metal, there was only a meaningless resonance sound.
“I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while. “Are you a prophet?”
“Are you doubting me now?”
“I already knew it was a cult, but I didn’t know it was an idiot.”
At Choi Ki-seok’s words, Aldi took out the gun on his waist.
“Even a snotty child can threaten someone with a gun. “Don’t even think about imitating the prophet that much.”
Taaaaang!
Aldi fired a shot into the ceiling. Then the surprised soldiers flocked to the tent.
“Everyone go away. “This is my job.”
The soldiers who received his stern gaze left the scene behind their backs.
“I know you’re talking because you think I can’t kill you. But that is a big mistake.”
“You are the one who is mistaken. If you’re a prophet, shouldn’t you give hope to others? But all they’ve done so far is loot. is not it?”
“….”
“I’m dying from pain, but I don’t want to be operated on by the doctor who kidnapped me. If I go to the hospital, I feel like I’ll be caught by the government forces. He truly looks like a prophet. “If other soldiers knew about this, their respect would increase several times.”
“shut up.”
“Shut up!”
Aldi flinched at Choi Ki-seok’s spirit.
Although he was the one pointing the gun, the situation somehow seemed to be the exact opposite.
He found himself standing precariously on the edge of a cliff.
“Put down the gun and get surgery from me. “Don’t you want to see your brother’s face more?”
“You… you’re going to kill me. I heard that all my subordinates like you. So, if I die, you will become free and be released. Although the surgery was successful, it could not be saved. “Can’t you just make an excuse like that?”
“You are truly irredeemable.”
“Prophet. Trust Dr. Choi. “He would never harm the Prophet.”
“Nazir! “Are you in the same boat as that guy after receiving treatment?”
“You know that’s not what I meant, right? Please stop being stubborn. “It’s no use if you die.”
Aldi’s eyes wavered at Nazir’s earnest request.
Unable to control his trembling body, Aldi collapsed on the spot.
Tuk!
Even the gun, which I had decided I would never let go, left my hand.
Ki-Seok Choi took advantage of that opportunity and overpowered Aldi and placed him on a stretcher.
“Talk to the Nareka soldiers and ask them to bring surgical tools.”
“All right.”
Preparations for the surgery were quickly completed with smooth movements.
Ki-seok Choi took off Aldi’s top, put on surgical gloves and disinfected his abdomen.
“It will hurt a lot, but bear with it. “Looking at your karma.”
With one cold word, the curtain on the appendectomy rose.
* * *
That afternoon.
Choi Ki-seok was checking the condition of the brothers lying side by side in the tent.
The appendectomy performed by Aldi was successfully completed in five minutes.
He freely performed even difficult surgeries such as Norwood and Saber Hope surgeries.
After a short process, I was able to perform an appendectomy with my eyes closed.
“Dr. Choi is truly amazing.”
“What?”
“If I were Dr. Choi, I would have killed this bastard. What a disgusting bastard. “Let’s spare the life of this guy who pretends to be a prophet and threatens people.”
“No matter what, a patient… is a patient. “I can’t get my personal feelings involved.”
“That’s why it’s amazing. Doctors are people too and have feelings…”
While the two were talking, Aldi groaned and opened his eyes with difficulty.
He looked at Choi Ki-seok and Nareka alternately with mischievous eyes.
“why? “Are you sad that your expectations were wrong?”
Aldi remained silent in response to Choi Ki-seok’s joking question.
I just touched the bandaged wound and frowned.
“Why… did you… save me? “It wouldn’t have been a problem to just kill me and get away with it.”
“I told you this many times before. “A doctor is someone who saves people, not someone who kills them.”
“I’ve never seen such an eccentric doctor like you in my life.”
Aldi burst out laughing.
“How are you feeling?”
“This isn’t that bad.”
“The surgery was completed successfully. “If you manage it well, there will be no additional infections.”
After finishing speaking, Choi Ki-seok approached Aldi, and Aldi, who felt intimidated, flinched without realizing it.
But Choi Ki-seok simply bent down and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel.
“You still have a stomach ache, right?”
“that’s right.”
“I didn’t have general anesthesia, so the pain will last a long time. Still, like a brother, I will endure it well. “Because your younger brother suffered several times more than you did.”
Aldi, who was watching Choi Ki-seok, felt an inexplicable warmth.
When was the last time I felt this feeling that was so long ago that now only a faint trace remains?
After much thought, I realized that I felt this warmth first from Father Lee Tae-sik.
Father Aldi, who was hospitalized with a high fever at the time, treated him wholeheartedly.
Even staying up all night.
As I continued to look at Choi Ki-seok, the priest’s face overlapped over him.
“Is there something on my face?”
“no. just.”
Aldi cleared his throat and continued.
“Honestly, I didn’t really like people doing relief work. I may have been unlucky, but there were many people who had the idea of choosing the people. They said they were doing relief work, but their eyes showed a look of disdain for the people treating them. “It was as if they were saying, ‘You have no one but us to rely on.’”
“….”
“It seems like you are generalizing the people who serve based on my short experience. “When I see a weirdo like you.”
“I wish I knew by now.”
“Is there anyone else in our village who needs treatment?”
Aldi suddenly changed the topic.
“Not right now. “I don’t know if there will be more in the future.”
“You’re saying we don’t need any more doctors. “I’m tired of looking at your face now.”
Aldi called a soldier waiting outside and whispered to him.
In response, the soldier dragged Choi Ki-seok and Nareka and put them in a jeep.
“go away. “Don’t come back again.”
Aldi, struggling to stand at the entrance of the tent, waved his hand towards the two people.
* * *
The sun was slowly setting.
As the clinic hours came to an end, the number of patients flocking like bees decreased.
‘It’s finally tomorrow.’
Jeong Seol-hwa glared at the circle drawn on the calendar.
Despite the government’s hard work, Choi Ki-seok’s whereabouts remained unknown.
Meanwhile, the negotiation date was approaching tomorrow.
She fiddled with the briefcase she kept under her desk drawer.
The bag contained release money airlifted from Korea.
It doesn’t matter how much money it costs, I just hope that the person I love returns safely… As
my desperation grew, my hand holding the bag became stronger.
“Dr. Jeong. “Please accept just one last patient.”
“yes.”
As the nurse spoke, the door to the treatment room opened and a person came in.
The moment she recognized her opponent, her body became as hard as stone. My voice couldn’t come out, as if someone had grabbed my throat.
How on earth did this come about?
“You’ve been worried a lot so far, right? sorry.”
“….”
“Let’s hug honey.”
Choi Ki-seok came over and hugged her warmly.
I was dazed, wondering if this was all a dream, but the sense of reality became more and more intense as I felt the touch on my body.
“Kiseok.”
“I came back safely. “You don’t have to worry anymore.”
As Choi Ki-seok’s voice lingered in my ear, the emotions I had been holding in for so long collapsed.
“Kiseok. “I… I really know what happens to you.”
“I know everything. “You don’t have to say anything.”
Jeong Seol-hwa just cried in the comfort of a cotton blanket.
