Chapter 90: The Recovery Period
The ceiling looked familiar. As soon as Kim Jun opened his eyes, a wave of excruciating pain crashed over him.
“Ugh, I feel like I’m dying.”
Even turning his head made everything throb. He could barely move his right hand, and when he touched his left side, he felt thick bandages wrapped around his entire torso.
“Hoo…”
At least his arm wasn’t completely ruined.
Kim Jun sat up slowly and examined the bandaged left arm. He carefully curled his fingers, then moved them in every direction he could despite the pain, checking to see if anything was completely immobile.
That was when a knock sounded at the door.
Knock. Knock.
“I’m coming in.”
The door opened with a click, and Mari stepped inside carrying a medical kit. The moment she saw Kim Jun awake, her eyes widened.
“Oh my?”
“How long was I out?”
“Twelve hours. It’s eight in the morning.”
“Hoo… Did the surgery go well?”
Kim Jun had passed out the second he showed her his wounds. After an emergency operation like that, seeing Mari’s face meant he had at least survived.
“You had six stab wounds from your fingers all the way up your arm, plus one in your collarbone. I was nervous because I thought the nerves might be damaged, so I had to tie them off.”
“You stitched me yourself?”
“Even though I never got my specialist license, I did plenty of open surgeries and vessel tying during my residency, you know?”
She was still a licensed doctor, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.
“How long until this heals?”
“You need at least four weeks of complete rest.”
“Four weeks? That’s way too long. I have to get back out there in two.”
“The wounds are too deep right now. You already needed a transfusion, and we have to keep disinfecting to prevent infection.”
“Transfusion? How the hell did you manage that?”
When he asked how she could possibly do a transfusion in this situation, Mari rolled up his right sleeve and showed him the bandage over the needle mark.
“In Ah and Nanika are both type O. We drew from them in an emergency and gave you the blood.”
With no blood packs or dedicated transfusion equipment available, Mari had used the dozens of syringes she’d scavenged from the hospital and medical supply store last time.
She had drawn blood from the two girls using multiple syringes, collected it, and injected it into Kim Jun. Thanks to that, the blood of two idols now flowed through his veins.
“They must’ve gone through a lot.”
“They’re resting now too. I’ll bring you breakfast soon.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go eat.”
Kim Jun figured the injuries were only on his arm and shoulder, so it shouldn’t be a problem. But the moment he tried to stand, a sharp spike of pain shot through him and he nearly collapsed.
“Ugh!”
“A-are you okay? That’s why I keep telling you to rest…”
“Painkillers… please.”
“I’ll give you one.”
Kim Jun swallowed the painkillers and antibiotics Mari handed him, steadied himself, and slowly made his way outside.
“Ah, Oppa!”
Gaya and Do Kyung, who had been helping Eun Ji prepare breakfast in place of the resting In Ah, came running over.
“Are you really okay?”
“Ow—ah!”
Kim Jun reflexively flinched when Do Kyung grabbed his arm.
“Oh no, I’m sorry!”
“I told you not to touch the wound.”
Mari scolded Do Kyung and quickly checked his condition. Fortunately, there was no bleeding and the stitches looked fine.
“That’s why you need a splint.”
Emily, who had been setting the table, came out of the living room holding a dishcloth. She washed her hands and spoke up.
“A splint? Did something actually break?”
“Still, after stitches, you should immobilize it, right?”
Emily glanced at his arm again and added quietly.
“Jun Oppa, I’m type A so I couldn’t donate blood. Sorry~”
“Yeah, I’m type B.”
Emily pressed herself against Kim Jun’s chest as if she would give him anything—blood or otherwise—if he asked. Do Kyung frowned, clearly annoyed at the blatant flirting.
“We made seaweed soup. Is that okay with you?”
They had prepared a gentle, iron-rich meal: spinach, peanuts, stir-fried potatoes, eggs, and more. It was well-balanced and easy on the stomach.
By the time breakfast was ready, In Ah and Nanika—who had taken turns getting their veins poked for the transfusion the day before—came out slowly. Everyone gathered together to eat.
Thankfully his right arm was fine, so he could at least eat and move without too much trouble.
But as they watched him, Rana and Emily, sitting to his left, glanced at him and asked carefully.
“If the side dishes are too far, should we get them for you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Come on~ Let me feed you. Say ‘ah~’.”
When Emily speared a boiled egg with her fork and held it out, Kim Jun shook his head but still opened his mouth and accepted it.
At that moment, Do Kyung quietly scooped some water and brought it over.
“Oppa~ Here’s water.”
For a second, Kim Jun felt like he had stepped into a historical drama where the emperor was being fed by his concubines.
It was a bit annoying, but not entirely unpleasant. Only Eun Ji and In Ah ate quietly while watching the scene.
When Kim Jun reached for the fried mackerel in front of Eun Ji, she lifted the plate and held it right in front of his chopsticks.
“…”
“Should I feed you?”
