"Father."
If it weren't for Alfred, I would have backed out by now.
Honestly, I'm scared.
People in the 19th century may have called themselves scientists, but their way of thinking was almost medieval.
That means they were incredibly conservative and stubborn...
So, they didn't easily accept new facts.
Especially if those facts came from someone from the East.
"Please, just trust me this once. This hand... this hand wouldn't have been fixed if it weren't for me."
"Ugh..."
But now, things had to be different.
Besides, I couldn't just ignore dying people forever just because I was scared.
'I've built quite a reputation now.'
I tried to rationalize it, but that didn't mean I wasn't still scared.
So, I recalled the face of the hospital director I saw earlier today.
It was filled with greed.
I couldn't believe a person's face could look like that, but if I thought about it, it wasn't entirely a bad thing.
Would someone like that just discard me if I were to be attacked a little?
Honestly, I'm like a golden goose right now.
No, I'll be even more valuable in the future.
"I don't think my medical knowledge or skills are inferior to any professor's. Alfred isn't following me around for no reason."
"That..."
"There are things you can know without learning. That's how it is for me."
"Hmm..."
"If we don't operate... he'll die. Even if time passes, the chances of death are high."
Appendicitis, or inflammation of the appendix, is nothing in the 21st century, but that's thanks to surgical techniques and antibiotics.
Bacteria can kill people far more easily than you'd think.
They could literally eat you alive.
Really...
It doesn't seem like it's burst yet.
If it had burst, there would have been a brief period of symptom relief.
The pain wouldn't be localized to the lower right abdomen but would spread, leading to full-blown peritonitis.
"We need to operate quickly. Of course, the choice is yours and your father's, but I promise you this: I'll do a better job than anyone else who might come."
"Ugh... Hmm."
Fortunately, the man was wavering.
It was probably thanks to Alfred.
Unlike most sons of the 19th century, Alfred was quite amiable and often had conversations with his father.
It was only natural that those conversations were filled with praise for me.
Moreover, the story of a senior who had died from similar symptoms seemed to have struck a chord, as the man had even gifted me a small ring.
"Ah, Father... I... I trust Pyeong-i..."
Add to that the cries of Alfred, writhing in pain, and there was no need to see more.
"Damn it... Can he really die?"
"Yes."
"Ugh... Aaah!"
And Alfred's screams, enduring appendicitis without any painkillers, were enough to make his father anxious.
Although I've never been a parent—or even married—I've had more than enough indirect experience.
A parent's love for their child isn't always rational.
No matter how hard it might be to accept what I'm saying given the times, it's the same.
"Ah, I see. Then... then I'll leave it to you."
"Yes, please prepare the carriage. We'll go to the hospital and come back quickly. In the meantime, have Joseph boil some water and give it to him. It'll help ease the symptoms a bit."
"Ah, I see."
"Remember, the symptoms easing doesn't mean he's getting better. It's just that the pain is lessening. We're giving him water because he's in too much pain."
"Ah... I see."
The man, as well as Joseph and Alfred, didn't seem to fully understand what I was saying.
If the pain lessens, doesn't that mean the illness is getting better...? That's probably what they were thinking.
For people of this era, painkillers were either too precious or something out of imagination, so it was only natural.
No, even in the 21st century, in places where painkillers were scarce, they were often seen as cure-alls.
I felt that a lot during my medical volunteer work.
"Let's go!"
Anyway, I went outside with a quick-footed servant.
The coachman, who seemed half-asleep, started driving the carriage like a madman—maybe he'd been drinking. If there had been even one person on the road, they would have been killed. Sure enough, the police showed up.
"Ah... from the guild... my apologies. Go ahead."
Should I call it lucky?
There was no such thing as drunk driving in this era.
And if you had money and power, you could get away with breaking the law a little.
Thanks to that, we were escorted by the police all the way to the hospital.
"Bring that bag over here!"
"Yes, yes."
"I'll handle the dissection room, so don't worry."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
As soon as we entered the hospital, the quick-footed servant's body stiffened.
It was understandable.
The smell alone was overwhelming.
Especially near the lecture halls, where dissection rooms were located, the stench of decay lingered year-round.
-Ugh.
Add to that the screams echoing from down the hall, and it was more than enough to chill the bones of anyone unfamiliar with the place.
And now, I was being told to go to the dissection room?
It was only a matter of time before we had two patients to treat.
We might even have to carry out a corpse right then and there.
"Where... right."
