Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Illegal Doctor II
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Lee Jeong-ho wished he could solve this problem with money.
But he'd learned Na Gang-in's standing among the actors at that Cheongpyeong party. He'd witnessed with his own eyes just how extraordinary the man was, taking down an entire drug cartel single-handedly.
'He's not someone you approach with cash and a request for illegal surgery. The guy's on a whole different level.'
Even so, he couldn't abandon his daughter. Knowing it was shameless, he pleaded anyway.
"Please, save our Yeon-ji. I know I have no right to ask, but please save our girl."
Lee Yeon-ji had stopped by the PC bang today, eaten, and left. He pictured her laughing and chatting with Shin Eun-ha and Lee Bora. The thought of such a sweet kid wasting away from a rare disease gnawed at him.
But if he got arrested and thrown in detention or prison, it would derail the mission.
"I need more information."
Lee Jeong-ho's head snapped up. He hadn't gotten a yes yet, but at least it wasn't an outright no.
"Mild cases can be saved with surgery! I've personally operated on patients like that and saved them."
"But you said severe cases like Yeon-ji's can't be."
"It's the time limit. Kaitaiger syndrome patients deteriorate rapidly if the surgery drags on."
"Mild cases can be wrapped up quickly, but severe ones can't?"
"Yes. The surgery has to be done within an hour. Early on overseas, they didn't know that, and several patients died."
No one knew why the time limit existed.
"Yeon-ji needs a complex surgery that's hard to finish in an hour."
"Exactly. It involves incising internal organs and reshaping blood vessels. No matter how fast the surgeon's hands are, it's impossible to complete within the limit. I've run simulations under every possible scenario, cutting time to the absolute minimum, and it still doesn't work."
"That's why you need me."
Lee Jeong-ho's eyes gleamed.
"That crossroad accident victim's wounds were horrific. You sutured all the critical areas on-site, without proper visibility, in under ten minutes."
"My hands are fast."
Lee Jeong-ho pulled out his smartphone and showed some photos and graphs.
"Simulation results if suturing at that speed. If I could do ultra-precise sutures that seamlessly right away."
The graph read 50%.
"Surgery success rate jumps to fifty percent."
Na Gang-in frowned slightly. The odds were too low.
"Not a hundred percent, then."
"Without your help... it's a hundred percent failure."
"No other treatments?"
Lee Jeong-ho sighed.
"It's a new rare disease discovered just two years ago. I was one of the three who identified it. There's no treatment I don't know about."
Na Gang-in asked his AI, Jeon Ji-in.
"Ji-in. In the future, there might be a cure for this."
- Possible. But as a combat support AI, I can handle field emergency surgery, not disease info.
"Soldiers get sick on the battlefield too."
- Disease diagnosis and treatment are for military doctors. Field hospitals have their equipment.
Na Gang-in turned to Lee Jeong-ho.
"How much time does Yeon-ji have left?"
Lee Jeong-ho answered immediately.
"It's like a time bomb—you never know when it'll go off. Could be today, could be a month from now. At most, she won't last over a hundred days. We need to hurry."
Na Gang-in let out a deep sigh.
"She's a good kid."
"That's why I beg you—help us."
"We'll find a way. Where were you planning the surgery? Your hospital's OR?"
Lee Jeong-ho hesitated.
"Uh..."
He hadn't thought that far. Getting Na Gang-in's okay was priority; no room for other plans.
"If we do it at your hospital, word's bound to get out that you assisted..."
"I don't have a license, so if rumors spread, we'll all be happily handcuffed together."
"R-right, can't have that."
"So, what's the plan?"
"Gather only absolutely trustworthy people who'll never talk, and do it in an OR where we can keep it secret. Obviously."
Na Gang-in asked.
"Do you have those people and that place?"
***
Nurse Son Mi-yeon called Lee Yeon-ji from the hospital corridor.
"Where are you?"
- Hanging with a friend.
"Which friend?"
- Ji-hye.
"She's not busy?"
- She has even more free time than me.
- Whoa! Auntie! Hi!
"Ji-hye's always so full of energy, huh?"
- That's her best trait. But why?
"Just wanted to hear your voice."
- Mom's been weird lately. Make time for a checkup. You don't even know if something's wrong.
***
Lee Jeong-ho said.
"Yeon-ji's mom is a nurse at our hospital. A veteran who's toughened up in the OR. She still assists sometimes. Top-notch skills."
"One nurse for major surgery..."
"She's worth a hundred. That's what hooked me."
AI Jeon Ji-in spoke up.
- Hard to see Yeon-ji in Lee Jeong-ho's face. She's probably the spitting image of her mom. He fell for looks, not skills. Low info reliability.
Na Gang-in said.
"Tell me the truth so I can judge accurately. Did you fall for her skills?"
"W-well, truthfully, she's beautiful..."
"So is she really worth a hundred?"
Lee Jeong-ho backpedaled fast.
"A hundred's an exaggeration, but she can handle two specialist nurses solo, no problem."
"Hm... So nurse equivalent to two, one doctor?"
"No. Yeon-ji's uncle—my brother-in-law—is a doctor too. Has his own clinic. He'll help. Oh! His place has an OR!"
"Surgeon?"
"Surgeon... but plastic surgery."
Na Gang-in was taken aback.
"Uh... Check if it's viable for surgery first. We can talk after."
"Got it. Yes, of course."