“No.”
“I’ll do it!”
Do Kyung quickly snatched the fish, meticulously removed every bone, and placed it on top of his rice.
After the meal, Kim Jun moved his arm around, inspecting it himself.
If he hadn’t been wearing the protector, he might have lost the use of his arm entirely—or been stabbed somewhere fatal. Even so, there were still things that needed to be done.
He took out the items he had brought back yesterday, especially the police uniforms and stab-proof vests, and asked Eun Ji for help.
“About these. Can you remove the shoulder patches, name tags, and anything that says ‘police’? I want to alter them.”
“Yes. We have a sewing machine and scissors. I’ll take everything off and fix them up.”
There was no need to impersonate police here anyway. He planned to refashion them into everyday clothes.
The stab-proof vests would also be adjusted to fit the others for future supply runs.
He examined the weapons they had acquired—excluding the guns—and began thinking about modifying them into tools effective against both zombies and humans.
“Whoa~ A stun gun!”
Emily’s eyes sparkled as she stared at it with fascination. Kim Jun immediately stopped her.
“It’s dangerous. That’s police issue.”
“It must be pretty powerful, right?”
“Exactly. So hand it over nicely.”
After getting scolded, Emily reluctantly passed him the stun gun. He immediately removed the battery.
He decided to combine it with a baton using parts from his notebook to create a spear-like weapon.
“First, spray it with oil, then apply this…”
“Boom~!!”
When Emily raised both hands and mimed an explosion, Kim Jun nodded.
“It’s possible.”
“I did it in a game once. If you spray oil or alcohol and then hit it with a stun gun, the person turns into a human torch!”
In reality, police strictly prohibited using tasers or stun guns on anyone covered in flammable substances.
Even a small amount of hand sanitizer-level alcohol on the skin could ignite instantly upon contact with electricity.
The real issue was the danger of using it like a flamethrower.
“It would be perfect if we had a water gun.”
Kim Jun imagined turning syringes or bamboo tubes into water guns. He would fill them with a small amount of oil, spray it on zombies, then follow up with a taser or stun gun to create an extremely powerful close-range weapon.
Tasers had limited cartridges, so they would eventually need to raid another police station or substation. But the rechargeable stun guns could be used repeatedly.
While sketching weapon designs and refining his ideas, Kim Jun stepped outside after the meal.
“I need to fix this quickly…”
If his arm weren’t injured, he would have immediately called the others to replace the shattered bumper and headlights, straighten the crumpled hood, and swap out the broken windows.
Unfortunately, the vehicle had been modified with all sorts of zombie-fighting attachments. Taking them apart would require a welder and grinder, then rebuilding everything. He had to finish it all within two weeks.
“Ha, this is cutting it way too close.”
He clicked his tongue, wondering if two weeks had been too optimistic. But if he dragged it out any longer, the First Faction in the Sinreung-myeon area might make another move. He needed to act fast.
“Plus, Christmas is coming up soon…”
The one silver lining was that the abnormal weather after the zombie outbreak had left the days only slightly chilly. No snow had fallen and temperatures hadn’t dropped below freezing, so there was no risk of frozen pipes or the need to install heating wires.
“I’ll just have to make it work somehow.”
Kim Jun lit a cigarette, let out a long sigh, and went back inside.
“Ouch… that stings…”
“It’s going to hurt more than just a sting.”
That night, when they removed the bandages for dressing, Kim Jun’s mouth fell open at the sight of his own wounds.
The stitches ran from his collarbone across his shoulder in several places. Yellow pus was leaking out. Mari carefully scraped it away, disinfected the area, and applied antibiotics.
“The wound can’t turn green. If that happens, we’re really out of options.”
“I got a tetanus shot.”
“It’s not tetanus. It’s Pseudomonas…”
“Pseudomonas?”
While changing the dressing, Mari explained slowly.
“It’s a bacteria that doesn’t respond well to antibiotics. It usually comes from poor hygiene. If green pus starts coming out, it leads to sepsis.”
“Ugh… if you catch that, there really is no cure.”
“There is one way. Cut out the infected tissue with a scalpel and keep disinfecting until new flesh grows back.”
After finishing the disinfection, Mari applied fresh gauze and wrapped the bandages tightly, paying close attention to hygiene.
She even washed Kim Jun’s bed sheets again and sprayed them with alcohol to prevent infection.
As she finished wrapping the new bandages around his arm, Kim Jun wrapped his right arm gently around her waist.
“Eep!?”
“At least I’m alive, so I get to hold you like this.”
“Yes~ Once your arm is fully healed, you can do whatever you want. So please hold back for now.”
She said there was no doctor who had sex with critically injured patients, then quietly gathered the pus-stained gauze and left the room.
Left alone, Kim Jun lay back down, thinking he would have to endure this for the next few days.
He hoped he would recover enough to move within two weeks. After that, they would move to the new shelter, prepare for Christmas, and get ready for the new year.