Honestly, I was scared too, being here.
Not because I thought the corpses would come to life—I wasn't afraid of that.
"Ugh, damn it. These damn rats!"
Despite sealing the room as best I could, rats still found their way in somehow.
Sometimes they even damaged the dissected corpses.
I had raised this issue multiple times, saying it was a serious problem...
But it was no use.
The higher-ups were aware, but they said there was no solution.
Well, we'd need to completely seal the corpses, but we didn't have the technology for that.
Or rather, we could seal them, but then we wouldn't be able to open them again.
"Right. Here it is."
So, I muttered to myself, making sure the rats and bugs knew I was here, as I searched the dissection room.
There was a bag with some tools in it.
I had soaked them in boiled water, but... I couldn't use them as they were.
'It's probably around 2 a.m. now? It's been about three hours since the peritoneum was affected... There's still time before it bursts. But without proper antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, time isn't on our side...'
I couldn't apply what I had done in the hospital back then.
If I did, Alfred would surely die.
'Back then, I used to say that without the internal medicine guys' drugs, we couldn't do anything... If I had been in internal medicine in this era, it would have been a disaster.'
It was a good thing I was in surgery.
At least I had a scalpel and could do something.
Frankly, internal medicine wouldn't have been able to treat appendicitis.
"Did you find it?"
"Yes, is this it?"
"Ah... yes. Alright, let's go."
"Yes, yes."
While I hurriedly grabbed the bag from the dissection room, the servant also brought out some of my tools from the lecture hall.
Honestly, it wasn't enough.
I hadn't prepared for a full abdominal surgery.
Thankfully, I had sold the gold ring the man had given me to make some tools, or else I would have had to use a strange knife and a spoon to pull out the appendix.
"Let's go!"
As we came out, the police and the coachman took us back to the mansion.
Despite it being the middle of the night, candles and lanterns were lit everywhere, making the mansion quite bright.
'Lucky it's a wealthy household.'
At least we wouldn't run out of light during the surgery.
With so many servants, there were plenty of hands to hold the lights.
Trying to stay positive, I instructed them to boil the tools again.
Then, I headed straight to Alfred's bedroom on the second floor.
"Huu..."
He had drunk some willow bark tea, so he was much quieter than before.
'No, no. Maybe it's burst...'
If I thought negatively, the disease might have progressed.
Appendicitis usually feels better right after it bursts because the pressure is released.
It's similar to otitis media—when the eardrum swells, it hurts, but once it bursts and the pus drains, the pain lessens.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better than before... better..."
Thinking that, I quickly checked the patient's condition.
His complexion did seem more relaxed.
His pulse was strong.
I couldn't check his blood pressure since there was no sphygmomanometer, but judging by feel, his systolic blood pressure seemed to be over 100.
"Let me check your stomach again. Like before."
"But... it hurts."
"I need to see how far it's progressed. I'm sorry."
"Ugh... fine. You always hurt me when you treat me..."
"Don't say that. I saved your life."
"Sorry... I'm in too much pain... too much..."
Well, whatever.
The patient is always right.
I can't argue with the patient as a doctor.
Thinking that, I laid Alfred flat again and had him bend his legs to relax his stomach.
"Tell me if it hurts when I press, okay?"
"Ah..."
"How about here?"
"Ugh... about the same as before?"
Then I pressed near his solar plexus.
If it had burst and spread, he would have screamed in pain, but thankfully, it wasn't much different from before.
"How about here?"
"Ahhh!"
"And when I release?"
"Ughhh!"
The lower right abdomen was similar.
Seeing his son drink the tea and feel better, the man's face darkened.
Soon, a servant ran out, but I decided to ignore it.
'No one can say anything once we start the surgery.'
Thinking that, I took out the laughing gas from the bag the servant had brought.
The tools had been boiled, the servant had run off somewhere, and Alfred's condition wasn't too severe yet...
There was no reason to hesitate.
Squeak.
I turned on the gas and placed the crudely made iron mask over Alfred's face.
If the gas leaked, I'd get dizzy and wouldn't be able to perform the surgery.
"Ugh..."
Alfred quickly lost consciousness.
At the same time, I turned to Joseph.
"Put on gloves and dip your hands in this."
"Ah... ah."
Then I also put on gloves and dipped my hands in the calcium chloride.
I used the same disinfectant to wipe Alfred's stomach.
It turned red immediately, so I thought I should find a different disinfectant later... but there was no time to worry about that now.
It was time for surgery.