Lee Jeong-ho bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
"Nothing's decided yet."
"You haven't refused yet? Thank you."
***
The next day, Lee Jeong-ho visited the plastic surgery clinic run by his brother-in-law, Son Seong-hyeon, with his wife Son Mi-yeon.
Business hours were over, but Son Seong-hyeon hadn't left; he was waiting.
Son Seong-hyeon asked.
"Why come to the clinic first when we could've talked over dinner outside?"
Son Mi-yeon chimed in.
"Right? Insisted there was something to say here, but wouldn't spill no matter what."
"Is bro-in-law quitting the hospital to open his own practice?"
Son Mi-yeon snorted.
"You get treated well there—think you'll thrive like now if you leave? No way. Stay longer. For Yeon-ji's sake, you have to."
Lee Jeong-ho said.
"I'll explain after you show me the OR."
Son Seong-hyeon grinned wide.
"The famous Dr. Lee Jeong-ho wants to tour our pride and joy? This way."
Son Seong-hyeon ran a plastic surgery clinic, but its single OR rivaled a major hospital's.
Lee Jeong-ho nodded as he inspected the equipment.
"Even better than last time I saw."
Son Seong-hyeon boasted.
"Heh. Invested some cash. Bet I could do heart surgery here."
"Looks like it. Good thing."
"Huh? 'Good thing'? Not 'impressive'?"
Lee Jeong-ho's face hardened.
"Both of you, listen carefully. We've found a way to operate on Yeon-ji."
Son Mi-yeon covered her mouth, eyes wide in shock. Words wouldn't come.
"F-finally..."
Son Seong-hyeon burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Bro-in-law! You did it! You went to the US before to scout surgeons—found one there?"
Lee Jeong-ho shook his head.
"No. That trip was a bust."
"Huh? But you found a way?"
"Found someone who can drastically cut surgery time."
"Whoa, domestic?"
"Yeah."
"Man, didn't know we had talent like that here. Do it at your hospital, then?"
"Impossible."
"Ah, right. Hard for a doc to cut into family."
Doctors were human too; operating on kin was mentally crushing.
"Another hospital, then. The one where this doc works? Specialty?"
Lee Jeong-ho shook his head again.
"Not a doctor."
"What? PA then?"
"No medical license at all."
Son Seong-hyeon blanked at first, then panicked.
"You're saying unlicensed surgery...?"
"Yeah."
"Bro-in-law? You nuts? What makes you trust this guy?"
"We'll operate together, different roles. And Yeon-ji's condition requires him."
Son Seong-hyeon got angry.
"No, bro-in-law. If caught, it's not just licenses—it's prison! We might recover licenses later, but prison? Your rep, my license, my clinic—all gone. You serious?"
Son Mi-yeon stood frozen, hand over mouth. Then she exploded.
"Hey! Son Seong-hyeon!"
"Y-yeah?"
"He's gonna save our daughter, and you call him nuts? Prison's the issue now? If it saves her, we'll do anything!"
"R-right?"
Lee Jeong-ho pleaded.
"Seong-hyeon, I need your help."
"Huh? My license goes too if caught."
Son Mi-yeon raised a fist.
"Help us, or else."
"Sis, hear me out..."
Lee Jeong-ho added.
"Lend us the OR too."
Son Seong-hyeon's eyes shook.
This was his plastic surgery OR, equipped for major procedures.
"Bro-in-law... You wanted to see this first for that reason?"
"Had to confirm it's surgery-ready."
"It's plastic surgery."
"Has all the gear we need."
Son Seong-hyeon racked his brain to escape.
"Ah! No ECMO here, right?"
"Can't use ECMO. Instant table death for Kaitaiger."
Son Seong-hyeon gestured palms down.
"Calm down. If caught, licenses fly, 9 o'clock news, your rep, my license, my clinic—poof."
Son Mi-yeon yelled.
"How did I raise you to be like this? You traitor! Family means nothing to you!"
Son Mi-yeon wasn't just a sister. She'd carried her baby brother on her back growing up, like a mom.
"I'm not saying no, but..."
Lee Yeon-ji was like a half-daughter to the bachelor Son Seong-hyeon, always dropping by.
He asked cautiously.
"Surgery means she'll recover?"
Lee Jeong-ho explained, face lightening.
"Fifty percent cure rate with surgery."
"Just fifty?"
"No surgery, hundred percent death. Likely within a hundred days."
Son Seong-hyeon sighed deeply.
"Damn, can't say no to that. Confident we won't get caught?"
"If we all shut up, who knows?"
"So, two docs, one nurse, one total no-license guy gotta pull it off."
"In under an hour."
"Who the hell is this guy? How?"
Lee Jeong-ho said.
"No idea how he got those skills. Doesn't even make sense. But it doesn't matter. I'll break medical laws a thousand times if it saves my daughter."
Son Seong-hyeon sighed.
"Fine. We're in. Once date's set, clear schedule, send staff on vacation."
"Thanks, Seong-hyeon!"
Son Mi-yeon slapped the plastic surgeon's back.
"Thought you'd never man up. But here it is—today!"
***
The next day, Lee Yeon-ji showed up at the PC bang.
Na Gang-in asked.
"Here for food again?"
"Yep! Heard you're serving today."
She slipped behind the counter and grumbled.
"Gonna eat a ton today. Can't after a few days."
"Why?"
"Getting surgery soon."